Home·Keyboard shortcuts

Photoshop · Eyedropper tool

Tools

Windows · Linux

I

Mac

I

Both systems use the same combination.

Picks a colour off the canvas as the foreground colour. While painting, holding Alt (Option on a Mac) turns the brush into the eyedropper for as long as you hold it, so you never switch tools.

Group
Tools
Keys held
1

Bracket keys resize the brush ([ and ]) on every layout, but with a non-Latin input method active some other shortcuts stop responding.

Reading the key names

  • Keys joined by + are pressed together: Ctrl+Shift+P means hold Ctrl and Shift, then P.
  • On a Mac, Cmd is ⌘, Option is ⌥ (labelled Alt on some keyboards), Control is ⌃ and Shift is ⇧.
  • Windows Ctrl usually becomes Cmd on a Mac, but not always — this reference lists both combinations separately.
  • With a Korean, Japanese or Chinese input method active, shortcuts built on letter keys may not fire. Switch to Latin input and try again.
  • When a combination does nothing, another program has often claimed it as a global shortcut first.

Common questions

Q. What is the shortcut for Eyedropper tool in Photoshop?

Picks a colour off the canvas as the foreground colour. While painting, holding Alt (Option on a Mac) turns the brush into the eyedropper for as long as you hold it, so you never switch tools. It is I on Windows and I on a Mac.

Q. Is it the same on Windows and Mac?

Yes, I on both.

Q. How many keys is that?

1 pressed together. The combination sits under Tools in Photoshop.

The same action elsewhere

Shortcuts nearby