Keyboard Shortcuts

On macOS read Cmd; on Windows read Ctrl.

Open & find

Key	Action
Cmd+N	New note (type a name) → straight into the editor
Cmd+Shift+N	New file from a template (pick one, then type a name — any file type)
Cmd+Shift+D	Open today's note (creating it if needed)
Cmd+Shift+J	Go to a daily note by date (→ Jumping to a date)
Cmd+F	Focus the search box (inside the editor: find & replace panel)
F3	Focus the search box (alias for Cmd+F). While editing a note it means "find next", and Shift+F3 "find previous"
F	Focus the Sidebar's "Search tags" box (below). F4 is an alias, and it works while editing a note too
F5	Reload the list (see below)
Cmd+Shift+F	Clear all filters (see below)
Cmd+P	Quick Open (searches names / file names only)
Cmd+Shift+P	Command palette (find and run an action by name)
Enter	Note → open in editor / others → open in external app / dialog → run the orange button. With several items selected, all of them open (notes open as tabs)
Space	Quick Preview (Space / Esc to close; Left Right to move between items while open — not in the map view)

Select & move

Key	Action
Up Down Left Right	Move focus in the grid / list
Cmd+[ / Cmd+]	Go back / forward to where you were (Alt+Left / Alt+Right on Windows; your mouse's back / forward buttons work too — below)
A	Focus "All" in the Sidebar (then Up Down to move, Enter to show it — below)
R	Open "Recent tags" (steps to the first entry)
Home End	Jump to the first / last item (in the calendar, the first / last day of the month)
Page Up Page Down	Move one screenful (in the calendar, the previous / next month)
Shift + click / arrows / Home End Page Up Page Down	Range select
Cmd + click	Add to the selection individually
Cmd+A	Select all — everything matching the current filter, not just the 200 items loaded in view. In the calendar view it selects the whole displayed month instead (Selecting a whole month)
Esc	Close the open dialog / editor → list / focus the file list from anywhere / list → clear selection

Esc always takes you back to the file list

After picking a tag in the sidebar, or typing in the search box or the Inspector's memo and tag fields, press Esc to move focus back to the file list — the arrow keys, Space, Enter, T, S and Del work right away, with no reach for the mouse.

• What you typed is not discarded (search text stays; memos are committed as usual)
• Leaving the note editor with Esc lands focus on the file list right away — no need to press Esc a second time
• When the file list already has focus, Esc clears the selection instead
• In the tag field, a half-typed tag name is discarded first; press Esc again to return to the list
• In the map view it takes you back to the map (arrow keys to pan, + / - to zoom; when the map already has focus, Esc closes a pin's popup)
• In the calendar view it takes you back to the day cells (arrow keys to move between days, Enter to open that day's list)

Enter runs a dialog's orange button

The orange button at the bottom right of a dialog — Close in Settings and Statistics, Save in tag editing, Select these N items in the calendar — also runs on Enter. Esc dismisses, Enter confirms.

• A text field keeps its own Enter: in the watched-folder field it adds the rule, in a name field it commits the name
• A focused button wins: Enter on Cancel cancels
• Bulk rename still runs on Cmd+Enter while you are typing in its fields
• Restore in the database recovery dialog is the exception — replacing the database can't be undone, so it needs a click

Esc closes the frontmost thing first

Settings, Statistics, tag editing, the command palette, quick preview, the right-click menu — anything on top can be dismissed with Esc. When they are stacked, only the frontmost one closes; press it again to close the one below (e.g. with the integrity check opened from Settings, Esc closes the check and leaves Settings open).

Edit & organize

Key	Action
Cmd+Z	Undo the last operation (in the list; see below)
Cmd+S	(Editor) save immediately
T	Edit the selected items' tags (focus the Inspector tag field)
F2	Rename the selected item (focus the Inspector file name field and select it; bulk rename when several are selected)
Shift+F10 / Menu key	Open the right-click menu for the focused item (see below)
S	Toggle favorite on the selected items
Cmd+C	Copy the selected items to the clipboard (paste in Finder / File Explorer to get the files). While you're typing, it still copies text
Cmd+Shift+C	Copy the selected items' tags
Cmd+Shift+V	Paste tags onto the selected items
Cmd+V	(List) import the clipboard (text becomes a Markdown note; images and URLs are imported)
Del / Cmd+Backspace	Move to Trash

While editing a note (reassignable)

These work only while a note is open. Reassign them in Settings → "Shortcuts" tab.

