Working with Type and Text

If you re laying out documents with InDesign, you ll probably spend a lot of time working with type and text. This section lists the keyboard shortcuts that InDesign offers for many of the operations you ll want to perform with type and text, from navigating through text to creating index entries.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Through Text

Windows [], Mac []

Move to the left by one character

Windows [], Mac []

Move to the right by one character

Windows [], Mac []

Move up one line

Windows [], Mac []

Move down one line

Windows [Ctrl]-[], Mac [ z ]-[]

Move one word to the left

Windows [Ctrl]-[], Mac [ z ]-[]

Move one word to the right

Windows [Home], Mac [Home]

Move to the start of the line

Windows [End], Mac [End]

Move to the end of the line

Windows [Ctrl]-[Home], Mac [ z ]-[Home]

Move to the start of the story

Windows [Ctrl]-[End], Mac [ z ]-[End]

Move to the end of the story

Windows [Ctrl]-[], Mac [ z ]-[]

Move to the previous paragraph

Windows [Ctrl]-[], Mac [ z ]-[]

Move to the next paragraph

Keyboard Shortcuts for Selecting Text

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

Select one character to the left

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

Select one character to the right

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

Select one line up

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

Select one line down

Windows [Shift]-[Home], Mac [Shift]-[Home]

Select from the insertion point to the start of the line

Windows [Shift]-[End], Mac [Shift]-[End]

Select from the insertion point to the end of the line

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[]

Select one paragraph up

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[]

Select one paragraph down

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[\], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[\]

Select the current line

Windows [Shift]-click, Mac [Shift]-click

Select from the insertion point to where you click

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[Home], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[Home]

Select from the insertion point to the start of the story

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[End], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[End]

Select from the insertion point to the end of the story

Windows [Ctrl]-[A], Mac [ z ]-[A]

Select all the current story

Keyboard Shortcuts for Working with Text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[B], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[B]

Toggle boldface

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[I], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[I]

Toggle italic

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[Y], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[Y]

Toggle normal formatting

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[U], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[U]

Toggle underline

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[/], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[/]

Toggle strikethrough

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

Toggle small caps

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[+], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[+]

Toggle superscript

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[+], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[+]

Toggle subscript

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[X], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[X]

Reset the horizontal scale to 100 percent

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[X], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[X]

Reset the vertical scale to 100 percent

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-["], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-["]

Toggle the Use Typographer s Quotes setting

This setting appears on the Text sheet of the Preferences dialog box.

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[G], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[G]

Toggle aligning to grid on and off

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[N], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[N]

Automatically insert the current page number

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[/], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[/]

Update the missing font list

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[P], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[P]

Add a new page after the last page

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[L], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[L]

Override all master page items for the current spread

Keyboard Shortcuts for Working with Character and Paragraph Styles

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[C], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[C]

Make the character style definition match the selected text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[R], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[R]

Make the paragraph style definition match the selected text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-click the style, Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-click the style

Change options but don t apply the style

Windows [Alt]-click the paragraph style name , Mac [Option]-click the paragraph style name

Remove the style and local formatting

Windows [Alt]-[Shift]-click the paragraph style name, Mac [Option]-[Shift]-click the paragraph style name

Clear overrides from the paragraph style

Keyboard Shortcuts for Changing Point Size and Leading

These shortcuts use the increment set in the Size/Leading text box on the Units & Increments sheet of the Preferences dialog box ([Ctrl]-[K] on Windows, [ z ]-[K] on the Mac).

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[>], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[>]

Increase the point size by one increment

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[<], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[<]

Decrease the point size by one increment

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[>], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[>]

Increase the point size by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[<], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[<]

Decrease the point size by five increments

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Decrease the leading on horizontal text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Increase the leading on horizontal text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Increase the leading on vertical text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Decrease the leading on vertical text by one increment

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Decrease the leading on horizontal text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Increase the leading on horizontal text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Increase the leading on vertical text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Decrease the leading on vertical text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[A], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[A]

Toggle automatic leading on and off

Keyboard Shortcuts for Kerning and Baseline Shift

These shortcuts use the increment set in the Size/Leading text box on the Units & Increments sheet of the Preferences dialog box ([Ctrl]-[K] on Windows, [ z ]-[K] on the Mac).

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Increase the kerning on horizontal text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Decrease the kerning on horizontal text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Increase the kerning on vertical text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[], Mac [Option]-[]

Decrease the kerning on vertical text by one increment

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Decrease the kerning on vertical text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Increase the kerning on vertical text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Increase the kerning on horizontal text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[]

Decrease the kerning on horizontal text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[\], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[\]

Increase the kerning between words by one increment

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Backspace], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Delete]

Decrease the kerning between words by one increment

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[\], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[\]

Increase the kerning between words by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[Backspace], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[Delete]

Decrease the kerning between words by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Q], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Q]

Clear all manual kerning and reset tracking to zero

Windows [Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [Option]-[Shift]-[]

Increase the baseline shift on horizontal text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [Option]-[Shift]-[]

Decrease the baseline shift on horizontal text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [Option]-[Shift]-[]

Increase the baseline shift on vertical text by one increment

Windows [Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [Option]-[Shift]-[]

Decrease the baseline shift on vertical text by one increment

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[]

Increase the baseline shift on horizontal text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[]

Decrease the baseline shift on horizontal text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[]

Increase the baseline shift on vertical text by five increments

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[]

Decrease the baseline shift on vertical text by five increments

Keyboard Shortcuts for Flowing and Recomposing

Windows [Shift]-click the loaded text icon, Mac [Shift]-click the loaded text icon

Flow the story automatically

In automatic flowing, InDesign automatically adds pages and frames as needed to flow all the text into the document.

Windows [Alt]-click the loaded text icon, Mac [Option]-click the loaded text icon

Flow the story semiautomatically

In semiautomatic flowing, InDesign automatically reloads the loaded text icon for you (so that you don t have to load it manually), but you get to control the flow from frame to frame.

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[/], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[/]

Recompose all stories

Keyboard Shortcuts for Aligning Paragraphs

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[L], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[L]

Align left

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

Center the paragraph

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

Align right

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[J], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[J]

Justify all lines except the last line

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[F], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[F]

Justify all lines, including the last line (forced justification)

Keyboard Shortcuts for Working with Type

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[Shift]-[J], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[Shift]-[J]

Display the Justification dialog box

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[J], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[J]

Display the Paragraph Rules dialog box

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[K], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[K]

Display the Keep Options dialog box

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[O], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[O]

Create outlines from the selected text

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[I], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[I]

Toggle the display of hidden characters

Keyboard Shortcuts for Creating Index Entries

Windows [Ctrl]-[U], Mac [ z ]-[U]

Display the New Page Reference dialog box

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[U], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[U]

Create an index entry without displaying the New Page Reference dialog box

Windows [Ctrl]-[Shift]-[F8], Mac [ z ]-[Shift]-[F8]

Create a proper-name index entry

A proper-name index entry has the form Lastname, Firstname ”for example, Sixpack, Jill.