Photoshop Shortcuts Cheat Sheet — Tools, Layers, Selections

Practical Photoshop keyboard shortcut reference. Win = Windows; Mac = macOS. Most translate via Ctrl ↔ ⌘ and Alt ↔ ⌥.

Tools (single-key shortcuts)

Key	Tool
V	Move
M	Marquee (rectangular / elliptical)
L	Lasso (free / polygonal / magnetic)
W	Quick Selection / Magic Wand
C	Crop
I	Eyedropper
J	Spot Healing Brush
B	Brush
S	Clone Stamp
Y	History Brush
E	Eraser
G	Gradient / Paint Bucket
O	Dodge / Burn / Sponge
P	Pen
T	Type
A	Path Selection / Direct Selection
U	Shape (rectangle / ellipse / line)
H	Hand (pan)
Z	Zoom
D	Reset foreground/background to black/white
X	Swap foreground / background colors
Q	Quick Mask mode toggle
F	Cycle screen modes (standard / full / full-with-menu)
Tab	Show / hide all panels
Shift + Tab	Show / hide side panels (keep tools)

Hold Shift with a tool key to cycle through that tool's variants (e.g., Shift + M toggles between rectangular and elliptical marquee).

File

Action	Windows	Mac
New document	Ctrl + N	⌘ + N
Open	Ctrl + O	⌘ + O
Save	Ctrl + S	⌘ + S
Save As	Ctrl + Shift + S	⌘ + ⇧ + S
Save for Web (Legacy)	Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S	⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + S
Export As	Ctrl + Alt + Shift + W	⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + W
Close	Ctrl + W	⌘ + W
Close all	Ctrl + Alt + W	⌘ + ⌥ + W
Print	Ctrl + P	⌘ + P

Selections

Action	Windows	Mac
Select all	Ctrl + A	⌘ + A
Deselect	Ctrl + D	⌘ + D
Reselect	Ctrl + Shift + D	⌘ + ⇧ + D
Invert selection	Ctrl + Shift + I	⌘ + ⇧ + I
Select Subject (AI)	(via menu)	(via menu)
Feather selection	Shift + F6	⇧ + fn + F6
Add to selection	Shift + drag	⇧ + drag
Subtract from selection	Alt + drag	⌥ + drag
Intersect with selection	Alt + Shift + drag	⌥ + ⇧ + drag

Layers

Action	Windows	Mac
New layer (with dialog)	Ctrl + Shift + N	⌘ + ⇧ + N
New layer (no dialog)	Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N	⌘ + ⇧ + ⌥ + N
Duplicate layer	Ctrl + J	⌘ + J
Copy selection to new layer	Ctrl + J (with selection)	⌘ + J
Cut selection to new layer	Ctrl + Shift + J	⌘ + ⇧ + J
Group selected layers	Ctrl + G	⌘ + G
Ungroup	Ctrl + Shift + G	⌘ + ⇧ + G
Merge down	Ctrl + E	⌘ + E
Merge visible	Ctrl + Shift + E	⌘ + ⇧ + E
Stamp visible (merge to new layer)	Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E	⌘ + ⇧ + ⌥ + E
Bring to front / back	Ctrl + Shift + ] / [	⌘ + ⇧ + ] / [
Bring forward / send backward	Ctrl + ] / [	⌘ + ] / [
Select all layers	Ctrl + Alt + A	⌘ + ⌥ + A
Clipping mask (current layer to layer below)	Ctrl + Alt + G	⌘ + ⌥ + G
Convert to Smart Object	(right-click → Convert to)	(right-click → Convert to)
Toggle layer visibility	Click eye icon	Click eye icon
Solo a layer (hide all others)	Alt + click eye icon	⌥ + click eye icon

Transform

Action	Windows	Mac
Free Transform	Ctrl + T	⌘ + T
Repeat last transform	Ctrl + Shift + T	⌘ + ⇧ + T
Constrain proportions during transform	Shift + drag corner (default in 2020+ : free; Shift = constrain to original ratio)	⇧ + drag corner
Skew during transform	Ctrl + drag handle	⌘ + drag handle
Distort during transform	Ctrl + drag corner	⌘ + drag corner
Perspective during transform	Ctrl + Alt + Shift + drag corner	⌘ + ⌥ + ⇧ + drag corner
Commit transform	Enter	↩
Cancel transform	Esc	⎋

Brush

Action	Shortcut
Brush size smaller / larger	[ / ]
Brush hardness softer / harder	Shift + [ / Shift + ]
Brush opacity (set by number)	1 = 10%, 5 = 50%, 0 = 100%
Brush flow (with Shift)	Shift + number
Set color from canvas	Alt + click (with brush active) — temporary eyedropper
Brush preset picker	Right-click in canvas
HUD color picker	Ctrl + Alt + Right-click + drag (Win) / ⌃ + ⌥ + ⌘ + drag (Mac)

View / zoom

Action	Windows	Mac
Zoom in	Ctrl + +	⌘ + +
Zoom out	Ctrl + -	⌘ + -
Fit to screen	Ctrl + 0	⌘ + 0
100% (actual pixels)	Ctrl + 1	⌘ + 1
Temporary Hand tool	Hold Space	Hold Space
Temporary Zoom in	Ctrl + Space	⌘ + Space
Temporary Zoom out	Alt + Space	⌥ + Space
Toggle rulers	Ctrl + R	⌘ + R
Show / hide guides	Ctrl + ;	⌘ + ;
Show / hide grid	Ctrl + '	⌘ + '
Snap to guides toggle	Ctrl + Shift + ;	⌘ + ⇧ + ;

Common combos worth memorizing

• Color picker shortcuts: I for tool; then Alt + click while painting samples the color you click.
• Move while drawing: hold Space mid-drag with marquee/shape to reposition before releasing.
• Constrain shapes: Shift while drawing shape = square / circle. Alt = draw from center.
• Step backward through history: Ctrl + Alt + Z (Win) / ⌘ + ⌥ + Z (Mac) — undo more than one step.

Related tools

Exporting from Photoshop and want smaller files? image compressor. Need to resize for a specific dimension: image resizer. Match brand colors across HEX/RGB/HSL: color converter.