GIMP 2.8 Shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcuts

GIMP allows you to use keyboard keys or key combinations to select or perform various often-used operations quickly without having to select anything with your mouse. You can change your keyboard shortcuts via Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. There are an enormous number of operations that can have shortcuts assigned to them. Which ones you choose to set will depend on which operations you use the most.

The following tables show the keyboard shortcuts categorized by menu.

File
Ctrl+E	Export the image to the previously exported file. If a previous export has not been done, it will prompt for a new file name and type.
Ctrl+N	Create a new image.
Ctrl+O	Open an image file.
Ctrl+P	Print the current image.
Ctrl+Q	Quit GIMP.
Ctrl+S	Save the image to the current .xcf file.
Ctrl+W	Close the active image view.
Ctrl+1 thru Ctrl+0	Open one of the ten most recently edited files. 1 is most recent, 0 is least recent.
Ctrl+Alt+O	Open an image file as a new layer.
Ctrl+Shft+E	Export the image to any of various image formats.
Ctrl+Shft+S	Save the image to a .xcf file with a different name.
Ctrl+Shft+W	Close all image views.
F10	Open the File menu.

Edit
Ctrl+C	Copy the pixels in the current selection to the clipboard. If there is no active selection, the entire currently active layer is copied to the clipboard.
Ctrl+V	Paste the content of the clipboard to a new layer. If there are no open image windows, then the content is pasted as the first layer in a new image window.
Ctrl+X	Move the pixels in the current selection to the clipboard. If there is no active selection, the entire currently active layer is moved to the clipboard.
Ctrl+Y	Redo the last undone operation.
Ctrl+Z	Undo the last operation.
Ctrl+,	Fill the current selection with the Foreground color. If there is no active selection, the entire currently active layer is filled.
Ctrl+.	Fill the current selection with the Background color. If there is no active selection, the entire currently active layer is filled.
Ctrl+;	Fill the current selection with the currently active pattern. If there is no active selection, the entire currently active layer is filled.
Ctrl+Shft+C	Copy what is visible (currently shown in the image window) in the selected region to the clipboard. If there is no active selection, the entire image currently showing in the image window is copied to the clipboard.
Ctrl+Shft+V	Paste the content of the clipboard into a new image window.
Ctrl+Shft+Y	Redo the last undone operation. (Labeled as a "strong redo", but seems to do the same thing as regular redo.)
Ctrl+Shft+Z	Undo the last operation. (Labeled as a "strong undo", but seems to do the same thing as regular undo.)

Select
Delete	Delete the pixels in the current selection. If there is no active selection, all pixels in the currently active layer are deleted.
Ctrl+A	Select all pixels on the currently active layer.
Ctrl+I	Invert the current selection.
Shft+Q	Toggle Quick Mask.
Shft+V	Create a selection from the current path.
Ctrl+Shft+A	Deselect the currently active selection.
Ctrl+Shft+L	Converts the pixels in the current selection to a Floating Selection layer. This operation is destructive in that it removes the pixels from their original location. Equivalent to doing Ctrl+X followed by Ctrl+V.

View
1	Zoom image to 100%.
2	Zoom image to 200%.
3	Zoom image to 400%.
4	Zoom image to 800%.
5	Zoom image to 1600%.
-	Zoom out on the image.
+	Zoom in on the image. (NOTE: This is Shft+=.)
`	Zoom to previous zoom level. Used repeatedly, will toggle between two zooms.
Ctrl+J	Adjust the image window to fit exactly around the canvas. For large zoom-ins, will adjust the image window to a certain width and height, then center the image.
Ctrl+T	Toggle between marching ants mode and outline with handles mode only when there is an active selection. For multiple, disjoint selection regions, will show handles only for last region selected.
Ctrl+Shft+J	Zoom the image to fit the image window.
Ctrl+Shft+R	Toggle visibility of rulers.
Ctrl+Shft+T	Toggle visibility of guides.
F11	Toggle full-screen mode of the image window.

