Keyboard shortcuts

The keys are the same on both systems: where a Mac uses ⌘ (Command), Windows uses Ctrl, and Option on a Mac is Alt on Windows. On a Mac the keys use ⌘, not Control — ⌃1 does not clear anything.

If you remember only three

F1, or ⌘1 / Ctrl+1	Clear All — takes every layer off the screens
→	Sends out the next slide
Option / Alt + →	Moves to the next slide without sending it
:::

Taking things down

What comes down	Mac	Windows
Everything (Clear All)	F1 or ⌘1	F1 or Ctrl+1
The foreground	F2 or ⌘2	F2 or Ctrl+2
The background	F3 or ⌘3	F3 or Ctrl+3
All five overlays at once	F4 or ⌘4	F4 or Ctrl+4

Clicking a slide that is already live does nothing — it stays up. That is on purpose: a stray second click during the show should not change what the room sees. To take things down, use these keys, the × beside a layer in the layer column (Clear this layer), or CLEAR at the top of that column (Clear All). See Layers.

• The foreground and the background fade out over the Fade out time of the presentation their slide came from. See Presentation settings.
• What comes down comes off every monitor at once.
• Clear All does not stop the music. Music has no keys of its own; see Music.
• On a Mac keyboard the F keys usually change the brightness and the like, so ⌘1–⌘4 is the sure way.
• These keys work anywhere in the main window — in Show and in the slide editor alike.

No key turns the monitors off

Each output monitor has its own power switch, at the right end of its header in the top band; the on-air chip in the status bar lists them all with their switches. Turning a monitor off takes nothing down — the layers carry on in the preview, and they are on that monitor again when you switch it back on. If an output window covers the screen you work on, move the mouse over it: a round ✕ appears at its top right for a moment. Click it to turn that monitor off. (Earlier versions closed the output with ⌘. / Ctrl+.; that key is gone.)

Esc does not stop output

Esc is the key your hand reaches for by accident, and a screen that suddenly goes dark cannot be taken back. In the main window Esc does one thing at a time:

1. Cancels a slide you are dragging
2. Otherwise, clears the selection
3. Otherwise, while a monitor is on air, leaves the screens up and tells you how to stop: On air — to stop, use the power switch above the preview or ✕ on the output screen

When you are typing in a field, Esc belongs to that field. In the slide editor it does something else again — see Esc in the editor.

Moving through slides

Key	What it does
→ / ←	Sends out the next / previous slide
↓ / ↑	Sends out the slide one row down / up
Page Down / Page Up	Sends out the slide three rows down / up
Home / End	Sends out the first / last slide of the presentation
Return / Enter	Sends out the slide you are on
Option / Alt + an arrow, Home, End, Page Up or Page Down	Moves only — nothing goes out
Shift + an arrow, Home, End, Page Up or Page Down	Widens the selection — nothing goes out

↓ jumps a whole row. With four cards to a row, it sends out the slide four places on, not the next one. Use → to go one at a time.

• The plain keys count from the slide that went out last, not from the one you selected — so → is always the one after what the room is seeing.
• They stay inside one presentation. At its last slide → does nothing; to go on to the next presentation, click its first slide. Pressing past the end does not restart a video that is playing.
• To look ahead during the show without touching the screen, hold Option / Alt and use the arrows, then press Return / Enter to send the slide you landed on.

These keys work while the slide list has the keyboard. If they seem dead — after you typed in a field, for example — click a slide’s name or an empty spot between the slides. (Clicking a slide’s picture sends it out.)

Stepping a video frame by frame

In Slide settings, click the progress bar. Now ← / → step that preview one frame back or forward, and Shift + ← / → ten frames. Only the preview moves — the stage does not. Handy for setting In point and Out point on exactly the right frame. See Slide settings.

The slide list

These work in Show, on the presentation you are in. Apart from undo, redo, ⌘\ / Ctrl+\ and Find, they need the slide list to have the keyboard, as above.

