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Inkscape Keyboard Shortcuts

Casey Roche
Last updated June 28, 2023

Keyboard shortcuts will save you time when working on your design projects. Learning the most common and used shortcuts is essential to speeding up your workflow and minimizing the tedious work you sometimes need to do.

Here is a comprehensive list of the most common Inkscape keyboard shortcuts you may need in the program. Plus, a bonus section on where to find the complete list of shortcuts and how to customize them to suit your needs.

Inkscape Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are the top keyboard shortcuts split into categories for Windows and Mac users.

Tools

Windows Mac Action
S S Select and transform objects tool
Spacebar Spacebar Temporarily switches to Select tool and back to current tool with another Spacebar press
N N Edit Path by Nodes Tool
R R Create Rectangles and Squares Tool
E E Create Circles, Ellipses, and Arcs Tool
* * Create Stars and Polygons Tool
X X Create 3D Boxes Tool
I I Create Spirals Tool
B B Draw Bezier Curves and Straight Lines Tool
P P Draw Freehand Lines Tool (Pencil)
C C Draw Calligraphic or Brush Strokes Tool
T T Create and Edit Text Objects Tool
G G Create and Edit Gradients Tool
D D Pick Colors from Image Tool
U U Fill Bounded Areas Tool
W W Tweak Objects by Sculpting or Painting Tool
A A Spray Copies or Clones of Objects Tool
E E Erase Objects or Paths Tool
O O Create Diagram Connectors
M M Measure Objects
Z Z Zoom In or Out Tool

General Actions

Windows Mac Action
Control + N Command + N New Document
Control + O Command + O Open Document
Control + I Command + I Import
Control + S Command + S Save Document
Shift + Control + S Shift + Command + S Save Document As
Control + W Command + W Close Document
Control + Q Command + Q Quit Inkscape
Control + Z Command + Z Undo
Control + Y Command + Y Redo
Control + X Command + X Cut
Control + C Command + C Copy
Control + V Command + V Paste
Control + Alt + V Command + Option + V Paste in Place
Shift + Control + V  Shift + Command + V Paste Style
Control + A Command + A Select All
Shift + Control + R Shift + Command + R Resize Page to Selection

Editing Actions

Windows Mac Action
Delete Delete Delete Selected Object(s)
Control + D Command + D Duplicate
Control + G Command + G Group
Shift + Control + G Shift + Command + G Ungroup
H H Flip Horizontally
V V Flip Vertically

Path Actions

Shift + Control + C Shift + Command + C Object to Path
Control + Alt + C Command + Option + C Stroke to Path
Shift + Alt + B Shift + Option + B Trace Bitmap
Control + + Command + + Union
Control + - Command + - Difference
Control + * Command + * Intersection
Control + ^ Command + ^ Exclusion
Control + / Command + / Division
Control + Alt + / Command + Option + / Cut Path
Control + K Command + K Combine
Shift + Control + K Shift + Command + K Break Apart
Control + ( Command + ( Inset
Control + ) Command + ) Outset
Control + J Command + J Dynamic Offset
Control + Alt + J Command + Option + J Linked Offset
Control + & Command + & Path Effects
& & Paste Path Effects
Control + L Command + L Simplify Nodes

Navigation Actions

Windows Mac Action
Space + click and drag Space + click and drag Pan View
Shift + + Shift + + Zoom In
Shift + - Shift + - Zoom Out
1 1 Zoom to 1:1
2 2 Zoom to 1:2
3 3 Zoom Selection
4 4 Zoom Drawing
5 5 Zoom Page
6 6 Zoom Page Width
Control + 4 Command + 4 Center Page
` (back quote) ` (back quote) Zoom Previous
~ ~ Zoom Next
Control + Up Command + Up Scroll Up
Control + Down Command + Down Scroll Down
Control + Left Command + Left Scroll Left
Control + Right Command + Right Scroll Right

Text and Font Actions

Windows Mac Action
Shift + Control + F Shift + Command + F Text and Font Panel
Control + Shift + > Command + Shift + > Increase Font Size
Control + Shift + < Command + Shift + < Decrease Font Size
Control + B Command + B Bold
Control + I Command + I Italic
Control + Alt + K Command + Option + K Check Spelling

Dialogs and Panels

Windows Mac Action
Shift + Control + F Shift + Command + F Fill and Stroke
Shift + Control + M Shift + Command + M Transform
Shift + Control + L Shift + Command + L Layers
Shift + Control + A Shift + Command + A Align and Distribute
Shift + Control + O Shift + Command + O Object Properties
Shift + Control + X Shift + Command + X XML Editor
Shift + Control + D Shift + Command + D Document Preferences
Shift + Control + E Shift + Command + E Export Panel
Shift + Alt + B Shift + Option + B Trace Bitmap
Control + F Command + F Find
Shift + Control + T Shift + Command + T Text and Font
Shift + Control + W Shift + Command + W Swatches
Shift + Control + H Shift + Command + H Undo History
Shift + Control + Y Shift + Command + Y Symbols
Shift + Control + Q Shift + Command + Q Selectors and CSS

Window Actions

Windows Mac Action
Control + R Control + R Toggle Rulers
Control + B Control + B Toggle Scrollbars
F11 F11 Toggle Fullscreen
Shift + # Shift + # Page Grid
Shift + | Shift + | Guides
F12 F12 Show/Hide Dialogs
Shift + F10, right-click Shift + F10, right-click Drop-Down (context) Menu
Control + F4, Control + W Command + W Close Document Window
Control + Tab Control + Tab Next Item
Shift + Control + Tab Shift + Control + Tab Previous Item

Layers Actions

Windows Mac Action
Shift + Control + N Shift + Command + N Add New Layer
Control + Page Up Command + Page Up Switch to Layer Above
Control + Page Down Command + Page Down Switch to Layer Below
Shift + Page Up Shift + Page Up Move Selection to Layer Above
Shift+ Page Down Shift + Page Down Move Selection to Layer Below
Shift + Control + Page Up Shift + Command + Page Up Raise Layer
Shift + Control + Page Down Shift + Command + Page Down Lower Layer
Shift + Control+ Home Shift + Command+ Home Raise Layer to Top
Shift + Control + End Shift + Command + End Lower Layer to Bottom

Object Actions

Windows Mac Action
Alt + D Option + D Clone Object
Shift + Alt + D Shift + Option + D Unlink Clone
Shift + D Shift + D Select Original
Alt + B Option + B Make a Bitmap Copy
Home Home Raise Selection to Top
End End Lower Selection to Bottom
Page Up Page Up Raise Selection One Step
Page Down Page Down Lower Selection One Step
Control + ] Command + ] Rotate 90° CW
Control + [ Command + [ Rotate 90° CCW
Escape Escape Deselect

How to Customize Keyboard Shortcuts in Inkscape

If you want to see the complete list of keyboard shortcuts in Inkscape, you can find them in the Preferences Panel. In this panel, you can also change any shortcuts to a custom one and add new shortcuts that suit your preferences.

To view and edit the keyboard shortcuts in Inkscape, go to Edit > Preferences on Windows or Inkscape > Preferences on Mac.

In the Preferences panel, open the Interface group on the left and click on the Keyboard tab.

Now, you can scroll through the groups to find all the shortcuts. To change a shortcut, locate it in the group and click on the shortcut section.

Once you see “New accelerator” appear in the shortcut position, press the keys you want to be the new shortcut. You can then exit the panel, and the new shortcut will work for that action.

To reset all the keyboard shortcuts to the default ones, click Reset at the bottom of the panel.