A few years ago, in 2018 actually, we wrote this post about some PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts that made editing slide text SO much faster!
Looking back at this post, we see now more than ever how adding keyboard shortcuts to your design workflow can make a big difference in efficiency, especially for presentation designers.
PowerPoint unfortunately does not match Microsoft Word in terms of text editing features, but maximizing the available PowerPoint editing features, such as these keyboard shortcuts, makes text editing slides a breeze! Let’s expand on the 2018 PowerPoint text editing keyboard shortcuts with some more.
EASY SHORTCUTS
Select All. As noted in our previous post, one easy shortcut is CTRL+A, which lets you select everything within a text box. This is an efficient way to start from scratch if you want to rewrite something new or change the typography styling!
Try these shortcuts as well:
- CTRL + B to bold selected text
- CTRL + I to italic selected text
- CTRL + U to underline selected text
MEDIUM SHORTCUTS
Select Paragraph. If you don’t want to highlight everything in the text box, but rather just one paragraph; use CTRL + Shift + Down Arrow, in that order, to highlight a single paragraph!
Select Word. And if you only need to edit selected words within a paragraph, CTRL + Shift + Right Arrow is the shortcut you need. All you have to do within the text box is click the beginning of the word you want to select, and CTRL + Shift + Right Arrow to select that word. If you want to select more words, keep hitting the right arrow!
Here are some additional shortcuts to use:
- CRTL + Y (or F4) to repeat the last action (this one is great!)
- CTRL + K to add or remove hyperlink (to an email address or web URL)
- CTRL + Shift + V to paste text only (no source formatting)
ADVANCED SHORTCUTS
In PowerPoint, you can quickly change the layering order of objects using keyboard shortcuts (select the object, not the content “inside”)
- CTRL + Shift + [: Sends the selected shape or text box behind other objects.
- CTRL + Shift + ]: Brings the selected shape or text box in front of other objects.
These shortcuts are especially useful when working with multiple overlapping elements, helping you control visual hierarchy without using the ribbon menu. Just select the object, then use the shortcut to move it!
Here are a few more great shortcuts to try:
- Ctrl + Shift + > to increase font size of selected text
- Ctrl + Shift + < to decrease font size of selected text
- CTRL + Alt + Left or Right arrow to rotate any object (this one is amazing)
- CTRL + Shift + Plus key (+) to superscript text
- CTRL + Shift + Minus key (-) to subscript text
And one more:
- Shift + arrow (left, right, top, or bottom) to change the width or height of the shape in larger increments
- CTRL + Shift + arrow (left, right, top, or bottom) to change the width or height of the shape in shorter increments
CONCLUSION
If you use these shortcuts, that’s great! You might be surprised that many designers still haven’t fully leveraged keyboard shortcuts, often defaulting to manual selection.
The 2018 post was a great reminder that mastering small efficiencies leads to big gains over time. Whether you’re tweaking slide layouts or refining content, these shortcuts help designers work smarter, not harder!
Have you incorporated these into your workflow? If not, now’s the perfect time to start!
-The TLC Creative Design Team