Updated April 2026

To access a downloadable .pdf, please just scroll to the bottom of this page. 🙂

General / File / Navigation

Action	Windows	Mac
Undo	Ctrl + Z	Cmd + Z
Redo	Ctrl + Y / Ctrl + Shift + Z	Cmd + Y / Cmd + Shift + Z
Save	Ctrl + S	Cmd + S
Select All	Ctrl + A	Cmd + A
Copy	Ctrl + C	Cmd + C
Cut	Ctrl + X	Cmd + X
Paste	Ctrl + V	Cmd + V
Quick Copy (drag)	Alt + Drag	Option + Drag
New Page	Ctrl + Enter	Cmd + Return
Go to next page	Page Down	Page Down
Go to previous page	Page Up	Page Up
Delete Blank Page	Ctrl + Backspace	Cmd + Delete
Navigate to Toolbar	Ctrl + F1	Cmd + F1
Skip to Canvas	Ctrl + F2	Cmd + F2
Toggle Side Panel / Sidebar	Ctrl + /	Cmd + /
Magic / Quick Actions	/ or Ctrl + E	/ or Cmd + E
Escape / Deselect	Esc	Esc
Pan around canvas	Hold Spacebar + drag	Hold Spacebar + drag
New Design	Ctrl + T	Cmd + T
Switch tabs to a different one (1-8)	Ctrl 1-8	Cmd + Q
Exit Canva	Ctrl + Q	Cmd 1-8

Zooming & Views

Action	Windows	Mac
Zoom In / Out	Ctrl + + / –	Cmd + + / –
Zoom to Fit	Ctrl + Alt + 0 (zero)	Cmd + Option + 0 (zero)
Zoom to Actual Size (100%)	Ctrl + 0 (zero)	Cmd + 0 (zero)
Zoom to Fill	Ctrl + Shift + 0 (zero)	Cmd + Shift + 0 (zero)
Scrolling View	Alt+Ctrl+1	Option+Cmd+1
Thumbnail View	Alt+Ctrl+2	Option+Cmd+2
Grid View	Alt+Ctrl+3	Option+Cmd+3
Presentation Mode	Alt+Ctrl+P	Option+Cmd+P

Comments

Action	Windows	Mac
Add a Comment	Ctrl + Alt + N	Cmd + Option + N
Next Comment	N	N
Previous Comment	Shift + N	Shift + N

Element & Layout Manipulation

So… I had a few problems with a couple of these shortcuts. I’m on a Windows machine, in the Canva desktop app. According to Canva’s website I should be able to use , (comma) and . (full stop / period) to rotate… but this didn’t work for me. I have to use Alt + , and Alt +. So, apologies if this causes any confusion – I hope either using or not using the Alt key with , or . works for you!

Action	Windows	Mac
See Screen Guides	Alt	Option
Delete selected element	Delete	Delete
Group elements	Ctrl + G	Cmd + G
Ungroup elements	Ctrl + Shift + G	Ctrl + Shift + G
Duplicate	Ctrl + D	Cmd + D
Lock / Unlock	Alt + Shift + L	Option + Shift + L
Bring Forward (one layer)	Ctrl + ]	Cmd + ]
Bring Backward (one layer)	Ctrl +  [	Cmd + [
Send to Front	Ctrl + Alt + ]	Cmd + Option + ]
Send to Back	Ctrl + Alt + [	Cmd + Option + [
Tidy up	Alt + Shift + T	Option + Shift + T
Align elements to top	Ctrl + Shift + Up	Cmd + Shift + Up
Align elements to bottom	Ctrl + Shift + Down	Cmd + Shift + Down
Align elements to left	Ctrl + Shift + Left	Cmd + Shift + Left
Align elements to right	Ctrl + Shift + Right	Cmd + Shift + Right
Move by 1px / 10px	Arrows / Shift + Arrows	Arrows / Shift + Arrows
Maintain proportions while resizing	Hold Shift while resizing	Hold Shift while resizing
Resize from centre	Alt while dragging	Option while dragging
Rotate left (small)	Alt + ,	Option + ,
Rotate right (small)	Alt + .	Option + .
Rotate left (large)	Shift + Alt + ,	Shift + Option + ,
Rotate right (large)	Shift + Alt + .	Shift + Option + .
Select next / previous element	Tab / Shift + Tab	Tab / Shift + Tab
Resize left (small)	Ctrl + ←	Cmd + ←
Resize right (small)	Ctrl + →	Cmd + →
Resize up (small)	Ctrl + ↑	Cmd + ↑
Resize down (small)	Ctrl + ↓	Cmd + ↓
Resize left (large)	Shift + Ctrl + ←	Shift + Cmd + ←
Resize right (large)	Shift + Ctrl + →	Shift + Cmd + →
Resize up (large)	Shift + Ctrl + ↑	Shift + Cmd + ↑
Resize down (large)	Shift + Ctrl + ↓	Shift + Cmd + ↓

Inserting Shapes and Links

Action	Windows	Mac
Add Rectangle / Circle / Line / Text Box	R / C / L / T	R / C / L / T
Add Link	Ctrl + K	Cmd + K
Toggle Rulers / Guides	Shift + R	Shift + R

Text / Typography and Styling

Action	Windows	Mac
Bold / Italic / Underline	Ctrl + B / I / U	Cmd + B / I / U
Uppercase / Lowercase	Ctrl + Shift + K	Cmd + Shift + K
Align Left / Centre / Right / Fully	Ctrl + Shift + L / C / R / J	Cmd + Shift + L / C / R / J
Font Size ±	Ctrl + Shift , / .	Cmd + Shift , / .
Line Spacing ±	Ctrl + Alt + ↑ / ↓	Cmd + Option + ↑ / ↓
Letter Spacing ±	Ctrl + Alt . / ,	Cmd + Option . / ,
Copy / Paste Text Style	Ctrl + Alt + C / V	Cmd + Option + C / V
Bulleted / Numbered List	Ctrl + Shift + 8 / 7	Cmd + Shift + 8 / 7
Anchor text top / middle / bottom	Ctrl + Shift + H / M / B	Ctrl + Shift + H / M / B
Add emoji (Canva Docs and comments only)	Shift + ;Shift + ;	Shift + ;Shift + ;

Video / Media Controls

Action	Windows	Mac
Play / Pause ▶️⏸️	Spacebar	Spacebar
Mute	M	M
Split Clip	S	S
Loop video	Alt + Shift + L	Option + Shift + L
Trim start of video (select play head first)	[	[
Trim end of video (select play head first)	]	]
Seek forward/backward 1 frame	. / ,	. / ,
Seek forward/backward 5 seconds	Shift + . / Shift + ,	Shift + . / Shift + ,

Presentations / Slides

Action	Windows	Mac
Presentation Mode	Ctrl + Alt + P	Cmd + Option + P
Blur (during presentation)	B	B
Confetti (during presentation)	C	C
Drum Roll (during presentation)	D	D
Bubbles (during presentation)	O	O
Quiet (sshhh) during presentation	Q	Q
Add a Timer (during presentation)	1-9	1-9
Forward a slide	→	→
Back a slide	←	←
End a presentation	Esc	Esc

So, these are all of the shortcuts that’ve discovered… Do you know any other shortcuts in Canva? If you do, please add them to the comments section below or contact me through the form on my Contact page here.

I hope you’ve found this useful! If you’d like this in a .pdf format to download, please use the buttons below.

Thanks!

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