How to Change Keyboard Shortcuts in Photoshop

Keyboard shortcuts are fantastic tools to speed up your workflow in Photoshop. However, you may find that some tools that you regularly use don’t have a keyboard shortcut. 

For example, a simple process that I use pretty often is the “flatten image” option within the layers menu. There isn’t a flatten image keyboard shortcut in Photoshop, but I found a way to make it work and I’d love to share it with you in this tutorial.

If you follow the process below you can set a keyboard shortcut to flatten images, use this method to set up or modify a keyboard shortcut for any other Photoshop menu options.  

3 Quick Steps to Change Keyboard Shortcuts in Photoshop

Note: The keyboard shortcut I use and the screenshots are from Adobe Photoshop CC Mac version. Windows or other versions can look different. The method to change the keyboard shortcut works the same, just change Command to Ctrl, and Option to Alt. 

Step 1: Open the keyboard shortcut settings from the top menu Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. Speaking of shortcuts, you can also open it with keyboard shortcuts Option + Shift + Command + K

The Keyboard Shortcuts and Menus window will pop up. You can see the shortcuts by categories, simply click on the arrow next to the name to see the dropdown menu. 

For example, I want to add a shortcut to flatten an image, and this should be in the Layer category, so I click on Layer to find the Flatten Image option. 

Actually, there’s a quick instruction to edit keyboard shortcuts at the bottom of the window, but I’ll explain more details in the following steps. 

Step 2: When you find the option that you want to add the keyboard shortcut to, click on it and a type box should appear. 

Quick tip: the flatten image option should be at the bottom of the list of the Layer menu. 

Step 3: Press the key or combination of keys on your keyboard that you want to use as the shortcut. For example, I pressed Command + F, but a warning sign appeared saying that the shortcut is already in use. And it shows that it’s the shortcut for Search

If you want to change it, you can simply click Accept, and the original shortcut will be replaced by the new one you create. But I suggest trying another combination that isn’t used already to avoid confusion. 

How about Option + Command + F? Looks good, it hasn’t been used. 

This is just an example, it’s up to you what combination is easiest to memorize and use for you. Once you’re happy with the combination, click OK. You should be able to use the shortcut immediately in Photoshop.

That’s pretty much it! If you cannot find the tool option that you want to add a shortcut to, you can click Add Shortcut. Vice versa, if there’s a shortcut that you don’t like, you can delete it by clicking the Delete Shortcut button.

Conclusion

Most of the commonly used tools already have keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop, but if you feel like the preset ones are not the most convenient, you can quickly edit and customize your own shortcuts to speed up your work process.

About June
June is an experienced graphic designer specializing in brand design. Photoshop is the essential tool that she uses every day along with other Adobe programs for her creative work.

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  • Simon

    Wow! This is a superb bit of advice and well written – thank you!

    Reply