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Save Time in PowerPoint with these Must Know Keyboard Shortcuts

byCarrie Barbosa

There are hundreds of keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft PowerPoint. The truth is that many people only use a handful of favorite shortcuts and haven’t really taken the time to explore and memorize any more. Between planning out and creating slide decks, adding data, and meeting deadlines, it seems that there is never time to pick up new strategies to make our work faster and easier.

Here are some shortcuts that will save you time and help you get started. Also, they’re grouped together in a way that will help you begin using them immediately. Consequently, making them easier to commit to memory.

The best way to learn is to start incorporating a couple shortcuts each time you open PowerPoint. Before you know it, you will have mastered all of these and you’ll be hungry for more.

Add a new slide

Ctrl + M Insert a new slide
Ctrl + Enter Insert a new slide (Cycles through placeholders so you can start typing where you need to.)

Duplicate

Ctrl + D Duplicate an object
Ctrl + Shift + D Duplicate a slide

Cut, Copy, and Paste

Ctrl + D Duplicate an object
Ctrl + Shift + D Duplicate a slide
Cut, Copy, Paste
Ctrl + X Cut. Remove the object or text.
Ctrl + C Copy. Copy object or text but leaves the original in place
Ctrl + V Paste
Ctrl + Alt + V Open paste special dialog box

Copy and Paste: Formatting and Animations

Ctrl + Shift + C Copy the formatting of an object
Ctrl + Shift + V Paste/Apply the formatting of an object
Alt + Shift + C Copy all animations of an object

Undo and Redo

Ctrl + Z Undo last action
Ctrl + Y Redo/Repeat last action

Group and Ungroup

Ctrl + G Group
Ctrl + Shift + G Ungroup

Formatting Text

Ctrl + B Bold
Ctrl + I Italics
Ctrl + U Underline
Ctrl + ] Increase Font Size
Ctrl + [ Decrease Font Size

Aligning Text

Ctrl + L Align to the left
Ctrl + R Align to the right
Ctrl + E Align to the center
Ctrl + J Justify alignment

Join the Discussion

What are your favorite shortcuts? Try them out and let us know how it goes.

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