Keyboard shortcuts

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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 circle (Esc.png);
  • 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 (Mesh key f1 small.png);
  • the F2 key is the same as the Group view key (Friends key f2 small.png);
  • the F3 key is the same as the Home view key (Home key f3 small.png);
  • the F4 key is the same as the Activity view key (Activity key f4 small.png);
  • 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/System
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
Ctrl-Alt-Erase Restart Sugar
Alt-Shift-Q Quit (shutdown system) see http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/10816
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"
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. Four finger salute.jpg
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 Frame (the dedicated frame key)
Alt-Shift-o Open search
Alt-Shift-r Rotate (the rotate screen button)
Alt-Shift-s Say text
Alt-Shift-v View source (system wide, although not enabled in all applications yet)
Special keys for emulating the XO)
Alt-Shift-q quit emulation

Not in terminal

A terminal window sends Ctrl+key combinations to the program you are running, so most of these key combinations don't work. 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.)