Blog · · 4 min read

PowerPoint shortcut keys for building and presenting slides

The PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts for Windows worth knowing, split into building a deck and presenting it, with tips to remember them and a ring for the rest.

PowerPoint has two lives: the hours you spend building a deck and the minutes you spend in front of people with it. The shortcuts for each are different, and the presenting ones are the ones you most want to know before you need them.

This list is for PowerPoint for Windows (Microsoft 365, 2021 and 2019). Every key is from Microsoft's two support pages on PowerPoint shortcuts: one for creating presentations, one for delivering them.

Building slides

  • Ctrl+M adds a new slide after the current one.
  • Ctrl+Shift+D duplicates the selected slide.
  • Ctrl+D duplicates the selected object.
  • Ctrl+S saves.
  • Ctrl+Plus and Ctrl+Minus zoom the editing view in and out.

Arranging objects

  • Ctrl+G groups the selected objects, Ctrl+Shift+G ungroups them.
  • Alt+F10 opens the Selection pane, where you can select, rename and hide objects that sit on top of each other.
  • Shift+F9 shows or hides the grid, Alt+F9 the guides.

The Selection pane is the shortcut to learn if you work with other people's templates. When a box refuses to be clicked, there is often another object lying on top of it, and the pane shows it.

Ribbon key tips

Everything on the ribbon has a keyboard route, even without a shortcut of its own. Press Alt and PowerPoint shows a letter on each tab; press the letter and the buttons on that tab get letters too. The Selection pane, for example, is Alt H S L P.

You do not hold the keys down; press them one after another. Key tips can differ between versions and languages, so read them from the screen the first few times. After a while the sequence for the command you use most becomes as automatic as a shortcut.

Text and formatting

  • Ctrl+Shift+> makes the font larger.
  • Ctrl+Shift+< makes it smaller.
  • Ctrl+E centers the paragraph, Ctrl+L aligns it left.
  • Ctrl+Shift+C copies formatting, Ctrl+Shift+V pastes it onto another object.
  • Ctrl+K inserts a link.
  • Ctrl+Alt+M inserts a comment.

Starting the show

  • F5 starts the slide show from the first slide.
  • Shift+F5 starts from the current slide. This is the one you want while rehearsing.
  • Alt+F5 starts in Presenter View, with your notes and the next slide on your screen.

During the show

  • N, Space, Right, Page Down or Enter go to the next slide.
  • P, Left, Page Up or Backspace go back.
  • A slide number then Enter jumps straight to that slide. Type 12, press Enter, you are on slide 12.
  • Ctrl+S during the show opens the All Slides dialog.
  • B or . turns the screen black, and the same key brings the slide back.
  • W or , turns the screen white.
  • Esc ends the show.

Pointer and ink

  • Ctrl+L switches to the laser pointer.
  • Ctrl+P switches to the pen, Ctrl+E to the eraser.
  • E erases all drawings on the slide.
  • Ctrl+A switches back to the normal arrow.
  • Ctrl+H hides the pointer.
  • F1 shows the list of slide show controls, if you forget any of these while presenting.

Note that during the show Ctrl+S, Ctrl+P and Ctrl+E do something completely different from what they do while editing. They are presenting keys only while the slide show is running.

Typing a number and Enter is also the cleanest way to answer a question from the audience about an earlier slide: jump there, answer, then type the number of the slide you were on and continue. No visible scrolling through the deck in front of everyone.

How to remember them

  1. Learn the show keys first. Being able to jump to slide 12 with "12, Enter" or blank the screen with B when a discussion starts is worth more than any editing shortcut, because you cannot click around calmly in front of a room.
  2. F5 is "from the start", Shift+F5 is "from here". Shift usually means "the other version" in PowerPoint.
  3. B is black, W is white. Easy to keep.
  4. Pen and pointer use the obvious letters: Pen, Laser, Eraser, Arrow, Hide.
  5. Group and ungroup are a pair. Ctrl+G and Ctrl+Shift+G, the same rule as copy and copy formatting.

Before an important presentation, run it once with Alt+F5 and practise the five show keys you plan to use. It takes a few minutes and you will not fumble later.

A PowerPoint ring

RadialDeck is the radial menu for Windows that we make. When PowerPoint is in front, your hotkey opens a PowerPoint ring instead of your usual one. Hold the key, flick toward a slice, release.

The gallery has 10 ready-made PowerPoint slices: Start slideshow, Slideshow from current slide, New slide, Duplicate, Group, Link, Selection pane, Black screen, End show and Save as PDF. The PowerPoint page lists them with what each does.

Save as PDF is the one that saves the most time, because it opens the export dialog with PDF already chosen. The handout for a meeting is then two flicks away. The ring works with a mouse button too, which is handy when you are standing at a presenter desk with one hand free.

Quick reference

  • Build: Ctrl+M, Ctrl+Shift+D, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+G, Alt+F10
  • Format: Ctrl+Shift+>, Ctrl+Shift+C, Ctrl+Shift+V, Ctrl+K
  • Start: F5, Shift+F5, Alt+F5
  • Present: number + Enter, B, W, Ctrl+L, Esc

RadialDeck is free for two rings and has a 14-day trial of Pro, which adds a ring per program such as PowerPoint. It is in the Microsoft Store.

Try it in RadialDeck

Free for two rings, with a 14-day trial of everything in Pro. Windows 10 and 11, from the Microsoft Store.

Get it from Microsoft or download the installer (.exe)