Which keyboard shortcuts does a PDF viewer have?

Every shortcut in PDF by Zaweba is listed under Help > Keyboard shortcuts. The list is generated from the same set of commands that builds the menus, so it's always complete and always up to date. For anything without a shortcut, or one you can't remember, Ctrl+K opens a command palette where a few letters of a command's name are enough to find and run it.

Shortcuts make a real difference in an app you use every day. Reaching for the mouse for every page change, zoom or save adds up, and a handful of keys learned well makes PDF work noticeably quicker.

A few worth learning first

Some shortcuts are worth knowing from day one. Ctrl+P opens the Print window with its preview. Ctrl+D opens Document properties, where you can change the title and author or list the fonts. Ctrl+B adds a bookmark, named after the selected text or the page label. Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y undo and redo, with each step named so you know what you're undoing.

For reading, F11 or Ctrl+L goes full screen, Ctrl+H switches to read mode, and Ctrl+Shift+H starts automatic scrolling. Ctrl+Shift+Plus or Minus rotates the view without changing the file. Ctrl+comma opens Preferences.

In forms and text, Tab and Shift+Tab move between text areas and form fields, so you can fill a form from top to bottom without touching the mouse. In the Bookmarks panel, F2 renames a bookmark.

The command palette

Ctrl+K is the one shortcut that leads to all the others. Type the first letters of words in a command's name or its group, and matching commands appear. Recently used commands come first, so the ones you rely on are usually at the top. Enter runs the highlighted command and Esc closes the palette.

It also tells you why something can't be done. If a command isn't available at the moment, perhaps because nothing is selected, the palette says why, and the same reason appears as a tooltip on the greyed menu item. That saves a lot of clicking around wondering what's wrong.

Learning them without effort

Learn a few at a time. Pick the three commands you use most, find their shortcuts in Help > Keyboard shortcuts, and use them for a week. Then add three more.

Lean on the palette for the rest. Many people find that Ctrl+K plus a couple of letters is quicker than remembering a dozen rarely used shortcuts.

Turn your own routines into commands. Tools > Actions lets you save a list of steps, and an Action can become a command of its own, so a job you do every day sits alongside the built-in commands.

Why the list stays accurate

Because Help > Keyboard shortcuts is built from the same command list as the menus, a shortcut can't be missing from it or out of date. When the app gains a command, the list gains it too. It's a small detail of how PDF by Zaweba is put together, but it means the list is something you can trust.

Keep the shortcuts window in mind as a reference and Ctrl+K as your way into anything else, and you'll find you rarely need the menus at all.