VisualEditor/Portal/Keyboard shortcuts

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This page outlines the various mouse and keyboard commands supported by VisualEditor. If you have ideas for new useful commands, or have noticed problems with the existing ones, please let us know on the Feedback Page.

Commonly-used shortcuts

PC shortcut	Action	Icon	Mac shortcut

`Ctrl`+`B`	Bold		`⌘ Cmd`+`B`

`Ctrl`+`I`	Italic		`⌘ Cmd`+`I`

`Ctrl`+`K`	Insert link		`⌘ Cmd`+`K`

`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`K`	Insert citation	Cite	`⌘ Cmd`+`⇧ Shift`+`K`

`Ctrl`+`X`	Cut		`⌘ Cmd`+`X`

`Ctrl`+`C`	Copy		`⌘ Cmd`+`C`

`Ctrl`+`V`	Paste		`⌘ Cmd`+`V`

`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`V`	Paste as plain text		`⌘ Cmd`+`⇧ Shift`+`V`

`Ctrl`+`Z`	Undo		`⌘ Cmd`+`Z`

`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`Z`	Redo		`⌘ Cmd`+`⇧ Shift`+`Z`

`Tab ↹`	Indent list		`Tab ↹`

`⇧ Shift`+`Tab ↹`	Outdent list		`⇧ Shift`+`Tab ↹`

`Ctrl`+`\` or `Ctrl`+`M`	Clear formatting		`⌘ Cmd`+`\` or `⌘ Cmd`+`M`

`Alt`+`s`	Save	Publish changes…	`Ctrl`+`⌥ Option`+`s`

Template editor dialog shortcuts and keyboard interactions

These shortcuts only apply when editing a template instance in the pop-up dialog. Those marked with a * only apply in the cases of multi-part template content. The shortcuts can be used to turn a single template into multi-part template content by adding another template or a wikitext part.

PC shortcut	Action	Mac shortcut

`Spacebar`	Toggle a checkbox, adding or removing a parameter	`Spacebar`

`↵ Enter`	Add a parameter and immediately switch the focus to the input to start adding a value	`↵ Enter`

`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`D`	Add an undocumented parameter	`⌘ Cmd`+`⇧ Shift`+`D`

`Ctrl`+`D`	Add a template* (linked, not nested)	`⌘ Cmd`+`D`

`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`Y`	Add a wikitext part*	`⌘ Cmd`+`⇧ Shift`+`Y`

`Ctrl`+`Del`	Delete a part (template or wikitext) when selected in the sidebar*	`⌘ Cmd`+`Del`

`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`↑`	Move a part up when selected in the sidebar*	`⌘ Cmd`+`⇧ Shift`+`↑`

`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`↓`	Move a part down when selected in the sidebar*	`⌘ Cmd`+`⇧ Shift`+`↓`

Full list of mouse and keyboard interactions

Feature	Action
Move cursor with mouse	Clicking
Move cursor with keyboard	Direction keys^[1]
Select content with mouse	Dragging
Select content with mouse	Double and triple clicking
Select content with keyboard	Shift + (Direction keys)^[1]
Select word with mouse	Double click word
Select block with mouse	Triple click block
Adjust selection with mouse	Shift + Click
Load insertion formatting from content	Move cursor
Insert text with keyboard	Character and number keys
Insert special characters with keyboard	Multiple character or number keys using an input method editor
Delete with keyboard	`← Backspace` and `Delete`
Delete word with keyboard	`Alt`+`← Backspace` and `Alt`+`Delete`	`⌥ Option`+`← Backspace` and `⌥ Option`+`Delete`
Delete line with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`← Backspace` and `Ctrl`+`Delete`	`⌘ Command`+`← Backspace` and `⌘ Command`+`Delete`
Undo with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`Z`	`⌘ Command`+`Z`
Redo with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`Z`	`⌘ Command`+`⇧ Shift`+`Z`
Copy selection with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`C`	`⌘ Command`+`C`
Cut selection with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`X`	`⌘ Command`+`X`
Paste selection with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`V`	`⌘ Command`+`V`
Copy selection from menu	"Copy" in context or browser menu
Cut selection from menu	"Cut" in context or browser menu
Paste selection from menu	"Paste" in context or browser menu
Highlight object with mouse	Clicking
Toggle bold on selected content and in insertion formatting with mouse	Click bold tool in toolbar
Toggle italic on selected content and in insertion formatting with mouse	Click italic tool in toolbar
Toggle bold on selected content and in insertion formatting with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`B`	`⌘ Command`+`B`
Toggle italic on selected content and in insertion formatting with keyboard	`Ctrl`+`I`	`⌘ Command`+`I`
Split block with keyboard	`↵ Enter`
Merge blocks with keyboard	Backspace at beginning or delete at end of block boundary
Switch the direction you write in between right-to-left and left-to-right	`Ctrl`+`⇧ Shift`+`X`	`⌘ Command`+`⇧ Shift`+`X`

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Direction keys: Up, down, left, right, home, end, page-up and page-down

[d-keys-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Direction keys: Up, down, left, right, home, end, page-up and page-down

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