The following lists some of the keyboard shortcuts available in ArcMap, although many of these also apply to ArcGlobe and ArcScene. In addition, there are keyboard shortcuts available when editing and working with tables in ArcMap.
You can also assign your own keyboard shortcuts to a command.
Download ArcGIS for Desktop: A Selection of Time-Saving Tips and Shortcuts, a printable PDF of tips and shortcuts.
Click inside the table of contents and click F1 to open a list of shortcuts while working in ArcMap.
Accessing ArcMap menu commands
The following table lists the keyboard shortcuts for some common commands:
| Shortcut | Command | Menu |
|---|---|---|
| CTRL+N | New | File |
| CTRL+O | Open | File |
| CTRL+S | Save | File |
| ALT+F4 | Exit | File |
| CTRL+Z | Undo | Edit |
| CTRL+Y | Redo | Edit |
| CTRL+X | Cut | Edit |
| CTRL+C | Copy | Edit |
| CTRL+V | Paste | Edit |
| DELETE | Delete | Edit |
| F1 | ArcGIS for Desktop Help | Help |
- To access the main menu, press ALT and use the arrow keys to move through the menus; press ENTER to make a selection.
- Press ESC to close a menu or dialog box.
Window handling
- CTRL+F opens the Search window.
- ESC moves the focus from the Catalog window or the Table Of Contents window to the map display.
- F3 puts the focus to the Table Of Contents window.
- Hold down CTRL while dragging a toolbar or dockable window to prevent it from docking.
- To dock or undock any dockable window, double-click its title bar, or if it is stacked with another docked window, double-click its tab.
Refreshing or suspending map drawing
- Press F5 to refresh and redraw the display.
- Press F9 whenever you want to suspend or pause drawing so you can make changes to your map without having the map redraw after each change. Press F9 again to resume drawing.
Dragging and dropping to move or copy
- You can drag and drop or copy and paste multiple layers in the table of contents and between ArcMap sessions. You can also drag and drop or copy and paste data frames between ArcMap sessions.
- Use drag and drop to move layers in and out of a group layer within a data frame.
- Layers that are dragged and dropped between data frames and ArcMap sessions are copied; hold down CTRL while dragging and dropping to move layers between data frames and ArcMap sessions.
- Data frames that are dragged and dropped are moved; hold down CTRL while dragging and dropping to copy them.
- Layers that are dragged and dropped inside a data frame are moved; hold down CTRL while dragging and dropping to copy them.
- Similarly, in ArcCatalog, you can hold down CTRL while dragging and dropping to copy items.
Navigating the table of contents with the keyboard
- F3 or clicking inside the table of contents puts the keyboard focus on the table of contents so you can navigate and interact with it.
- ESC or clicking the map puts the keyboard focus on the map.
- HOME selects the first item in the table of contents.
- END selects the last item in the table of contents.
- PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN arrows move through the items in the table of contents.
- Left/Right arrows or the + and - keys expand or collapse selected items. They also toggle among the tabs at the bottom of the table of contents when they have keyboard focus.
- SPACE turns drawing of the selected layers on or off.
- CTRL+SPACE turns all the layers in the data frame on or off when a single layer is selected in the table of contents. If the selected layer is part of a group layer or a composite layer, such as an ArcIMS image service layer, all the members of that layer will be turned on or off. If multiple layers are selected, CTRL+SPACE works like SPACE by itself and toggles only the selected layers on or off.
- F2 renames the selected item.
- F12 or ENTER opens the selected item's properties dialog box. If the currently selected item is a heading, symbol, or label, the Layer Properties dialog box will open with the Symbology tab shown on top.
- SHIFT+F10 (or the Application key, if your keyboard has one) opens the shortcut menu for the selected item.
- Use SHIFT+F1 or F1 to obtain context help when an item has keyboard focus or when the properties dialog box tab or a table of contents tab is selected.
- F11 activates a selected data frame, or hold down ALT and click a data frame to activate it.
- When there are multiple data frames in the map, use CTRL+TAB to cycle through each data frame and activate it.
Using mouse shortcuts in the table of contents
- CTRL+click an expansion control (+/-) to expand or collapse all the items at that level. If any items are currently selected, only the selected items are expanded or collapsed.
- CTRL+click selects or deselects multiple layers or data frames.
- SHIFT+click selects all layers or data frames between two layers or data frames within the same table of contents level.
- ALT+click a data frame to activate it.
- CTRL+click a layer's check box turns all the layers on or off at that level. If any items are currently selected, only the selected items are turned on or off.
- ALT+click a layer's check box turns that layer on and turns off all others at that level.
- ALT+click a layer's name to zoom to the extent of that layer. This saves having to right-click a layer and click Zoom To Layer.
- When dragging layers, hover the pointer over an expansion control to expand or collapse any item.
- Right-clicking features, layers, and data frames always opens a shortcut menu.
Navigating maps and layout pages
Hold down the following keys to temporarily turn the tool you are currently using into a navigation tool:
- Z—Zoom In
- X—Zoom Out
- C—Pan
- B—Continuous Zoom/Pan (Drag with mouse button zooms in/out; drag with right mouse button pans.)
- Q—Roam (Hold down mouse wheel until cursor changes, then drag or hold Q.)
These shortcuts work in data view and layout view. In layout view, they apply to the page by default. Hold down SHIFT as well as the key to apply it to the data frame you click instead of the page.
For more map navigation shortcuts, see Quick ways to navigate data frames and layouts.
Opening and closing table windows
- CTRL+double-click a layer or table in the table of contents to open its table.
- CTRL+T or CTRL+ENTER to open the table of the selected layer or table in the table of contents.
- CTRL+SHIFT+T to minimize or maximize all open table windows.
- CTRL+SHIFT+F4 to close all open table windows.
For more table shortcuts, see Keyboard shortcuts for working with tables.