PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts: Owing to the advancement of technology, the number of computer users across the world has increased drastically. Computers being the vanguards of technological advancement have transformed the pre-existing communication and education system in today’s world.
The growth of computer technology has paved the way for creating new ideas and aided the improvement of artificial intelligence over the years. Being the most vital element that shapes society and its operations, the demand for computer-related careers has seen a steady rise.
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These jobs demand the need for application development in the current social construct. One such application designed for creating, editing, and presenting information through a user-friendly, virtual domain is Microsoft’s PowerPoint.
The prime focus of this article is to highlight the various shortcuts related to the PowerPoint application.
PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts
- What are Shortcut Keys?
- List of the essential PowerPoint Shortcut Keys
- List of the Basic PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Formatting and Editing
- The PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Slide Show
- The PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Navigating and Selecting
- Four powerful PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for better presentation
- PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Pictures, WordArt, Shapes and Objects
- Four advantages of using PowerPoint Shortcut Keys
- Conclusion
What are Shortcut Keys?
Powerpoint group shortcut: The keyboard contains a series of keys that users need to utilize for numerous purposes. Computer users use these keys in groups to make the conventional computing process more efficient.
In technological terms, these keys are known as ‘Shortcut Keys.’ The correct usage of them invokes a special operation in the computer software to execute a specific command.
Professionals have designed these keys for faster performance in computing results. PowerPoint Shortcut Keys contributes to making computation easier to perform and much more straightforward.
PowerPoint Shortcut Keys assists users and aids in saving time and avoiding trouble.
List of the essential PowerPoint Shortcut Keys
Powerpoint shortcut keys: Given below is a list of the most general Shortcut Keys used in PowerPoint.
| Keys used | Function |
| Ctrl + N | Used to create a new presentation |
| Ctrl + O | Used to open an existing presentation |
| Ctrl + S | Used to save a new presentation |
| Ctrl + F4 or Ctrl + W | Used to close the current presentation |
| Ctrl + Q | Used to save and close the current presentation |
| Ctrl + Z | Used to undo an action |
| Ctrl + Y | Used to redo an action |
| Ctrl + F2 | Used to open the ‘Print Preview Option’ |
| Ctrl + F1 | Used to hide or show the ribbon |
| Ctrl + F | Used to ‘find and replace’ or ‘search within the presentation’ |
| Alt + F2 or Alt + F12 | Used to open and save as dialog box |
| Alt + F | Used to open the file tab menu |
| Alt + H | Used to redirect to the ‘Home Tab’ |
| Alt + N | Used to open the ‘Insert Tab’ |
| Alt + G | Used to open the ‘Design Tab’ |
| Alt + Y | Used to go to the ‘Help Tab’ |
| Alt + A | Used to go to the ‘Animations Tab’ |
| F7 | Used as Spellcheck |
List of the Basic PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Formatting and Editing
Powerpoint laser pointer shortcut: Given below is a list of the primary Shortcut Keys used in PowerPoint for the purpose of formatting and editing data.
| Keys used | Function |
| Ctrl + X | Used to cut the selected text, object, slide that is selected |
| Ctrl + Insert or Ctrl + C | Used to copy the selected text, object, slide that is selected |
| Shift + Insert or Ctrl + V | Used to paste the selected text, object, slide that is selected |
| Ctrl + Alt + V | Used to open the ‘Paste Special dialog box’ option |
| Ctrl + B | Used to bold the text that is selected |
| Ctrl + I | Used to italicize the text that is selected |
| Ctrl + U | Used to add underline or remove it |
| Ctrl + E | Used to change the alignment to center |
| Ctrl + J | Used to justify the text that is selected |
| Ctrl + L | Used to left align the text that is selected |
| Ctrl + R | Used to right align the text that is selected |
| Ctrl + T | Used to display the font dialog box option |
| Ctrl + K | Used to insert a hyperlink within the presentation |
| Ctrl + M | Used to insert a new slide in the presentation |
| Ctrl + D | Used to duplicate the selected slide or object |
| Delete Key | Used to delete the text, object, slide that is selected |
The PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Slide Show
PowerPoint Shortcut Keys for Slideshow:
| Keys | Function |
| F5 | Used to play the current presentation from the beginning |
| Shift + F5 | Used to play the recent presentation from the current slide |
| Ctrl + P | Used to annotate the ‘Pen Tool’ while the Slide Show is playing |
| Page Down or N | Used to move on to the next slide while playing the presentation |
| Page Up or P | Used to move backward to the previous slide while playing the presentation |
