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Keyboard shortcuts in Publisher

Sometimes you can work faster by leaving your fingers on the keyboard and not switching over to the mouse or touch pad. You probably already use shortcuts like Ctrl+C for Copy and Ctrl+S for Save, but you might not know a lot of the other shortcuts. Here they are:

In this article

Ribbon shortcuts

These shortcuts were introduced with the Publisher ribbon. Some tabs are contextual and appear only when you’ve inserted or selected an object such as a shape or a table. The double-letter shortcuts make it possible to use keyboard shortcuts with contextual tabs.

New keyboard shortcuts, using double letters, opening the Drawing Tools tab.

To use these, first selected the object, then press Alt, press the two letter context menu shortcut, and then press the remaining keys if any. For example to open the Shape Effects menu and add a shadow to a shape you select the shape, press Alt, JD to open the Drawing ToolsFormat tab, SE to open the Shape Effects menu, S to select the Shadow Gallery, and then tab through the shadow options to apply the shadow to your shape.

Shape and Picture Effects

Shape effects

To do this

Press

Open the Shape Effects Menu

Alt, JD, SE

Open the Shape Effects – Shadow Gallery

Alt, JD, SE, S - then tab through options

Open the Shape Effects – Reflection Gallery

Alt, JD, SE, R - then tab through options

Open the Shape Effects – Glow Gallery

Alt, JD,SE,G- then tab through options

Open the Shape Effects – Soft Edges Gallery

Alt, JD,SE,E - then tab through options

Open the Shape Effects – Bevel Gallery

Alt, JD,SE,B - then tab through options

Open the Shape Effects – 3-D Rotation Gallery

Alt, JD,SE,D - then tab through options

Open the Shape Styles Gallery

Alt, JD,ST - then tab through options

Picture effects

To do this

Press

Open the Picture Effects Menu

Alt, JP,PE

Open the Picture Effects – Shadow Gallery

Alt, JP,PE,S - then tab through options

Open the Picture Effects – Reflection Gallery

Alt, JP,PE,R - then tab through options

Open the Picture Effects – Glow Gallery

Alt, JP,PE,G - then tab through options

Open the Picture Effects – Soft Edges Gallery

Alt, JP,PE,E - then tab through options

Open the Picture Effects – Bevel Gallery

Alt, JP,PE,B - then tab through options

Open the Picture Effects – 3-D Rotation Gallery

Alt, JP,PE,D - then tab through options

Open the Picture Styles Gallery

Alt, JP,K - then tab through options

Clear Picture Style

Alt, JP,K,C

Text Effects

Text fill dropdown

To do this

Press

Open Text Fill Dropdown

Alt, JX,TI

No Fill

Alt, JX,TI,N - then tab through options

More Fill Colors…

Alt, JX,TI,M - then tab through options

Fill Effects…

Alt, JX,TI,F - then tab through options

Tints

Alt, JX,TI,T - then tab through options

Sample Font Color

Alt, JX,TI,S

Text outline dropdown

To do this

Press

Open Text Outline Dropdown

Alt ,JX,TO

No Outline

Alt ,JX,TO,N

More Outline Colors…

Alt, JX,TO,M - then tab through options

Outline Effects…

Alt. JX.TO.O - then tab through options

Sample Line Color

Alt, JX,TO,S - then tab through options

Weight

Alt, JX,TO,W - then tab through options

Dashes

Alt, JX,TO,D - then tab through options

Text effects dropdown

To do this

Press

Open Text Effects Dropdown

Alt, JX,TE

Shadow

Alt, JX, TE,S - then tab through options

Reflection

Alt, JX, TE,R - then tab through options

Glow

Alt, JX, TE,G - then tab through options

Bevel

Alt, JX, TE,B - then tab through options

Top of Page

Create, open, close, or save a publication

Create, open, close a publication

To do this

Press

Open a new instance of Publisher

CTRL+N

Display the Open Publication dialog box

CTRL+O

Close the current publication

CTRL+F4 or CTRL+W

Display the Save As dialog box

CTRL+S

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Edit or format text or objects

Edit or format text

To do this

Press

Display the Find and Replace task pane, with the Find option selected

F3 or CTRL+F or SHIFT+F4

Display the Find and Replace task pane, with the Replace option selected

CTRL+H

Check spelling

F7

Display the Thesaurus task pane

SHIFT+F7

Display the Research task pane

ALT + click a word

Select all the text (If the cursor is in a text box, this selects all text in the current story; if the cursor is not in a text box, this selects all the objects on a page.)

CTRL+A

Make text bold

CTRL+B

Italicize text

CTRL+I

Underline text

CTRL+U

Make text small capital letters, or return small capital letters to upper and lower case

CTRL+SHIFT+K

Open the Font dialog

CTRL+SHIFT+F

Copy formatting

CTRL+SHIFT+C

Paste formatting

CTRL+SHIFT+V

Turn Special Characters on or off

CTRL+SHIFT+Y

Return character formatting to the current text style

CTRL+SPACEBAR

Apply or remove subscript formatting

CTRL+=

Apply or remove superscript formatting

CTRL+SHIFT+=

Increase space between letters in a word (kerning)

CTRL+SHIFT+]

Decrease space between letters in a word (kerning)

CTRL+SHIFT+[

Increase font size by 1.0 point

CTRL+]

Decrease font size by 1.0 point

CTRL+[

Increase to the next size in the Font Size box

CTRL+SHIFT+>

Decrease to the next size in the Font Size box

CTRL+SHIFT+<

Center a paragraph

CTRL+E

Align a paragraph on the left

CTRL+L

Align a paragraph on the right

CTRL+R

Align a paragraph on both sides (justified)

CTRL+J

Distribute a paragraph evenly horizontally

CTRL+SHIFT+D

Set newspaper alignment for a paragraph (East Asian languages only)

