Many users find that using an external keyboard with keyboard shortcuts for Skype for Business helps them work more efficiently. For users with mobility or vision disabilities, keyboard shortcuts can be easier than using the touchscreen, and are an essential alternative to using a mouse.
Note
- The shortcuts in this topic refer to the US keyboard layout. Keys for other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a US keyboard.
- A plus sign (+) in a shortcut means that you need to press multiple keys at the same time.
- A comma sign (,) in a shortcut means that you need to press multiple keys in order.
This article describes the keyboard shortcuts in Skype for Business for Windows.
Note
To quickly find a shortcut in this article, you can use the Search. Press Ctrl+F, and then type your search words.
In this topic
- Frequently used shortcuts
- Navigate in Skype for Business
- Work in the Skype for Business main window
- Work with Contacts list
- Work in the Contact card view
- Use the Conversation window
- Control calls (Conversation window)
- Control video (Conversation window)
- Chat (Conversation window)
- Use the conversation or meeting stage
- Use the conversation environment
- PPT sharing
- Work with tabbed conversations
- Persistent chat
Frequently used shortcuts
The following table shows frequently used shortcuts in Skype for Business on Windows.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Find a contact in the main window. | F6 |
| Display more options, for example, to make a call, start a chat, and more when a contact is selected. | Enter |
| Open the context-sensitive menu when a contact is selected. | Shift+F10 |
| Accept an incoming call or chat. | Windows
key+Shift+O |
| Decline an incoming call or chat. | Windows
key+Esc |
| Mute or unmute your microphone in a call. | Windows
key+F4 |
| Toggle the camera On or Off when the video connection is already established in a call. | Windows
key+F5 |
| Stop sharing your desktop. | Alt+T |
| Invite a contact to an existing conversation (in the Conversation window). | Alt+V |
| End a conversation (in the Conversation window). | Alt+Q |
Navigate in Skype for Business
Use the following keyboard shortcuts no matter where the focus is.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Accept an incoming invite notification. | Windows
key+Shift+O |
| Decline an invite notification. | Windows
key+Esc |
| Put the focus onto the Find Contact search box. | Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar |
| Open the main window and put the focus onto the search box. | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3 |
| Mute or unmute your microphone in a call. | Windows
key+F4 |
| Toggle the camera On or Off when the video connection is already established in a call. | Windows
key+F5 |
| Stop sharing your screen in a call. | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Take back control when sharing your screen in a call. | Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar |
Work in the Skype for Business main window
Use these keyboard shortcuts when the Skype for Business main window is on the foreground.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Move to the Contacts list tab. | Ctrl+1 |
| Move to the persistent chat tab. | Ctrl+2 |
| Move to the Conversation list tab. | Ctrl+3 |
| Move to the Phone tab. | Ctrl+4 |
| Move to the Meetings tab. | Ctrl+5 |
| As a delegate, transfer a call to someone else's work number. (Not available with all Microsoft 365 subscriptions.) | Ctrl+1 or Ctrl+Shift+1 |
| Open the System menu. Alt opens the menu bar. | Alt+Spacebar |
| Open the File menu. | Alt+F |
| Start a Meet Now meeting. | Alt+M |
| Open the Tools menu. | Alt+T |
| Open the Help menu. | Alt+H |
| Navigate quickly between main sections of the window. | F6 |
Work with the Contacts list
Use these keyboard shortcuts while in the Contacts list.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Delete the selected custom group or contact. | Delete |
| Move the selected group up. | Alt+Up arrow key |
| Move the selected group down. | Alt+Down arrow key |
| On the shortcuts menu, open the selected contact or group contacts card. | Alt+Enter |
| Collapse or expand the selected group. | Spacebar |
| Remove the selected contact from the Contacts list (non-distribution-group members only). | Shift+Delete |
Work in the Contact card view
Use these keyboard shortcuts while in a contact card. Press Alt+Enter to open a contact card.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Close the contact card. | Esc |
| Move through the tabs at the bottom of the contact card. | Ctrl+Tab |
| Move through the tabs at the bottom of the contact card in the reverse order. | Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
Use the Conversation window
Use these keyboard shortcuts while in the Conversation window.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Open the Help home page while on the Help menu. | F1 |
| Exit the full-screen view. Otherwise, the Conversation window closes only if there is no audio, video, or sharing occurring. | Esc |
| Accept any of the invite notifications. These include audio, video, call, and sharing requests. | Alt+C |
| Close the Conversation window. | Alt+F4 |
| Ignore any invite notifications. These include audio, video, call, and sharing requests. | Alt+l |
| Rejoin audio in a meeting. | Alt+R |
| Open the Save As dialog box for a file that was sent in the Conversation window. | Alt+S |
| Invite a contact to an existing conversation. | Alt+V |
| Save the contents of IM history. Works for person-to-person conversations when you use Outlook. | Ctrl+S |
| Show or hide the instant message area. | Ctrl+W |
| Send a file, or in the context of a conference, add a meeting attachment. | Ctrl+F |
| Start OneNote to take notes about the conversation session. | Ctrl+N |
| Show or hide the participant list. | Ctrl+R |
| Navigate left to the previous screen element in the Conversation window when you're controlling another user's shared screen in a meeting. | Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Left arrow key |
| Navigate right to the next screen element in the Conversation window when you're controlling another user's shared screen in a meeting. | Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Right arrow key |
