Keyboard shortcuts

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HowTo [ID# 262156]  +/-

This page provides a listing of the agreed upon shortcuts for the system at large and for various controls within the activities, which should be referenced for consistency across them. For a high-level philosophical on the usage of various modifier keys, please refer to the HIG.

Please see cheat codes for a list of boot options.

  For the general public

Special keys

• the Ctrl key has a solid diamond on it (♦);
• the Alt key has an open diamond on it (◊);
• the Esc key has a white × inside a black disc ();
• the Tab key has double arrows on it (↹);
• the Tilde key has a tilde on it (~);
• the Frame key has an open rectangle on it (□);
• the F1 key is the same as the Neighborhood view key ();
• the F2 key is the same as the Group view key ();
• the F3 key is the same as the Home view key ();
• the F4 key is the same as the Activity view key ();
• the F5 key is the same as the search key,
• the F6 key is the same as the Frame key,
• the Delete key is the same as Fn-Erase.
• the Page Up key is the same as Fn-up-arrow (↑).
• the Page Down key is the same as Fn-down-arrow (↓).
• the Home key is the same as Fn-left-arrow (←).
• the End key is the same as Fn-right-arrow (→).

Keyboard shortcuts

Keystroke	Description
Sugar
Alt-Tab Ctrl-Tab	Cycle forward through running activities
Shift-Alt-Tab Shift-Ctrl-Tab	Cycle backward through running activities
Ctrl-Tilde (See discussion)	Cycle forward through running instances of the current activity
Shift-Ctrl-Tilde (See discussion)	Cycle backward through running instances of the current activity
Ctrl-c	Copy to clipboard
Ctrl-v	Paste from clipboard
Ctrl-x	Cut (and copy to clipboard)
Ctrl-a	Select all (current input/dialog/text box )
Ctrl-q	Quit activity
Ctrl-Esc	Quit activity
Alt-Enter	Toggle full-screen mode
Alt-Space	Toggle tray visibility (works in Browse but not in Record)
Ctrl-u	View source in Browse (opens copy of source in Write)
Fn-Space	View source (system wide, although not enabled in all applications yet)
Alt-1	Screen capture; saved to Journal as a PNG file named "Screenshot"
Alt-Shift-s	Say text
System
Ctrl-Alt-F1 (F1 is the Neighborhood key)	Console 1
Ctrl-Alt-F2 (F2 is the Friends key)	Console 2
Ctrl-Alt-F3 (F3 is the Home key)	Console 3
Esc-Frame-RightArrow-Fn (the four corners keys on the keyboard)	Recalibrate touchpad (AKA Four finger salute); Fn should be pressed last.
Fn-UpArrow	Page Up
Fn-DownArrow	Page Down
Fn-LeftArrow	Home
Fn-RightArrow	End
Alt-BrightnessDown	Backlight off black & white mode
Alt-BrightnessUp	Full brightness color mode
Ctrl-VolumeDown	Mute
Ctrl-VolumeUp	Full volume
Equivalents for special keys (e.g. when emulating the XO)
Alt-Shift-f F6	Toggle frame
Alt-Shift-o	Open search
Alt-Shift-r	Rotate (the rotate screen button)
Alt-Shift-v	View source (system wide, although not enabled in all applications yet)
PrtScn	Screen capture; saved to Journal as a PNG file named "Screenshot"
Special keys for emulating the XO)
Alt-Shift-Q	Quit Sugar and shutdown. (See also <trac>10816</trac>).

Terminal and Ctrl shortcuts

The Terminal activity intentionally overrides Ctrl+ shortcuts, because they are needed for normal terminal usage.

In release 8.1.0 and subsequent releases, to copy or paste in the Terminal Activity, press Shift-Ctrl-c or Shift-Ctrl-v.

Using modifier keys in combination

Note about the use of modifier keys: there are several (slightly) different ways in which key combinations are indicated in the wiki. Whenever you see combinations separated by either a - or + this means to press these keys together, starting with the modifier keys. The last key in the sequence should be pressed while holding down the modifier key(s). For example:

Shift-A (or Shift+A) means hold the Shift key down and then press the A key while holding down the Shift key. This will create a capital letter A. (The order is important: if you press the A key first, the result will be a lower case a.)

Ctrl-Alt-Erase (or Ctrl+Alt+Erase) means hold down both the Ctrl and Alt keys and then press the Erase key. This will restart Sugar/X Windows. (Again, the order is important: if you press the Erase key first, the result will be a backspace.)