Image
Alt+Return	Open the Image Properties dialog.
Ctrl+D	Duplicate the entire image file into a new image.
Ctrl+M	Open the Merge Layers dialog.

Layer
Ctrl+H	Anchor (merge down) a floating layer to the layer below it.
Ctrl+Shft+D	Duplicate (create a new layer from) the currently active layer.
Ctrl+Shft+N	Open the New Layer dialog.
Ctrl+Shft+O	Open the Offset Layer dialog.
Home	Activate the top-most layer.
End	Activate the bottom-most layer.
Page Down	Activate the next layer below the currently active layer. Stops working when it hits the bottom layer.
Page Up	Activate the next layer above the currently active layer. Stops working when it hits the top layer.

Colors
D	Set the Foreground color to black and the Background color to white.
X	Swap the Foreground and Background colors.

Tools
A	Activate the Airbrush tool.
B	Activate the Paths tool.
C	Activate the Clone tool.
E	Activate the Ellipse Select tool.
F	Activate the Free Select tool.
H	Activate the Healing tool.
I	Activate the Scissors Select tool.
K	Activate the Ink tool.
L	Activate the Blend tool.
M	Activate the Move tool.
N	Activate the Pencil tool.
O	Activate the Color Picker tool.
P	Activate the Paintbrush tool.
Q	Activate the Alignment tool.
R	Activate the Rectangle Select tool.
S	Activate the Smudge tool.
T	Activate the Text tool.
U	Activate the Fuzzy Select tool.
Z	Activate the Zoom tool.
<	For certain tools, decrease by a small amount the value of the tool's "opacity" field. Works with the Bucket Fill, Blend, Pencil, Paintbrush, Eraser, Airbrush, Ink, Clone, Healing, Perspective Clone, Blur / Sharpen, Smudge, and Dodge / Burn tools' Opacity. Works with the Rotate, Scale, Shear, and Perspective tools' Image opacity if Show image preview is checked.
>	For certain tools, increase by a small amount the value of the tool's "opacity" field. Works with the Bucket Fill, Blend, Pencil, Paintbrush, Eraser, Airbrush, Ink, Clone, Healing, Perspective Clone, Blur / Sharpen, Smudge, and Dodge / Burn tools' Opacity. Works with the Rotate, Scale, Shear, and Perspective tools' Image opacity if Show image preview is checked.
[	For certain tools, decrease by a small amount the tool's "size" field. Works with the Foreground Select, Pencil, Paintbrush, Eraser, Airbrush, Ink, Clone, Healing, Perspective Clone, Blur / Sharpen, Smudge, and Dodge / Burn tools' Size, and the Color Picker's Radius if Sample average is checked.
]	For certain tools, increase by a small amount the tool's "size" field. Works with the Foreground Select, Pencil, Paintbrush, Eraser, Airbrush, Ink, Clone, Healing, Perspective Clone, Blur / Sharpen, Smudge, and Dodge / Burn tools' Size, and the Color Picker's Radius if Sample average is checked.
\	For certain tools, set the value of the tool's "size" field to its default value. Works with the Foreground Select, Pencil, Paintbrush, Eraser, Airbrush, Ink, Clone, Healing, Perspective Clone, Blur / Sharpen, Smudge, and Dodge / Burn tools' Size, and the Color Picker's Radius if Sample average is checked. Note that this command resets the related fields of ALL of these tools at the same time.
Ctrl+B	Open the Toolbox.
Ctrl+<	For certain tools, decrease by a large amount the value of the tool's "opacity" field. Works with the Bucket Fill, Blend, Pencil, Paintbrush, Eraser, Airbrush, Ink, Clone, Healing, Perspective Clone, Blur / Sharpen, Smudge, and Dodge / Burn tools' Opacity. Works with the Rotate, Scale, Shear, and Perspective tools' Image opacity if Show image preview is checked.
Ctrl+>	For certain tools, increase by a large amount the value of the tool's "opacity" field. Works with the Bucket Fill, Blend, Pencil, Paintbrush, Eraser, Airbrush, Ink, Clone, Healing, Perspective Clone, Blur / Sharpen, Smudge, and Dodge / Burn tools' Opacity. Works with the Rotate, Scale, Shear, and Perspective tools' Image opacity if Show image preview is checked.
Shft+B	Activate the Bucket Fill tool.
Shft+C	Activate the Crop tool.
Shft+D	Activate the Dodge / Burn tool.
Shft+E	Activate the Eraser tool.
Shft+F	Activate the Flip tool.
Shft+G	Activate the Cage Transform tool.
Shft+M	Activate the Measure tool.
Shft+O	Activate the Select by Color tool.
Shft+P	Activate the Perspective tool and open its dialog.
Shft+R	Activate the Rotate tool and open its dialog.
Shft+S	Activate the Shear tool and open its dialog.
Shft+T	Activate the Scale tool and open its dialog.
Shft+U	Activate the Blur / Sharpen tool.

