Keyboard shortcuts

The keys work on the web, and on an iPad or an Android device with a hardware keyboard. The editor takes Ctrl or Cmd for its shortcuts on every system, so on a Mac Cmd+B and Ctrl+B both make words bold. Where a table has a macOS column, it gives the form a Mac keyboard reaches for.

Formatting

Keys	On macOS	What they do
Ctrl+B	Cmd+B	Bold
Ctrl+I	Cmd+I	Italic
Ctrl+U	Cmd+U	Underline
Ctrl+Shift+S	Cmd+Shift+S	Strikethrough
Ctrl+E	Cmd+E	Inline code
Ctrl and a click on a link	Cmd and a click	Opens the link in a new tab, on the web

Each mark goes on over the selection, or comes off when the whole selection already has it. A link has no key: Link in the selection menu adds one (Writing and formatting).

Blocks

Keys	On macOS	What they do
Ctrl+0	Cmd+0	Text (a paragraph)
Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, Ctrl+3	Cmd+1, Cmd+2, Cmd+3	Heading 1, 2 or 3
Ctrl+Shift+L	Cmd+Shift+L	A list: bulleted, unless the block is a list already
Ctrl+Shift+Q	Ctrl+Shift+Q	Quote. On a Mac Cmd+Shift+Q is the system’s Log Out, so use Ctrl
Ctrl+Shift+K	Cmd+Shift+K	Code block
/	/	The slash menu, at the start of a block or after a space

Typed at the start of a paragraph

Type	And you get
#, ## or ###, then a space	Heading 1, 2 or 3
- or *, then a space	A bulleted list
1., then a space	A numbered list
[] or [ ], then a space	A to-do list
>, then a space	A quote
```, with a language name if you want one, then a space or Enter	A code block

Lists and paragraphs

Keys	What they do
Enter	A new block. A list goes on, an empty list item ends the list, and a paragraph follows a heading
Shift+Enter	A line break inside the block
Tab, Shift+Tab	Indent or outdent a list item or a quote
Backspace at the start of a block	Outdents an indented list item, turns any other kind of block into a paragraph, or joins a paragraph onto the block above
Delete at the end of a block	Joins the next block onto this one
Down at the very end of the document	Starts a new line, as Enter does

The slash menu

Keys	What they do
Up, Down	Move through the menu
Enter, Tab	Pick the highlighted entry
Escape	Close the menu
Backspace	Take back a letter of the filter, and close the menu when none is left
/ straight after the first	Type a slash

Moving and selecting

Keys	On macOS	What they do
Arrow keys	Arrow keys	Move by character, and by line
Ctrl+Left, Ctrl+Right	Cmd+Left, Cmd+Right	Move by word
Ctrl+Up, Ctrl+Down	Cmd+Up, Cmd+Down	Go to the start or the end of the block
Home, End	Fn+Left, Fn+Right	Go to the start or the end of the line
Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+End	Cmd+Fn+Left, Cmd+Fn+Right	Go to the start or the end of the document
Page Up, Page Down	Fn+Up, Fn+Down	Go a page up or down
Shift with any of these	Shift with any of these	Stretch the selection
Ctrl+A	Cmd+A	Select all. In a code block, the block’s code first
Escape	Escape	Shrink the selection to the caret

With the mouse:

Mouse	What it does
Double click	Selects a word
Triple click	Selects the block
Shift and a click	Stretches the selection to the click
A drag that starts inside the selection	Moves the selected words
Middle button	Scrolls the page with the pointer until the next click, on the web
Right click	Opens the context menu, on the web

Editing

Keys	On macOS	What they do
Ctrl+Z	Cmd+Z	Undo your own last edit
Ctrl+Shift+Z, Ctrl+Y	Cmd+Shift+Z, Cmd+Y	Redo
Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V	Cmd+X, Cmd+C, Cmd+V	Cut, copy, paste
Ctrl+Backspace	Cmd+Backspace	Delete the word before the caret
Ctrl+Delete	Cmd+Delete	Delete the word after the caret
Backspace or Delete beside a chip	The same	Remove the whole chip
Backspace at the start of a paragraph after an image, a divider, a table or a drawing	The same	Select that block; a second press removes it

On a Mac keyboard, the key marked Delete is Backspace here, and Fn with it is Delete.

Code blocks

Keys	On macOS	What they do
Enter	Enter	A new line in the block
Ctrl+Enter	Cmd+Enter	Split the block at the caret. At its end, an empty code block starts below, and Ctrl+0 makes it a paragraph
Tab	Tab	Type a tab
Ctrl+A	Cmd+A	Select the block’s code, then the whole document

Diagrams, math and code covers code blocks, diagrams and formulas.

Tables

Keys	What they do
Tab	The next cell. From the last cell, a new row
Shift+Tab	The previous cell
Enter	The cell below. From the last row, a new row
Shift+Enter	A line break in the cell
Arrow keys	Move across cells, and out of the table at its edges
Escape	Close a row, column or cell menu, or a chip’s picker, on the web

Tables has the rest.

Drawings

Keys	What they do
Escape	Put the drawing tool down
Shift while drawing	The pen draws a straight segment, a line or an arrow snaps to horizontal, vertical or diagonal, and the other shapes keep a square box
Enter, with the text tool	Place the line and start the next one under it. On an empty line, stop typing
Escape, with the text tool	Place the words and put the tool down
Enter, placing a pasted picture	Lock it in
Escape, placing a pasted picture	Lock it in and put the tool down
Backspace or Delete, placing a pasted picture	Remove it
Shift while resizing or rotating a pasted picture	Keep its proportions, or turn it in steps of 15 degrees

Images and drawings has the tools.

Find, the assistant and the app

Keys	What they do
Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on macOS)	Open Find in document in the status bar (Find)
Enter in the find field	Go to the next match
Shift+Enter in the find field	Go to the previous match
Escape in the find field	Close the find and clear its highlights
Enter in the assistant’s field	Send the prompt (The assistant)
Escape in the assistant’s field	Close the assistant
Enter in a sheet’s field	Confirm it, as its check button does
Escape	Close an open menu, on the web

Note

A browser can keep a few key combinations for itself before the page sees them. Every formatting and block command on this page is also in a menu: the selection menu, the slash menu or a block’s grip.