Krita keyboard shortcuts
Digital painters use Krita to sketch and paint illustrations, concept art, and comics, and it's free and open source. Its default keys handle files, selections, layers, zooming and mirroring the canvas, brush opacity and colors, and the vector text editor.
Windows, macOS, Linux · 61 shortcutsFiles and application
Create, open, save, close, and quit Krita documents with the default file-menu commands.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Create a new document | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + N |
| Open a document | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + O |
| Save the current document | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + S |
| Save an incremental version | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Alt + S |
| Save an incremental backup | Windows / macOS / LinuxF4 |
| Close the current document | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + W |
| Close all documents | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + W |
| Quit Krita | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Q |
Selection and clipboard
Copy, cut, paste, and manage selections. The selection source documents Insert and Delete as alternatives where provided.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Copy the selection | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + CorCtrl + Ins |
| Paste the clipboard | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + VorShift + Ins |
| Cut the selection | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + XorShift + Del |
| Copy from all layers | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + C |
| Copy the selection to a new layer | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Alt + J |
| Cut the selection to a new layer | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + J |
| Show or hide the selection | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + H |
| Select all | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + A |
| Deselect all | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + A |
Layers
Create, group, duplicate, and merge layers from the default Krita layer commands.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Duplicate the selected layer | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + J |
| Merge with the layer below | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + E |
| Flatten the image | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + E |
| Insert a new paint layer | Windows / macOS / LinuxIns |
| Create a layer group | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + G |
Canvas and brush
Change the canvas view, brush state, colors, and common image adjustments while painting.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Show canvas-only mode | Windows / macOS / LinuxTab |
| Enter or exit full-screen mode | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + F |
| Toggle instant preview | Windows / macOS / LinuxShift + L |
| Activate soft proofing | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Y |
| Toggle out-of-gamut warnings | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + Y |
| Mirror the canvas view | Windows / macOS / LinuxM |
| Show or hide the grid | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + ' |
| Zoom in | Windows / macOS / Linux+ |
| Zoom out | Windows / macOS / Linux- |
| Set zoom to 100 percent | Windows / macOS / Linux1 |
| Fit the document in the canvas | Windows / macOS / Linux2 |
| Fit the document width in the canvas | Windows / macOS / Linux3 |
| Toggle eraser mode | Windows / macOS / LinuxE |
| Switch between the last two presets | Windows / macOS / Linux/ |
| Make the active color darker | Windows / macOS / LinuxK |
| Make the active color lighter | Windows / macOS / LinuxL |
| Decrease brush opacity | Windows / macOS / LinuxI |
| Increase brush opacity | Windows / macOS / LinuxO |
| Reset foreground and background colors | Windows / macOS / LinuxD |
| Swap foreground and background colors | Windows / macOS / LinuxX |
| Open Levels adjustment | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + L |
| Open Curves adjustment | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + M |
| Open Color Balance adjustment | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + B |
| Invert colors | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + I |
Text editor
When the vector text editor is active, use its documented editing, find, zoom, and text-formatting commands.
| Action | Shortcuts |
|---|---|
| Save text edits | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + S |
| Close the text editor | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + W |
| Undo the last text edit | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Z |
| Redo the last text edit | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + Z |
| Find text | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + F |
| Find the next match | Windows / macOS / LinuxF3 |
| Find the previous match | Windows / macOS / LinuxShift + F3 |
| Find and replace text | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + R |
| Zoom out text | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + - |
| Zoom in text | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + + |
| Bold selected text | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + B |
| Italicize selected text | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + I |
| Underline selected text | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + U |
| Apply superscript | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + P |
| Apply subscript | Windows / macOS / LinuxCtrl + Shift + B |
Source
Krita Manual 5.3.0 shortcut settings · Checked
Defaults from the Krita Manual 5.3.0, checked September 1, 2026. Krita lets users replace the default scheme, export custom profiles, and assign alternate shortcuts; this page records the documented defaults. The manual publishes the same Ctrl-based command notation for the cross-platform commands below.