Microsoft Access Keyboard Shortcuts
Microsoft Access, Microsoft Office
SkillForge SkillSheet
Microsoft Access 2010/13/16 Keyboard Shortcuts
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Frequently Used Shortcuts
| In order to… | Press |
| Select the active tab of the ribbon and activate KeyTips | Alt or F10 (to move to a different tab, use KeyTips or the arrow keys) |
| Open the Home tab | Alt+H |
| Open the Tell me box on the ribbon | Alt+Q, then enter the search term |
| Display the shortcut menu for the selected item | Shift+F10 |
| Move the focus to a different pane of the window | F6 |
| Open an existing database | Ctrl+O or Ctrl+F12 |
| Show or hide the Navigation Pane | F11 |
| Show or hide a property sheet | F4 |
| Switch between Edit mode (with insertion point displayed) and Navigation mode in a datasheet or design view | F2 |
| Switch to Form view from form Design view | F5 |
| Move to the next or previous field in a Datasheet view | The Tab key or Shift+Tab |
| Go to a specific record in a Datasheet view | F5 (then, in the record number box, type the record number and press Enter) |
| Open the Print dialog box from Print (for datasheets, forms, and reports) | Ctrl+P |
| Open the Page Setup dialog box (for forms and reports) | S |
| Zoom in or out on a part of the page | Z |
| Open the Find tab in the Find and Replace dialog box in the Datasheet view or Form view | Ctrl+F |
| Open the Replace tab in the Find and Replace dialog box in the Datasheet view or Form view | Ctrl+H |
| Add a new record in Datasheet view or Form view | Ctrl+Plus Sign (+) |
| Open the Help window | F1 |
| Exit Access | Alt+F4 |
Open and Save Databases
| In order to… | Press |
| Open a new database | Ctrl+N |
| Open an existing database | Ctrl+O or Ctrl+F12 |
| Open the selected folder or file | Enter |
| Open the folder one level above the selected folder | Backspace |
| Delete the selected folder or file | Delete |
| Display a shortcut menu for a selected item such as a folder or file | Shift+F10 |
| Move forward through options | Tab |
| Move backward through options | Shift+Tab |
| Open the Look in list | F4 or Alt+I |
| Save a database object | Ctrl+S or Shift+F12 |
| Open the Save As dialog box | F12 or Alt+F+S |
Navigate in the Access Workspace
| In order to… | Press |
| Show or hide the Navigation Pane | F11 |
| Go to the Navigation PaneSearch box (if the focus is already on the Navigation Pane) | Ctrl+F |
| Switch to the next or previous pane in the workspace
(You might need to press F6 more than once; if pressing F6 doesn’t display the task pane you want, press Alt to move the focus on the ribbon and then press Ctrl+Tab to move to the task pane) |
F6 or Shift+F6 |
| Switch to the next or previous database window | Ctrl+F6 or Ctrl+Shift+F6 |
| Restore the selected minimized window when all windows are minimized | Enter |
| Turn on Resize mode for the active window when it is not maximized | Ctrl+F8 (press arrow keys to resize window, and then, to apply new size, press Enter) |
| Close the active database window | Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4 |
| Switch between the Visual Basic Editor and the previous active window | Alt+F11 |
| Maximize or restore a selected window | Ctrl+F10 |
Function Keys for Fields/Grids/Text Boxes
| Key | Function |
| F2 | Toggles between displaying the caret for editing and selecting the entire field. |
| Shift+F2 | Opens the Zoom box to make typing expressions and other text easier. |
| F4 | Opens a drop-down combo list or list box. |
| Shift+F4 | Finds the next occurrence of a match of the text typed in the Find or Replace dialog, if the dialog is closed. |
| F5 | Moves the caret to the record-number box. Type the number of the record that you want to display. |
| F6 | In Table Design view, cycles between upper and lower parts of the window. In Form Design view, cycles through the header, body (detail section), and footer. |
| F7 | Starts the spelling checker. |
| F8 | Turns on extend mode. Press F8 again to extend the selection to a word, the entire field, the whole record, and then all records. |
| Shift+F8 | Reverses the F8 selection process. |
| Ctrl+F | Opens the Find and Replace dialog with the Find page active. |
| Ctrl+H | Opens the Find and Replace dialog with the Replace page active. |
| Ctrl++ (plus sign) | Adds a new record to the current table or query, if the table or query is updatable. |
| Shift+Enter | Saves changes to the active record in the table. |
| Esc | Undoes changes in the current record or field. By pressing Esc twice, you can undo changes in the current field and record. Also cancels extend mode. |