Working with Tables

InDesign provides keyboard shortcuts for navigating in tables, displaying the dialog boxes for configuring tables, changing rows and columns , and selecting items in tables.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating in Tables

Windows [Tab], Mac [Tab]

Move to the next cell

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

Move to the previous cell

Windows [], Mac []

Move left one cell

Windows [], Mac []

Move right one cell

Windows [], Mac []

Move up one cell

Windows [], Mac []

Move down one cell

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

Move to the first cell in the column

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

Move to the last cell in the column

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

Move to the first cell in the row

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

Move to the last cell in the row

Windows [PageUp], Mac [PageUp]

Move to the first row in the frame

Windows [PageDown], Mac [PageDown]

Move to the last row in the frame

Keyboard Shortcuts for Choosing Options in Tables

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

Display the Insert Table dialog box

Define a text box, make the text cursor active in it, and then press this shortcut to display the Insert Table dialog box (the Mac version is shown here). Specify the number of rows, columns, header rows, and footer rows for the table, and then press [Enter] (on Windows) or [Return] (on the Mac).

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

Display the Table Options dialog box

InDesign displays the Table Setup tab or Table Setup sheet of the Table Options dialog box.

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

Display the Cell Options dialog box

InDesign displays the Text tab or Text sheet of the Cell Options dialog box.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Changing Rows and Columns

Windows [Ctrl]-[9], Mac [ z ]-[9]

Display the Insert Rows dialog box

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[9], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[9]

Display the Insert Columns dialog box

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

Delete the active row

Windows [Ctrl]-[Backspace], Mac [Shift]-[Delete]

Delete the active column

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

Insert or delete rows or columns when dragging

Start dragging the row or column border as if to change the column width or the row height, and then hold down [Alt] or [Option] to make InDesign insert or delete rows or columns (as appropriate) instead.

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

Resize the rows or columns without changing the size of the table

Hold down [Shift] as you drag an interior row border or column border.

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

Resize the rows or columns proportionally

Hold down [Shift] as you drag the right table border or bottom table border.

Windows [Enter] on the numeric keypad, Mac [Enter] on the numeric keypad

Start a row on the next column

Windows [Shift]-[Enter] on the numeric keypad, Mac [Shift]-[Enter] on the numeric keypad

Start a row in the next frame

Keyboard Shortcuts for Selecting Table Items

Windows [Esc], Mac [Esc]

Toggle between selecting text and selecting cells

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

Select the active cell

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

Select the cell above the active cell

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

Select the cell below the active cell

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

Select the cell to the left of the active cell

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

Select the cell to the right of the active cell

Windows [Ctrl]-[3], Mac [ z ]-[3]

Select the active row

Windows [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[3], Mac [ z ]-[Option]-[3]

Select the active column

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

Select the active table