What it does	Mac	Windows
Select every slide in the presentation	⌘A	Ctrl+A
Copy · cut · paste	⌘C · ⌘X · ⌘V	Ctrl+C · Ctrl+X · Ctrl+V
Duplicate the selected slides	⌘D	Ctrl+D
Delete the selected slides	⌫	Delete or Backspace
Move the selected slides one place earlier · later	⌥⌘← · ⌥⌘→	Ctrl+Alt+← · Ctrl+Alt+→
Move them to the start · end of the presentation	⌥⌘↑ · ⌥⌘↓	Ctrl+Alt+↑ · Ctrl+Alt+↓
Undo	⌘Z	Ctrl+Z
Redo	⇧⌘Z or ⌘Y	Ctrl+Y
Bigger · smaller slide cards	⌘= · ⌘-	Ctrl+= · Ctrl+-
Show or hide the sidebar	⌘\ (or ⌘B)	Ctrl+\ (or Ctrl+B)
Open Find	⌘F	Ctrl+F

• Paste puts the slides after the last selected slide, or at the end when nothing is selected. It also takes what you copied in another app: files, a picture, a YouTube address, or text. Text becomes text slides, split at blank lines and again wherever a piece is too long for the box.
• Cut does not remove anything yet. The slides stay where they are until you paste them.
• Delete asks first only when one of the slides is live, or when you delete ten or more. Otherwise the slides go at once, and the notice that follows has an Undo button.
• Undo goes back up to 50 steps. It also brings back a library, presentation or cue sheet you deleted.

While editing is locked

With the lock in the status bar closed (Unlock editing opens it), ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z does nothing, and delete, duplicate, paste and the move keys answer Editing is locked while presenting. Selecting, copying and sending slides out still work. Lock editing while live in Settings closes the lock for you the first time something goes on stage while a monitor is on air.

Clicks with a key held

Do this	What happens
Click a slide’s picture	Sends it out
Double-click the picture	Sends it out again from the beginning
Click the name under the picture, or Option-click / Alt-click anywhere on the card	Loads it into Slide settings only. Nothing goes out
Double-click the name	Opens it in the slide editor
⌘-click / Ctrl-click	Adds it to the selection, or takes it out
Shift-click	Selects every slide from the one you clicked before to this one
Shift-⌘-click / Shift-Ctrl-click	Adds that run of slides to the selection
Drag from an empty spot — between the cards, in the margins at either side, beside a presentation’s title bar or below the last presentation	Selects every card the band touches. Hold Shift or ⌘ / Ctrl to add to the selection
Click an empty spot	Clears the selection
Drag slides onto another presentation	Copies them. Hold Option / Alt as you let go to move them instead

That is what Option + slide to load (on Windows, Alt + slide to load) beside the Slide settings heading means.

The Find panel

⌘F / Ctrl+F opens it. See Find.

Key	What it does
↑ ↓	Move the highlight
Return / Enter	Open the highlighted result. Nothing goes out
Esc	Close without going anywhere

Number fields

The number fields in the slide editor — its ribbon and the panels that open from it — and in Settings change without typing:

• Drag the field’s name or icon left or right.
• Turn the scroll wheel over the number.
• Click the small up and down arrows beside it.

Hold Shift while you do any of these for ten times the step, or Option / Alt for a tenth of it. To type a value, click the number, type, and press Return / Enter. While you are typing in it, ↑ / ↓ step the value too.

The slide editor

Most keys act on the boxes on the slide. After you click a slide in the left column, they act on slides instead — until you click on the slide itself again.

What it does	Mac	Windows
Undo · redo (also while typing)	⌘Z · ⇧⌘Z or ⌘Y	Ctrl+Z · Ctrl+Y
Select every box (every slide, after clicking the column)	⌘A	Ctrl+A
Copy · cut the selected boxes (slides, after clicking the column)	⌘C · ⌘X	Ctrl+C · Ctrl+X
Paste — boxes onto this slide, slides after this slide	⌘V	Ctrl+V
Duplicate the selected boxes (the slide, after clicking the column)	⌘D	Ctrl+D
Delete the selected boxes (slides, after clicking the column)	⌫	Delete or Backspace
Copy style of a text box · Paste style onto the selected boxes	⌥⌘C · ⌥⌘V	Ctrl+Alt+C · Ctrl+Alt+V
Bold · italic · underline	⌘B · ⌘I · ⌘U	Ctrl+B · Ctrl+I · Ctrl+U
Forward · Backward	⌘] · ⌘[	Ctrl+] · Ctrl+[
To front · To back	⇧⌘] · ⇧⌘[	Ctrl+Shift+] · Ctrl+Shift+[
Start typing in the selected box, at the end	Return	Enter
Select the next · previous box	Tab · Shift+Tab	Tab · Shift+Tab
Move the selected boxes 10 px · 100 px · 1 px	arrows · Shift + arrows · Option + arrows	arrows · Shift + arrows · Alt + arrows
Open the slide above · below (after clicking the column)	↑ · ↓	↑ · ↓

