Selecting Tools

When youre working, youll often find that the quickest way to select a tool is by pressing its keyboard shortcut. Illustrator provides single-key shortcuts for most tools.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Selecting Tools

Windows [V], Mac [V]

Select the Selection tool

Windows [A], Mac [A]

Select the Direct Selection tool

Windows [Y], Mac [Y]

Select the Magic Wand tool

Windows [Q], Mac [Q]

Select the Lasso tool

Windows [P], Mac [P]

Select the Pen tool

Windows [+], Mac [+]

Select the Add Anchor Point tool

Windows [-], Mac [-]

Select the Delete Anchor Point tool

Windows [Shift]-[C], Mac [Shift]-[C]

Select the Convert Anchor Point tool

Windows [T], Mac [T]

Select the Type tool

Windows [\], Mac [\]

Select the Line Segment tool

Windows [M], Mac [M]

Select the Rectangle tool

Windows [L], Mac [L]

Select the Ellipse tool

Windows [B], Mac [B]

Select the Paintbrush tool

Windows [N], Mac [N]

Select the Pencil tool

Windows [R], Mac [R]

Select the Rotate tool

Windows [O], Mac [O]

Select the Reflect tool

Windows [S], Mac [S]

Select the Scale tool

Windows [Shift]-[R], Mac [Shift]-[R]

Select the Warp tool

Windows [E], Mac [E]

Select the Free Transform tool

Windows [Shift]-[S], Mac [Shift]-[S]

Select the Symbol Sprayer tool

Windows [J], Mac [J]

Select the Column Graph tool

Windows [U], Mac [U]

Select the Mesh tool

Windows [G], Mac [G]

Select the Gradient tool

Windows [I], Mac [I]

Select the Eyedropper tool

Windows [K], Mac [K]

Select the Paint Bucket tool

Windows [W], Mac [W]

Select the Blend tool

Windows [Shift]-[K], Mac [Shift]-[K]

Select the Slice tool

Windows [C], Mac [C]

Select the Scissors tool

Windows [H], Mac [H]

Select the Hand tool

Windows [Spacebar], Mac [Spacebar]

Temporarily switch to the Hand tool

This shortcut works when Illustrator isnt in text-edit mode.

Windows [Z], Mac [Z]

Select the Zoom tool