So, are you ready to get started with Adobe XD? Then you should definitely memorize the keyboard shortcuts! These little helpers will help you navigate through your projects, perform actions and optimize your design work in Adobe XD with ease. Don't worry, you don't have to learn them all at once - we'll take a relaxed approach. Let's take a look together at the useful keyboard shortcuts for Adobe XD and take your design workflow to the next level!
Table of Contents
General keyboard shortcuts
Purpose
macOS
Windows
Exit
Cmd + Q
Alt + F4
Keyboard shortcuts for the "Edit" menu
Option
macOS
Windows
Undo
Cmd + Z
Ctrl + Z
Redo
⇧ + Cmd + Z
Ctrl + Shift + Z
Cut
Cmd + X
Ctrl + X
Copy
Cmd + C
Ctrl + C
Paste
Cmd + V
Ctrl + V
Insert Appearance (in design mode) and Insert Interaction (in prototype mode)
Cmd + Opt + V
Ctrl + Alt + V
Duplicate
Cmd + D
Ctrl + D
Delete
⌫
Delete
Select all
Cmd + A
Ctrl + A
Deselect all
⇧+ Cmd + A
Ctrl + Shift + A
Keyboard shortcuts for the "File" menu
Option
macOS
Windows
New
Cmd + N
Ctrl + N
Open...
Cmd + Shift + O
Ctrl + Shift + O
Close
Cmd + W
Alt + F4
Save...
Cmd + S
Ctrl + S
Save as...
⇧+ Cmd + S
Ctrl + Shift + S
Save locally...
Opt + Shift + Cmd + S
Shift + Ctrl + Alt + S
Export selected elements
Shift + Cmd + E
Ctrl + Shift + E
Export selected items only
Cmd + E
Ctrl + E
Export to third-party program (if a program integrated with XD is installed on your computer)
Opt + Cmd + E
Not available
Import
Shift + Cmd + I
Ctrl + Shift + I
Keyboard shortcuts for path/drawing pen
Option
macOS
Windows
Activate "Drawing pen" tool
P
P
Convert point
Double-click
Double-click
Asymmetrical control point
Opt
Alt
Align to control point angle
Shift
Shift
Align to anchor point angle
Shift
Shift
Add
Opt + Cmd + U
Ctrl + Alt + U
Subtract
Opt + Cmd + S
Ctrl + Alt + S
Form intersection
Opt + Cmd + I
Ctrl + Alt + I
Exclude overlap
Opt + Cmd + X
Ctrl + Alt + X
Convert to path
Cmd + 8
Ctrl + 8
Keyboard shortcuts for layers (objects), groups, scroll groups and artboards
Option
macOS
Windows
Group layers
Cmd + G
Ctrl + G
Ungroup layers
Shift + Cmd + G
Ctrl + Shift + G
Create component
Cmd + K
Ctrl + K
Edit primary component
Shift + Cmd + K
Shift + Ctrl + K
Back to previous instance
Shift + Opt + K
Shift + Alt + K
Lock/unlock layers
Cmd + L
Ctrl + L
Hide/show layer
Cmd + ,
Ctrl + ,
Mask with shape
Shift + Cmd + M
Shift + Ctrl + M
Create repeating grid
Cmd + R
Ctrl + R
Select a layer in a group/component directly
Click on the layer on the workspace while holding down the Cmd key
Click on the layer on the workspace while holding down the Ctrl key
Change the opacity of the layer
1 to 9 (0 for 100 %)
1 to 9 (0 for 100 %)
Select the drawing area
Hold down the Cmd key and click on an empty area of the drawing area
Hold down the Ctrl key and click on an empty area of the drawing area
Draw shape from center point
Opt + drag
Alt + drag
Draw shape with an aspect ratio of 1:1 (for squares/circles)
Shift + drag
Shift + drag
Draw an equilateral triangle
Shift + drag
Shift + drag
Show/hide guides on the drawing area
Cmd + ;
Ctrl + ;
Lock guides on the drawing area
Shift + Cmd + ;
Shift + Ctrl + ;
Move element by 10 pixels
Shift + arrow keys
Shift + arrow keys
Change the size of the element in steps of 1 pixel
Cmd + arrow keys
Alt + arrow keys
Change the size of the element in steps of 10 pixels
Cmd + Shift + arrow keys
Alt + Shift + arrow keys
Selection across overlapping layers
Cmd + click on the title
Ctrl + click on the title
Edit distance
