PowerPoint · Select the next object on the slide

Objects

Windows · Linux

Tab

Mac

Tab

Both systems use the same combination.

Cycles through the objects on the slide one at a time; with the cursor inside a text box the same key indents instead, so press Esc to leave the text first.

Group: Objects
Keys held: 1

Half of PowerPoint's shortcuts only listen while the show is running — blanking the screen with B, the laser on Ctrl+L — and in edit view those same keys do something else entirely.

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 Select the next object on the slide in PowerPoint?

Cycles through the objects on the slide one at a time; with the cursor inside a text box the same key indents instead, so press Esc to leave the text first. It is Tab on Windows and Tab on a Mac.

Q. Is it the same on Windows and Mac?

Yes, Tab on both.

Q. How many keys is that?

1 pressed together. The combination sits under Objects in PowerPoint.

Shortcuts nearby

Group the selected objectsCtrl+GOpen Paste SpecialCtrl+Alt+VUngroup the selected groupCtrl+Shift+GSend the object back one positionCtrl+Shift+[Bring the object forward one positionCtrl+Shift+]Duplicate the selected objectCtrl+DCopy the animation of an objectShift+Alt+CPaste the copied animationShift+Alt+V