The best keyboard shortcuts to get started with Sketch
Whether you’re new to Sketch or a seasoned pro, taking the time to learn the keyboard shortcuts for common actions will seriously speed up your workflow.
But… there are just so many shortcuts. Where do we even start? Well, we thought a curated list of our design team’s can’t-live-without Sketch shortcuts could be just the thing.
We know there are a lot of them, so we recommend bookmarking this page and downloading this handy PDF cheat sheet ✨
Inserting layers
| A | Create an Artboard |
| R | Create a rectangle |
| O | Create an oval |
| T | Create a text layer |
| I | Create an interaction |
| H | Create a Hotspot |
| U | Create a rounded rectangle |
Want to learn more about working with layers? Check out this tutorial by Marc Edwards on creating one-layer designs.
Moving and resizing
| ⌘ click | Select a layer within a group |
| ⌥ hover | Display the distance between layers |
| ⇧ resize | Constrain proportions |
| ⌘D | Duplicate |
| ⌘K | Scale layers |
| Arrow keys | Nudge layer 1px* |
| ⇧ arrow keys | Nudge layer by 10px* |
| ⌘ arrow keys | Expand or contract by 1px |
| ⇧⌘ arrow keys | Expand or contract by 10px |
*You can change the distance in your settings.
Want to learn more about moving and resizing layers? Check out our documentation.
Arranging layers
| ⌘G | Group |
| ⇧⌘G | Ungroup |
| ⌘R | Rename layer |
| ⌘ [ or ] | Bring forward or backward |
| Tab | Select next layer in group |
| ⌥ click Align buttons | Align layer to Artboard |
| ⇧⌘H | Hide/show layer |
| ⇧⌘L | Lock/unlock layer |
Just getting started with Sketch? Check out our free beginners’ course!
| ⌘O | Open Workspace window |
| C | Open Insert window |
| ⌃C | Open Color Picker |
| ⌘ + or - | Zoom in/out |
| ⌥Z click | Zoom out |
| ⌃P | Show pixels on zoom |
| Space and drag | Pan Canvas |
| Z click and drag | Zoom to area |
| ⌘0 | Zoom to 100% |
| ⌘1 | Zoom to all elements on Canvas |
| ⌘2 | Zoom to selection |
| fn← or → | Select previous/next Artboard |
Personalize your interface
| ⌥⌘1 | Show/hide Sidebar |
| ⌥⌘2 | Show/hide Inspector |
| ⌘. | Enter presentation mode |
| ⌃F | Show/hide prototyping |
| ⌃R | Toggle rulers |
Supercharge your Symbols
| ⌘Y | Create Symbol |
| ⌘↵ | Edit Symbol Source |
| ⇧⌘Y | Detach from Symbol |
| ⌥⇧⌘Y | Detach all contents from Symbol |
Just getting started with Symbols? Check out our Symbols series — we cover everything from how to create your first Symbol to working with nested overrides.
Faster exporting
| ⇧⌘E | Export |
| ⌘E | Export selected layers |
| Drag layer/thumbnail to Finder | Export asset |
| Drag layer/thumbnail to Canvas | Import flattened duplicate |
| / in the layer name | Include folder in Export |
Take your exporting game to the next level with exporting presets ✨
There you have it, everything you need to streamline your workflow! All that’s left is to commit these shortcuts to muscle memory — though it’s probably easier to just bookmark this page or download our handy cheat sheet 😉
Ready for even more shortcuts? You can take a look at the full list in our documentation. And if we’ve missed one of your most commonly-used shortcuts, let us know on our community forum!