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InDesign’s left-align text shortcut has been kidnapped!
If you’ve recently upgraded to Apple’s Mac OSX 10.8 (Mountain Lion) operating system, you might have discovered something missing in InDesign. The keyboard shortcut for left-aligning text — Command-Shift-L — no longer works. Who kidnapped your keyboard shortcut? Turns out, Apple did. But you can easily get it back.

Here’s how: Go to Apple> System Preferences> Keyboard. In Keyboard Preferences, click the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab. Then choose “Services” from the column on the left.

Scroll down the list on the right until you see “Search With Google.” You’ll notice that the keyboard shortcut assigned to this feature is InDesign’s Align Left shortcut — Command-Shift-L. Uncheck the checkbox next to “Search with Google” and close System Preferences. Your beloved shortcut will instantly be restored InDesign. Mystery solved!

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And remember, InDesign lets you assign keyboard shortcuts to almost any feature in the program (or change shortcuts that already exist.)

To do:

1. Go to Edit> Keyboard Shortcuts in InDesign. Click “New Set” to duplicate the default set. Name the set.

2. Find the feature you’d like to assign a shortcut to in the Product Area popup menu (like “Type Menu> Fill With Placeholder Text”, for example.)

3. Type your desired shortcut into the “New Shortcut” field and click the “Assign” button.

4. Choose “OK” and you have a new InDesign keyboard shortcut!

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