Appendix: Adobe Reader keyboard shortcuts
This appendix provides the common keyboard shortcuts, including single-key accelerators, for navigating much of Adobe® Reader® by using a keyboard instead of a mouse. It organizes keystrokes by Windows® and Mac OS operating systems, and then by categories of tasks. Many other keyboard shortcuts are listed in Adobe Reader menus, next to their command names. If you can't find the shortcut that you're looking for in this section, look in the Adobe Reader menus.
Note: When you open an Adobe PDF document from a web browser, keyboard shortcuts are mapped first to Adobe Reader. Consequently, some keyboard shortcuts may not be available to the browser until after you shift focus to the browser.
The list of Windows keyboard shortcuts starts below. The list of Mac OS keyboard shortcuts starts at "Mac OS keyboard shortcuts".
Windows keyboard shortcuts
Note: In Windows, some of the keyboard shortcuts used to navigate in Adobe Reader may differ from those used in other Windows applications.
Keystrokes for navigating general interface items
These keystrokes are for activating or bringing focus to elements of the menu bar, the toolbar area, the document pane, dialog boxes, and other general interface items.
| Area of the Adobe Reader interface | Windows keystroke |
|---|---|
| Menu bar | |
| Show or hide menu bar | F9 |
| Move focus to menus at any time | F10 or Alt |
| Move focus among menus | Left Arrow and Right Arrow |
| Move focus to menu items | Up Arrow and Down Arrow |
| Toolbar area | |
| Move focus to toolbar area at any time | Shift+F8 or Alt, and then Ctrl + Tab |
| Move focus to next tool | Tab or Right Arrow |
| Move focus to previous tool | Shift+Tab or Left Arrow |
| Move focus to next toolbar | Ctrl+Tab |
| Move focus to previous toolbar | Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Document pane | |
| Move focus to document pane at any time | F5 |
| Cycle focus forward through panes and panels (including document pane, navigation pane, How To window, Search PDF window) | F6 |
| Cycle focus backward through panes and panels (including document pane, navigation pane, How To window, Search PDF window) | Shift+F6 |
| Cycle focus forward through floating items (including windows, toolbars, and dialog boxes) | Alt+F6 |
| Cycle focus backward through floating items (including windows, toolbars, and dialog boxes) | Shift+Alt+F6 |
| Move to next open document (when focus is on document pane) | Ctrl+F6 |
| Move to previous open document (when focus is on document pane) | Ctrl+Shift+F6 |
| Close current document | Ctrl+F4 or Ctrl+W |
| Close all open documents | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Tabs, buttons, options, list items, and other elements in dialog boxes and panes | |
| Move focus to next item | Tab |
| Move focus to previous item | Shift + Tab |
| Activate focused item | Spacebar or Enter |
| Move focus to next tab in a tabbed dialog box | Ctrl+Tab |
| Move focus to previous tab in a tabbed dialog box | Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Text | |
| Move cursor to beginning of next word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Ctrl+Right Arrow |
| Move cursor to beginning of previous word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Ctrl+ Left Arrow |
| Move cursor to beginning of line | Home |
| Move cursor to end of line | End |
| Select or deselect next text character (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Right Arrow |
| Select or deselect previous text character (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Left Arrow |
| Select or deselect next word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Ctrl+Right Arrow or |
| Select or deselect previous word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Ctrl+Left Arrow |
| Select or deselect to beginning of line (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Home |
| Select or deselect to end of line (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+End |
| Select or deselect next text line by character (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Down Arrow |
| Select or deselect previous text line by character (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Up Arrow |
| Select or deselect next line by full word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Ctrl+Down Arrow |
| Select or deselect previous line by full word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) | Shift+Ctrl+Up Arrow |
| Select all content on page | Ctrl+A |
| Deselect all content on page | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| Other general interface items | |
| Open context menu | Shift+F10 |
| Close context menu without making a selection | F10 or Esc |
| Close an open menu or dialog box | Esc |
| Move focus to status bar (when focus is in document pane or How To/Search PDF window) | Shift+F5 |
Single-key accelerators for activating tools
Note: To use the following keystrokes, you must turn on the single-key acceleration preference in Adobe Reader. See "Enabling single-key accelerators". Other single-key accelerators are also listed under "Keystrokes for working with comments".
