Canva: The Most Useful Keyboard Shortcuts You Need to Know

Canva is a complete alternative to PowerPoint and Google Slides. Here are the keyboard shortcuts you need to know to get the hang of the software.

Preparing for a presentation can be challenging, but being interesting, informative, and funny when you’re presenting is even harder. You can turn to PowerPoint or Google Slides, but you might also want to consider Canva, which has been loaded with new features lately. Switching software is never easy, especially if you’re in a hurry, but if you have some free time, you should definitely test these commands to see if they suit the style of presentation you want to give.

Use Canva command shortcuts

Canva is an easy-to-use graphic design app and you can use keyboard shortcuts to speed up the process. Here are the most basic ones:

• L adds a line
• R adds a rectangle
• C adds a circle
• T adds a text field
• Shift + Cmd + L left align text
• Shift + Cmd + C right align text
• Shift + Cmd + H anchors text to the top of the text field
• Shift + Cmd + B anchors text to the bottom of the text field
• Shift + Cmd + M anchors the text in the middle of the text field.
• Shift + Cmd++ increase font size by one point
• Shift + Cmd + – decrease the font size by one point

You may already know other existing commands. Cmd + A selects all items, Cmd + Z undoes the last action, + and – keys zoom in and out. You can move elements by selecting them and clicking the arrow. If you release the Shift key, the element will move coarser.

Other More Advanced Canva Commands

If you want to move an element forward, select it and press Cmd +]. Back press Cmd + [. To send all forward or all backward, press Option and Cmd and the appropriate [ or ]. You can group elements by selecting them and pressing Cmd + G and ungrouping them with Shift + Cmd + G. You can also move multiple elements at once without grouping them by selecting one while holding Shift and selecting the others.

Use Canva Labels for Presentations

These commands work in all Canva layouts and you shouldn’t have any trouble learning them as they are quite common. Some, on the other hand, are dedicated to presentation features and some are really good. Try the following after starting the presentation:

• Spacebar starts or pauses playback
• Q will “shhh”your audience
• Q will play the drumroll sound
• C will cause an explosion of confetti on the screen.
• O will cause an explosion of bubbles on the screen
• B comes to blur the presentation

There’s a full infographic on the company’s website, in case you can’t remember it. Some commands are highlighted on social networks, such as confetti. See an example on a TikTok account.