• On the slide, with no box selected, ⌫ / Delete does nothing. It never deletes the slide you are on. In the left column it does delete the slide — ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z brings it back.
• In the left column, cut takes the slides out at once; paste puts them after the slide you are editing.
• Bold, italic and underline go on the selected words while you type, and on every selected box otherwise.
• The pixel steps are measured on a 1920-wide slide, the same distance across and down.
• ⌘A / Ctrl+A and Tab skip a box whose role is Backdrop, and To back stops just above it. See Design tools.
• Copy style works on text boxes only. In Show the same two commands are on a card’s right-click menu.
• While editing is locked, the keys that change the slide — Paste style included — change nothing and answer Editing is locked while presenting.

While you type

What it does	Mac	Windows
Split the slide at the cursor	⌘Return	Ctrl+Enter
At the very start of the text: join this slide onto the one before	⌘⌫	Ctrl+Backspace
At the very end of the text: pull the next slide in	⌘⌦ (forward delete)	Ctrl+Delete
Stop typing	Esc	Esc

The joining keys work only with no words selected, and only at the very start or end — in the middle of the text they do what they always do.

Esc in the editor

Esc backs out one step at a time: it cancels a drag, then stops typing, then puts down a drawing tool, then clears the selection. When there is nothing left to back out of, it leaves the editor and goes back to Show. Right after it clears a selection it waits a moment, so a quick double press does not throw you out.

Clicks and drags with a key held

Do this	What happens
Double-click a text box	Starts typing where you clicked
⌘-click / Ctrl-click a box	Adds it to the selection, or takes it out
Shift-click a box	Adds it to the selection
Option-click / Alt-click	Selects the box underneath. Each click goes one box deeper
Option-drag / Alt-drag a box	Moves a copy, leaving the original where it was
Shift while moving	Keeps to one direction, across or down
⌘ / Ctrl while moving, resizing or drawing	No snapping
Shift on a corner handle	Keeps the proportions. Pictures, SVG drawings and icons keep them anyway — for those, Shift lets them go
Shift on the rotation knob	Turns the box in 15° steps
Shift while drawing a shape	Keeps it square — a circle for an ellipse
Option / Alt while drawing	Draws out from the point where you started
Click with a drawing tool, without dragging	Puts the shape down at its default size
Shift while dragging a selection band	Adds the boxes it covers to the selection
⌘ / Ctrl while dragging a selection band	Flips the boxes it covers in or out of the selection
⌘-click / Ctrl-click a slide in the left column	Adds it to the selection, or takes it out
Shift-click a slide in the left column	Selects every slide from the one you clicked before to this one
Double-click a slide in the left column	Sends it out

While the Rectangle or Ellipse tool is in your hand, a line above the slide sums this up: Drag to draw · ⇧ square/circle · ⌥ from the centre · click for default size · Esc to cancel. On Windows it shows the same symbols — ⇧ is Shift and ⌥ is Alt.

Picking a colour from the screen

The eyedropper button in the colour panel (Pick from screen) takes a colour from anywhere on your screens. A magnifier follows the pointer.

What it does	Mac	Windows
Take the colour under the pointer	Click	Click, Enter or Space
Give up without taking a colour	Esc	Esc or right-click
Move the pointer 1 px · 10 px	—	Arrow keys · Shift + arrow keys

On a Mac the magnifier is the system’s own. On Windows it is live — a video playing under it plays in the magnifier too — and it is never drawn over an output window, so the audience does not see it, though you can still pick colours there. Switching to another window also gives up.

More about the editor in The slide editor and Design tools.