Keyboard Shortcuts in PowerPoint

A keyboard shortcut is a combination of two or three keystrokes that allows you to activate a command more quickly than you could by clicking with a mouse. PowerPoint 2007 preserves the keyboard shortcuts from previous versions of PowerPoint, such as Ctrl+S to save and Ctrl+B to bold text.

This guide lists the PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts associated with any command it covers, but it does not cover all of the hundreds of keyboard shortcuts that can be used in PowerPoint. For a quick reference of all the keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint 2007, see the Quamut guide to PowerPoint 2007 Keyboard Shortcuts at www.quamut.com.

Though it’s possible to create your own keyboard shortcuts in Office 2007 programs such as Word and PowerPoint, to customize PowerPoint’s keyboard shortcuts you must download an add-in, a small third-party software program that works with PowerPoint. To find free add-ins for customizing PowerPoint’s keyboard shortcuts and other features, visit officeone.mvps.org/addins.html.

Along with the keyboard shortcuts, PowerPoint 2007 provides a new system that lets you use PowerPoint without needing a mouse at all. This system is based on the Alt key: press it, and little letters and numbers will appear next to the various tabs or commands on the screen. Hit the appropriate key (or keys) to use the marked command. For instance, to get to the Ribbon’s Home tab, you’d type Alt+H. Once there, a new set of letters and numbers appears that marks the Home tab commands. You can then hit those keys to execute specific commands. To make the shortcut numbers and letters disappear, hit the Alt key again.

Alt-key commands can involve anywhere from two to five keystrokes and may overlap with traditional keyboard shortcuts. For instance, you can save a PowerPoint file using Ctrl+S or Alt+F, S.