Keyboard shortcuts for Skype for Business

Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that, when pressed, can be used to do a task that would typically need a mouse or other pointing device. The keyboard shortcuts described here refer to the United States Lync keyboard layout. Keys on other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a U.S. keyboard.

These keyboard shortcuts relate to the feature areas of the Lync user interface (UI). So, for example, you’ve have to be in a contact card for the Esc key to close the contact card.

Tab and Shift+Tab are common ways of moving through any UI. Tab moves through the UI in order, whereas Shift+Tab moves through it in reverse order.

Some features might not be available for your account. We’ve indicated these.

General (any window)

Use the following keyboard shortcuts no matter which window has the focus.

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
Windows logo key+Shift+O	Accept an incoming invite notification.
Windows logo key+Esc	Decline an invite notification.
Windows logo key+F4	Self-mute/unmute audio.
Windows logo key+F5	Turn my Camera On/Turn my Camera Off when video is already established in the call.
Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar	Put focus on the application sharing toolbar.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+3	Open the main window and put focus in the search box.
Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar	Take back control when sharing your screen.
Ctrl+Shift+S	Stop sharing your screen.

Skype for Business main window

Use these keyboard shortcuts when the Lync main window is in the foreground.

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
Ctrl+1	Move to the Contacts list tab.
Ctrl+2	Move to the persistent chat tab.
Ctrl+3	Move to the Conversation list tab.
Ctrl+4	Move to the Phone tab.
Ctrl+1 or Ctrl+Shift+1	As a delegate, transfer a call to someone else’s work number. (Not available in Lync Basic or with all Microsoft 365 subscriptions.)
Alt+Spacebar	Open the System menu. Alt opens the menu bar.
Alt+F	Open the File menu.
Alt+M	Start Meet Now.
Alt+T	Open the Tools menu.
Alt+H	Open the Help menu.

Contacts list

Use these keyboard shortcuts while in the Contacts list.

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
Delete	Delete the selected custom group or contact.
Alt+Up Arrow	Move the selected group up.
Alt+Down Arrow	Move the selected group down.
Alt+Enter	On the shortcuts menu─open the selected contact or group contacts card.
Spacebar	Collapse or expand the selected group.
Shift+Delete	Remove the selected contact from the Contacts list (non-distribution-group members only).

Contact card

Use these keyboard shortcuts while in a contact card. Use Alt+Enter to open a contact card.

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
Esc	Close the contact card.
Ctrl+Tab	Move through the tabs at the bottom of the contact card.
Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Move through the tabs at the bottom of the contact card in reverse order.

Conversation window

Use these keyboard shortcuts while in the Conversation window.

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
F1	Open the Help home page (on the Help menu).
Esc	Exit full-screen view if present. Otherwise, the Conversation window closes only if there is no audio, video, or sharing occurring.
Alt+C	Accept any of the invite notifications. These include audio, video, call, and sharing requests.
Alt+F4	Close the Conversation window.
Alt+l	Ignore any invite notifications. These include audio, video, call, and sharing requests.
Alt+R	Rejoin audio in a meeting.
Alt+S	Open the Save As dialog box for a file that was sent in the Conversation window.
Alt+V	Invite a contact to an existing conversation.
Ctrl+S	Save the contents of IM history. Works for person-to-person conversations when you use Outlook.
Ctrl+W	Show or hide the instant message area.
Ctrl+F	Send a file, or in the context of a conference, add a meeting attachment.
Ctrl+N	Take your own notes by using Microsoft OneNote note-taking program. Starts OneNote. (Not available in Lync Basic.)
Ctrl+R	Show or hide the participant list.
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Right Arrow	Navigate right to the next UI element in the Conversation window. This key combination replaces the Tab key for moving the focus from one UI element to the next.
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Left Arrow	Navigate left to the previous UI element in the Conversation window. This key combination replaces the Tab key for moving the focus from one UI element to the previous one.
Ctrl+Shift+Enter	Add video/end video.
Ctrl+Shift+H	Hold or resume an ongoing audio conversation.
Ctrl+Shift+I	Mark a conversation as having high importance. Works for person-to-person conversations, but isn’t available for meetings.
Ctrl+Shift+Y	Show or hide the sharing stage.
Ctrl+Shift+P	Switch to compact view.
Ctrl+Shift+K	Switch to content-only view.
Ctrl+Enter	Add audio/end audio.
Up Arrow	When on a mode button, opens the corresponding callout.
Spacebar	When focus is on a mode button, a default action is taken. So for audio, mute or unmute occurs, whereas for video, it starts or stops the camera.
Esc	Dismiss or hide an open callout or bubble that has keyboard focus.

