Keyboard Shortcuts (Mac & iPad)

Speed up your workflow with keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts help to speed up your workflow. Many people prefer to use them for frequent commands rather than clicking through menus.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac

Basic Operation

  • ⌘N to create a new sheet
  • ⌃⌥⌘N to create a new material sheet
  • ˆ⌘M to use a sheet as material/regular sheet
  • ⌘⌫ to move a sheet to the trash
  • ⇧⌘B to split a sheet at the current cursor location
  • ⇧⌘N to create a new group
  • ⌃⌘N to create a new filter
  • Items will always be created in the vicinity of the current selection.
  • Sheets will be created below the currently selected sheet.
  • Groups and filters will be created inside the currently selected group.
  • If there is no selection, or if the selection can’t accept new content, items will be created in the “Inbox” of the topmost category (e.g., iCloud).
  • Click to select
  • Double-click to edit

Views and Frequently Used Features

  • ⌘1 to switch focus to/toggle the library
  • ⌘2 to switch focus to/toggle the sheet list
  • ⌘3 to switch focus to/toggle the editor-only view
  • ⌘4 to switch focus to/toggle the dashboard
  • ⌘6 to show Quick Export
  • ⌘7 to show Statistics
  • ⌘8 to show the Navigator
  • ⌘9 to open the markup panel

History

  • ⌘[ to go back in the sheet history
  • ⌘] to go forward in the sheet history

Revision Mode

  • ⇧⌘R to toggle revision mode
  • When revision mode is active:
    • ⌃⌘1 to open the Suggestions view
    • ⌃⌘2 to open the Review view

Dashboard

  • ⌃⌘1 to open the dashboard’s Overview
  • ⌃⌘2 to open the dashboard’s Progress view
  • ⌃⌘3 to open the dashboard’s Outline view
  • ⌃⌘4 to open the dashboard’s Annotations view
  • ⌃⌘5 to open the dashboard’s Attachments view

Quick Open

  • ⌘O to look for a sheet in the whole library
  • ⇧⌘O to look for a sheet in the current library section (iCloud, On My Mac, etc.)
  • ⌥⌘O to look for a sheet in the currently selected group

Global Search

  • ⇧⌘F to switch focus to group search
  • esc to leave group search

Editor Find & Replace

  • ⌘F to show the Find panel
  • ⌥⌘F to show the Find & Replace panel
  • esc to close the Find/Replace panel

Favorites

  • ⌃⌘U to add a sheet to or remove it from Favorites
  • You can also use a sheet’s context menu for that.
  • ⇧⌘U to go to the Favorites group (will only be displayed when there are favorited sheets)
  • ⌘8  to show the Navigator. 
  • Use arrow keys to navigate between headings.
  • Start typing to filter the listed headings.

Editor Smart Paste

  • ⇧⌘V to invoke Smart Paste or
  • Hold ⌘V to invoke Smart Paste:
    • Paste options will vary based on clipboard content and current markup.
    • Arrow left/right to preview available paste options
    • ↩︎  to confirm and paste

Screen Modes

  • ⌥⌘X to toggle Dark Theme
  • ⌃⌘F to toggle Full-Screen Mode
  • ⌥⌘L to toggle Dark Mode
  • ⌃⌥⌘F to toggle Editor Focus Mode

Split View, Multiple Windows

  • ⌥⌘3 to toggle second editor
  • You can also right-click on a sheet in the sheet list for that.
  • Hold while scrolling to scroll both editors simultaneously.
  • You can also have multiple windows open at the same time (⌥⌘N).

Tabs

  • ⌘T to open a new tab
  • ⌃⇥ to switch to the next tab
  • ⌃⇧⇥ to switch to the previous tab 
  • Drag a tab out to turn it into a separate window.
  • To turn all open windows into tabs of a single window, select “Merge All Windows” from the “Window” menu.

View Options

  • The View menu holds several options for personalizing the editor and the sheet list:
    • ⌥⌘T  to toggle Typewriter Mode
    • Enable the display of paragraph numbers
    • Set the “Sheet Preview” to anything between 1 and 6 lines

Text Zoom

  • ⌘+ to increase font size
  • ⌘- to decrease font size
  • ⌘0 to reset font size to the default value

Markup

  • ⌘⧵ for headings
  • ⌘I for emphasize
  • ⌘B for strong
  • ⌘K for links
  • ⌘L for removing any sort of markup
  • ⌘9 to show the Markup Panel, in case you can’t remember any of this

End Tag Completion

  • Press esc to automatically enter an end tag placeholder.
  • To accept the end tag, do any of the following:
    • Press ↩︎ 
    • Press  
    • Press (if at the very end of a sheet)
    • Type in the end tag
  • To dismiss the end tag, press esc.

Markup Panel

  • When showing the markup panel (⌘9), you can click on any listed markup to apply it to the current selection.
  • This works with multiple selections (-Click to select different parts of your text).

Lists

  • to increase list indentation
  • ⇧⇥ to decrease list indentation

Smart Lists

  • If enabled, hitting ↩︎ will automatically add another list item, while  ⌥↩︎  will just create a new paragraph.
  • Enable Smart Lists via EditSubstitutions.

Media

  • Drag’n’drop images and PDFs into the editor to create a text object that holds the item.

Tables

  • ⌃⌘↑or⌃⌘↓ to move selected rows up/down
  • ⌃⌘←or⌃⌘→ to move selected columns left/right
  • ⌥↑or⌥↓  to add row above/below selected row
  • ⌥←or⌥→  to add column to the left/right of the selected column
  •  to clear contents of selected cells
  • ⌘⌫ to delete selected rows/columns
  • ⌘A to select all cells
  • ⌘K to create a link
  • Click to edit the displayed text.
  • Double-click to edit the URL or linked heading.

