How to change keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop

Modify keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop

You can change keyboard shortcuts for different items in Photoshop, including the application menu and editing tools. To get started, open Photoshop on your Windows or Mac computer.

In the Photoshop window, click Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts on the menu bar.

The ' Keyboard Shortcuts and Menus ' window will appear immediately. Here, select the shortcuts you want to change. Click the ' Shortcuts For ' drop-down menu and select a specific item.

Available items include:

1. Application Menus : This is a shortcut cluster on the menu bar, including options like File, Edit, Image, etc.
2. Panel Menus : This option allows you to change the keyboard shortcut corresponding to different panels like Action panel, Properties, etc.
3. Tools : These are shortcuts related to the editing tools displayed on the left side of the Photoshop window, including the Rectangular Marquee Tool, Crop Tool, etc.
4. Taskspaces : This section allows you to change the keyboard shortcuts of Select and Mask, Content-Aware Fill, and Neural Filters.

Let's take the example with ' Application Menus '. Click on this item in the ' Shortcuts For ' menu .

Next, select the menu whose function you want to change the shortcut for. On the same window in the ' Application Menu Command ' section, click on a menu to expand its functions.

In the expanded menu, click the function for which you want to change the shortcut.

Now press the keyboard shortcut that you want to assign to the selected function. The keys you press will appear in the ' Shortcut ' box next to the selected function.

If Photoshop used the shortcut you selected for another feature (the shortcut is duplicated), an error message will appear at the bottom of the window.

If you want, you can ignore Photoshop's error message, remove the duplicate shortcut from the existing function, and assign it to the new function of your choice. To do this, click ' Accept ' on the right side of the window.

Click ' Accept ' even if Photoshop does not display an error message.

While on the shortcut window, you can perform other actions such as deleting the shortcut, by selecting a shortcut in the list, then clicking ' Delete Shortcut '.

Finally, click ' OK ' to save the set changes.

Which keyboard shortcut should I change in Photoshop?

Choosing which keyboard shortcuts to change completely depends on the functions you frequently use in Photoshop. If you use a feature often, you should assign it an easy-to-operate shortcut.

Here are some general ideas for keyboard shortcuts to change:

1. File > Save a Copy : If you usually save your images as copies, use the Save As keyboard shortcut for this option.
2. File > Export > Save for Web : This feature has been assigned a shortcut key by default, but if you use this feature too often, you may want to assign it a shortcut that is easier to manipulate.
3. Filter > Blur > Average : Create a shortcut for this feature to quickly blur parts of your image.
4. Tools : Many of Photoshop's secondary tools use the same keyboard shortcuts as the main tool. For example, the Crop Tool and the Perspective Crop Tool use the same keyboard shortcut. Therefore, assigning a separate shortcut to each tool will make it easier for you to use.

Reset Photoshop shortcut settings to default

Of course, you can also revert all your changes to the default setup state if you want.

Open Photoshop and choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts from the menu bar.

On the ' Keyboard Shortcuts and Menus ' window that opens, click the ' Set ' drop-down menu and select ' Photoshop Defaults '.

A prompt will appear, click ' Don't Save ' to continue.

Click ' OK ' to close the window.

Your shortcut settings are now reset!

Isabella Humphrey

Update 10 July 2021