Photoshop · Shape tool
Tools
Windows · Linux
UMac
UBoth systems use the same combination.
Draws rectangles, ellipses, lines and the rest. Six of them share the letter, so Shift cycles them; dragging with Shift held keeps the proportions.
- 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 Shape tool in Photoshop?
Draws rectangles, ellipses, lines and the rest. Six of them share the letter, so Shift cycles them; dragging with Shift held keeps the proportions. It is U on Windows and U on a Mac.
Q. Is it the same on Windows and Mac?
Yes, U on both.
Q. How many keys is that?
1 pressed together. The combination sits under Tools in Photoshop.