A typical Photoshop keyboard-shortcut export covers 16 default actions across file handling, editing, selections, viewing, and tools, with Windows and macOS modifiers kept on entirely separate rows so a copy never accidentally crosses a platform.
Photoshop users reach for shortcuts every minute of a working day — Ctrl+S, Ctrl+Shift+S, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+T. The moment the question shifts from "what is the default" to "what preset am I on, what did my studio install on top of it", the same combination stops behaving the same way. A clean export has to do three things honestly: show only defaults, separate Windows from macOS so a Ctrl/Command collision never silently happens, and stay small enough to scan in a glance. Anything bigger than thirty or forty rows stops being a reference and starts being a wall.
What a default shortcut export must include
Before exporting anything, list the questions a reference has to answer: which action, which platform, which exact keys, and whether the combination is a single tool key, a two-modifier combo, or a three-modifier combo. A default export is honest when it does not pretend to be exhaustive, lists modifiers by name (Ctrl, Alt, Shift on Windows; Command, Option, Shift on macOS) rather than as glyphs, and treats every row as something to verify against your installed Photoshop rather than something to assume is active.
| Requirement | Why it matters | Risk if skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Separate Windows and macOS columns | A direct Ctrl→Command substitution fails for many native dialogs and tool cycling preferences | Copies a key that does nothing on the other OS |
| Named modifiers, not symbols | Symbols render differently across fonts, keyboards, and accessibility tooling | Ambiguous copy that breaks screen readers and search filters |
| Default keys only | Photoshop lets users reassign any row in Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts | Implied authority over a customized key that someone has already remapped |
| Action, category, and platform tags | Filters need stable dimensions for case-insensitive search | Search returns rows that match a partial string but not the field you meant |
| Visible result count and empty state | Confirms the active filter scope after each search | Empty panel looks like a broken export |
These five requirements are also the limits of a focused reference. They are not the same as the requirements of a complete cheat sheet, which would need to cover every menu, panel, tool variation, function key, timeline mode, 3D feature, and accessibility workflow — a job that already belongs to Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts only as a fast recall aid for the most common defaults, with the full version-specific list delegated to Adobe's own in-app dialog.
The 16 common actions every default export should cover
The 16 actions below appear in high-frequency workflows and represent the actions most retouchers reach for during the opening minutes of a working session. Tool selection shortcuts are included so the export also doubles as a one-glance reference for Move, Brush, and Crop.
| Action | Category | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| New document | File | Ctrl+N | Command+N |
| Open file | File | Ctrl+O | Command+O |
| Save | File | Ctrl+S | Command+S |
| Save As | File | Ctrl+Shift+S | Command+Shift+S |
| Undo / Redo | Edit | Ctrl+Z | Command+Z |
| Step Backward | Edit | Ctrl+Alt+Z | Command+Option+Z |
| Copy | Edit | Ctrl+C | Command+C |
| Paste | Edit | Ctrl+V | Command+V |
| Free Transform | Edit | Ctrl+T | Command+T |
| Deselect | Selection | Ctrl+D | Command+D |
| Inverse selection | Selection | Ctrl+Shift+I | Command+Shift+I |
| Fit on Screen | View | Ctrl+0 | Command+0 |
| 100% View | View | Ctrl+1 | Command+1 |
| Move tool | Tool | V | V |
| Brush tool | Tool | B | B |
| Crop tool | Tool | C | C |
Tool rows share the same letter on both platforms by default, but cycling through related tools (for example, switching from the standard Crop tool to the Perspective Crop tool) can depend on Photoshop's Use Shift Key for Tool Switch preference, so a single letter can behave differently inside that setting.
How to export default Photoshop shortcuts in your browser
The fastest export workflow keeps everything in a browser tab and avoids opening Photoshop until the last verification step. Use these seven steps to copy the exact default keys out of a verified reference.
- Open the Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts reference page.
- Choose Windows or macOS so the table does not mix Ctrl with Command in the same row.
- Type into the search field using the action name, the category, or part of a key — for example transform, selection, or Option.
- Check the result count after typing; the page shows the active scope so a zero-match state is not mistaken for a broken export.
- Click the Copy button on a single row to put exactly that combination on the clipboard.
- Paste the combination into a cheat sheet, a runbook, or a learning card.
- Open Photoshop and open Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts to confirm the copied combination still matches your installed default.
If the clipboard permission is denied or the browser blocks the write, the keys stay visible in the row so they can still be selected and copied by hand. Nothing is uploaded, no key listener watches your typing, and no Photoshop file is opened in the background.
When a copied combination will quietly refuse to fire
Photoshop shortcuts can be reassigned almost anywhere a key combination can land. Studio presets, migrated preference files, language-specific configurations, plug-ins, operating-system shortcuts, accessibility utilities, and managed workstation policies can all change which combination actually reaches Photoshop. None of those are reflected in a default export, which is why a copied row is a starting point, not a verdict.
Context inside the application also matters. A shortcut that fires in a free-form layer panel often does nothing while a text field is being edited, a modal dialog is open, or a tool has temporarily captured a modifier for its own behavior. Undo behavior in particular depends on the current history state and the Photoshop version that is running. The same combination can also behave differently in Photoshop on the web versus Photoshop on the desktop, where the in-app shortcut list remains the authoritative source for what reaches the canvas.
Three conditions explain most "the export is wrong" reports: the user is editing inside a text layer or text dialog, the user is running a customized preset that loads on startup, or the user is matching a single-letter tool shortcut from memory while a different tool is the currently active one. Test unfamiliar combinations on a duplicated document before folding them into a production workflow, and remember that saving a file is not a substitute for version history or backups.
Verifying a copied shortcut inside Photoshop
Once a row is on the clipboard, treat it as a hypothesis. Open Photoshop, choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts and Menus, find the same action in the Commands list, and compare the displayed keys. If they match, the default export still describes your environment and you can paste the combination into any reference document with confidence. If they do not match, the export has surfaced a real difference between the published default and your installed preset, and the in-app dialog is the place to fix or reassign it.
The same dialog also lets you reassign the combination to a more memorable key, which is useful for studio-wide cheat sheets. A default export is most useful when it is paired with that dialog: the export gives you a fast lookup, the dialog gives you the version-specific source of truth, and together they make a team-wide shortcut reference possible without anyone having to manually transcribe the in-app list.
Privacy and limits of an in-browser shortcut reference
A browser-based reference cannot inspect the Photoshop version on the local machine, the active workspace, the loaded shortcut preset, the keyboard layout, the plug-ins, the locale, or any operating-system shortcut conflict. It cannot know whether your studio mapped Ctrl+Shift+S to something else a year ago, and it cannot tell you that an accessibility utility has quietly remapped Caps Lock. Treat the table as a fast recall aid for common defaults rather than as a substitute for the complete in-app shortcut list.
For routine lookups, the reference still wins on speed. No keyboard activity is uploaded, no Photoshop file is opened, no shortcut preset is read, and the only clipboard write happens when you actively click Copy. The action you paste into a cheat sheet, a runbook, or a learning card stays under your control and never leaves the tab, which makes the export safe to run on a managed workstation that blocks third-party network calls.
Quick reference card for the export workflow
Pair the lookup steps above with a small personal card so the next session starts from a known state. The card needs only five lines: the platform toggle, the search field, the Copy button, the in-app verification command (Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts), and a reminder that any customized preset can override the published default. Keep the card next to your workspace, and update it from the in-app dialog rather than from the browser reference when your environment changes.
If you're weighing options, Find the Right PowerPoint Shortcut on Windows or Mac covers this in detail.