Shortcuts: activating tools

Note: You can activate some tools only under certain circumstances. For example, you can activate a camera tool only when the active composition contains a camera layer.

To momentarily activate a tool with a single-letter keyboard shortcut, hold down the key; release the key to return to the previously active tool. To activate a tool and keep it active, press the key and immediately release it.

Result	Windows	Mac OS
Cycle through tools	Alt-click tool button in Tools panel	Option-click tool button in Tools panel
Activate Selection tool	V	V
Activate Hand tool	H	H
Temporarily activate Hand tool	Hold down spacebar or the middle mouse button.	Hold down spacebar or the middle mouse button.
Activate Zoom In tool	Z	Z
Activate Zoom Out tool	Alt (when Zoom In tool is active)	Option (when Zoom In tool is active)
Activate Rotation tool	W	W
Activate and cycle through Camera tools (Unified Camera, Orbit Camera, Track XY Camera, and Track Z Camera)	C	C
Activate Pan Behind tool	Y	Y
Activate and cycle through mask and shape tools (Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Star)	Q	Q
Activate and cycle through Type tools (Horizontal and Vertical)	Ctrl+T	Command+T
Activate and cycle through pen tools (Pen, Add Vertex, Delete Vertex, and Convert Vertex)	G	G
Temporarily activate Selection tool when a pen tool is selected	Ctrl	Command
Temporarily activate pen tool when the Selection tool is selected and pointer is over a path (Add Vertex tool when pointer is over a segment; Convert Vertex tool when pointer is over a vertex)	Ctrl+Alt	Command+Option
Activate and cycle through Brush, Clone Stamp, and Eraser tools	Ctrl+B	Command+B
Activate and cycle through Puppet tools	Ctrl+P	Command+P
Temporarily convert Selection tool to Shape Duplication tool	Alt (in shape layer)	Option (in shape layer)
Temporarily convert Selection tool to Direct Selection tool	Ctrl (in shape layer)	Command (in shape layer)