Krita Keyboard Shortcuts: Complete List for Windows & Mac

Krita is a free, open-source digital painting application used by concept artists, comic creators, illustrators, and animators worldwide. Available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, it supports pressure-sensitive drawing tablets (Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen) and offers a full suite of professional-grade painting tools all at no cost.

Learning Krita keyboard shortcuts is the single fastest way to speed up your workflow. Instead of reaching for menus or clicking through toolbars, shortcuts let you switch brushes, adjust opacity, manage layers, zoom, rotate the canvas, and undo mistakes all without lifting your stylus from the tablet.

This guide covers 120+ Krita keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac, organized by category so you can find exactly what you need. It includes:

• Painting, brush, and eraser shortcuts
• Layer management shortcuts
• Canvas navigation, zoom, and rotate shortcuts
• Selection and transform shortcuts
• Animation timeline shortcuts (Krita 5.x)
• How to customize and reset your own keybinds

All shortcuts are verified for Krita 5.x (the current version). A free printable PDF cheat sheet is available for download below.

Most Used Krita Shortcuts

These are the essential Krita shortcuts every user should memorize first. They cover the most frequent actions across file management, editing, and layer control.

Krita Painting & Brush Shortcuts

Use these shortcuts while actively painting to switch modes, adjust brush properties, and control opacity without touching the toolbar.

Krita Tool Shortcuts

Activate any Krita tool instantly with a single key no toolbar clicking required.

Krita Layer Shortcuts

Layer management shortcuts are among the most-used in any digital painting workflow. These let you create, duplicate, merge, and navigate layers without opening the Layers panel.

Selection Shortcuts

Color & Blending Shortcuts

Zoom Shortcuts

Canvas Rotation Shortcuts

Canvas & Navigation Shortcuts

Transform & Adjustment Shortcuts

Krita Animation Shortcuts (Krita 5.x)

Krita 5.x includes a full animation timeline. These shortcuts are active when working in the Animation workspace.

Note: Arrow key behavior depends on which panel is focused. Click on the animation timeline first to ensure arrow keys control frame navigation rather than canvas panning.

Docker & UI Shortcuts

Miscellaneous Shortcuts

Krita vs Photoshop – Common Shortcuts Compared

For artists switching from Adobe Photoshop, this table shows where Krita’s default shortcuts differ from Photoshop’s.

Tip: To reduce the differences, enable Krita’s built-in Photoshop-compatible shortcut scheme via Settings → Configure Krita → Shortcut Schemes → Photoshop-compatible.

How to Customize Keyboard Shortcuts in Krita

Krita lets you fully customize every keyboard shortcut to match your personal workflow. Whether you want to reassign an existing shortcut, add a key combination to an action that has none, or switch to a Photoshop-compatible scheme entirely all of it is done through one menu.

How to change a keyboard shortcut in Krita (Windows & Mac)

Step 1: Open Configure Krita

Go to the top menu bar and click Settings → Configure Krita. On Mac, this is under Krita → Preferences.

Step 2: Open the Keyboard Shortcuts tab

In the left-hand panel of the Configure Krita dialog, click Keyboard Shortcuts. This opens the full list of every action in Krita, including actions that don’t have a shortcut assigned yet.

Step 3: Find your action

Use the search box at the top to type the name of the action you want to reassign. For example, type “brush” to find all brush-related actions, or “zoom” to find zoom controls. You can also browse manually through the category folders.

Step 4: Open the shortcut options

Click the action to expand it, then click the arrow icon in the shortcut column on the right side of the row.

Step 5: Set a custom shortcut

You will see two options: Default and Custom. Click the circle next to Custom to select it, then click the input box that says None. The box will change to show Input this means Krita is listening. Press the key or key combination you want to assign.

Step 6: Resolve conflicts

If the key combination is already assigned to another action, Krita will show a conflict warning. You can either choose a different key, or reassign it to this new action (which removes it from the old one).

Step 7: Save your changes

Click OK to confirm. Your new shortcut is now active and will work immediately without restarting Krita.

How to switch to the Photoshop-compatible shortcut scheme

Krita includes a built-in Photoshop-compatible shortcut scheme that remaps dozens of common shortcuts to match Photoshop’s defaults ideal for artists switching from Adobe tools.

Step 1: Go to Settings → Configure Krita → Keyboard Shortcuts
Step 2: At the top of the panel, find the Shortcut Schemes dropdown
Step 3: Select Photoshop-compatible from the list
Step 4: Click OK

Key differences between Default Krita and Photoshop-compatible mode:

Note: Not every Photoshop shortcut has a direct equivalent in Krita some tools exist only in one application. For a full list of differences, see the official Krita documentation.

How to export and save your custom shortcut scheme

If you use Krita on multiple computers, or want to back up your custom shortcuts, you can export your scheme as a file and load it on any machine.

