Keyboard Shortcuts#
Most features in novelWriter are available as keyboard shortcuts. This is a reference list if these shortcuts. Most of them are also listed in the application.
Note
On macOS, replace Ctrl with Cmd.
Main Window Shortcuts#
Shortcut |
Description |
---|---|
F1 |
Open the online user manual |
F5 |
Open the Build Manuscript tool |
F6 |
Open the Writing Statistics tool |
F8 |
Toggle Focus Mode |
F9 |
Re-build the project index |
F11 |
Toggle full screen mode |
Alt1 |
Switch focus to the project tree (Windows CtrlAlt1) |
Alt2 |
Switch focus to document editor (Windows CtrlAlt2) |
Alt3 |
Switch focus to document viewer (Windows CtrlAlt3) |
Alt4 |
Switch focus to outline view (Windows CtrlAlt4) |
Ctrl, |
Open the Preferences dialog |
CtrlQ |
Exit novelWriter |
CtrlShift, |
Open the Project Settings dialog |
CtrlShiftO |
Open a project |
CtrlShiftS |
Save the current project |
CtrlShiftW |
Close the current project |
ShiftF1 |
Open the local user manual (PDF) if it is available |
ShiftF6 |
Open the Project Details dialog |
Project Tree Shortcuts#
Shortcut |
Description |
---|---|
F2 |
Edit the label of the selected item |
Return |
Open the selected document in the editor |
AltUp |
Jump or go to the previous item at same level in the tree |
AltDown |
Jump or go to the next item at same level in the tree |
AltLeft |
Jump to the parent item in the tree |
AltRight |
Jump to the first child item in the project tree |
Ctrl. |
Open the context menu on the selected item |
CtrlL |
Open the Quick Links menu |
CtrlN |
Open the Create New Item menu |
CtrlO |
Open selected document |
CtrlR |
Open the selected document in the viewer |
CtrlUp |
Move selected item one step up in the tree |
CtrlDown |
Move selected item one step down in the tree |
CtrlShiftZ |
Undo the last move of a project item, if possible |
CtrlShiftDel |
Move the selected item to Trash |
Document Editor Shortcuts#
Text Search Shortcuts#
Shortcut |
Description |
---|---|
F3 |
Find the next occurrence of the search word |
CtrlF |
Open the search bar and search for the selected word, if any is selected |
CtrlG |
Find next occurrence of search word in current document |
CtrlH |
Open the search tool and populate with the selected word (Mac Cmd=) |
CtrlShift1 |
Replace selected occurrence of the search word, and move to the next |
CtrlShiftG |
Find previous occurrence of the search word |
ShiftF3 |
Find the previous occurrence of the search word |
Text Formatting Shortcuts#
Shortcut |
Description |
---|---|
Ctrl/ |
Toggle block format as comment |
Ctrl0 |
Remove block formatting for block under cursor |
Ctrl1 |
Change block format to header level 1 |
Ctrl2 |
Change block format to header level 2 |
Ctrl3 |
Change block format to header level 3 |
Ctrl4 |
Change block format to header level 4 |
Ctrl5 |
Change block alignment to left-aligned |
Ctrl6 |
Change block alignment to centred |
Ctrl7 |
Change block alignment to right-aligned |
Ctrl8 |
Add a left margin to the block |
Ctrl9 |
Add a right margin to the block |
CtrlB |
Format selected text, or word under cursor, with strong emphasis (bold) |
CtrlD |
Strikethrough selected text, or word under cursor |
CtrlI |
Format selected text, or word under cursor, with emphasis (italic) |
Ctrl' |
Wrap selected text, or word under cursor, in single quotes |
Ctrl" |
Wrap selected text, or word under cursor, in double quotes |
CtrlShift/ |
Remove block formatting for block under cursor |
Other Editor Shortcuts#
Shortcut |
Description |
---|---|
F7 |
Re-run the spell checker |
Ctrl. |
Open the context menu at the current cursor location |
CtrlA |
Select all text in the document |
CtrlC |
Copy selected text to clipboard |
CtrlK |
Activate the insert commands (see list in Insert Shortcuts) |
CtrlR |
Open or reload the current document in the viewer |
CtrlS |
Save the current document |
CtrlV |
Paste text from clipboard to cursor position |
CtrlW |
Close the current document |
CtrlX |
Cut selected text to clipboard |
CtrlY |
Redo latest undo |
CtrlZ |
Undo latest changes |
CtrlDel |
Delete the word after the cursor |
CtrlBackspace |
Delete the word before the cursor |
CtrlReturn |
Open the tag or reference under the cursor in the viewer |
CtrlF7 |
Toggle spell checking |
CtrlShiftA |
Select all text in the current paragraph |
CtrlShiftI |
Import text to the current document from a text file |
Insert Shortcuts#
A set of insert features are also available through shortcuts, but they require a double combination of key sequences. The insert feature is activated with CtrlK, followed by a key or key combination for the inserted content.
Shortcut |
Description |
---|---|
CtrlK, − |
Insert a short dash (en dash) |
CtrlK, _ |
Insert a long dash (em dash) |
CtrlK, Ctrl_ |
Insert a horizontal bar (quotation dash) |
CtrlK, ~ |
Insert a figure dash (same width as a number) |
CtrlK, 1 |
Insert a left single quote |
CtrlK, 2 |
Insert a right single quote |
CtrlK, 3 |
Insert a left double quote |
CtrlK, 4 |
Insert a right double quote |
CtrlK, ' |
Insert a modifier apostrophe |
CtrlK, . |
Insert an ellipsis |
CtrlK, Ctrl' |
Insert a prime |
CtrlK, Ctrl" |
Insert a double prime |
CtrlK, Space |
Insert a non-breaking space |
CtrlK, ShiftSpace |
Insert a thin space |
CtrlK, CtrlSpace |
Insert a thin non-breaking space |
CtrlK, * |
Insert a list bullet |
CtrlK, Ctrl− |
Insert a hyphen bullet (alternative bullet) |
CtrlK, Ctrl* |
Insert a flower mark (alternative bullet) |
CtrlK, % |
Insert a per mille symbol |
CtrlK, CtrlO |
Insert a degree symbol |
CtrlK, CtrlX |
Insert a times sign |
CtrlK, CtrlD |
Insert a division sign |
CtrlK, G |
Insert a |
CtrlK, V |
Insert a |
CtrlK, F |
Insert a |
CtrlK, C |
Insert a |
CtrlK, P |
Insert a |
CtrlK, S |
Insert a synopsis comment |
CtrlK, T |
Insert a |
CtrlK, L |
Insert a |
CtrlK, O |
Insert an |
CtrlK, E |
Insert an |
CtrlK, X |
Insert a |
Document Viewer Shortcuts#
Shortcut |
Description |
---|---|
AltLeft |
Move backward in the view history |
AltRight |
Move forward in the view history |
CtrlC |
Copy selected text to clipboard |
CtrlShiftA |
Select all text in the current paragraph |
CtrlShiftR |
Close the document viewer |