Acrobat Tools Keyboard Shortcuts
This document lists the keyboard shortcuts for navigating and using various tools, comments, PDFs, forms, and more. To enable single‐key accelerators, open the Preferences dialog (Edit > Preferences) and select the “Use Single‐Key Accelerators To Access Tools” option.
Keys for Navigating Tools on the Tools Pane
Keys for Working with Comments
Keys for Navigating a PDF
| Action | Windows/UNIX | macOS |
|---|
| Previous screen | Page Up or Shift+Enter | Page Up or Shift+Return |
| Next screen | Page Down or Enter | Page Down or Return |
| First page | Home or Shift+Ctrl+Page Up / Shift+Ctrl+Up Arrow | Home or Shift+Command+Up Arrow |
| Last page | End or Shift+Ctrl+Page Down / Shift+Ctrl+Down Arrow | End or Shift+Command+Down Arrow |
| Previous page | Left Arrow or Ctrl+Page Up | Left Arrow or Command+Page Up |
| Next page | Right Arrow or Ctrl+Page Down | Right Arrow or Command+Page Down |
| Go to page | Ctrl+Shift+N | Command+Shift+N |
| Previous open document | Ctrl+F6 (UNIX) | Command+F6 |
| Next open document | Shift+Ctrl+F6 (UNIX) | Shift+Command+F6 |
| Scroll up | Up Arrow | Up Arrow |
| Scroll down | Down Arrow | Down Arrow |
| Scroll (when Hand tool is selected) | Spacebar | Spacebar |
| Zoom in | Ctrl+Equal sign | Command+Equal sign |
| Zoom out | Ctrl+Hyphen | Command+Hyphen |
Keys for Working with Forms
Keys for Working with PDF Portfolios
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|
| Move focus to the next or previous row in the file list | Up Arrow or Down Arrow | Up Arrow or Down Arrow |
| If in the file list, navigate one level up from within a folder | Backspace | Delete |
| Press the Go Back button in a folder (if focused) | Enter or Spacebar | Enter or Spacebar |
| If a row represents a subfolder or attachment, open it | Enter | Enter |
| If in the file list, move to the first or last row | Home or End | Home or End |
| Move to the next/last set of rows that fit the screen | Page Down or Page Up | Page Down or Page Up |
| Select or deselect all files | Ctrl+A or Shift+Ctrl+A | Command+A or Shift+Command+A |
| Extend the selection by adding the next row | Shift+Up Arrow or Shift+Down Arrow | Shift+Up Arrow or Shift+Down Arrow |
| Toggle the selection of the focused row | Ctrl+Spacebar | Command+Spacebar |
| Move focus up or down one row without changing selection | Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow | Command+Up/Down Arrow |
Keys for Navigating Task Panes
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|
| Move focus among Document pane, Task panes, Message bar, and Navigation bar | F6 | F6 |
| Move focus to the previous item | Shift+F6 | Shift+F6 |
| Move focus to the next panel in the Task pane | Ctrl+Tab | Option+Tab |
| Move focus to the previous panel in the Task pane | Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Command+Shift+Tab |
| Navigate to the next panel control within an open Task pane | Tab | Tab |
| Navigate to the previous panel control within an open Task pane | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab |
| Navigate to the next command button within a panel | Down Arrow | Down Arrow |
| Navigate to the previous command button within a panel | Up Arrow | Up Arrow |
| Expand or collapse the focused panel | Spacebar or Enter | Spacebar or Enter |
| Open or close the Task pane | Shift+F4 | Shift+F4 |
| Close the pane listing the tasks of an Action | Ctrl+Shift+F4 | Ctrl+Shift+F4 |
| Open the menu and focus the first option (when a submenu is available) | Spacebar or Enter | Spacebar or Enter |
| Return focus to the parent command button | Esc | Esc |
| Run the focused command | Spacebar or Enter | Spacebar or Enter |
| Navigate to the next item in certain dialogs | Tab | Tab |
| Navigate to the previous item in certain dialogs | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab |
Keys for General Navigation
| Action | Windows/UNIX | macOS |
|---|
| Invoke the hamburger menu (F6 to focus) | Spacebar or Enter | |
| Execute Acrobat > Hide Others (macOS) | | Option+Command+T |
| Move focus to the browser/application toolbar (first button) | Shift+F8 | Shift+F8 |
| Navigate through the top bar controls (Home, Tools, Document) | Arrow keys or Tab/Shift+Tab | Arrow keys or Tab/Shift+Tab |
