Adobe Photoshop Cheat Sheet
Shortcuts for Windows (macOS: Ctrl → ⌘, Alt → ⌥). Press a tool letter repeatedly with Shift to cycle through the tools in that group.
On this page
Tools #
| Key | Tool |
|---|---|
V | Move |
M | Marquee (rectangle / ellipse) |
L | Lasso |
W | Object selection / quick selection / magic wand |
C | Crop |
I | Eyedropper |
J | Spot healing / healing brush / remove tool |
S | Clone stamp |
B | Brush |
E | Eraser |
G | Gradient / paint bucket |
O | Dodge / burn |
T | Type |
P | Pen |
U | Shapes |
H / Space | Hand |
Z | Zoom |
R | Rotate view |
Brushes & Colors #
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
[ / ] | Brush smaller / bigger |
Shift + [ / ] | Softer / harder brush |
1 … 0 | Opacity 10% … 100% |
D | Default colors (black / white) |
X | Swap foreground / background |
Alt + Backspace | Fill with the foreground color |
Ctrl + Backspace | Fill with the background color |
Shift + F5 | Fill dialog (Content-Aware) |
Layers #
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl + Shift + N | New layer |
Ctrl + J | Duplicate layer (or copy the selection to a new layer) |
Ctrl + G | Group layers |
Ctrl + E | Merge down |
Ctrl + Shift + E | Merge visible |
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E | Stamp visible into a new layer (keeps the others) |
Ctrl + Alt + G | Clipping mask |
Ctrl + ] / Ctrl + [ | Move the layer up / down |
Alt + click the eye icon | Show only this layer |
Ctrl + click the layer thumbnail | Load as a selection |
Selections #
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl + A / Ctrl + D | Select all / deselect |
Ctrl + Shift + D | Reselect |
Ctrl + Shift + I | Invert the selection |
Shift + drag / Alt + drag | Add to / subtract from the selection |
Q | Quick Mask mode |
Transform & Adjust #
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl + T | Free Transform (Shift = non-proportional in CC) |
Ctrl + L | Levels |
Ctrl + M | Curves |
Ctrl + U | Hue / Saturation |
Ctrl + B | Color Balance |
Ctrl + I | Invert colors |
Ctrl + Shift + U | Desaturate |
Ctrl + Alt + I | Image Size |
Ctrl + Alt + C | Canvas Size |
View #
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl + 0 | Fit on screen |
Ctrl + 1 | 100% |
Ctrl + + / Ctrl + - | Zoom in / out |
Tab | Hide panels |
F | Cycle screen modes |
Ctrl + R | Rulers |
Ctrl + ; | Show / hide guides |
File & History #
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Shift + Z | Undo / redo (multiple steps) |
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + W | Export As (PNG, JPG, WebP) |
Ctrl + Shift + S | Save As |
F12 | Revert to the last save |
Tips #
- Work non-destructively: use adjustment layers, layer masks and Smart Objects instead of editing pixels directly.
- Generative Fill: make a selection → type a prompt in the contextual task bar.
- Select → Subject or Remove Background (Properties panel) saves a lot of manual masking.
Nothing on this sheet matches “”.