Once content is complete in a PowerPoint presentation, the focus shifts to presentation, formatting, and design. Think back to the last PowerPoint presentation you created and how many times you moved the mouse and clicked to get it to look exactly as you had imagined. Consider the elements you click on most often, and check out this list of keyboard shortcuts to see if you can find a few time-savers. Once content is complete in a PowerPoint presentation, the focus shifts to presentation, formatting, and design. Think back to the last PowerPoint presentation you created and how many times you moved the mouse and clicked to get it to look exactly as you had imagined. Consider the elements you click on most often, and check out this list of keyboard shortcuts to see if you can find a few time-savers.
Text Formatting and Navigation
| CTRL A | Select all |
| CTRL B | Bold highlighted text |
| CTRL E | Center text |
| CTRL I | Italicize highlighted text |
| CTRL J | Justify text |
| CTRL L | Left justify text |
| CTRL R | Right justify text |
| CTRL U | Underline highlighted text |
| CTRL SHIFT C | Copy text formatting |
| CTRL SHIFT F | Open font dialog to change the font, size, color, and style |
| CTRL SHIFT V | Apply text formatting |
| CTRL SHIFT Z | Remove all text formatting |
| CTL SHIFT > | Increase size of highlighted text |
| CTL SHIFT < | Decrease size of highlighted text |
| CTRL ENTER | Move to next title or text box |
| CTRL LeftArrow | Move cursor one word to the left |
| CTRL RightArrow | Move cursor one word to the right |
| CTRL SHIFT RightArrow | Highlight/select entire word (when cursor is placed at beginning of word) |
General
| CTRL D | Duplicate slide |
| CTRL M | Insert new slide |
| CTRL N | Create new presentation |
| CTRL O | Open presentation |
| CTRL P | Print presentation |
| CTRL Q | Exit PowerPoint |
| CTRL S | Save presentation |
| F12 | Save as |
Slideshow Mode
| <number> ENTER | Goes to the entered slide number |
| B | Toggles between black screen and slide |
| W | Toggles between white screen and slide |
| H | Go to next hidden slide |
| T | Set new timing during rehearsal |
| CTRL P | Change pointer to a pen to write on the slide |
| TAB | Go to first or next hyperlink on slide; press ENTER to open the hyperlink |
In case you missed the inspiration for this shortcuts series, check out a recent issue of Inc. magazine where a CEO describes how he will save 180 days over the course of his career (he defines his career as 40 years) simply by using keyboard shortcuts. And, search the list of Word, Excel, and Outlook shortcuts to find a few time-savers there too. You may not start out saving 780 keystrokes per day like the CEO in the article, but even if you can save 200 per day that still comes out to 22 minutes per week, and 48 full days over 40 years. What could you do with that extra eight weeks?
The last planned installment in the shortcuts series is Windows shortcuts. Do you have any favorites you want to share? And, are there any other shortcut lists you may like to see in the future?