# Excalidraw keyboard shortcuts

Every tool is on a number key, which is why Excalidraw is quick once your hands know it.

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## Worth knowing

![An AWS Lambda icon selected on the Excalidraw canvas, with the properties panel open on its layer and align rows and a tooltip reading bring forward, command and right bracket.](https://help.gocapable.com/images/c7ed7e13-8f9f-45ac-9e54-08b4618fc2ac.webp)

Hovering a control in the properties panel names the shortcut for it, as here for bringing an element forward.

* Learning three of these saves more time than learning all of them.
* Shortcuts work while the editor has focus, not while the page does.
* On macOS, use Cmd wherever Ctrl is listed.

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## Core Shortcuts

| **Shortcut**          | **Does**                |
| --------------------- | ----------------------- |
| V or 1                | Selection tool          |
| R or 2                | Rectangle               |
| D or 3                | Diamond                 |
| O or 4                | Ellipse                 |
| A or 5                | Arrow                   |
| L or 6                | Line                    |
| P or 7                | Freedraw                |
| T or 8                | Text                    |
| 9                     | Image                   |
| F                     | Frame                   |
| Ctrl+G / Ctrl+Shift+G | Group / ungroup         |
| Ctrl+Shift+L          | Lock the selection      |
| Shift+1               | Zoom to fit             |
| Ctrl+'                | Toggle the grid         |
| Alt+drag              | Duplicate the selection |
| Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z | Undo / redo             |

## All Shortcuts

![image-20260907-085449.png](https://help.gocapable.com/images/429caa6a-0d39-41c5-a7c9-f8740efb0c91.webp)

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## A few things that catch people out

* Escape returns to the selection tool from anywhere.
* Holding Shift while drawing constrains to squares, circles and straight lines.
* Alt+drag to duplicate is faster than copy and paste for repeated shapes.

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## Related

[Save an Excalidraw diagramHow the scene is stored, and how to go back.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/save-an-excalidraw-diagram.html)

[Fix Excalidraw editor problemsInvisible text, stubborn libraries, stale canvases.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/fix-excalidraw-editor-problems.html)

[Excalidraw editorBack to the editor overview.](https://help.gocapable.com/diagrams/excalidraw-editor.html)

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_Rough on purpose._