Filters
Ctrl+F	Repeat the previously executed filter's operation.
Ctrl+Shft+F	Re-show the dialog for the previously executed filter.

Windows
Alt+<n>	Bring to the front the image window associated with the number typed. Image windows are numbered in the order in which they were created, starting with 1. (If you close an image window, the windows after it in sequence are renumbered by -1.)
Alt+C	Open the Colors menu.
Alt+E	Open the Edit menu.
Alt+F	Open the File menu.
Alt+H	Open the Help menu.
Alt+I	Open the Image menu.
Alt+L	Open the Layer menu.
Alt+R	Open the Filters menu.
Alt+S	Open the Select menu.
Alt+T	Open the Tools menu.
Alt+V	Open the View menu.
Alt+W	Open the Windows menu.
Ctrl+G	Open the Gradients dialog.
Ctrl+L	Open the Layers dialog.
Ctrl+Shft+B	Open the Brushes dialog.
Ctrl+Shft+P	Open the Patterns dialog.
Tab	Toggle visibility of the Toolbox / Dockable dialogs.

Help
F1	Open the GIMP User Manual.
Shft+F1	Open the GIMP User Manual to a page related to the selected context. After pressing Shft+F1, the cursor changes to an arrow with a question mark. Clicking on a place in the GIMP interface, such as on a tool icon, on a layer, or in the image window, opens the GIMP User Manual to a related page. To use Shft+F1 with a menu item, open the menu, hover your cursor over an item, then hit Shft+F1.

Unassigned Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table lists keyboard shortcuts that are not assigned by default and so are available for user assignment without having to worry about conflicts. (You can, of course, reassign any keyboard shortcut to any action that's available via Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts.)

Unassigned Keyboard Shortcuts
Single Keys	G J V W Y 6 7 8 = ; ' . / (Note: W is scheduled for the new Warp tool.)
Ctrl+	K R U ` - = ' / \
Shft+	A H I J K L N W X Y Z 1 6 7 8 9 0 ` - ; ' / \
Ctrl+Shft+	G H I K M Q U X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 ` - = ; ' / \
Function Keys	F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9

There are some shortcuts that are assigned a default action, but that don't appear to do anything (at least based on my testing).

Non-Functional Assigned Keyboard Shortcuts
0	Assigned to Foreground Swatch Color Next
9	Assigned to Foreground Swatch Color Previous
Shft+2	Assigned to 1:2 (50%)
Shft+3	Assigned to 1:4 (25%)
Shft+4	Assigned to 1:8 (12.5%)
Shft+5	Assigned to 1:16 (6.25%)
Shft+[	Assigned to Decrease Value 2 More
Shft+]	Assigned to Increase Value 2 More

Mouse Shortcuts

In addition to keyboard shortcuts, there are also mouse shortcuts that are quite handy. Some are drag-and-drop shortcuts and some are hover shortcuts that may or may not involve using the mouse wheel.

The following tables show mouse drag-and-drop actions organized by drag source.

Drag-and-Drop a file from the desktop or a folder
To the Tools area of the Toolbox dialog	Open the file in a new image window.
To a blank image window	Open the file in a new image window.
To an existing image window	Open the file as a new layer.

