Altium Designer Shortcuts: The Complete Keyboard List

Every shortcut listed here has been checked against Altium’s own current product documentation, so nothing below is guesswork or copied from an outdated cheat sheet. Where a shortcut differs by editor (Schematic vs. PCB, for example), it’s listed separately so you’re not guessing which mode you need to be in.

Quick Answer: The Shortcuts You’ll Use Every Day

If you only remember one shortcut from this whole page, make it Shift + F1. It opens a live, context-aware menu of every valid shortcut for whatever you’re currently doing placing a wire, routing a track, moving a component so you never have to memorize the full list to begin with.

How Shortcuts Work in Altium Designer

Altium Designer uses three overlapping systems, and mixing them up is the #1 reason people think they “don’t work”:

• Standard shortcuts: always available, regardless of what you’re doing (Ctrl+S, Ctrl+C, etc.)
• Interactive shortcuts: only active while a command is running, such as placing a component or routing a track. Press Shift+F1 any time to see exactly which ones apply right now.
• Accelerator keys: menu-driven key sequences accessed with Alt, typed one key at a time rather than held together. For example, pressing T then A opens the Annotate dialog in the Schematic Editor. These are covered in their own section below.

You can look up or reassign any shortcut by holding Ctrl and clicking a command in its menu this opens the Edit Command dialog, where you can set a Primary and an Alternative key combination.

Most-Used General Shortcuts

Project Shortcuts

General Environment Shortcuts

Schematic Editor Shortcuts

This is the category most Altium shortcut lists leave out entirely here’s what actually matters when you’re capturing a circuit.

Editing & Selection

Moving & Aligning

Viewing & Navigation

Wiring & Connectivity

Panels & Simulation

PCB Editor Shortcuts

Viewing the Board

Selecting & Editing

Grids & Snapping

Layers & Routing

Component Placement & Board Insight

Panels & Misc

3D Body Placement Shortcuts

3D View & Board Visualization Shortcuts (PCB Editor)

CAM Editor (CAMtastic) Shortcuts

Scripting Editor Shortcuts

VHDL Editor Shortcuts

Accelerator Key Sequences (Menu Shortcuts)

These aren’t held-down key combinations you press each key in order. They’re the fastest way to reach deep menu commands without touching the mouse.

Schematic Editor

PCB Editor

Download the Free Altium Shortcuts PDF Cheat Sheet

Download Altium Shortcut Keys PDF

How to Customize or Reassign a Shortcut

1. Open the menu containing the command you want to change.
2. Hold Ctrl and click the command this opens the Edit Command dialog.
3. Click into the Primary field, then press your new key combination.
4. Optionally set an Alternative shortcut the same way.
5. If the combination is already assigned elsewhere, Altium tells you which command currently owns it before you overwrite it.

Altium Designer Shortcuts FAQ

What is the shortcut for saving a project in Altium Designer?

Ctrl + S saves the active document. Ctrl + Alt + S saves it as a new revision when working on a Workspace-managed item.

How do I see all available shortcuts while running a command?

Press Shift + F1 at any point during an interactive command (like placing a wire or routing a track) to open a live menu of every shortcut valid for that exact stage of the process.

Can I customize keyboard shortcuts in Altium Designer?

Yes. Hold Ctrl and click any menu command to open the Edit Command dialog, where you can set a custom Primary or Alternative shortcut.

What is the shortcut for interactive routing in the PCB Editor?

Ctrl + W starts Interactive Routing. Shift + A routes selected connections automatically using ActiveRoute.

Is there a printable Altium Designer shortcut cheat sheet?

Yes the free PDF above covers every editor in a single printable page.

What are accelerator keys in Altium Designer?

They’re sequential (not held-down) key presses used to navigate menus, such as pressing V then D to fit a document. They’re distinct from standard shortcuts, which are pressed together.

Do Altium Designer shortcuts differ between Windows and Mac?

Altium Designer is Windows-only, so there’s no separate Mac key mapping to account for every shortcut here uses standard Windows modifier keys (Ctrl, Alt, Shift).

How many keyboard shortcuts does Altium Designer have?

Well over 250 across all editors once you include the Schematic, PCB, CAM, Scripting, VHDL, and 3D placement environments this guide covers the shortcuts you’ll actually use.

Conclusion

Altium Designer’s shortcut system looks intimidating at first because it’s really three systems in one standard shortcuts, interactive shortcuts, and accelerator key sequences but you don’t need to memorize all 250+ of them to get faster. Learn the dozen or so in the Quick Answer table at the top of this guide, keep Shift + F1 in your back pocket for everything else, and the rest will stick naturally the more you design.

If you route boards regularly, the shortcuts worth prioritizing next are the routing and layer-switching ones in the PCB Editor section Ctrl+W, Shift+A, and the numeric layer keys will save you more time per session than any other group on this page. Schematic-heavy workflows benefit most from the selection and alignment shortcuts, which turn tedious manual cleanup into a couple of keystrokes.

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