We’ve compiled a list of the most used – and most useful – Google Slides keyboard shortcuts, so you can create amazing presentations that are quicker, smarter and slicker than ever before!
Here is our Google Slides shortcut cheat sheet! Grab a copy at the link below and see your productivity skyrocket!
Click here to download a PDF version of your own full of all the best Google Slides keyboard shortcuts.
Now that you’ve got the PDF, check out some of our favourite ways to utilize these time-saving Slides shortcuts:
If you have objects on your slide that intersect with one another – like a text box on top of a shape, or a complex bar chart – you might find it useful to group them so that they stay together when moved or resized. Grouping and un-grouping objects is made so much easier with keyboard shortcuts.
First, select the objects you want to group together (it can be as many as you like). Then, press CTRL + ALT + G to group them. Now, when you select one object all other grouped objects will be selected too. This makes them easier to move around your slide.
To ungroup your objects, select the group and press CTRL + ALT + SHIFT + G.
When working with multiple, overlapping slide objects it can be tricky to get them arranged in the right order. Let’s say you have an image, a rectangle and a text box. You want the image to sit at the back of the slide, the rectangle to go on top of the image, and the text to sit on top of the rectangle, at the front of the slide.
To do this, first select the image and hit CTRL + Down (arrow) to send it to the back of the slide. Then, select the text box and hit CTRL + Up (arrow) to bring it to the front. You can use this shortcut over and over again to move an object a further forward or backwards in increments.
Your objects are now ordered correctly, and can be repositioned to achieve your desired layout!
This handy shortcut will save you buckets of time. If you need to change a word or phrase that is repeated throughout your presentation, hit CTRL + H to bring up the Find and Replace window. In the Find dialogue box, type the word you want to change. In the Replace with box, type the new word or phrase. Click Replace all to make a blanket change across your deck.
To resize a shape without warping or stretching it, simply hit the SHIFT key whilst dragging one of the corner nodes. This technique works for all Google Slides objects, including images and text boxes!
And remember to download more productivity-boosting tips, be sure in our PDF cheat sheet full of Google Slides keyboard shortcuts.
If Microsoft PowerPoint is more your jam, click here to download our PowerPoint shortcuts cheat sheet too!
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Tell me more!The video animation looks AWESOME! Thank you sooooo much. I am very happy and proud with the result; this video is really convincing. Really really well done.
Elodie Maurer SES
uh I have a problem… I dont have a normal computer and keyboard and so there is no alt key for me… I can’t group things halp me sumbody ples
Hi there, I was just wondering if you can cut a shape in Google Slides. Can you select shape nodes within a line and cut them, like with Adobe Illustrator? Thanks! Tahli
Hi Tahli, unfortunately there’s not. There’s a similar(ish) feature in PowerPoint called ‘boolean tools’ that lets you merge and combine shapes similar to in Illustrator, but Slides doesn’t have that functionality at all. Hope this helps!
my ctrl alt g thing doesn’t work. can it work for images?
Hi Ellie,
Sorry to hear you’re having trouble with the shortcuts! These are the official shortcuts for Google Slides, so I’m not sure how to help if it’s not working. You can also group objects by selecting the objects you want to group, right clicking with your mouse, and selecting ‘group objects’ from the drop down. I hope this helps!