Text Objects

  • -Click to select
  • Double-click to open the text object popover.

Text Object Popovers

  • ⌘↩︎ to close and move the insertion point forward
  • esc to close and keep the object selected
  • to switch between input fields
  • Drag any popover to tear it off and place it anywhere on the screen.

General Navigation

  • ⌘⌥→ and ⌘⌥← to navigate through the interface from left to right and right to left
  • on groups to open group
  • ⌘→ on groups to switch focus to the sheet list
  • or ⌘→ to switch focus into the editor (placing insertion point at last edited location)
  • or ⌘← to switch focus to the library
  • Anywhere within a sheet:
    • ⌥⌘↑ to move one sheet up
    • ⌥⌘↓ to move to the next sheet

Copy & Move in Sidebars

  • By default, dragging groups and sheets to and from iCloud or “On My Mac” always moves them, transferring their contents to the new location.
  • Dragging to and from External Folders will always copy the contents, i.e., they will live in both locations afterward.
  • Hold while dragging to force copying of groups and sheets.
  • Hold while dragging to force the moving of groups and sheets.

Export Preview

  • ⇧⌘P to preview the current sidebar selection (can be groups)
  • Choose an export style to be used for preview.
  • You can export directly from the preview window.

Misc.

  • ⌘S will create a new version of the current sheet. Select “Browse All Versions…” from the “File” menu to see how often you invoked that command.
  • Double-clicking a sheet in the sheet list lets you jump to the location of your last edit.
     

Did you know that you can create custom keyboard shortcuts on your Mac? Learn how with our step-by-step instructions: How Do I Create a Custom Keyboard Shortcut?

 

Keyboard Shortcuts for iPad

Of course, you can use a mouse, trackpad, or external keyboard with Ulysses on your iPad. Ulysses not only supports typing on an external keyboard, but it also offers advanced functionality through keyboard shortcuts.

On your hardware keyboard, hold at any time to display a list of available shortcuts. Also, instead of esc, the shortcut ⌘. can always be used.

Here’s a list of functional shortcuts for when a hardware keyboard is attached. If you’re familiar with Ulysses for Mac, you should feel right at home.

Views

  • ⌘1  to toggle the library
  • ⌘2  to toggle the sheet list
  • ⌘3  to toggle the editor
  • ⌘4  to toggle the dashboard
  • ⌘6  to toggle the export preview
  • ⌘7  to toggle the dashboard’s Progress view
  • ⌘8  to toggle the outline navigator
  • ^⌘1 to ^⌘4 to switch between the dashboard’s various views
  • ⌘⌥→ and ⌘⌥← to switch between views
  • ↩︎ to switch from library to sheet list

Sheets & Groups

  • ⌘N to create a new sheet
  • ^⌥⌘N to create a new material sheet
  • ^⌘M to use a sheet as material/regular sheet:
  • ⌘↩︎ to begin/end editing
  • ⌘Z for undo
  • ⇧⌘Z for redo 
  • ⇧⌘N to create a new group
  • ^⌘N to create a new filter
  • ⌘D to duplicate a sheet or group
  • ⌃⌘U to mark/unmark a sheet as a favorite
  • ⇧⌘U to go to your favorite group
     
  • ↩︎ or ⌘↩︎ to select a sheet and begin editing
  • in the library/sheet list: and to navigate between groups and sheets
  • in the exporter:  Space,  ⇧Space, and to navigate
  • ⌘⌥↓ to move to the next sheet
  • ⌘⌥↑ to move to the previous sheet

Tables

  • ⇧⌥→ to select cell
  • ⇧⌘→ or ⇧⌘← to select all cells to the right/left of the selected cell
  • ⇧⌘↓ or ⇧⌘↑ to select all cells to the below/above of the selected cell
  • ⌘A to select all cells

Markup

  • ⌘⧵ or ⌘# to increase heading levels
  • ⇧⌘⧵ or ⇧⌘# to decrease heading levels
  • ⌘K to create a [link]
  • ⌘I for _emphasis_
  • ⌘B for **strong**
  • ⌘L to clear all markup
  • to indent
  • ⇧⇥ to outdent
  • ⇧⌘B to split a sheet at the current cursor location

Search & Find

  • ⌘O to look for a sheet in the whole library (Quick Open)
  • and to navigate results
  • ↩︎ to open a selected result
  • ⌘↩︎ to reveal a result in its parent group
  • esc or ⌘O to close Quick Open
     
  • ⌘F to open editor search (Find)
  • ⌘G to step to the next search match
  • ⇧⌘G to step to the previous search match
  • esc or ⌘F to close the search

History

  • ⌘[ to go back in the sheet history
  • ⌘] to go forward in the sheet history

Keywords

  • ⇧⌘K to edit keywords

Copy & Paste

  • ⇧⌘C to open the smart copy options menu
  • ⌥⌘C to copy selected text with the last used smart copy option
  • ⇧⌘V to open the smart paste options menu
  • ⌥⌘V to paste text with the last used smart paste option 

Export Preview

  • ⌥⌘6 to open the export preview in the second editor

View Options

  • ⌃⌘F to toggle Full-Screen Mode
  • ⌥⌘T to toggle Typewriter Mode

Text Zoom

  • ⌘+ to increase font size
  • ⌘- to decrease font size
  • ⌘0 to reset font size to the default value

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