On workspace, move mouse pointer over object + S
On workspace, move mouse pointer over object + S
Mirror distance on the opposite sides
Opt + S
Alt + S
Edit all pages
Shift + S
Shift + S
Horizontal scrolling
Shift + Cmd + H
Shift + Alt + H
Vertical scrolling
Shift + Cmd + V
Shift + Alt + V
Horizontal and vertical scrolling
Shift + Cmd + D
Shift + Alt + D
Add color to "Elements
Shift + Cmd + C
Shift + Ctrl + C
Rename layers
Cmd + Opt + R
Ctrl + Alt + R
Apply frame colors from the Libraries panel to elements
Opt + Click
Alt + Click
Expand/reduce in the "Libraries" control panel
Cmd + click on the arrow
Ctrl + click on the arrow
Keyboard shortcuts for alignment
Option
macOS
Windows
Left
Ctrl + Cmd + ←
Ctrl + Shift + ←
Centered (horizontal)
Ctrl + Cmd + C
Shift + C
Right
Ctrl + Cmd + →
Ctrl + Shift + →
Top
Ctrl + Cmd + ↑
Ctrl + Shift + ↑
Center (vertical)
Ctrl + Cmd + M
Shift + M
Bottom
Ctrl + Cmd + ↓
Ctrl + Shift + ↓
Keyboard shortcuts for arranging
Option
macOS
Windows
To the foreground
Shift + Cmd + ]
Shift + Ctrl + ]
Step forward
Cmd + ]
Ctrl + ]
Step backwards
Cmd + [
Ctrl + [
Into the background
Shift + Cmd + [
Shift + Ctrl + [
Keyboard shortcuts for distributing
Option
macOS
Windows
Horizontal
Ctrl + Cmd + H
Ctrl + Shift + H
Vertical
Ctrl + Cmd + V
Ctrl + Shift + V
Keyboard shortcuts for working with text
Option
macOS
Windows
Bold
Cmd + B
Ctrl + B
Italic
Cmd + I
Ctrl + I
Underline
Cmd + U
Ctrl + U
Enlarge font
Shift + Cmd + >
Ctrl + Shift + .
Reduce font size
Shift + Cmd + <
Ctrl + Shift + ,
Keyboard shortcuts for the "Operations" menu
Option
macOS
Windows
From the center point
Opt
Alt
Copy and paste object
Opt + drag
Alt + drag
Restrict
Shift
Shift
Edit text
Enter key
Enter key
Limit rotation to 15-degree increments
Shift (15 °)
Shift (15 °)
Draw lines and limit rotation to 45 degree increments
Shift (45°)
Shift (45°)
Draw objects from their center
Shift + Opt
Shift + Alt + S
Direct selection
Cmd
Ctrl
Switch between design and prototype mode
Ctrl + Tab
Ctrl + Tab
Keyboard shortcuts for tools
Option
macOS
Windows
Select
V
V
Rectangle
R
R
Ellipse
E
E
Polygon
Y
Y
Line
L
L
Drawing pen
P
P
text
T
T
Drawing area
A
A
Zoom
Activate zoom mode: Z
Activate zoom mode: Z
Pipette
I
I
Keyboard shortcuts for the user interface and display options
Option
macOS
Windows
Switch to design mode
Opt + 1
Alt + 1
Switch to prototype mode
Opt + 2
Alt + 2
Switch to release mode
Opt + 3
Alt + 3
Zoom in
Cmd + ,
Opt + mouse wheel
Zoom out
Cmd + "-"
Opt + mouse wheel
Zoom to selection
Cmd + 3
Ctrl + 3
Zoom to display everything
Cmd + 0
Ctrl + 0
100 %
Cmd + 1
Ctrl + 1
200 %
Cmd + 2
Ctrl + 2
Move
Space bar
Spacebar
Elements
Shift + Cmd + Y
Ctrl + Shift + Y
Layers
Cmd + Y
Ctrl + Y
Show layout grid
Shift + Cmd + '
Shift + Ctrl + '
Show grid boxes
Cmd + '
Ctrl + '
Full screen mode
Ctrl + Cmd + F
Not available
Switch between design and prototype mode
Ctrl + Tab
Ctrl + Tab
Switch between windows (files)
Cmd + tilde (~)
Not available
Increase or decrease the value in a field by 1
↑ or ↓
↑ or ↓
Increase or decrease the value in a field by 10
Shift + ↑ or Shift + ↓
Shift + ↑ or Shift + ↓
Keyboard shortcuts for the "Window" menu
Option
macOS
Windows
Maximize
Not available
Windows + ↑
Minimize
Cmd + M
Windows + ↓
Preview
Cmd + ⏎
Ctrl + Enter
Keyboard shortcuts for process changes
Option
macOS
Windows
Move horizontally
Shift + mouse wheel
Shift + mouse wheel
Vertical movement
Mouse wheel
Mouse wheel
Keyboard shortcuts for selecting and measuring distances between elements
Option
macOS
Windows
Activate distances
