Complete Penpot keyboard shortcuts reference — 100 shortcuts across 11 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Windows & Linux.
Penpot is the open-source design tool that deliberately mirrors Figma's conventions, so its keymap will feel familiar — single-letter tools, Ctrl + G to group, brackets and arrows for order and position — with a few Penpot-specific additions for flex and grid layouts and boolean operations. It runs in the browser; on macOS, Cmd replaces Ctrl.
📜 Every shortcut on this page is taken from the official Penpot documentation — github.com
🔧 Spotted an error or a missing shortcut? Suggest an edit on GitHub — every accepted fix goes live on this page, the API and the CLI.
Tools and layers
V is move, B draws a board (Penpot's artboard), R a rectangle, E an ellipse, T text and P a path. Ctrl + G groups and Shift + G ungroups; Ctrl + K turns the selection into a component and Ctrl + Shift + K detaches an instance. Ctrl + Alt + G wraps the selection in a new board. Ctrl + M masks with the top shape. Layer order moves one step with Ctrl + Up or Ctrl + Down; adding Shift (Ctrl + Shift + Up, Ctrl + Shift + Down) jumps to the very front or back.
Layout and alignment
Shift + A adds or removes a flex layout on a board — the equivalent of auto layout — and Ctrl + Shift + A does the same for grid layout. The alignment keys are Alt plus a letter: Alt + A left, Alt + D right, Alt + W top, Alt + S bottom, Alt + H and Alt + V centre horizontally and vertically, with Ctrl + Alt + Shift + H and Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V distributing. Arrow keys nudge one pixel and Shift + Up and its siblings ten.
Shapes, zoom and panels
Boolean operations are Ctrl + Alt + U union, Ctrl + Alt + D difference, Ctrl + Alt + I intersection and Ctrl + Alt + E exclude. Shift + 1 zooms to fit everything, Shift + 2 to the selection and Shift + 0 resets to 100%. Alt + L and Alt + I toggle the layers and assets panels, F enters focus mode on the selection, and ? shows the shortcut list in the app.
Frequently asked questions
Are Penpot shortcuts the same as Figma's?
Largely. Tools, grouping, ordering and nudging match; boolean operations, layout toggles and alignment use Penpot's own bindings.
How do I add auto layout in Penpot?
Shift + A adds a flex layout to the selected board; Ctrl + Shift + A adds a grid layout.
How do I make a component?
Select the layers and press Ctrl + K. Ctrl + Shift + K detaches an instance back into plain layers.
Is there a shortcut list inside Penpot?
Yes — press ? to show or hide it.
🤖 Ask AI about Penpot shortcuts
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"