Shortcuts are very useful while working on Illustrator. It makes our design much easier and saves a whole lot of time. Imagine the copy and paste option using CTRL + C and CTRL +V instead of going through the whole process of moving the cursor to the control panel and searching through the drop down menu for the option. Though it is very difficult
to master the shortcuts, constant practice and use will help you get them to your fingertips.
Some of the mostly used Illustrator shortcuts are listed below
ALL SHORTCUTS AND FUNCTIONS
The simplest way to get to the shortcut is go to Illustrator control panel, chose Edit > Keyboard shortcuts or Alt + Shift + Ctrl + K. You can save the file as text document
SELECTION TOOLS
Selection V
Direct Selection A
Group Selection
Magic Wand Y
Lasso Q
Pen P
Add Anchor Point =
Delete Anchor Point -
Anchor Point Shift+C
Curvature Tool Shift+~
TYPE TOOL
Type T
Area Type
Type on a Path
Vertical Type
Vertical Area Type
Vertical Type on a Path
Touch Type Shift+T
SHAPE TOOL
Line Segment \
Rectangle M
Ellipse L
Paintbrush B
Blob Brush Shift+B
Pencil N
Shaper Tool Shift+N
Eraser Shift+E
Scissors C
Rotate R
Reflect O
Scale S
POPULAR SHORTCUTS
Width Shift+W
Warp Shift+R
Free Transform E
Shape Builder Shift+M
Live Paint Bucket K
Live Paint Selection Shift+L
Perspective Grid Shift+P
Perspective Selection Shift+V
Mesh U
Gradient G
Eyedropper I
Measure
Blend W
Symbol Sprayer Shift+S
Column Graph J
Artboard Shift+O
Slice Shift+K
Slice Selection
Hand H
Print Tiling
Zoom Z
Toggle Fill/Stroke X
Default D
Swap Fill/Stroke Shift+X
Color ,
Gradient .
None /
Toggle Screen Mode F
Show/Hide All Palettes Tab
Show/Hide All But Toolbox Shift+Tab
Increase Diameter ]
Decrease Diameter [
Symbolism Tools - Increase Intensity Shift+}
Symbolism Tools - Decrease Intensity Shift+{
Toggle Drawing Mode Shift+D
FILE COMMANDS
New Ctrl+N
New from Template Shift+Ctrl+N
Open Ctrl+O
Browse in Bridge Alt+Ctrl+O
Close Ctrl+W
Save Ctrl+S
Save As Shift+Ctrl+S
Save a Copy Alt+Ctrl+S
Revert F12
Place Shift+Ctrl+P
Export for Screens Alt+Ctrl+E
Save for Web (Legacy) Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S
Package Alt+Shift+Ctrl+P
Other Script Ctrl+F12
Document Setup Alt+Ctrl+P
File Info Alt+Shift+Ctrl+I
Print Ctrl+P
Exit Ctrl+Q
Undo Ctrl+Z
Redo Shift+Ctrl+Z
Cut Ctrl+X
Copy Ctrl+C
Paste Ctrl+V
Paste in Front Ctrl+F
Paste in Back Ctrl+B
Paste in Place Shift+Ctrl+V
Paste on All Artboards Alt+Shift+Ctrl+V
Check Spelling Ctrl+I
Color Settings Shift+Ctrl+K
Keyboard Shortcuts Alt+Shift+Ctrl+K
General Ctrl+K
Transform Again Ctrl+D
Move Shift+Ctrl+M
Bring to Front Shift+Ctrl+]
Bring Forward Ctrl+]
Send Backward Ctrl+[
Send to Back Shift+Ctrl+[
Send to Current Layer
Group Ctrl+G
Ungroup Shift+Ctrl+G
Selection Ctrl+2
Unlock All Alt+Ctrl+2
Selection Ctrl+3
Show All Alt+Ctrl+3
Join Ctrl+J
Average Alt+Ctrl+J
Edit Pattern Shift+Ctrl+F8
Make Alt+Ctrl+B
Release Alt+Shift+Ctrl+B
Make with Warp Alt+Shift+Ctrl+W
Make with Mesh Alt+Ctrl+M
Make with Top Object Alt+Ctrl+C
Make Ctrl+7
Release Alt+Ctrl+7
Make Ctrl+8
Release Alt+Shift+Ctrl+8
Bullet Alt+8
Copyright Symbol Alt+G
Ellipsis Alt+;
Paragraph Symbol Alt+7
