Use iPad Keyboard Shortcuts in iOS 9 and Work More Efficiently
I just bought my iPad Pro and the Smart Keyboard. Apart from so many cool features iOS 9 brings, I'm most satisfied with this big improvement – the handing of external keyboards.
I've used iPad with hardware keyboard in the past but really never took the time to learn keyboard shortcuts. When I got my new iPad Pro, I really started to dig around for shortcuts because they address most of issues brought by a lack of mouse or trackpad support for the large iPad.
First and foremost, the Command(⌘) button is your best friend. Just open an app, press and hold the Command key, then a panel will appear in the middle of the screen with a summary of the recognized shortcuts.
The Most Used Shortcut
Command + Tab: The Command-Tab keyboard shortcut invokes the app switcher exactly lie on the Mac. Press these once to see all open iOS apps. Press it repeatedly to cycle through them and change to an app.
Command + Space: The Command-Space triggers Spotlight.
Command + Shift + H: Navigate to home screen
Safari
⌘ + R: Reload a page
⌘ + [: Go back to the previous page
⌘ + Shift + R: Open current page in Reader Mode
⌘ + T: Open a new tab
⌘ + W: Close the current tab
Control + Tab: Show the next tab
Control + Shift + Tab: Show the previous tab
Text Editing
Bold: Command + B
Italic: Command + I
Underline: Command + U
Increase font size: Command + + (plus)
Decrease font size: Command + – (minus)
Copy style: Command + Option + C
⌘ + R — Reply
⌘ + Shift + R — Reply All
⌘ + Shift + F — Forward
⌘ + Shift + J — Mark as Junk
⌘ + Shift + L — Flag
⌘ + Shift + U — Mark as Unread
⌘ + up arrow — Go to Previous Message
⌘ + down arrow — Go to Next Message
Delete — Delete Message
⌘ + Shift + N — Get All New Mail
⌘ + Option + F — Mailbox Search
⌘ + N — New Message
Notes
⌘ + option + T — Title
⌘ + option + H — Heading
⌘ + option + B — Body
⌘ + option + L — Checklist
⌘ + shift + U — Mark as Checked
⌘ + N — New Note
⌘ + F — Find Note
Pages
⌘ + F — Find
⌘ + shift + W — Show Word Count
⌘ + N — Create Document
Keynote
⌘ + N — Create Presentation
⌘ + F — Find
⌘ + shift + K — Add Comment
⌘ + option + P — Play Slideshow
⌘ + option + A — Show Transitions and Builds
⌘ + option + N — Show Presenter Notes
Numbers
⌘ +N — Create Spreadsheet
⌘ +F — Find
⌘ + option + C — Copy Style
⌘ + shift + N — Insert Sheet
Camera
Volume +/- to take a photo or start/stop a video recording
You can discover many more iPad keyboard shortcuts. Your favorite app potentially supports keyboard shortcuts with iOS 9 on iPad, too. If you know about addition keyboard shortcuts hidden in iOS 9, let us know in the comments.
