Flip Between Open InDesign Documents from the Keyboard
Nick from the UK asked,
I’m often working with several InDesign documents open. How can I quickly and easily shuttle between them without having them each tiled on my screen?
I have a feeling you are going to say it’s a customised keyboard shortcut, but having printed out the list as you advised in an early podcast, I just can’t seem to see it.
There’s an OS keyboard command for flipping through open docs in any current program … not an InDesign-specific one.
For Mac OS X, it’s Command-` (the ` is the key with the tilde on the upper left of the keyboard).
For Windows XP, the usual keyboard shortcut, Ctrl-F6, works fine, but you might find that Ctrl-` is easier to reach. (Maybe this is a custom keyboard shortcut for InDesign Windows – I can’t get it to work in any other program.)
For those of you wondering what Nick meant when he said, “…without having them each tiled on my screen,” I think he was referring to the Window > Arrange > Tile command, or perhaps Mac OS X’s Expose feature, which can do a similar thing in any program. (F10 is the default key for temporarily tiling all doc windows belonging to the active application.)
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The shortcut to switch between opened documents in InDesign is Cmd-F6 / Ctrl-F6.
Does Ctrl-F6 works also on an English Windows ?
Yes, Ctrl-F6 works on English Windows.
Quite strange … the whole keyboard shortcut thing for flipping between open windows in an app is not as cut-and-dried as I thought. On Macs, at least.
My post is still correct, though, as far as InDesign is concerned, with the addition of Command-F6 as Bran helpfully pointed out. (I still think Command/Ctrl-` is easier to do.)
But on my (English) Mac, Command-F6 only works in a minority of programs (Word, Excel and InDesign are the only ones I’ve found.) It doesn’t work in the Finder, Firefox, Text Edit, GoLive, Acrobat, Illustrator or Photoshop, the other ones I have open at the moment.
With the exception of Photoshop (haven’t found any key that works for that program yet) and Word (only recognizes Command-F6), though, Command-` does the trick in all the programs mentioned so far, including Excel… bizarre!
I find my ` on the lower left (second row) on both, my powerbook and desktop.
Or is this an cultural difference in referring to ‘up’ or ‘down’ on a flat-laying object
Hence a neath trick I can use!
Anne-Marie, actually there are InDesign-specific shortcuts for this. See Next Window and Previous Window in Edit Keyboard Shortcuts > Product Area > View and Navigation. Cmd/Ctrl-F6 and Cmd-Shift/Ctrl-Shift-F6 are listed there.
Also I believe that Control-Shift-Tab selects the next window in Photoshop. Or just Ctrl-Tab? I’m on the road and don’t have pshop running right now.
Ed, keyboards are different in various countries/languages. I’d love to see a single page that shows all the different Mac/Windows keyboard layouts.
Also, don’t forget that Command-Shift-tilde (the same key as Anne-Marie pointed out earlier… it’s up next to the “1” on English keyboards) chooses the previous window.
In my humble opinion, the CTL-F6 combo is the most awkward shortcut ever invented. It is what Illustrator requires moving between documents. Indesign (Win), rather, is much more elegantly used to switched between open windows by using the CTL-~ combination.
I find it easier to have the default for other programs set in place ie: Control Tab. that way this will work in the most important programs I use ie: Indesign, Photoshop. For Indesign you have to set the keyboard shortcut, it is found in Views, Navigation: Next Window.
The CTRL-F6 shortcut is not longer working in CS3. Instead you can use the usual CTRL-TAB.
But… is there a way to reassign the CTRL-F6 shortcut to Indesign CS3?
First I foolishly looked in Shortcuts>Product Area>Window which is where I had been going to switch windows manually.
After reading this thread I tried all the above on my WinXP CS3 install. ctrl+~ and ctrl+Tab both work right out of the box. Sweet . . . :)
Ctrl+Tab is what I use in CS3 on a PC
Awesome! I love the collective consciousness of compiled human knowledge that is the internets! Definately the best tip I’ve received in a while..
The keyboard shortcut for cycling windows for Adobe Photoshop CS3 OS X is CTRL-TAB. Makes you wonder why Adobe keeps messing with the shortcuts with every other version.
I found this and more shortcuts at
https://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/photoshop-secret-shortcuts/
WinXP CS3
ctrl- ~ works for shifting between open InDesign Document Windows NOT ctrl- F6
At least, not on my system…
I just figured out why sometimes cmd-` does nothing in InDesign? at least on my system, having caps lock on prevents switching between windows and tabs.
Thanks!
I use PC. Ctrl+ Tab keys worked for me.
In InDesign you can assign any user defined shortcut for switching windows via Edit » Keyboard shortcuts » Navigation in view » Next window
Thanks for pointing out where that’s located! I made my own shortcut that works better with the other shortcuts I’ll be using.
My (Windows) keyboard does not have a tilde character on it! I can go left-to-right through open documents with CTRL-f6, and right-to-left with CTRL-SHFT-f6. Ctrl-Tab and CTRL-SHFT-Tab work as well.
Thanks! I knew there was a shortcut for this, but it’s been so long since I really needed it that I couldn’t remember it!
I use this shortcut all the time (on Mac OS), but there is a very annoying bug in InDesign.
If you change the order of the open tabs by dragging them left or right, the order in which they switch with the Cmd+~ shortcut will not change! So they tab through with an irrational order!
Very annoying.
Switching between open documents (in multiple tabs) in InDesign is done with Command+‹ (key left of z) in right direction if you hold Shift you change direction. Mac OC X.
Hmmm. On my german keyboard/InD there is no ~-key in the upper left. It reads “°/^” on mine (to get a tilde you need to press alt+n). Anyway, after googleing, i found out to switch betweet doc-windows/tabbed-docs with…
cmd+< and shift+command+<
Does anyone know, if this is a InD-customizable-shortcut?
To assign a document in between switch shortcut:
Go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcut > go for product area section > select “Views, Navigation” > look for “Next Window” then one click on it > one click on the second presentation mode listed down > one click into new shortcut menu> put your own shortcut > click assign > choose yes > Give your name > Click ok > Finished!!!
Neat! Didnt find that, thx! For one whos looking for it in german “Nächstes Fenster” und “Vorheriges Fenster” is the string to find.
Press Command (Control on Windows) and the ~ (the tilde key) to switch between open tabbed Illustrator documents.