Registered Trademark Symbol Alt+R
Section Symbol Alt+6
Trademark Symbol Alt+2
Hyphens And Dashes
Em Dash Alt+Shift+-
En Dash Alt+-
Discretionary Hyphen Shift+Ctrl+-
QUOTATION MARK
Double Left Quotation Marks Alt+[
Double Right Quotation Marks Alt+Shift+[
Single Left Quotation Marks Alt+]
Single Right Quotation Marks Alt+Shift+]
Insert WhiteSpace Character
Em Space Shift+Ctrl+M
En Space Shift+Ctrl+N
Thin Space Alt+Shift+Ctrl+M
Show Hidden Characters Alt+Ctrl+I
All Ctrl+A
All on Active Artboard Alt+Ctrl+A
Deselect Shift+Ctrl+A
Reselect Ctrl+6
Next Object Above Alt+Ctrl+]
Next Object Below Alt+Ctrl+[
Apply Last Effect Shift+Ctrl+E
Last Effect Alt+Shift+Ctrl+E
Preview Ctrl+Y
GPU Preview Ctrl+E
Overprint Preview Alt+Shift+Ctrl+Y
Pixel Preview Alt+Ctrl+Y
Zoom In Ctrl+=
Zoom Out Ctrl+-
ARTBOARD
Fit Artboard in Window Ctrl+0
Fit All in Window Alt+Ctrl+0
Actual Size Ctrl+1
Hide Edges Ctrl+H
Hide Artboards Shift+Ctrl+H
Show Template Shift+Ctrl+W
RULERS
Show Rulers Ctrl+R
Change to Artboard Rulers Alt+Ctrl+R
Hide Bounding Box Shift+Ctrl+B
Show Transparency Grid Shift+Ctrl+D
Show Text Threads Shift+Ctrl+Y
Hide Gradient Annotator Alt+Ctrl+G
GUIDES
Hide Guides Ctrl+;
Lock Guides Alt+Ctrl+;
Make Guides Ctrl+5
Release Guides Alt+Ctrl+5
Smart Guides Ctrl+U
GRIDS
Show Grid Shift+Ctrl+I
Show Grid Ctrl+'
Snap to Grid Shift+Ctrl+'
Snap to Point Alt+Ctrl+'
Align Shift+F7
Appearance Shift+F6
Attributes Ctrl+F11
Brushes F5
Color F6
Color Guide Shift+F3
Gradient Ctrl+F9
Graphic Styles Shift+F5
Info Ctrl+F8
Layers F7
Pathfinder Shift+Ctrl+F9
Stroke Ctrl+F10
Symbols Shift+Ctrl+F11
Transform Shift+F8
Transparency Shift+Ctrl+F10
TYPE
Character Ctrl+T
OpenType Alt+Shift+Ctrl+T
Paragraph Alt+Ctrl+T
Paragraph Styles
Tabs Shift+Ctrl+T
HELP
Illustrator Help F1
Switch Selection Tools Ctrl+`
TEXT FORMATTING
Point Size Up Shift+Ctrl+.
Point Size Down Shift+Ctrl+,
Font Size Step Up Alt+Shift+Ctrl+.
Font Size Step Down Alt+Shift+Ctrl+,
Kern Looser Shift+Ctrl+]
Kern Tighter Shift+Ctrl+[
Tracking Alt+Ctrl+K
Clear Tracking Alt+Ctrl+Q
Spacing Alt+Shift+Ctrl+O
Uniform Type Shift+Ctrl+X
Highlight Font Alt+Shift+Ctrl+F
Highlight Font (Secondary) Alt+Shift+Ctrl+M
Left Align Text Shift+Ctrl+L
Center Text Shift+Ctrl+C
Right Align Text Shift+Ctrl+R
Justify Text Left Shift+Ctrl+J
Justify All Lines Shift+Ctrl+F
Toggle Auto Hyphenation Alt+Shift+Ctrl+H
Toggle Line Composer Alt+Shift+Ctrl+C
Subscript Alt+Shift+Ctrl+=
Superscript Shift+Ctrl+=
Lock Others Alt+Shift+Ctrl+2
Hide Others Alt+Shift+Ctrl+3
Repeat Pathfinder Ctrl+4
Average & Join Alt+Shift+Ctrl+J
New Symbol F8
Add New Fill Ctrl+/
Add New Stroke Alt+Ctrl+/
New Graphic Style
New Layer Ctrl+L
New Layer with Dialog Alt+Ctrl+L
MISCELLANEOUS
Switch Units Alt+Shift+Ctrl+U
New File (No Dialog) Alt+Ctrl+N
Close All Alt+Ctrl+W
Cut (Secondary) F2
Copy (Secondary) F3
Paste (Secondary) F4
Zoom In (Secondary) Ctrl++
Navigate to Next Document Ctrl+F6
Navigate to Previous Document Shift+Ctrl+F6
Navigate to Next Document Group Alt+Ctrl+F6
Navigate to Previous Document Group Alt+Shift+Ctrl+F6
Subscript (Secondary) Alt+Shift+Ctrl++
Superscript (Secondary) Shift+Ctrl++
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