Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are the fastest way to speed up your workflow. Many of them are depend on what you’ve selected and what you’re doing, but you’ll find the full list of Sketch Keyboard shortcuts below.

General shortcuts

* When Auto Save is disabled in Preferences, the Duplicate menu item is replaced by Save As…

Inserting Layers

You can use the following shortcuts instead of choosing them in the Insert menu.

R	Rectangle
O	Oval
L	Line
U	Rounded rectangle
V	Vector tool
P	Pencil tool
T	Text tool
A	Artboard tool
S	Slice tool
H	Hotspot tool
C	Open the Insert Window
Enter	Insert selected Component onto Canvas from Insert Window
Enter	Go to selected Symbol’s Source from Components View
⌥ drag	Draw a new shape from center
⇧ drag	Lock the ratio of shape as you draw it
Space  drag	Move a new layer before you place it

Selecting Layers

Moving and Resizing Layers

As you move or resize layers, you’ll see smart guides and measurements automatically.

*You change this value in Preferences.

Editing Layers

When you’ve selected a layer, you can use the following shortcuts:

Enter	Edit layer
Escape	Finish editing
⌥ Tab	Edit the X position in the Inspector
⌫	Delete layer
⌘ ⌥ C	Copy style
⌘ ⌥ V	Paste style
Ctrl S	Sync shared style
Ctrl ⌥ S	Reset shared style
W	Add link to Artboard
F	Toggle fill
B	Toggle border
Ctrl C	Pick color
0 to 9	Edit layer opacity
⌘ ⇧ T	Transform shape
⌘ ⇧ R	Rotate layer
⌘ Ctrl M	Use the layer as a mask
⌘ Escape	Return to instance
⌘ ⌥ U	Union multiple layers
⌘ ⌥ S	Subtract multiple layers
⌘ ⌥ I	Intersect multiple layers
⌘ ⌥ X	Difference multiple layers

Vector Editing

⌘ ⌥ O	Open/close path
Tab	Select the next point
⌥	Show all handle control points
1	Straight point type
2	Mirrored point type
3	Disconnected point type
4	Asymmetric point type
Double-click vector point	Toggle point between Straight and Mirrored
⇧ drag vector point	Move point along X or Y axis
⌘ drag handle control point	Convert your selected point to a Disconnected type
⇧ click (when inserting points)	Place new point at a 45º angle
⇧ click path segment	Place new point between existing points
⌘ click path segment	Curve the path between existing points

Text Editing

⌘ ⌥ ⇧ V	Paste as rich text
⌘ T	Change typeface
⌘ B	Bold
⌘ I	Italic
⌘ U	Underline
⌘ ⌥ +	Increase font size
⌘ ⌥ -	Decrease font size
Ctrl ⌥ L	Increase character spacing
Ctrl ⌥ T	Decrease character spacing
⌘ ⇧ {	Align left
⌘ ⇧ |	Align center
⌘ ⇧ }	Align right
⌘ ⌥  Space	Emoji & symbols
⌘ ⌥ O	Convert to outlines
⇧ Return	Insert a line break

Organizing Layers

Use these shortcuts to organize your layers.

⌘ G	Group
⌘ ⇧ G	Ungroup
⌘ R	Rename layer
Tab	Select next layer in group
⇧ Tab	Select previous layer in group
Enter	Selects layer inside group
Escape	Selects parent group
Click-and-drag layer	Adjust layer hierarchy
⌘ ]	Bring forward
⌘ ⌥ ]	Bring to front
⌘ [	Send backward
⌘ ⌥ [	Send to back
⌘ ⌥ ⇧ ↑	Move up (out of group/Artboard)
⌘ Ctrl H	Distribute horizontally
⌘ Ctrl V	Distribute vertically
⌥ click Align buttons	Align layer to Artboard
⌘ ⇧ H	Hide/show layer
⌘ ⇧ L	Lock/unlock layer

Exporting Layers

Symbols

⌘ Y	Create Symbol
⌘ ⇧ Y	Detach from Symbol
⌘ ⌥ ⇧ Y	Detach all contents from Symbol

Zoom and Focus

Text Fields

These shortcuts apply when you’re editing a numerical field in the Inspector:

Resizing Shortcuts

When you’re adjusting the height or width of a layer, the following characters give you more control over the starting position of the resize.

How to Use Math Operators

You use these math operators in all numerical inputs of the Inspector.

How to Set Individual Radius Values

When you select a rectangle, you can specify a different value in the radius field for each corner in the Inspector by using ; as a spacer (e.g. 40;0;40;0).

Export Fields Shorthand

In the Scale field of the Make Exportable panel in the inspector, the following characters can customize your export sizes.

Miscellaneous

These shortcuts are available for specific tools or when you’re performing specific actions.

⇧ on startup	Launch Sketch with all plugins disabled
⌘ ⇧ D	Refresh Data
⌘ Ctrl R	Run the last plugin you used again
⌘ drag selection handle	Rotate layer
⇧ drag when rotating	Snap rotation to 15º increments
0 to 9	With a gradient stop selected, position it between 0% and 100%
=	Position selected gradient stop directly between two existing stops
Ctrl C	Brings up the eyedropper to set that layer’s fill color

Custom Shortcuts

You can create custom shortcuts for Sketch by opening System Preferences, heading to Keyboard › Shortcuts › App Shortcuts and clicking the add button. In the pop-up menu, select Sketch under the Application drop-down menu and set up your custom shortcut.

Cloud Shortcuts

These shortcuts are available when viewing Sketch documents in your web browser.