Mac OS keyboard shortcuts
In Mac OS, you must enable Full Keyboard Access in the system-level preferences before you can navigate and interact within the Adobe® Reader® work area and with Adobe PDF documents by using keyboard shortcuts.
To set up system-level preferences to enable Full Keyboard Access:
- From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, and select Keyboard & Mouse.
- Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab (Mac OS 10.3) or Keyboard Access tab (Mac OS 10.2).
- Select the Turn On Full Keyboard Access option.
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 |
Mac OS keystroke |
| Menu bar |
| Show or hide menu bar |
Shift+Command+M |
| Move focus to menus at any time |
Control+F2 |
| 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 Control+F5 |
| Move focus to next tool |
Tab or Right Arrow |
| Move focus to previous tool |
Shift+Tab or Left Arrow |
| Move focus to next toolbar |
Option+Tab |
| Move focus to previous toolbar |
Option+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 |
| Move to next open document (when focus is on document pane) |
Command+tilde (~) |
| Move to previous open document (when focus is on document pane) |
Command+Shift+F6 |
| Close current document |
Command+F4 or Command+W |
| Close all open documents |
Command+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 Return |
| Move focus to next tab in a tabbed dialog box |
Right Arrow |
| Move focus to previous tab in a tabbed dialog box |
Left Arrow |
| Text |
| Move cursor to beginning of next word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) |
Command+Right Arrow |
| Move cursor to beginning of previous word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) |
Command+ 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+Command+Right Arrow |
| Select or deselect previous word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) |
Shift+Command+ 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+Command+Down Arrow |
| Select or deselect previous line by full word (when keyboard selection cursor is active) |
Shift+Command+Up Arrow |
| Select all content on page |
Command+A |
| Deselect all content on page |
Command+Shift+A |
| Other general interface items |
| Open context menu |
Control+click |
| Close context menu without making a selection |
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 |
Mac OS 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 |
Mac OS keystroke |
| Go to next screen |
Page Down or Spacebar |
| Go to previous screen |
Page Up |
| Go to first page |
Home or Shift+Command+Page Up or Command+Shift+Up Arrow |
| Go to last page |
End or Shift+Command+Page Down or Command+Shift+Down Arrow |
| Go to next page |
Right Arrow or Command+Page Down |
| Go to previous page |
Left Arrow or Command+Page Up |
| Scroll up |
Up Arrow |
| Scroll down |
Down Arrow |
| Zoom in |
Command+plus sign (+) |
| Zoom out |
Command+hyphen (-) |
| Temporarily activate Zoom In tool |
Command+Spacebar |
| Temporarily activate Zoom In tool (while any tool is active) |
Command+Spacebar |
| Temporarily activate Zoom In tool or Zoom Out tool (while either tool is active) |
Option |
| Temporarily activate Dynamic Zoom tool (while Zoom In or Zoom Out is active) |
Shift |
Keystrokes for use with the navigation pane
| Task |
Mac OS 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) |
Command+Shift+F5 |
| Cycle focus to navigation pane |
F6 or Shift+F6 |
| Cycle focus through navigation tabs (when focus is anywhere in navigation pane) |
Option+Tab or Option+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 |
Return or Spacebar |
Keystrokes for navigating the Help window
| Task |
Mac OS keystroke |
| Open or close Help window (focus is on window when opened) |
F1 or Command+question mark (?) |
| 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) |
Option+Tab or Option+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) |
Return or Right Arrow or Shift+plus sign (+) |
| Collapse current Help topic (in Contents and Index tabs) |
Shift+Return 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) |
Return 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) |
Spacebar |
Keystrokes for navigating the How To window
| Task |
Mac OS 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 |
| 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 |
| Move focus between contents of How To window and tools at top of How To window |
Option+Tab or Option+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 |
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 |
Mac OS 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 |
| Cycle focus through the items at the top of a pop-up comment window (when focus in on the window) |
Option+Tab and Option+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 |
