Paint.NET Keyboard Shortcuts
Paint.NET's shortcuts follow conventional Windows application patterns closely, making it an approachable tool for users who don't need Photoshop's full depth but want more than what Microsoft Paint offers — layers, basic selection tools, and a reasonably capable set of adjustment tools, all wrapped in bindings that feel immediately familiar if you've used virtually any other Windows image editor. It only ships for Windows, so the shortcut table below has a single modifier column rather than a Windows/Mac split you'd see on cross-platform editors. Hobbyists doing basic photo touch-ups, small business owners preparing simple graphics without a Creative Cloud subscription, and anyone who finds Photoshop's interface overwhelming for occasional light editing make up the bulk of Paint.NET's user base, and for that audience the tool-switching and layer shortcuts covered here cover essentially the entire practical workflow the software is built for.
Tools
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rectangle Select tool | S | — | Activates the Rectangle Select tool for marking a rectangular selection area on the canvas. |
| Move Selection tool | M | — | Activates the Move Selection tool for repositioning an active selection's boundary without moving the pixel content inside it. |
| Paintbrush tool | B | — | Activates the Paintbrush tool for freehand painting with the currently selected color and brush size. |
| Eraser tool | E | — | Activates the Eraser tool, removing pixels (or revealing transparency, depending on the layer) wherever you paint with it. |
| Text tool | T | — | Activates the Text tool for adding typed text to the canvas, rendered onto the active layer once finalized. |
| Color Picker tool | K | — | Switches to the eyedropper tool, which lifts a color straight from wherever you click on the canvas and loads it into either the foreground or background swatch. |
| Zoom in | Ctrl++ | — | Increases the canvas zoom level, useful for precise pixel-level editing on fine detail. |
| Zoom out | Ctrl+- | — | Decreases the canvas zoom level, useful for stepping back to see the full image after a detailed zoomed-in edit. |
Layers
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add new layer | Ctrl+Shift+N | — | Adds a new empty transparent layer above the currently active layer in the Layers panel. |
| Duplicate selected layer | Ctrl+Shift+D | — | Creates an exact copy of the currently active layer, placed directly above the original in the layer stack. |
| Merge layer down | Ctrl+M | — | Folds the active layer down into the one sitting directly below it, leaving a single merged layer in place of the two. |
| Flatten entire image | Ctrl+Shift+F | — | Merges every layer in the document into a single flat layer, typically done as a final step before exporting to a format that doesn't support layers, like JPEG. |
Selection Editing
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select all | Ctrl+A | — | Selects the entire canvas area, the usual starting point before applying an effect or adjustment across the whole image. |
| Deselect | Ctrl+Shift+A | — | Clears any active selection, returning to a state where edits affect the entire active layer rather than just a constrained selected region. |
| Invert selection | Ctrl+I | — | Reverses which pixels are selected, turning the previously unselected area into the new selection and vice versa — handy for grabbing an intricate background by selecting the easier-to-outline subject first and flipping the result. |
| Undo last action | Ctrl+Z | — | Reverts the most recent edit, with Paint.NET supporting a substantial multi-step undo history rather than just a single-step undo. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is there no Mac or Linux version of Paint.NET?
Paint.NET is built on Microsoft's .NET and Windows-specific graphics frameworks, and the project (originally started as a Washington State University capstone project before evolving into independent commercial software) has remained Windows-exclusive throughout its development history, with no official cross-platform build released.
How does Paint.NET compare to Photoshop in terms of shortcut depth?
Paint.NET's shortcut set is intentionally much shallower, reflecting its positioning as a simpler, free-to-low-cost tool rather than a professional creative suite — it covers the fundamentals (basic tools, layers, selection) well but doesn't attempt to match Photoshop's deep coverage of advanced selection refinement, channels, or extensive filter-specific shortcuts.
Does Merge Layer Down work the same as Photoshop's equivalent?
Functionally yes — both combine the active layer with the one directly beneath it into a single flattened layer, respecting blend modes and opacity settings in the process, though Paint.NET's simpler layer model means there are fewer edge cases around layer effects or smart objects that might complicate the merge compared to Photoshop's more elaborate layer system.
Why does Paint.NET's Move Selection tool sometimes move the selection outline but not the actual pixels?
This is the tool's intended behavior — Move Selection (M) repositions only the boundary of an active selection without touching the underlying pixel content, useful for adjusting exactly which pixels are selected before applying an edit. Moving the actual pixel content itself requires the separate Move Selected Pixels tool, a distinct tool from Move Selection despite the similar name.
Can Paint.NET open and edit layered Photoshop (.psd) files?
Paint.NET has some support for opening PSD files through its file format plugin system, though fidelity for complex Photoshop-specific features (certain blend modes, smart objects, adjustment layers) isn't guaranteed to be perfect, since Paint.NET's own simpler layer model doesn't have exact equivalents for every advanced Photoshop-specific feature.
Does Paint.NET support plugins to extend its shortcut set or add new tools?
Yes — Paint.NET has an active third-party plugin ecosystem adding additional effects, adjustments, and even new tools beyond the built-in set, though plugin-added tools and effects typically don't come with their own pre-assigned keyboard shortcuts by default and would need to be triggered through the Effects or Adjustments menus instead.
Why does the Eraser tool sometimes reveal a checkered pattern instead of white?
The checkered pattern is Paint.NET's standard visual representation of transparency on a layer that supports it, meaning the eraser has removed pixel color data entirely rather than painting white over it — exporting to a format that supports transparency (like PNG) preserves this as genuine transparency, while exporting to a format that doesn't (like JPEG) typically flattens it to a solid background color instead.
Is there a shortcut for adjusting brush size without opening the tool options panel?
Paint.NET doesn't have a dedicated keyboard shortcut for brush size specifically (unlike Photoshop's bracket-key convention for this), so brush size for tools like the Paintbrush or Eraser is set through the size field or slider control sitting in the tool options bar up top, a deliberately mouse-driven adjustment rather than a keyboard one.
Is there a shortcut for flattening all layers into one in Paint.NET?
Yes — Ctrl+Shift+F flattens every visible layer in the current image down into a single layer, which is typically the last step before exporting to a format like JPEG that doesn't support layers at all, or before applying an effect that needs to see the whole composited image at once.