| B | Used to change the screen to black while the Slide Show is playing or change the screen from black to the actual Slide. |
| ESC | Used to End a Slide Show |
The PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Navigating and Selecting
PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for the purpose of Navigation and Selection are compiled below:
| Keys used | Function |
| Shift + F10 | Used to display the context menu in PowerPoint |
| Up or Down Arrow Key | Used to move the focus to a specific item |
| Right Arrow Key | Used to move the focus from an item in the group to the first item |
| Left Arrow Key | Used to move the focus from an item in the group to its original group |
| Shift + Up or Down arrow Key | Used to move the focus to the desired item and select it |
| Enter or Spacebar | Used to select a focused item |
| Shift + Enter or Shift + Spacebar | Used to cancel the selection of a focused item |
| Ctrl + Shift + F | Used to move the focused item forward |
| Ctrl + Shift + B | Used to move the focused items backward |
| Ctrl + Shift + S | Used to hide or show a focussed item |
| F2 | Used to rename an item selected |
| F6 | Used to cycle the keyboard focus through different panes. |
| Alt + Shift + 1 | Used to collapse all groups in the tree view of the selection plane |
| Alt + shift + 9 | Used to expand all groups |
| Shift + Tab or Tab button | Used to switch keyboard focus from the tree view and show or hide all buttons within the selection plane |
| The ‘-’ or ‘+’ sign | Used to collapse or expand a focused group |
Four powerful PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for better Presentation
Shortcut 1: Activating the Laser Pointer
A great way to underline or make your presentation’s critical points stand out is to use the laser pointer. While your slide show is on, you can activate the laser pointer option that comes within the PowerPoint Software.
While presenting, to activate the laser pointer, you need to press the Ctrl key, click and drag with your mouse.
Shortcut 2: Inking Your Slides
While presenting your PowerPoint slides, you may want to highlight specific points, add diagrams or formulas. You can do them by using the inking tools included in the PowerPoint software.
The inking tools include the Pen and the highlighter.
To use the inking tools, you need to press shortcut keys Ctrl + P once to activate them.
Ctrl + I will activate the highlighter pen, and Ctrl + M will remove all pen marks from your slides.
Shortcut 3: Launching Presenter View
To appear professional, you can use the presentation view instead of the Slideshow view in PowerPoint.
In the presentation view, you can do the following:
- See the notes you made for that specific slide
- Preview the following slide
- View the duration of your presentation
- Make use of the laser pointer and ink tools to level up your presentation.
To activate the Presentation View, you need to press Alt + F5
Shortcut 4: Jumping to a Slide within Your Presentation
If your presentation is quite lengthy, and you have to keep track of time constantly, this shortcut key might come in handy.
Say you want to jump to a specific slide to cut time, and you don’t know what slide you’re on, you can press Ctrl + S (in Slideshow mode) to launch the ‘All Slide Dialog Box.’
The ‘all slide dialog box’ gives a view of all your presentation slides so that you can select the desired slide.
PowerPoint Shortcut Keys used for Pictures, WordArt, Shapes and Objects
The shortcut Keys used for Pictures, WordArt, Shapes and Objects in PowerPoint are:
| Keys | Function |
| Alt + N | Used to insert a text box |
| Alt + W | Used to insert WordArt |
| Ctrl + Shift + G | Used to ungroup the selected group |
| Ctrl + Shift + C | Used to copy the attributes of shape that’s selected |
| Ctrl + Shift + V | Used to paste the attributes of shape that’s selected |
Four Advantages of using PowerPoint Shortcut Keys
- Performance: Shortcut keys can improve productivity and ease the process of accomplishing more tasks using only the keyboard. Learning about keyboard shortcuts lets users them have more command over their work while putting less effort into the task at hand.
- Capacity to Multitask: Using keyboard shortcuts can spare time and aid users in getting completing work at a time. Very busy users can enjoy leisure for themselves by finishing more work at once.
- Wellness issues: Excessive mouse usage can cause RSI or Repetitive Syndrome Injury to users. It is opined by pharmaceutical scientists for people to use shortcuts to reduce the risk of RSI.
- Exactness: If jobs demand enhanced accuracy, they should use PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts to complete the task faster and with more precision.
- Time Management: With the aid of PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts, users can accomplish the task faster than the general time frame.
Conclusion on PowerPoint Keyboard Shortcuts
Using Shortcuts favors users to begin using shortcut keys while operating the computer. It helps in quicker calculation and makes the overall user experience more stable and comfortable. For users employed in the technical sector of the current age, using PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts is the accurate option.