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 @tag keyword
CtrlK, V	Insert a @pov keyword
CtrlK, F	Insert a @focus keyword
CtrlK, C	Insert a @char keyword
CtrlK, P	Insert a @plot keyword
CtrlK, S	Insert a synopsis comment
CtrlK, T	Insert a @time keyword
CtrlK, L	Insert a @location keyword
CtrlK, O	Insert an @object keyword
CtrlK, E	Insert an @entity keyword
CtrlK, X	Insert a @custom keyword

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