GIMP Keyboard Shortcuts - Complete Cheat Sheet
A comprehensive reference for GIMP 3.x keyboard shortcuts on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Use the search and category filters to quickly find the shortcut you need, then print or save as PDF for offline use.
| Action | Windows / Linux | macOS | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | ||
| No shortcuts match your search. | |||
File Shortcuts
File shortcuts cover opening, saving, exporting, and closing images. GIMP distinguishes between Save (which writes the native XCF format) and Export (which writes JPEG, PNG, etc.). Learn Ctrl+E / Cmd+E for quick overwrite exports — it saves significant time in production workflows.
Edit Shortcuts
GIMP's edit shortcuts follow the conventions of most desktop applications. Notable additions include Copy Visible (Ctrl+Shift+C), which copies a flattened composite of all visible layers — useful when you need to copy what you see without merging layers permanently.
Select Shortcuts
Selection shortcuts speed up the most common masking operations. Toggle Quick Mask (Shift+Q) is one of GIMP's most powerful hidden features — it lets you paint a selection using brushes, giving you far more precision than the standard selection tools.
View Shortcuts
View shortcuts control zoom, rulers, guides, and panel visibility. Use 1 to snap back to 100% zoom instantly and Shift+Ctrl+E / Shift+Cmd+E to fit the entire canvas in the window — especially helpful when switching between zoomed-in editing and full-image review.
Layer Shortcuts
Layer shortcuts let you create, duplicate, and reorder layers without touching the Layers panel. Ctrl+Shift+N / Cmd+Shift+N creates a new layer, and Ctrl+Shift+D / Cmd+Shift+D duplicates the active layer — both indispensable during compositing work.
Tool Shortcuts
Most GIMP tools are activated by a single letter. For example, press P for the Paintbrush, E for Ellipse Select, and T for the Text tool. Holding Shift activates the secondary version of many tools (e.g., Shift+E for the Eraser). Learning these one-key shortcuts is the single biggest speed boost for new GIMP users.
Tips & Tricks
- Customize any shortcut: Go to Edit → Keyboard Shortcuts (or Edit → Configure Keyboard Shortcuts in older versions) to reassign any action to a key of your choice.
- Hover and press: In GIMP you can also hover your mouse over a menu item and press a key to dynamically assign a shortcut — enable this under Edit → Preferences → Interface → Use dynamic keyboard shortcuts.
- macOS differences: On macOS, Cmd replaces Ctrl for nearly all shortcuts. A small number of shortcuts differ more significantly due to macOS system-level key conflicts.
- Print this sheet: Click the orange "Print / Save PDF" button above to get a clean, print-optimized version with no navigation or sidebars.