To export:

1. Go to Settings → Configure Krita → Keyboard Shortcuts
2. Click the save icon (or dropdown arrow) next to the Shortcut Schemes field
3. Select Save Shortcut Scheme
4. Name your file and choose a save location

To import on another machine:

1. Go to Settings → Configure Krita → Keyboard Shortcuts
2. Click the dropdown next to Shortcut Schemes
3. Select Load Shortcut Scheme
4. Locate your exported file and open it

Your custom shortcuts will load instantly across all actions.

How to reset Krita shortcuts to default

If your shortcuts are broken or you want to start fresh:

1. Go to Settings → Configure Krita → Keyboard Shortcuts
2. Click the Shortcut Schemes dropdown
3. Select Default
4. Click OK

This restores every shortcut to Krita’s factory settings. Export your current scheme first if you want to preserve any customizations.

Frequently Asked Questions About Krita Shortcuts

What is the shortcut to undo in Krita?

The undo shortcut in Krita is Ctrl + Z on Windows and Cmd + Z on Mac. To redo an undone action, press Ctrl + Shift + Z (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + Z (Mac). Krita supports multiple undo steps you can configure the maximum number of undo levels under Settings → Configure Krita → General.

How do I zoom in and out in Krita using a shortcut?

To zoom in, press Ctrl + + (plus key). To zoom out, press Ctrl + – (minus key). You can also use the number keys for quick zoom levels: 1 zooms to 100% (1:1), 2 fits the canvas to your screen, and 3 fits the canvas to the window width. When using a drawing tablet, pinching on a touch-enabled display also zooms the canvas.

What is the pan shortcut in Krita?

To pan the canvas in Krita, hold the Space bar and drag with your mouse or stylus. You can also use the arrow keys (Left, Right, Up, Down) to pan in small increments. On a drawing tablet, you can configure the middle mouse button or a stylus button to pan via Settings → Configure Krita → Canvas Input Settings.

Does Krita support Photoshop keyboard shortcuts?

Yes. Krita includes a built-in Photoshop-compatible shortcut scheme that remaps many common shortcuts to match Photoshop’s defaults. To enable it, go to Settings → Configure Krita → Shortcut Schemes and select the Photoshop-compatible scheme from the dropdown. This is especially useful for artists switching from Photoshop who want to keep their existing muscle memory.

How do I change keyboard shortcuts in Krita?

To customize keyboard shortcuts in Krita, follow these steps:

1. Open Krita and go to Settings → Configure Krita
2. Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab in the left panel
3. Search for the action you want to reassign using the search box
4. Click the action, then click the arrow in the shortcut column
5. Select Custom, then click the input box and press your desired key combination
6. Click OK to save

You can also export your custom shortcut scheme to use across multiple machines via the save/load dropdown in the same menu.

How do I save in Krita using a keyboard shortcut?

The save shortcut in Krita is Ctrl + S (Windows) or Cmd + S (Mac). To save a copy under a new name, use Ctrl + Shift + S. Krita also has an incremental save feature Ctrl + Alt + S saves a numbered version of your file without overwriting the original, which is useful for maintaining a version history of your work.

Can I download a Krita shortcuts cheat sheet PDF?

Yes. A free printable Krita shortcuts PDF cheat sheet is available for download on this page. Click the Download Krita Shortcuts PDF button in the article above. The cheat sheet covers all major shortcut categories painting, layers, zoom, canvas navigation, color, and selections formatted for easy printing at A4 or Letter size.

How do I reset Krita keyboard shortcuts to default?

To reset all keyboard shortcuts to their factory defaults in Krita:

1. Go to Settings → Configure Krita
2. Click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab
3. Click the Shortcut Schemes dropdown at the top
4. Select Default from the list
5. Click OK to apply

This restores all shortcuts to Krita’s original defaults. Note: this will overwrite any custom shortcuts you have set, so export your current scheme first if you want to keep it.

Conclusion

Krita is one of the most powerful free digital painting tools available today and keyboard shortcuts are what separate a slow, menu-dependent workflow from a fast, fluid one. Once these shortcuts become muscle memory, you will spend less time navigating the interface and more time actually creating.

Here is a quick recap of the most important things covered in this guide:

• Ctrl + Z / Cmd + Z undo any mistake instantly
• B activate the brush, E toggle eraser mode without switching tools
• [ and ] resize your brush on the fly without opening any panel
• Space + Drag pan the canvas freely while keeping your stylus hand in position
• Ctrl + J / Cmd + J duplicate any layer in one keystroke
• Tab hide the entire UI and paint distraction-free
• Ctrl + T / Cmd + T transform any selection or layer instantly

If you are coming from Photoshop, enable the Photoshop-compatible shortcut scheme under Settings → Configure Krita → Shortcut Schemes to reduce the learning curve significantly.

If you want to take things further, customize your own shortcuts via Settings → Configure Krita → Keyboard Shortcuts — Krita lets you remap every single action to exactly what feels natural for your hand and your tablet setup.

Keep Learning:

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