Our goal is to make our text editor as accessible as possible, and that includes providing robust keyboard navigation options. This article explains how you can use keyboard shortcuts and special navigation commands to perform actions and move around the editor without a mouse.
Keyboard Shortcuts
The following table lists the most common keyboard shortcuts available in our editor. These shortcuts allow you to quickly apply formatting, manage content, and access key features.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Bold | ⌘B |
| Italic | ⌘I |
| Underline | ⌘U |
| Select all | ⌘A |
| Redo | ⌘Y or ⌘⇧Z |
| Undo | ⌘Z |
| Heading 1 | ^⌥1 |
| Heading 2 | ^⌥2 |
| Heading 3 | ^⌥3 |
| Heading 4 | ^⌥4 |
| Heading 5 | ^⌥5 |
| Heading 6 | ^⌥6 |
| Paragraph | ^⌥7 |
| Div | ^⌥8 |
| Address | ^⌥9 |
| Open help dialog | ⌥0 |
| Focus to menubar | ⌥F9 |
| Focus to toolbar | ⌥F10 |
| Focus to element path | ⌥F11 |
| Focus to contextual toolbar | ^F9 |
| Open popup menu for split buttons | ⇧Enter |
| Insert link (if link plugin activated) | ⌘K |
| Save (if save plugin activated) | ⌘S |
| Find (if searchreplace plugin activated) | ⌘F |
| Switch to or from fullscreen mode | ⌘⇧F |
Keyboard Navigation
If you prefer to navigate through the editor's interface, you can use these commands to move between different sections and elements.
Focus the Menu bar
Windows or Linux: Alt+F9
macOS: ⌥F9
Focus the Toolbar
Windows or Linux: Alt+F10
macOS: ⌥F10
Focus the footer
Windows or Linux: Alt+F11
macOS: ⌥F11
Focus a contextual toolbar
Windows, Linux or macOS: Ctrl+F9
Navigation will start at the first UI item, which will be highlighted, or underlined in the case of the first item in the Footer element path.
Navigate between UI sections
To move from one UI section to the next, press Tab.
To move from one UI section to the previous, press Shift+Tab.
The Tab order of these UI sections is:
- Menu bar
- Each toolbar group
- Sidebar
- Element path in the footer
- Word count toggle button in the footer
- Branding link in the footer
- Editor resize handle in the footer
If a UI section is not present, it is skipped.
If the footer has keyboard navigation focus, and there is no visible sidebar, pressing Shift+Tab moves focus to the first toolbar group, not the last.
Navigate within UI sections
To move from one UI element to the next, press the appropriate Arrow key.
The Left and Right arrow keys
- move between menus in the menu bar.
- open a sub-menu in a menu.
- move between buttons in a toolbar group.
- move between items in the footer’s element path.
The Down and Up arrow keys
- move between menu items in a menu.
- move between items in a toolbar pop-up menu.
Arrow keys cycle within the focused UI section.
To close an open menu, an open sub-menu, or an open pop-up menu, press the Esc key.
If the current focus is at the ‘top’ of a particular UI section, pressing the Esc key also exits keyboard navigation entirely.
Execute a menu item or toolbar button
When the desired menu item or toolbar button is highlighted, press Return, Enter, or the Space bar to execute the item.
Navigate non-tabbed dialogs
In non-tabbed dialogs, the first interactive component takes focus when the dialog opens.
Navigate between interactive dialog components by pressing Tab or Shift+Tab.
Navigate tabbed dialogs
In tabbed dialogs, the first button in the tab menu takes focus when the dialog opens.
Navigate between interactive components of this dialog tab by pressing Tab or Shift+Tab.
Switch to another dialog tab by giving the tab menu focus and then pressing the appropriate Arrow key to cycle through the available tabs.