| Task | Windows keystroke |
|---|---|
| Activate Hand tool | H |
| Activate Select tool | V |
| Activate Snapshot tool | G |
| Activate current Zoom tool | Z |
| Cycle through Zoom tools: Zoom In, Zoom Out, Dynamic Zoom | Shift+Z |
Keystrokes for moving through a document
| Task | Windows keystroke |
|---|---|
| Go to next screen | Page Down or Spacebar |
| Go to previous screen | Page Up |
| Go to first page | Home or Shift+Ctrl+Page Up or Shift+Ctrl+Up Arrow |
| Go to last page | End or Shift+Ctrl+Page Down or Shift+Ctrl+Down Arrow |
| Go to next page | Right Arrow or Ctrl+Page Down |
| Go to previous page | Left Arrow or Ctrl+Page Up |
| Go to previously viewed page (similar to a browser's Back button) | Alt+Left Arrow |
| Go to next viewed page (similar to a browser's Forward button) | Alt+Right Arrow |
| Go to next document | Alt+Shift+Right Arrow |
| Go to previous document | Alt+Shift+Left Arrow |
| Scroll up | Up Arrow |
| Scroll down | Down Arrow |
| Zoom in | Ctrl+plus sign (+) |
| Zoom out | Ctrl+hyphen (-) |
| Temporarily activate Zoom In tool | Ctrl+Spacebar |
| Temporarily activate Zoom In tool (while any tool is active) | Ctrl+Spacebar |
| Temporarily activate Zoom In tool or Zoom Out tool (while either tool is active) | Ctrl |
| Temporarily activate Dynamic Zoom tool (while Zoom In or Zoom Out is active) | Shift |
Keystrokes for use with the navigation pane
| Task | Windows keystroke |
|---|---|
| Open or close navigation pane (focus is on navigation pane when opened) | F4 |
| Move focus to navigation pane at any time (also opens the pane if it is currently closed) | Ctrl+Shift+F5 |
| Cycle focus to navigation pane | F6 or Shift+F6 |
| Cycle focus through navigation tabs (when focus is anywhere in navigation pane) | Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Cycle focus through navigation tabs (when focus is in another tab) | Up Arrow or Down Arrow |
| Cycle focus through elements of the active navigation tab (Options menu, other tools, close box, tab contents, and tab name) | Tab or Shift+Tab |
| Move focus to next item in navigation tab contents | Down Arrow |
| Move focus to previous item in navigation tab contents | Up Arrow |
| Expand current bookmark (when focus is on bookmark) | Right Arrow or Shift+plus sign (+) |
| Collapse current bookmark (when focus is on bookmark) | Left Arrow or minus sign (-) or forward slash (/) |
| Expand all bookmarks (when focus is on any bookmark) | Shift+asterisk (*) |
| Rename current bookmark | F2 |
| Activate current bookmark | Enter or Spacebar |
Keystrokes for navigating the Help window
| Task | Windows keystroke |
|---|---|
| Open Help window (focus is on window when opened) | F1 |
| Close Help window | Alt+F4 or Ctrl+W |
| Toggle focus between Help navigation pane and document pane | F6 and Shift+F6 |
| Cycle focus through Help navigation tabs (when focus is anywhere in navigation pane) | Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Cycle focus through Help navigation tabs (when focus is on name of another tab) | Right Arrow or Left Arrow |
| Cycle focus through elements of active navigation tab (text-entry boxes, tab contents, and tab name) | Tab or Shift+Tab |
| Move focus to next element in active navigation tab contents | Down Arrow |
| Move focus to previous element in active navigation tab contents | Up Arrow |
| Expand current Help topic (in Contents and Index tabs) | Enter or Right Arrow or Shift+plus sign (+) |
| Collapse current Help topic (in Contents and Index tabs) | Shift+Enter or Left Arrow or minus sign (-) or forward slash (/) |
| Expand all Help topics (in Contents and Index tabs) | Shift+asterisk (*) |
| Activate current Help topic (in Contents and Index tabs) | Enter or Spacebar |
| Move focus to toolbar in Help window | Shift+F8 |
| Move focus to tools on Help toolbar (toolbar in focus) | Tab and Shift+Tab |
| Activate tools (Help tool in focus) | Enter or Spacebar |
Keystrokes for navigating the How To window
| Task | Windows keystroke |
|---|---|
| Open How To window at any time (focus is on window when opened) | Shift+F4 |
| Close How To window at any time | Shift+F4 |
| Close How To window (when focus is on window) | Esc |
| Move focus to How To window at anytime (also opens window if it is currently closed) | Shift+F1 |
| Cycle focus to How To window | F6 or Shift+F6 |
| Go to How To home page | Home |
| Move focus between contents of How To window and tools at top of How To window | Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Move focus down through contents of How To window | Tab or Down Arrow |
| Move focus up through contents of How To window | Shift+Tab or Up Arrow |
| Go to next page in How To window | Right Arrow |
| Go to previous page in How To window | Left Arrow |
Keystrokes for working with comments
Commenting tools are available in Adobe Reader only if the author of the PDF document has allowed commenting in the document. The commenting tools are on two toolbars: the Commenting toolbar and the Drawing Markups toolbar. To use the keystrokes that enable you to navigate these toolbars, you must turn on the single-key acceleration preference in Adobe Reader. See "Enabling single-key accelerators".
| Task | Windows keystroke |
|---|---|
| Keystrokes for navigating comments | |
| Move focus to next comment (when focus is on document pane) | Tab |
| Move focus to previous comment (when focus is on document pane) | Shift+Tab |
| Open pop-up window for comment that has focus | Spacebar |
| Move focus to text in comment | F2 |
| Cycle focus through the items at the top of a pop-up comment window (when focus in on the window) | Ctrl+Tab and Shift+Tab |
| Single-key accelerators for activating commenting tools (focus must be on the Commenting or Drawing Markups toolbar) | |
| Activate Note tool | S |
| Activate Text Edits tool | E |
| Activate Stamp tool | K |
| Activate current highlighting tool | U |
| Cycle through highlighting tools: Highlight Text, Underline Text, Cross-Out Text | Shift+U |
| Activate current tool for attaching comments | J |
| Cycle between tools for attaching comments: Attach A File As A Comment, Record Audio Comment | Shift + J |
| Activate Callout tool | P |
| Activate Cloud tool | Q |
| Activate current Drawing tool (from Drawing Markups toolbar) | D |
| Cycle through Drawing tools: Arrow, Rectangle, Oval, Line, Polygon Line, Polygon, Pencil, Pencil Eraser | Shift + D |
| Activate Text Box tool | X |
| Single-key accelerators for browser-based reviews | |
| Save document and work offline | Y |
| Send and receive comments | O |
| Mark document status as complete | W |
| Go back online | I |
