Microsoft PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts

Q: How do I start a PowerPoint slideshow with the keyboard?

Press F5 on Windows (Cmd+Shift+Enter on Mac) to start from the first slide, or Shift+F5 (Cmd+Enter on Mac) to start from the slide you are currently editing.

Q: How do I black out the screen during a presentation?

Press B during the slideshow to toggle a black screen, or W for a white screen. Press the same key again, or any navigation key, to bring your slide back.

Q: How do I jump straight to a specific slide while presenting?

Type the slide number and press Enter during the slideshow. For example, 12 then Enter jumps directly to slide 12 without stepping through every slide.

Q: What is the shortcut for a new slide in PowerPoint?

Press Ctrl+M on Windows or Cmd+Shift+N on Mac to insert a new slide after the current one. Ctrl+D (Cmd+D) duplicates the selected slide instead.

Q: How do I draw on slides during a presentation?

Press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac) during the slideshow to turn the pointer into a pen, E to erase your annotations, and Ctrl+A (Cmd+A) to switch back to the arrow.

Microsoft PowerPoint is the standard tool for building and delivering presentations. Shortcuts matter twice here: once while building decks, where duplicating and aligning objects eats hours, and again live on stage, where slideshow keys let you jump slides and black the screen without fumbling in front of an audience. These are the defaults for Windows and Mac. This cheat sheet covers 56 default shortcuts for Windows and Mac.

Files and General

New presentation	`Ctrl`+`NCmd`+`N`
Open presentation	`Ctrl`+`OCmd`+`O`
Save	`Ctrl`+`SCmd`+`S`
Save As	`F12Cmd`+`Shift`+`S`
Print	`Ctrl`+`PCmd`+`P`
Close presentation	`Ctrl`+`WCmd`+`W`
Undo	`Ctrl`+`ZCmd`+`Z`
Redo	`Ctrl`+`YCmd`+`Y`
Repeat last action	`F4Cmd`+`Y`
Find	`Ctrl`+`FCmd`+`F`
Replace	`Ctrl`+`H`no default
Insert hyperlink	`Ctrl`+`KCmd`+`K`

Slides and Objects

New slide	`Ctrl`+`MCmd`+`Shift`+`N`
Duplicate slide or selected object	`Ctrl`+`DCmd`+`D`
Copy	`Ctrl`+`CCmd`+`C`
Cut	`Ctrl`+`XCmd`+`X`
Paste	`Ctrl`+`VCmd`+`V`
Paste Special	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`VCmd`+`Ctrl`+`V`
Select all	`Ctrl`+`ACmd`+`A`
Group selected objects	`Ctrl`+`GCmd`+`Option`+`G`
Ungroup objects	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`GCmd`+`Option`+`Shift`+`G`
Duplicate object by dragging	`Ctrl`+`DragOption`+`Drag`
Nudge selected object	`Arrow keysArrow keys`
Cycle through objects on slide	`TabTab`
Exit text editing / deselect	`EscEsc`

Text Formatting

Bold	`Ctrl`+`BCmd`+`B`
Italic	`Ctrl`+`ICmd`+`I`
Underline	`Ctrl`+`UCmd`+`U`
Increase font size	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`>Cmd`+`Shift`+`>`
Decrease font size	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`<Cmd`+`Shift`+`<`
Open Font dialog	`Ctrl`+`TCmd`+`T`
Center paragraph	`Ctrl`+`ECmd`+`E`
Left align paragraph	`Ctrl`+`LCmd`+`L`
Right align paragraph	`Ctrl`+`RCmd`+`R`
Justify paragraph	`Ctrl`+`JCmd`+`J`
Copy formatting	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`CCmd`+`Shift`+`C`
Paste formatting	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`VCmd`+`Shift`+`V`
Cycle case of selected text	`Shift`+`F3Shift`+`F3`

Outline Editing

Promote outline item	`Alt`+`Shift`+`Left`no default
Demote outline item	`Alt`+`Shift`+`Right`no default
Move outline item up	`Alt`+`Shift`+`Up`no default
Move outline item down	`Alt`+`Shift`+`Down`no default

Slideshow Delivery

Start slideshow from beginning	`F5Cmd`+`Shift`+`Enter`
Start slideshow from current slide	`Shift`+`F5Cmd`+`Enter`
Open Presenter View	`Alt`+`F5`no default
Next slide or animation	`NN`
Previous slide or animation	`PP`
Jump to a specific slide	`Number`+`EnterNumber`+`Enter`
Jump to first slide	`HomeFn`+`Left`
Black screen on or off	`BB`
White screen on or off	`WW`
Switch pointer to pen	`Ctrl`+`PCmd`+`P`
Switch pen back to arrow	`Ctrl`+`ACmd`+`A`
Erase on-screen annotations	`EE`
Hide pointer and navigation button	`Ctrl`+`HCmd`+`H`
End slideshow	`EscEsc`

Put your top Microsoft PowerPoint shortcuts on real keys

The five Microsoft PowerPoint actions most worth binding to a physical macropad key:

Ctrl+DCmd+D Duplicate slide or selected object Deck building is mostly duplicating and tweaking; this is the highest-repetition edit action.

Ctrl+MCmd+Shift+N New slide One press to keep momentum while drafting a deck outline.

Ctrl+GCmd+Option+G Group selected objects Grouping and regrouping shapes is constant when laying out diagrams.

Shift+F5Cmd+Enter Start slideshow from current slide The instant preview loop: edit a slide, present it, tweak, repeat.

BB Black screen on or off A dedicated key to pull audience attention back to you mid-presentation.

I hand-build small-batch programmable macropads (QMK/VIA) in Barcelona. One press, any shortcut, any app.

See the macropads

Microsoft PowerPoint shortcut FAQs

How do I start a PowerPoint slideshow with the keyboard?

Press F5 on Windows (Cmd+Shift+Enter on Mac) to start from the first slide, or Shift+F5 (Cmd+Enter on Mac) to start from the slide you are currently editing.

How do I black out the screen during a presentation?

Press B during the slideshow to toggle a black screen, or W for a white screen. Press the same key again, or any navigation key, to bring your slide back.

How do I jump straight to a specific slide while presenting?

Type the slide number and press Enter during the slideshow. For example, 12 then Enter jumps directly to slide 12 without stepping through every slide.

What is the shortcut for a new slide in PowerPoint?

Press Ctrl+M on Windows or Cmd+Shift+N on Mac to insert a new slide after the current one. Ctrl+D (Cmd+D) duplicates the selected slide instead.

How do I draw on slides during a presentation?

Press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac) during the slideshow to turn the pointer into a pen, E to erase your annotations, and Ctrl+A (Cmd+A) to switch back to the arrow.