Keyboard shortcuts

Navigate, edit, and reorganize your Workflowy faster

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Keyboard shortcuts let you run common actions without opening menus. The shortcuts below are Workflowy’s defaults.

Default keyboard shortcuts

The following are Workflowy’s default shortcuts. Your active shortcuts may be different if you have customized them.

Some browsers and operating systems reserve particular key combinations. Open the Keyboard Shortcuts panel inside Workflowy to see the active shortcuts for your device.

Action Windows and Linux macOS
Zoom in Alt+. Command+.
Zoom out Alt+, Command+,
Go to Today Alt+T Control+T
Navigate home Ctrl+' Command+'
Jump to any item Ctrl+K Command+K
Previous sibling page Alt+Shift+9* Command+Shift+9
Next sibling page Alt+Shift+0* Command+Shift+0
Focus previous sibling Alt+Ctrl+↑ Option+Command+↑
Focus next sibling Alt+Ctrl+↓ Option+Command+↓
Search or exit search Esc Esc

* Linux uses Ctrl+Shift+9/0.

Editing and moving items

Action Windows and Linux macOS
Add a note Shift+Enter Shift+Enter
Complete Ctrl+Enter Command+Enter
Duplicate Alt+Shift+D Command+Shift+D
Delete Ctrl+Shift+Backspace Command+Shift+Backspace
Copy as mirror Alt+Shift+M Command+Shift+M
Copy link Alt+Shift+L Command+Shift+L
Move to another location Alt+Ctrl+M Control+Command+M
Indent Tab Tab
Outdent Shift+Tab Shift+Tab
Move up Alt+Shift+↑ Command+Shift+↑
Move down Alt+Shift+↓ Command+Shift+↓
Expand Ctrl+↓ Command+↓
Collapse Ctrl+↑ Command+↑
Expand or collapse Ctrl+Space Control+Space

Formatting

Action Windows and Linux macOS
Bold Ctrl+B Command+B
Italic Ctrl+I Command+I
Underline Ctrl+U Command+U
Strikethrough Ctrl+Shift+X Command+Shift+X
Inline code Ctrl+Shift+C Command+Shift+C
Apply last highlight color Ctrl+Shift+H Command+Shift+H
Link selected text Ctrl+K Command+K

Item types

Action Windows and Linux macOS
Heading 1 Alt+Ctrl+1 Option+Command+1
Heading 2 Alt+Ctrl+2 Option+Command+2
Heading 3 Alt+Ctrl+3 Option+Command+3
Paragraph Alt+Ctrl+4 Option+Command+4
Code block Alt+Ctrl+6 Option+Command+6
Quote block Alt+Ctrl+7 Option+Command+7
Bullet Alt+Ctrl+8 Option+Command+8
To-do Alt+Ctrl+9 Option+Command+9
Numbered list Alt+Ctrl+0 Option+Command+0
AI Node Alt+Shift+Space Option+Shift+Space

Panels and visibility

Action Windows and Linux macOS
Show or hide completed items Ctrl+O Command+O
Star current page Ctrl+Shift+8 Command+Shift+8
Toggle left sidebar Alt+L Control+L
Toggle Keyboard Shortcuts panel Ctrl+/ Command+/
Open Command Palette Alt+W Option+W
Export Alt+Shift+E Command+Shift+E
Open or close AI Chat Alt+C Control+C
Presentation mode Ctrl+Shift+P Command+Shift+P

Panes

Action Windows Linux macOS
Focus or open pane 1–8 Alt+1‑8 Alt+Shift+1‑8 Control+1‑8
Open item in pane 1–8 Alt+Shift+1‑8 Ctrl+Shift+1‑8 Control+Shift+1‑8
Close active pane Alt+Ctrl+W Alt+Ctrl+W Control+Command+W

Collaboration and unread items

Action Windows and Linux macOS
Add a comment Ctrl+M Control+M
Mark as read Ctrl+Shift+Enter Command+Shift+Enter
Previous unread item Alt+Ctrl+P Option+Control+P
Next unread item Alt+Ctrl+N Option+Control+N

System

Action Windows and Linux macOS
Save and sync Ctrl+S Command+S
Undo Ctrl+Z Command+Z
Redo Ctrl+Y Command+Y
Redo alternative Ctrl+Shift+Z Command+Shift+Z
Print Ctrl+P Command+P

Customize keyboard shortcuts

If you customize a shortcut, the Keyboard Shortcuts panel and Command Palette will show your current assignment instead of the default.

During the current gradual rollout, custom keyboard shortcuts are available to Pro users with Workflowy Labs enabled.

To customize your shortcuts:

  1. Enable Workflowy Labs in Settings.
  2. Open the Command Palette with Option+W on Mac or Alt+W on Windows and Linux.
  3. Search for customize_hotkeys and press Enter.
  4. Under the special Custom → Hotkeys item, add the key combination as a bullet and the command name as its first child.

For example:

alt+q
  show_command_palette

You can find available command names in the Command Palette. They appear in lowercase with underscores, such as duplicate, move_to_today, or toggle_bold.

Writing key combinations

Write modifiers in this order:

alt+ctrl+meta+shift+[key]

Use lowercase characters. On Mac:

  • alt means Option
  • meta means Command
  • ctrl means Control

How custom shortcuts behave

  • Assigning a custom shortcut to a command removes that command’s default shortcuts.
  • Remove the custom binding to return to the command’s defaults.
  • If the same key combination appears more than once, the definition lowest in the Hotkeys list wins.
  • Only commands available in the Command Palette can have their shortcuts overridden.
  • Changes take effect as you edit the Hotkeys list.

Learn more about the Command Palette

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