| Select a highlighted top bar control | Enter or Spacebar | Return or Spacebar |
| Move to next open document tab | Ctrl+Tab | Control+Tab |
| Move to previous open document tab | Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Control+Shift+Tab |
| Move to next open document window | Ctrl+F6 | Command+F6 |
| Move to previous open document window | Ctrl+Shift+F6 | Command+Shift+F6 |
| Close current document | Ctrl+F4 | Command+F4 |
| Close all open documents | Not available | Command+Option+W |
| Move focus to next comment, link, or form field | Tab | Tab |
| Move focus to document pane | F5 | F5 |
| Move focus to previous comment, link, or form field | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab |
| Activate the selected tool, item, or command | Spacebar or Enter | Spacebar or Return |
| Open context menu (F6 then Tab + Shift+F10 / Control+click) | Tab then Shift+F10 or Control+click | |
| Close context menu | F10 | Esc |
| Return to Hand tool or Select tool | Esc | Esc |
| Move focus to next tab in a tabbed dialog box | Ctrl+Tab | Not available |
| Find in document | Ctrl+F | Command+F |
| Move to next search result | F3 or Ctrl+G | Command+G |
| Search previous document (multiple file results) | Alt+Shift+Left Arrow | Command+Shift+Left Arrow |
| Search next document (multiple file results) | Alt+Shift+Right Arrow | Command+Shift+Right Arrow |
| Select text (with Select tool) | Shift+Arrow keys | Shift+Arrow keys |
| Select next word/deselect previous word | Shift+Ctrl+Right/Left Arrow | Not available |
| Increase/decrease slider value | Right/Left Arrow | Control+Option+Right/Left Arrow |
Keys for Working with Navigation Panels
| Action | Windows/UNIX | macOS |
|---|
| Open and focus navigation pane | Ctrl+Shift+F5 | Command+Shift+F5 |
| Move focus among document, message bar, and navigation panels | F6 | F6 |
| Move focus to previous pane/panel | Shift+F6 | Shift+F6 |
| Move among elements in the active navigation panel | Tab | Tab |
| Switch between navigation panels (via panel button) | Up Arrow or Down Arrow | Up Arrow or Down Arrow |
| Move to next navigation panel (when focus is in the pane) | Ctrl+Tab | Not available |
| Select/deselect a file in the file list | Space | Space |
| Select/deselect a To Do card | Space | Space |
| Open selected file in file list | Enter | Enter |
| Open selected To Do card | Enter | Enter |
| Move focus to next/previous file row | Arrow keys | Arrow keys |
| Extend selection (add next row) | Shift+Arrow keys | Shift+Arrow keys |
| Move focus one row without changing selection | Ctrl+Arrow keys | Command+Arrow keys |
| Expand the current bookmark | Right Arrow or Shift+Plus | Right Arrow or Shift+Plus |
| Collapse the current bookmark | Left Arrow or Minus | Left Arrow or Minus |
| Expand all bookmarks | Shift+* | Shift+* |
| Collapse selected bookmark | Forward Slash (/) | Forward Slash (/) |
| Move focus to next item in a navigation panel | Down Arrow | Down Arrow |
| Move focus to previous item in a navigation panel | Up Arrow | Up Arrow |
Keys for Navigating the Help Window
| Action | Windows/UNIX | macOS |
|---|
| Open Help window | F1 | F1 or Command+? |
| Close Help window | Ctrl+W or Alt+F4 | Command+W |
| Move back to previous topic | Alt+Left Arrow | Command+Left Arrow |
| Move forward to next topic | Alt+Right Arrow | Command+Right Arrow |
| Move to next pane | Ctrl+Tab | (See Help for browser) |
| Move to previous pane | Shift+Ctrl+Tab | (See Help for browser) |
| Move focus to next link in a pane | Tab | Not available |
| Move focus to previous link in a pane | Shift+Tab | Not available |
| Activate highlighted link | Enter | Not available |
| Print Help topic | Ctrl+P | Command+P |
Keys for Accessibility
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|
| Edit Tag | F2 | F2 |
| Change reading settings for the current document | Shift+Ctrl+5 | Shift+Command+5 |
| Reflow a tagged PDF and return to unreflowed view | Ctrl+4 | Command+4 |
| Activate/deactivate Read Out Loud | Shift+Ctrl+Y | Shift+Command+Y |
| Read the current page out loud | Shift+Ctrl+V | Shift+Command+V |
| Read from current page to end of document | Shift+Ctrl+B | Shift+Command+B |
| Pause reading out loud | Shift+Ctrl+C | Shift+Command+C |
| Stop reading out loud | Shift+Ctrl+E | Shift+Command+E |