CTRL+SHIFT+J

Display the Hyphenation dialog box

CTRL+SHIFT+H

Insert the current time

ALT+SHIFT+T

Insert the current date

ALT+SHIFT+D

Insert the current page number

ALT+SHIFT+P

Prevent the word from getting hyphenated if it occurs at the end of a line

CTRL+SHIFT+0 (zero)

Copy text formats

To do this

Press

Copy formatting from the selected text

CTRL+SHIFT+C

Apply copied formatting to text

CTRL+SHIFT+V

Copy, cut, paste or delete text or objects

To do this

Press

Copy the selected text or object

CTRL+C or CTRL+INSERT

Cut the selected text or object

CTRL+X or SHIFT+DELETE

Paste text or an object

CTRL+V or SHIFT+INSERT

Delete the selected object

DELETE or CTRL+SHIFT+X

Undo or redo an action

To do this

Press

Undo what you last did

CTRL+Z or ALT+BACKSPACE

Redo what you last did

CTRL+Y or F4

Nudge an object

To do this

Press

Nudge a selected object up, down, left, or right

Arrow keys

If the selected object has a cursor in its text, nudge the selected object up, down, left, or right

ALT+arrow keys

Layer objects

To do this

Press

Bring object to front

ALT+F6

Send object to back

ALT+SHIFT+F6

Snap objects

To do this

Press

Turn Snap to Guides on or off

F10, SHIFT+R, SHIFT+S, SHIFT+M

Select or group objects

To do this

Press

Select all objects on the page (If your cursor is in a text box, this selects all the text in a story)

CTRL+A

Group selected objects, or ungroup grouped objects

CTRL+SHIFT+G

Clear the selection from selected text

ESC

Clear the selection from a selected object

ESC

Select the object within the group — if that object contains selected text

ESC

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Work with pages

Select or insert pages

If your publication is in Two-Page Spread view, these commands apply to the selected two-page spread. Otherwise, these apply only to the selected page.

To do this

Press

Display the Go To Page dialog box

F5 or CTRL+G

Insert a page or a two-page spread. If you are creating a newsletter, it opens the Insert publication type Pages dialog box

CTRL+SHIFT+N

Insert duplicate page after the selected page

CTRL+SHIFT+U

Move between pages

To do this

Press

Display the Go To Page dialog box.

F5 or CTRL+G

Go to the next page

CTRL+PAGE DOWN

Go to the previous page

CTRL+PAGE UP

Switch between the current page and the master page

CTRL+M

Use the master page

To do this

Press

Switch between the current page and the master page.

CTRL+M

Show or hide boundaries or guides

To do this

Press

Turn Boundaries on or off.

CTRL+SHIFT+O

Turn Horizontal Baseline Guides on or off (not available in web view)

CTRL+F7

Turn Vertical Baseline Guides on or off (East Asian languages only—not available in web view)

CTRL+SHIFT+F7

Zoom

To do this

Press

Switch between the current view and the actual size

F9

Zoom to full page view

CTRL+SHIFT+L

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Printing

Using Print Preview

These keyboard shortcuts are available when you're in Print view and affect the print preview pane.

To do this

Press

Switch between the current view and the actual size

F9

Scroll up or down

UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW

Scroll left or right

LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW

Scroll up in large increments

PAGE UP or CTRL+UP ARROW

Scroll down in large increments

PAGE DOWN or CTRL+DOWN ARROW

Scroll left in large increments

CTRL+LEFT ARROW

Scroll right in large increments

CTRL+RIGHT ARROW

Scroll to the upper left corner of the page

HOME

Scroll to the lower right corner of the page

END

Display the Go To Page dialog box

F5 or CTRL+G

Go to the previous page

CTRL+PAGE UP

Go to the next page

CTRL+PAGE DOWN

Go to the next window (if you have multiple publications open)

CTRL+F6

Exit Print Preview and display the Print view

CTRL+P

Exit Print Preview

ESC

Print a publication

To do this

Press

Open the Print dialog view.

CTRL+P

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Work with web pages and email

Insert hyperlinks

To do this

Press

Display the Insert Hyperlink dialog box (make sure your cursor is in a text box)

CTRL+K

Send e-mail

After you choose Send as Message (File > Share > Email), you can use the following keyboard shortcuts.

Important:  Outlook needs to be open before you can send email messages. If Outlook isn't open, the message will be stored in your Outbox folder.

To do this

Press

Send the current page or publication

ALT+S

Open the Address Book (cursor must be in the message header)

CTRL+SHIFT+B

Open the Design Checker (cursor must be in the message header)

ALT+K

Check the names on the To, Cc, and Bcc lines (cursor must be in the message header)

CTRL+K

Open the Address Book with the To box selected (cursor must be in the message header)

ALT+. (period)

Open the Address Book with the Cc box selected (cursor must be in the message header)

ALT+C

Open the Address Book with the Bcc box selected (cursor must be in the message header and the Bcc field must be visible)

ALT+B

Go to the Subject box

ALT+J

Open the Outlook Message Options dialog box

ALT+P

Open the Custom dialog box to create an email message flag (cursor must be in the email message header)

CTRL+SHIFT+G

Move the cursor to the next field in the email message header (cursor must be in the email message header)

TAB

Move the cursor to the previous field in the email message header

SHIFT+TAB

Alternate between the insertion point in the email message header and the Send button in the Mailing toolbar

CTRL+TAB

Open the Address Book when the cursor is in the e-mail message header

CTRL+SHIFT+B

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Automate tasks

Work with macros

To do this

Press

Display the Macros dialog box.

ALT+F8

Work with Visual Basic

To do this

Press

Display the Visual Basic editor

ALT+F11

Top of Page

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