Photoshop shortcut keys – Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts | Shortcut Keys for Editing Photos Like a Pro

Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts: Adobe Photoshop is a software application used for editing images and retouching photos for use on macOS or Windows Computer. Designers mainly use it, photographers, web developers, creative professionals to add effects, edit images, retouch, create compositions for photos, and website mock-ups.

If you are a designer or a creative professional, or a photographer, you are bound to spend most of your time in Photoshop. Since you spend a lot of your time, you will want to work as efficiently and as fast as you can. The photoshop keyboard shortcuts will help you to speed your workflow up while producing accurate outputs.

Using the keyboard shortcuts, you can manipulate images, select tools, and even make adjustments to your pictures by pressing some keys on your keyboard. The photoshop keyboard shortcuts are pretty easy to execute and will help you increase your productivity and speed up your workflow.

Wondering How to explore & learn Shortcut Keys for various Operating Systems, Computer Software Programs, Social media applications Keyboards? Here is the one-stop destination for all Keyboard Shortcuts, just take a look & memorize regularly for better performance in competitive exams & real-time situations.

Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

Most Commonly Used Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts

Photoshop shortcut keys: These shortcuts are straightforward commands and are easy to carry out. You must know these shortcuts if you will work in Photoshop since they will increase your productivity and boost your workflow.

Given below are the most commonly used photoshop keyboard shortcuts that one must know:

Function For Windows For MacOS
Save As Ctrl + Shift + S Command + Shift + S
Save for Web Ctrl + Shift + Alt + S Command + Shift + S
Undo Ctrl + Z Command + Z
Step Back Ctrl + Alt + Z Command + Option +Z
Duplicate Ctrl + J Command + J
Duplicate all visible layers Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E Command + Shift + Option + E
To hide extras Ctrl + H Command + H
Full screen F F
Default colors D D
Flip foreground and background colors X X
Hand tool while using any other tool Hold spacebar Hold spacebar
Fill with background color Ctrl + Backspace Command + Delete
Fill with foreground color Alt + Backspace Option + Delete
Restore the last selection Shift + Ctrl + D Shift + Command + D
Edit while typing Ctrl + Return Command + Return

Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts 1

Keyboard Shortcuts for Selection Tools

Adobe Photoshop provides several selection tools. The selection tools are an essential part of photoshop and have many uses. To know how to use these selection tools by using keyboard shortcuts is very beneficial. Hence, for your benefit, the keyboard shortcuts for the most used selection tools are given below

Function  For Windows  For MacOs
To select all Ctrl + A Command + A
For selection of all opaque pixels Ctrl + Layer thumbnail Command + Layer thumbnail
To inverse Shift + Ctrl + I Shift + Command + I
For deselection Ctrl + D Command + D
To restore the last selection Ctrl + Shift + D Command + Shift + D
For feather selection Shift + F6 Shift + F6
For marquee selection tool Press M Press M
To draw marquee from center Hold + Alt Hold + Option
To add to a selection Shift + the selection tool you will use Shift + the selection tool you will use
To subtract from a selection Press Alt Press Option
To intersect with a selection Shift + Alt Shift + Option
To move selections in an increment of 1 pixel Arrow keys Arrow keys
To move selection in increments of 10 pixels Arrow keys + Shift Arrow keys + Shift
To move marquee while drawing selections Hold + Space Hold + Space
To select the luminosity of layers Ctrl + Alt + Shift Command + Option + Shift
For the magic wand tool Press W Press W
For lasso tool Press L Press L
For pen tool Press P Press P
To load pen path selection Ctrl + Enter Command + Enter
To create a Bezier curve P + Add anchor point and then drag to add another P + Add anchor point and then drag to add another

Keyboard Shortcuts for Blending Tools In Photoshop

The blending tools include numerous features for enhancing your graphics and design. The keyboard shortcuts for blending options will help you work faster without moving your mouse. Given below are the keyboard shortcuts which are used commonly:

Function For Windows For MacOS
To cycle through blending modes Shift + or + Shift + or +
For normal mode Shift + Alt + N Shift + Option + N
To clear Shift + Alt + R Shift + Option + R
To dissolve Shift + Alt + I Shift + Option + I
To darken Shift + Alt + K Shift + Option + K
To lighten Shift + Alt + G Shift + Alt + G
For multiplying Shift + Alt + M Shift + Option + M
To overlay Shift + Alt + O Shift + Option + O
For hue Shift + Alt + U Shift + Option + U
For saturation Shift + Alt + T Shift + Option + T
For luminosity Shift + Alt + Y Shift + Option + Y
For color burn Shift + Alt + B Shift + Option + B
For linear burn Shift + Alt + A Shift + Option + A
For soft light Shift + Alt + F Shift + Option + F
For hard light Shift + Alt + H Shift + Option + H
For color dodge Shift + Alt + D Shift + Option + D
For screen Shift + Alt + S Shift + Option + S
To difference Shift + Alt + E Shift + Option + E
For exclusion Shift + Alt + X Shift + Option + X
For color Shift + Alt + C Shift + Option + C

Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts 2

Keyboard shortcuts for Brush Tools in Photoshop

The brush setting in photoshop is used for various useful things. You can change the shape and size of your brush strokes, the transparency of your strokes to get multiple visual effects. There are keyboard shortcuts present for using these tools, which will make your work easier; before using the shortcuts, first press b to select the brush tool.

Function  For Windows For MacOS 
To make your brush tool bigger the right bracket key ] the right bracket key ]
To make your brush tool smaller the left bracket key [ the left bracket key [
For brush resizing Right click + Alt + Drag left or right Command + Option + Drag left or right
For brush softness Right click + Alt + Drag up or down Command + Option + Drag up or down
For sample colors, while using the brush Alt (for switching to the eyedropper tool) Option (for switching to the eyedropper tool)
To select the previous brush style , ,
To select the next brush style . .
To select the first brush used Shift + , Shift + ,
To select the last brush used Shift + . Shift + .
To display accurate crosshair for brush Shift + Caps lock Shift + Caps lock
For toggle airbrush option Shift + Alt + P Shift + Option + P
For crosshair cursor Caps lock Caps lock
To increase brush hardness Shift + the right bracket key ] Shift + the right bracket key ]
To decrease brush hardness Shift + the left bracket key [ Shift + the left bracket key [
For switching between preset brushes < or > < or >

Some Basic Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts for Regular Use

For setting up your content 

Functions For Windows  For MacOS 
For changing the image size Ctrl + Alt + I Command + Option + I
For changing the canvas size Ctrl + Alt + C Command + Option + C
For zooming in Ctrl + + Command + +
To zooming out Ctrl + Command +
To show or hide the grid Ctrl + Command +

For moving tools

Functions For Windows  For MacOS 
Zoom tool Z Z
For zooming out Alt Option
To fit screen Ctrl + 0 Command + 0
For hand tool Zoom in and move around the image + Spacebar Zoom in and move around the image + Spacebar
To rotate image R R
To rotate the image in 15-degree increments R + Shift R + Shift

For color tools and transform tools

Functions For Windows  For MacOS 
Eyedropper tool I I
Toggle foreground or background color X X
Default colors D D
For free transform Ctrl + T Command + T
To scale proportionately Shift (when you’re in the free transform mode) Shift (when you’re in the free transform mode)
To scale from the center of your image Shift + Alt Shift + Option

Some quick and easy tips and keyboard shortcuts

To make your photoshop experience more manageable and smoother, some of the basic keyboard shortcuts along with some quick and easy tips, are mentioned in the list below:

How to unlock your background layer?

To unlock your background layer, double-click on it and then press the enter key. Another more straightforward way is to press or click on the lock icon present on the background layer.

How to create guides?

When the rulers are visible, click and drag from them.

A quick tip: It works on both the axis, vertical as well as horizontal.

For rulers: Ctrl + R (for Windows) and Command + R (for MacOS)

How to access the subsets of the photoshop tools?

Firstly, press the shift key and press the shortcut key for the tool you are trying to access. If you continue doing it multiple times, you will be able to toggle between the available tools given in any panel. This shortcut works for all the tools present in the tools panel and has additional tools available.

How to save your work?

To save your work as:

For Windows – Ctrl + Shift + S

For MacOS – Command + Shift + S

To save your work for Web and other devices:

For Windows – Ctrl + Shift + Alt + S

For MacOS – Command + Shift + Option + S

Some quick tips

While using the keyboard shortcut for undo, use it multiple times to toggle your last history state

When you are cropping tools using the shortcut key, make sure to uncheck the box of Delete cropped pixels.

To reveal the keyboard shortcut for a specific tool, hover over it in the tools panel, and the shortcut will get displayed.

Conclusion

There is a load of photoshop keyboard shortcuts available. These shortcuts help you to maximize your workflow and increase your speed and productivity. Familiarizing yourself with photoshop keyboard shortcuts will save time and speed up your post-production workflow.