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Keyboard shortcuts in QuickBooks Desktop

by Intuit• Updated 4 months ago

Learn keyboard shortcuts for doing things more efficiently in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can use keyboard shortcuts to do all kinds of things in QuickBooks Desktop. Instead of using the menus, you can create invoices and move between windows with just a few keystrokes.

In this article, you'll learn shortcuts for the following areas:

Navigate around QuickBooks
Data fields on forms
Date fields on forms
Forms and transactions (invoices, expenses, etc.)
Lists (Customer Centre, Account Register, Item List, etc.)
Start a new task anywhere in QuickBooks
Open, set up, and close QuickBooks

Note: You'll see underlined letters on some forms and buttons. These are shortcut labels. To use the shortcut, hold Alt and press the underlined letter.

Navigate around QuickBooks

Action	Keyboard shortcut
Open the Help window	F1
Close current window	Esc
Open the Product Information window (Product and License number, company file location, etc.)	F2 or Ctrl + 1
Open the Find Transaction window (Transactions, invoices, etc.)	Ctrl + F
Open the Search window (Customers, accounts, transactions, etc.)	F3 or Ctrl + 2
Open Tech Help / Technical Info window (System info)	F2 to open the Product Info window, then press F3

Data fields on forms

Action	Keyboard shortcut
Increase or decrease the amount	+ or -
Go to the next data field	Tab
Go to the previous data field	Shift + Tab
Copy, paste, undo, cut	Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V, Ctrl + Z, Ctrl + X

Date fields on forms

Action	Keyboard shortcut
Open calendar to select a date	Alt + ↓
Advance a day	+
Back a day	-
Go to today	T
Go to the first day of the week	W
Go to the last day of the week	K
Go to the same day next week	]
Go to the same day last week	[
Go to the first day of the month	M
Go to the last day of the month	H
Go to the same day of the month next month	;
Go to the same day of the month last month	' (apostrophe)
Go to the first day of the year (Jan 1)	Y

Forms and transactions (invoices, expenses, etc.)

Action	Keyboard shortcut
Record or save a transaction	Enter
Add a new transaction line	Ctrl + Ins
Delete selected transaction line	Ctrl + Del
Copy a transaction line	Highlight a transaction line, then press Ctrl + Alt + Y. *Only available in QuickBooks 2018 and later.
Paste a transaction line	Highlight a blank transaction line, then press Ctrl + Alt + V. *Only available in QuickBooks 2018 and later.
Go to the next or previous transaction line	↑ or ↓
Open the full list for the selected dropdown menu (product, service, customer, etc.)	Highlight the ▼ dropdown menu, then press Ctrl + L. Press Ctrl + U to add a selected item from the list to your open form.
Move between pages on forms and reports	Page Up or Page Down
Save and close the current form	Alt + S
Go to your last open form of the same type	Alt + P
Save and go to the next form of the same type	Alt + N
Print form (or list)	CTRL + P
Memorize current form and its transactions	Ctrl + M
Open Memorized Transaction List	Ctrl + T
Open transaction history (for current form)	Ctrl + H
Open transaction journal (for current form)	Ctrl + Y

Lists (Customer Centre, Account Register, Item List, etc.)

Action	Keyboard shortcut
Go to the first item or last item on a list or register	Ctrl + Page Up or Ctrl + Page Down
Create a new item on a list (account, customer, product or service, etc.)	Ctrl + N
Edit an item on a list (account, customer, product or service, etc.)	Ctrl + E
Delete an item on a list (account, customer, product or service, etc.)	Ctrl + D
Run a Quick Report for an item on a list	Ctrl + F6
Refresh list (You only see this if you are in multi-user mode. This is useful if multiple users are editing the same list.)	F5

Start a new task anywhere in QuickBooks

Action	Keyboard shortcut
Create a new invoice	Ctrl + I
Create a new check	Ctrl + W
Open the Customer Centre	Ctrl + J
Open the Chart of Accounts	Ctrl + A
Open an Account Register	Ctrl + R, then select an account. If you are in an account register, select a transaction and press Ctrl+G. This opens the register for the associated "transfer" account.

Open, set up, and close QuickBooks

Action	Keyboard shortcut
Open your company file with no open windows or menus	Hold Alt after you open your company file on the Open Company window
Close QuickBooks	Alt + F4
Open QuickBooks Service Keys (Payroll only)	Ctrl + K
Set up YTD Amounts for Payroll (Payroll only)	Select the Help menu and then About QuickBooks. When the product screen appears, Ctrl + Alt + Y.

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