Complete Procreate keyboard shortcuts reference — 43 shortcuts across 8 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for iPadOS.
Procreate is an iPad app, so its keyboard shortcuts only apply when a hardware keyboard is attached, and most of them mirror macOS conventions with Cmd. The interesting part of this page is the single-key tool switches and the bracket keys for brush size, which turn a Magic Keyboard into something close to a shortcut panel for the Pencil in the other hand.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd + , | Open Procreate Settings |
| Cmd + H | Hide Procreate |
| Alt + Cmd + H | Hide other apps |
| Cmd + K | Open the Actions Menu |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd + O | Open |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd + Z | Undo your previous action |
| Cmd + Shift + Z | Redo your previously undone action |
| Cmd + X | Cut the layer or selection to the clipboard |
| Cmd + C | Copy the layer or selection to the clipboard |
| Cmd + V | Paste the clipboard content into your canvas |
| Cmd + A | Copy all visible selected content to the clipboard |
| Cmd + J | Duplicate the layer or selection to a layer above |
| Cmd + D | Clear the selection |
| Cmd + Backspace | Erase all content from the layer or selected area |
| X | Switch between your current and previous color |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| B | Switch to the paint tool, or open Brushes if already active |
| E | Switch to the erase tool, or open Brushes if already active |
| [ | Decrease brush size by 5 percent |
| ] | Increase brush size by 5 percent |
| Cmd + [ | Decrease brush size by 1 percent |
| Cmd + ] | Increase brush size by 1 percent |
| Shift + [ | Decrease brush size by 10 percent |
| Shift + ] | Increase brush size by 10 percent |
| Cmd + U | Open the Hue, Saturation and Brightness adjustment |
| Cmd + B | Open the Color Balance adjustment |
| S | Enter the Selections tool |
| V | Enter the Transform tool |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Up | Nudge content upwards by one pixel |
| Down | Nudge content downwards by one pixel |
| Left | Nudge content leftwards by one pixel |
| Right | Nudge content rightwards by one pixel |
| L | Open Layers |
| C | Open Colors |
| M | Activate the Modify button on iPadOS 17 and below |
| Space | Invoke the QuickMenu |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd + 0 | Toggle fullscreen within the Procreate interface |
| Cmd + ; | Toggle Perspective Guide visibility |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Cmd + W | Close Procreate fully |
| Cmd + M | Minimise Procreate |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Two-finger tap | Undo |
| Three-finger tap | Redo |
| Four-finger tap | Fullscreen |
| Two-finger pinch | Zoom |
B switches to the brush and E to the eraser; pressing either again while it is active opens the Brush Library, so a double tap picks a new brush. S enters Selections and V Transform. L and C open the Layers and Colors panels, and X swaps the current and previous colour, which is the fastest way to alternate between a line colour and a fill. Space invokes the QuickMenu wherever the cursor is.
[ and ] change brush size by five percent, Cmd + [ and Cmd + ] by one percent for fine control, and Shift + [ and Shift + ] by ten. These work while the Pencil is on the canvas, so size can be adjusted between strokes without lifting to the sidebar slider.
Cmd + J duplicates the layer or selection onto a new layer above, Cmd + D clears the current selection, and Cmd + Backspace erases the layer's contents. Cmd + U opens Hue, Saturation and Brightness and Cmd + B Color Balance, both applied to the current layer. The arrow keys nudge content one pixel, which is how you align a layer precisely after a transform. Without a keyboard, the gesture equivalents are two-finger tap for undo, three-finger tap for redo and four-finger tap for full screen.
No. They need an attached keyboard such as the Magic Keyboard. The gesture rows at the end of the table work on the touch screen alone.
Cmd + [ and Cmd + ] adjust by one percent; the plain bracket keys use five percent steps and Shift uses ten.
The first press selects the brush tool; a second press while it is active opens the Brush Library.
Cmd + Z, or a two-finger tap on the canvas.
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"