Call controls (Conversation window)

Use these keyboard shortcuts in the call controls while in a peer-to-peer call. This doesn’t work in a conference call.

Press this keyboard shortcut	To do this
Alt+Q	End a call.
Ctrl+Shift+T	Transfer: Open the contact picker during a peer-to-peer call. (Not available in Lync Basic or with all Microsoft 365 subscriptions.)
Ctrl+Shift+H	Put a call on hold.
Ctrl+Shift+D	Display the dial pad.

Video (Conversation window)

Use these keyboard shortcuts when you’re working with video in the Conversation window.

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
F5	View video in full screen. If the stage area is visible in the Conversation window, F5 won’t take full-screen video.
Esc	Exit full-screen video.
Ctrl+Shift+O	Pop out Gallery; Pop in Gallery.
Ctrl+Shift+L	Lock your video for everyone in the meeting.

IM (Conversation window)

Use these keyboard shortcuts when you’re in an IM with someone.

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
F1	Open Help.
F12	Save the IM conversation.
Shift+Enter	Add carriage returns.
Shift+Insert or Ctrl+V	Paste.
Ctrl+A	Select all content.
Ctrl+B	Make the selected text bold.
Ctrl+C	Copy the selected text.
Ctrl+X	Cut the selected text.
Ctrl+l	Italicize the selected text.
Ctrl+U	Underline the selected text.
Ctrl+Y	Redo the last action.
Ctrl+Z	Undo the last action.
Ctrl+Shift+F	Change the color of the font. (Only changes color for what you type, not for what the other person types.)
Alt+P	Open a file that’s been received.
Alt+D	Decline a file that’s been sent.
Ctrl+Shift+M	To get focus to your IM input area.

Conversation or meeting stage

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
F5	View the Conversation window meeting stage in full screen.
Esc	Exit full screen if present.
Alt+T	Stop sharing.
Ctrl+Shift+E	Manage presentable content.
Ctrl+Shift+Y	Show or hide the sharing stage.
Ctrl+Shift+A	Force pending L1 alert into view in full screen.
Ctrl+Shift+J	Switch to speaker view.
Ctrl+Shift+l	Switch to gallery view.
Ctrl+Alt+Right Arrow or Ctrl+Alt+Left Arrow	Tab out of the sharing region in a forward direction, and/or tab out of the sharing region in a backward direction.

Conversation environment

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
Delete	Delete selected items.
Home	Move top of list.
End	Move to bottom of list.
Page Up	Move one page up.
Page Down	Move one page down.
Up Arrow	Move up to the previous contact for conversation.
Down Arrow	Move down to the next contact for conversation.

PPT sharing: Legacy PPT viewer

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
Tab	When the content space is in focus, tab through the controls for PPT sharing (Prev arrow, Next arrow, Thumbnails, and Notes).
Right Arrow	When focus is on content area, move to the next click, or slide, if no click for animation is on the current slide.
Left or Right Arrow	When the thumbnail area is in focus, move focus to the previous or next thumbnail without changing the active slide.
Left Arrow	When focus is on content area, move to the previous click, or slide if no click for animation is on the current slide.
Home	When thumbnail area is in focus, set the focus on the first slide thumbnail without changing the active slide.
Enter	Select the control in focus or thumbnails if thumbnail strip has focus and select (change in active slide).
End	When the thumbnail area is in focus, set the focus on the last slide thumbnail without changing the active slide.

Tabbed conversations

Press this key orkeyboard shortcut	To do this
Alt+Spacebar	Open tab window’s system menu.
Ctrl+Shift+T	Set focus on tab item in tabbed conversation view.
Ctrl+Tab	Switch to the next tab (continuously loop through all tabs).
Ctrl+1,2…9	Switch to a specific tab number and put keyboard focus in that conversation. Ctrl+1.
Ctrl+O	Undock/dock the selected conversation from/to the tab window.
Esc	Close a tab.

Persistent chat

The persistent chat window uses the same shortcuts as the conversation window and IM. (Not available for Microsoft 365 subscriptions.)