Opt (with object selected)
Alt (for selected object)
Distance from the selected layer
Hold down the Opt key and move the mouse pointer over the object/group/drawing area
Hold down the Alt key and move the mouse pointer over the object/group/drawing area
Relative distance to the selected group
Press Opt + Cmd and move the mouse pointer over an object in the group
Press Ctrl + Alt and move the mouse pointer over an object in the group
Space bar + click and drag, ↑, ↓, →, ←, Space bar + click and drag
Faster movement
Shift + ↑, ↓, →, ←
Shift + ↑, ↓, →, ←
Remove the focus from the drawing area in the design specification view
Esc
Esc
Navigate between linked artboards
Shift + click
Shift + Click
Keyboard shortcuts for editing vectors
Option
macOS
Windows
Start editing the selected vector object
Enter key
Enter key
Finish editing the selected vector object
Esc
Esc
Switch between straight and mirrored control points
Double-click
Double-click
Disconnect control point handle
Opt + drag
Alt + drag
Keyboard shortcuts for prototyping
Option
macOS
Windows
Show all connections in prototype mode
Cmd + A
Ctrl + A
Hide all wiring
Opt
Alt
Preview
Cmd + Enter
Ctrl + Enter
Start or stop recording the preview
Cmd + Ctrl + R
Not available
Stop recording
Esc
Not available
Navigate to drawing areas in the preview window or a shared prototype
Arrow right or arrow left (→ or ←)
Create a new line in the comment field of the shared prototype link
Enter key or Shift + Enter
Enter key or Shift + Enter
Send comment entered in the comment field of the prototype link
Cmd + Enter
Ctrl + Enter
10 of the best tips and tricks for Adobe XD
Use character repetitions: If you design recurring elements such as menus or buttons, use character repetitions. Changes in one character are automatically applied to all instances.
Prototyping and interactions: Adobe XD allows you to create prototypes with interactive elements. You can link screens, add transitions and run user tests to optimize the user experience.
Use components: Create components for recurring UI elements. If you make a change to a component, it will be updated in all instances, saving time and ensuring consistency.
Area nesting: Organize your design file by nesting frames inside each other. This keeps the workspace tidy and helps you maintain an overview.
Working with plugins: Adobe XD supports plugins that allow you to add additional features. Check the available plugins to extend your workflow.
Restore deleted elements: If you have accidentally deleted an element, you can restore it with the key combination "Ctrl/Cmd + Z".
Pixel-perfect alignment: Use the "Shift" key to align elements with pixel precision while dragging or scaling them.
Responsive Design: Adobe XD allows you to create designs for different screen sizes. Use the Responsive Resize feature to make sure your design looks good on different devices.
Comments and feedback : When sharing your design with others, use Adobe XD's commenting feature to get feedback and track changes.
Learn shortcuts: Finally, it's always a good idea to learn the most important keyboard shortcuts to work faster. You can use the standard Adobe XD shortcuts or customize them according to your own preferences.
Shortcuts Adobe XD - Keyboard shortcuts at a glance
Together with his brother Matthias, Stefan Petri runs the popular specialist forum PSD-Tutorials.de and the e-learning platform TutKit.com, which focuses on the training and further education of digital professional skills.