| Start or end video connection. | Ctrl+Shift+Enter |
| Hold or resume an ongoing audio conversation. | Ctrl+Shift+H |
| Mark a conversation as high importance in person-to-person conversations. Not available for meetings. | Ctrl+Shift+I |
| Show or hide the sharing stage. | Ctrl+Shift+Y |
| Switch to compact view. | Ctrl+Shift+P |
| Add or end audio. | Ctrl+Enter |
| Lync 2013 and Skype for Business 2015 only: When on a mode button, opens the corresponding callout. | Up arrow key |
| In Lync 2013 and Skype for Business 2015 only: When the focus is on a mode button, a default action is taken. For audio, the microphone is muted or unmuted. For video connections, the camera starts or stops. | Spacebar |
| Dismiss or hide an open callout or a bubble that has the keyboard focus. | Esc |
| When sharing your screen, set the keyboard focus onto the toolbar to control screen sharing. In Skype for Business 2016, press Esc to set the focus back onto the conversation window. | Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar |
| In Skype for Business 2016 only: Navigate quickly between the main sections of the window. | F6 |
Control calls (Conversation window)
Use these keyboard shortcuts in the call controls while in a peer-to-peer call. These shortcuts don't work in a conference call.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| End a call or chat. | Alt+Q |
| Open the contact picker during a peer-to-peer call. (Not available with all Microsoft 365 subscriptions.) | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Put a call on hold. | Ctrl+Shift+H |
| Display the dial pad. | Ctrl+Shift+D |
Control video (Conversation window)
Use these keyboard shortcuts when you're working with video in the Conversation window.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| View the conversation window in full screen mode. | F5 |
| Exit the full-screen video mode. | F5 (in Skype for Business 2016) or Esc |
| Display or hide the Video Gallery. | Ctrl+Shift+O |
| Lock your video for everyone in the meeting. | Ctrl+Shift+L |
Chat (Conversation window)
Use these keyboard shortcuts when you chat (IM) with someone.
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Open Help. | F1 |
| Save the chat conversation to a file. | F12 |
| Save the chat conversation into conversation history. | Ctrl+S |
| Select all content in the conversation. | Ctrl+A |
| Cut the selected text. | Ctrl+X |
| Paste the copied text. | Shift+Insert or Ctrl+V |
| Copy the selected text. | Ctrl+C |
| Change the selected text to bolded. | Ctrl+B |
| Change the selected text to italic. | Ctrl+l |
| Change the selected text to underlined. | Ctrl+U |
| Redo the previous action. | Ctrl+Y |
| Undo the previous action. | Ctrl+Z |
| Change the color of the text you typed. | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Open a file that's been received via Skype. | Alt+P |
| Decline a file that's been sent via Skype. | Alt+D |
| Place the focus in your chat input area. | Ctrl+Shift+M |
| Start a new line in an chat message you haven't sent yet. | Shift+Enter |
Use the conversation or meeting stage
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| View the Conversation window in the full screen mode. | F5 |
| Exit the full screen mode. | Esc |
| Stop sharing. | Alt+T |
| Manage presentable content. | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Show or hide the sharing stage. | Ctrl+Shift+Y |
| Force a pending L1 alert into view in the full screen mode. | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| Switch to the speaker view. | Ctrl+Shift+J |
| Switch to the gallery view. | Ctrl+Shift+l |
| Navigate left to the previous screen element in the Conversation window when you control another user's shared screen in a meeting. | Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Right arrow key |
| Navigate right to the next screen element in the Conversation window when you control another user's shared screen in a meeting. | Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Left arrow key |
Use the conversation environment
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Delete selected items. | Delete |
| Move to the top of the list. | Home |
| Move to the bottom of the list. | End |
| Move up one page, which is about 24 lines. | Page Up |
| Move down one page, which is about 24 lines. | Page Down |
| Move to the previous contact to start a conversation. | Up arrow key |
| Move down to the next contact to start a conversation. | Down arrow key |
PPT sharing
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| When the content space is in focus, tab through the controls for PPT sharing. | Tab |
| When focus is on content area, move to the next click, or slide, if no click for animation is on the current slide. | Right arrow key |
| When the thumbnail area is in focus, move focus to the previous or next thumbnail without changing the active slide. | Left or Right arrow key |
| When focus is on content area, move to the previous click, or slide if no click for animation is on the current slide. | Left arrow key |
| When thumbnail area is in focus, set the focus on the first slide thumbnail without changing the active slide. | Home |
| Select the control in focus or thumbnails if thumbnail strip has focus and select (change in active slide). | Enter |
| When the thumbnail area is in focus, set the focus on the last slide thumbnail without changing the active slide. | End |
Work with tabbed conversations
| To do this | Press |
|---|---|
| Open the system menu of the tab window. | Alt+Spacebar |
| Set the focus on a tab item in a tabbed conversation view. | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Switch to the next tab (continuously loop through all tabs). | Ctrl+Tab |
| Switch to a specific tab number and move the focus onto that conversation. | Ctrl+The tab number (1-9) |
| Dock or undock the selected conversation to or from the tab window. | Ctrl+O |
| Close a tab. | Esc |
Persistent chat
The persistent chat window uses the same shortcuts as the conversation window and chat. This feature is not available for Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
See also
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Skype for Business
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.