Adobe Illustrator - Short Cut Keys

Selecting & Moving
To access Selection or Direction Selection tool (whichever was used last) at any time	Control
To switch between Selection and Direct Selection tools	Ctrl–`
To cycle through tools behind column tool	Alt–click tool
To make copy while dragging	Alt
Add to a selection	Shift
Move selection (in 1-point increments)	Arrow keys
Move selection (in 10-point increments)	Shift–any Arrow keys
Lock selected artwork	Ctrl–2
Lock all deselected artwork	Ctrl–Alt–Shift–2
Unlock all artwork	Ctrl–Alt–2
Hide selected artwork	Ctrl–3
Hide all deselected artwork	Ctrl–Alt–Shift–3
Show all artwork	Ctrl–Alt–3
Path Editing
Join and Average at same time	Ctrl–Alt–Shift–J
To get Anchor Point tool while using Pen tool	Alt
Switch between Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools	Alt
To get Add Anchor Point tool while using Scissors tool	Alt
Move anchor point while drawing with Pen tool	Spacebar
Create closed path with Pencil or Paintbrush tool	When finished drawing, hold Alt and release mouse
Connect to an open (and selected) path with Pencil tool	Ctrl–drag
Painting & Transforming
To get Eyedropper tool while using Live Paint Bucket tool	Alt
Samples intermediate color from gradient, picture, etc. with Eyedropper	Shift
Sets center point and shows dialog	Alt–click with tool
Duplicates while transforming selection	Alt–drag
Transform pattern without transforming object	Tilde(~)–drag
Scale proportionally with Selection tool	Shift–drag bounding box
Scale from center with Selection tool	Alt–drag bounding box
Move mesh point along path with Mesh tool	Shift–drag
Add mesh point with Mesh tool without changing color	Shift–click
Remove mesh point with Mesh tool	Alt–click
Shapes (While Drawing)
Draw from center	Alt
Draw from center with dialog	Alt–click
Constrain proportion	Shift
Constrain orientation of polygons, stars, spirals	Shift
Move object while drawing	Hold Spacebar
Add/subtract sides, points, spiral segments	Up or Down Arrow
Decrease/Increase inner radius	Ctrl
Create continuous duplicates along mouse movement	Hold Tilde(~) while dragging
Viewing & Guides
To get Hand Tool (while NOT editing Type)	Spacebar
To get Hand Tool (while editing Type)	Hold Control, then Spacebar. (This will show the Zoom tool.) Let go of Control so you see the Hand tool and immediately start dragging the mouse so you don't end up typing spaces. Be sure to let go of the Spacebar while dragging so you again don't type more spaces.
Zoom In Tool	Ctrl–Spacebar
Zoom Out Tool	Ctrl–Alt–Spacebar
Zoom In to exact size	Ctrl–Spacebar–drag
Switch between Outline and Preview modes	Ctrl–Y
Switch between GPU and CPU preview (if available)	Ctrl–E
Hide/Show all tools and panels	Tab
Hide/Show all panels except Tools and Control	Shift–Tab
Switch between horizontal/vertical guide	Hold Alt while dragging out a new guide
Release Guide (turns it into a regular path)	Ctrl–Shift–double–click
Type
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 2pts	Ctrl–Shift–> or <
Increase/Decrease size of selected text by 10pts	Ctrl–Alt–Shift–> or <
Increase/Decrease Leading by 2pts	Alt–Down/Up Arrow
Increase/Decrease kerning/tracking	Alt–Right/Left Arrow
Kerning/tracking x 5	Ctrl–Alt–Right/Left Arrow
Increase/Decrease baseline shift	Shift–Alt–Up/Down Arrow
Baseline shift x 5	Ctrl–Alt–Shift Up/Down Arrow
Align type left, right, center	Ctrl–Shift–L, R, C
Justify with last line left aligned	Ctrl–Shift–J
Justify last line	Ctrl–Shift–F
Reset horizontal/vertical scale to 100%	Ctrl–Shift–X
Reset kerning or tracking to 0	Ctrl–Alt–Q
Panels
Show/Hide Brushes panel	F5
Show/Hide Color panel	F6
Show/Hide Layers panel	F7
Show/Hide Info panel	Ctrl–F8
Show/Hide Gradient panel	Ctrl–F9
Show/Hide Stroke panel	Ctrl–F10
Show/Hide Attributes panel	Ctrl–F11
Show/Hide Graphic Styles panel	Shift–F5
Show/Hide Appearance panel	Shift–F6
Show/Hide Align panel	Shift–F7
Show/Hide Transform panel	Shift–F8
Show/Hide Pathfinder panel	Shift–Ctrl–F9
Show/Hide Transparency panel	Shift–Ctrl–F10
Show/Hide Symbols panel	Shift–Ctrl–F11
Layers Panel
To create new layer and edit properties	Alt–click New Layer button
Toggle layer between Preview/Outline mode	Ctrl–click on eye
Show layer while turning off all others	Alt–click on eye
Select all items on layer	Alt–click layer name
Copy selected item to different layer	Alt–drag selection square in Layers panel
To create the new layer at the top of list	Ctrl–click New Layer button
To create the new layer below selected layer	Ctrl–Alt–click New Layer button
Color Panel
Saturate/Desaturate current color	Shift–drag color slider
Change Color Mode	Shift–click color bar
Select compliment of current color	Ctrl–click color bar
Swatches Panel
Create a swatch as a global color	Crtl–Shift–click New Swatch button
Replace a swatch with another	Alt–drag new swatch over old
Miscellaneous Good Stuff
Create New Symbol	F8
Swap colors in a gradient	Alt–drag a color stop onto another
Revert file	F12

Tools
V	Selection
A	Direct Selection
Y	Magic Wand
Q	Lasso
P	Pen
+	Add Anchor Point
-	Delete Anchor Point
Shift–C	Anchor Point
Shift–`	Curvature
T	Type
Shift–T	Touch Type
\	Line Segment
M	Rectangle
L	Ellipse
B	Paintbrush
Shift–B	Blob Brush
Shift–N	Shaper
N	Pencil
Shift–E	Eraser
C	Scissors
R	Rotate
O	Reflect
S	Scale
Shift–W	Width
Shift–R	Warp
E	Free Transform
Shift–M	Shape Builder
K	Live Paint Bucket
Shift–L	Live Paint Selection
Shift–P	Perspective Grid
Shift–V	Perspective Selection
U	Mesh
G	Gradient
I	Eyedropper
W	Blend
Shift–S	Symbol Sprayer
J	Column Graph
Shift–O	Artboard
Shift–K	Slice
H	Hand
Z	Zoom
X	Toggle between Fill & Stroke
Shift–X	Swap Fill & Stroke
D	Default Fill & Stroke (white fill/black stroke)
<	Fill or Stroke w/Color
>	Fill or Stroke w/Gradient
/	Fill or Stroke w/None
Shift–D	Cycle through Drawing Modes
F	Cycle through Screen Modes
Double–click tools to bring up options.
Press CAPS LOCK to change tool pointer to crosshair.
Hold down Shift to constrain movement to 45°, 90°, 135°, or 180°.