Keyboard shortcuts in Skype for Business

Windows Mac

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Many users find that using an external keyboard with keyboard shortcuts for Skype for Business on Windows 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. This article itemizes the keyboard shortcuts for Skype for Business on Windows.

Notes:

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.
If a shortcut requires pressing two or more keys at the same time, this topic separates the keys with a plus sign (+). If you have to press one key immediately after another, the keys are separated by a comma (,).

In this topic

Frequently used shortcuts on a PC
General navigation and movement
Skype for Business main window
Contacts list
Contact card
Conversation window
Call controls (Conversation window)
Video (Conversation window)
IM (Conversation window)
Conversation or meeting stage
Conversation environment
Tabbed conversations
Persistent chat
See also
Technical support for customers with disabilities

Frequently used shortcuts on a PC

The following table is a handy reference to frequently used shortcuts in Skype for Business.

To do this	Press
Main window: Find a contact	F6 (may need to press 2 or 3 times)
When a contact is selected: display more options, for example, to make a call , start a chat, and more	Enter
When a contact is selected: open the context-sensitive menu	Shift+F10
Accept an incoming call or chat	Windows logo key+Shift+O
Decline an incoming call or chat	Windows logo key+Escape
Mute or unmute your microphone in a call	Windows logo key+F4
When video is already established in a call: Turn my Camera On/Turn my Camera Off	Windows logo key+F5
Stop sharing your desktop	Alt+T
Conversation window: invite a contact to an existing conversation	Alt+V
Conversation window: end a conversation	Alt+Q

General navigation and movement

Use the following keyboard shortcuts no matter where the focus is.

To do this	Press
Accept an incoming invite notification	Windows logo key+Shift+O
Decline an invite notification	Windows logo 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 microphone in a call	Windows logo key+F4
When video is already established in a call: Turn my Camera On/Turn my Camera Off	Windows logo 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

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 Office 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 Meet Now	Alt+M
Open the Tools menu	Alt+T
Open the Help menu	Alt+H
Navigate quickly between main sections of the window	F6

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
Move the selected group down	Alt+Down Arrow
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

Contact card

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 reverse order	Ctrl+Shift+Tab

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
When you control another user's shared screen in a meeting: navigate left to the previous UI element in the Conversation window	Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Left arrow
When you control another user's shared screen in a meeting: navigate right to the next UI element in the Conversation window	Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Right arrow
Add or end video	Ctrl+Shift+Enter
Hold or resume an ongoing audio conversation	Ctrl+Shift+H
Mark a conversation as having high importance. For 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
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, 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 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+Space
In Skype for Business 2016 only: Navigate quickly between the main sections of the window	F6

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.

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

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
Pop out Video Gallery; Pop in Video Gallery	Ctrl+Shift+O
Lock your video for everyone in the meeting	Ctrl+Shift+L

IM (Conversation window)

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

To do this	Press
Open Help	F1
Save the IM conversation to a file	F12
Save the IM 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 IM input area	Ctrl+Shift+M
Start a new line in an IM message you haven't sent yet	Shift+Enter

Conversation or meeting stage

To do this	Press
View the Conversation window in 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 full screen	Ctrl+Shift+A
Switch to the speaker view	Ctrl+Shift+J
Switch to the gallery view	Ctrl+Shift+l
When you control another user's shared screen in a meeting: navigate left to the previous UI element in the Conversation window.	Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Right arrow
When you control another user's shared screen in a meeting: navigate right to the next UI element in the Conversation window.	Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Left arrow

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 conversation	Up arrow
Move down to the next contact to start conversation	Down arrow

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+1,2…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 IM. This feature is not available for Office 365 subscriptions.

In this topic

Keyboard shortcuts in Skype for Business for Mac
Keyboard shortcuts in Lync for Mac 2011