Drag-and-Drop a layer
Upward or downward in the Layers dialog	Change the layer's position in the Layers dialog.
Into the image window	Create a duplicate layer.

Drag-and-Drop the tab of a dockable dialog
Into the Toolbox dialog	Move the dockable dialog into the Toolbox.
Out of the Toolbox dialog	Move the dockable dialog out of the Toolbox. If the dialog is not dropped someplace where it can be docked, then a free-floating dialog will be created.
Horizontally within the Toolbox dialog	Change the position of the dockable dialog within the Toolbox.
Into the right-hand dockable dialogs area in Single-Window mode	Move the dockable dialog into the right-hand dockable dialogs area.
Out of the right-hand dockable dialogs area in Single-Window mode	Move the dockable dialog out of the right-hand dockable dialogs area. If the dialog is not dropped someplace where it can be docked, then a free-floating dialog will be created.
Horizontally within the right-hand dockable dialogs area in Single-Window mode	Change the position of the dockable dialog within the right-hand dockable dialogs area.

The following tables show mouse hover shortcuts by category.

Mouse over tabs
Dockable dialogs tabs: Scroll up / forward	Select the next tab to the left. Stops working when the left-most tab is selected.
Dockable dialogs tabs: Scroll down / backward	Select the next tab to the right. Stops working when the right-most tab is selected.
Single-Window mode - Image tabs: Scroll up / forward	Select the next image tab to the left. Stops working when the left-most tab is selected.
Single-Window mode - Image tabs: Scroll down / backward	Select the next image tab to the right. Stops working when the right-most tab is selected.

Mouse over the image view
Scroll up / forward	Move the vertical scrollbar up, effectively moving the image downward.
Scroll down / backward	Move the vertical scrollbar down, effectively moving the image upward.
Ctrl+Scroll up / forward	Zoom in on the image.
Ctrl+Scroll down / backward	Zoom out on the image.
Shft+Scroll up/ forward	Move the horizontal scrollbar to the left, effectively moving the image to the right.
Shft+Scroll down / backward	Move the horizontal scrollbar to the right, effectively moving the image to the left.
Hold down the Spacebar and move the mouse without clicking	Move the image around on the canvas. (Note that the image view must be the current area of focus. If you've just clicked on a tool or in a dialog, you'll need to click somewhere on the canvas to focus on the image view.)

Mouse over a scrollbar
Horizontal Scrollbar: Scroll up / forward	Move the scrollbar to the left.
Horizontal Scrollbar: Scroll down / backward	Move the scrollbar to the right.
Vertical Scrollbar: Scroll up / forward	Move the scrollbar upward.
Vertical Scrollbar: Scroll down / backward	Move the scrollbar downward.

Mouse over a numeric or sliding-scaled numeric field (e.g., Opacity or Size)
Scroll up / forward	Increase the value. (Modifying with Ctrl and/or Shift does the same thing.)
Scroll down / backward	Decrease the value. (Modifying with Ctrl and/or Shift does the same thing.)
(NOTE: Does not work with the Foreground Select tool's Smoothing slider.)

Mouse over a drop-down list field (e.g., Guides in a Select tool dialog and the Font selection button in the Text dialog)
Scroll up / forward	Choose the item above the current item in the list. Stops when it hits the top. The drop-down list must not be open.
Scroll down / backward	Choose the item below the current item in the list. Stops when it hits the bottom. The drop-down list must not be open.

Miscellaneous Shortcuts

There is also an interesting toggling shortcut, which is explained in this table.

Focus on any field that can be toggled
Spacebar	Toggle visibility.
Drop-down list: Opens and closes the list. May require toggling with the mouse first. Layer: If the layer is active (blue), toggles the eyeball. Path: If the path is active (blue), toggles the eyeball. Channel: If the eyeball of a given channel is currently the focus, toggles the eyeball. Generally requires toggling with the mouse first. Any other field that can be toggled: If the field has just been toggled with the mouse, will continue toggling on and off.

I hope you find these tables useful as a reference. If you notice anything I've missed or anything that's incorrect, please leave a comment.