Key (default)	Action
Cmd+Alt+T	Insert a template at the cursor
Cmd+Enter	Toggle checklist (- [ ] ↔ - [x])
Cmd+Alt+Left / Cmd+Alt+Right	Go to the previous / next day's note
Cmd+B / Cmd+I	Wrap the selection in ** / * (press again to unwrap)
Cmd+K	Insert link markup
Cmd+E	Open the full preview (the note is saved first)
Cmd+Alt+P	Show as slides (the note is saved first; also works when a note is selected in the list. → Slides)
Cmd+Alt+O	Open the outline (heading list)
Cmd+D	Select the next occurrence (repeat to add more; multiple cursors)
Cmd+Shift+L	Select every occurrence (multiple cursors)
Cmd+Alt+Up / Cmd+Alt+Down	Add a cursor above / below
Alt + click	Add a cursor where you click (not reassignable)

→ See Writing Notes, Outline, and Multiple cursors for details

While the outline is open, Alt+Up / Alt+Down move a whole section and Alt+Left / Alt+Right change a heading's depth (→ Reorder whole sections / Change a heading's depth).

Pasting

Key	Action
Cmd+V	Paste. Formatted text from Word, Excel, or a web page is converted to Markdown (in Markdown notes)
Cmd+Shift+V	Paste without formatting (exactly as copied)

→ Pasting formatted text

CodeMirror's default keymap

The editor (CodeMirror 6) brings its own standard bindings, which work as well (these cannot be reassigned in Settings).

Key	Action
Alt+Up / Alt+Down	Move the line up / down
Shift+Alt+Up / Shift+Alt+Down	Duplicate the line up / down
Cmd+Shift+K	Delete the line
Cmd+[ / Cmd+]	Outdent / indent
Cmd+G / F3	Find next
Cmd+Shift+G / Shift+F3	Find previous
Cmd+Alt+G	Jump to a line number
Cmd+/	Wrap / unwrap the selection in an HTML comment

Official reference: defaultKeymap / searchKeymap → Writing Notes

Switch views

Key	Action
Cmd+1	Grid view
Cmd+2	List view
Cmd+3	Calendar view
Cmd+4	Map view

On macOS these are also available from the "View" menu.

They select tabs while a note is open

While the note editor is up, Cmd+1 – Cmd+4 go to the 1st–4th note tab from the left (Tabs). Back in the file list they switch views again.

Note tabs

→ Tabs

Cmd+1 – Cmd+0 work only while the note editor is open. The rest also work while you are on a list (see below).

Key	Action
Cmd+1 – Cmd+9	Go to the 1st–9th note tab from the left (list tabs are not counted)
Cmd+0	Go to the 10th note tab
Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Next / previous tab (wraps around at the ends)
Cmd+W	Close one tab (the last one takes you back to the list)
Esc	Close all note tabs, leaving only the list (list tabs stay open)
Cmd+T	New tab (opens at the right end) — choose "Open a list", "New note", "New from template" or a note to open. Works in the file list too
Cmd+Shift+T	Reopen the tab you closed last. Goes back 10 closes; tabs closed together (with Esc and so on) come back together

List tabs share the tab bar, in the order you opened them. Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab walk through the bar in order (also while you are on a list), and Cmd+W on a list closes that list tab (on the last one it does nothing — and does not close the window; without the tab bar, Cmd+W closes the window).

With a limit of 10 tabs, every tab has a number key of its own. Cmd+5 and up do nothing in the file list (there are only four views).

Key	Action
F11	Enter / leave full screen

Help & rename (F1 / F2)

Key	Action
F1	Open the manual (this site) in your web browser. The page matches the app's display language. On macOS, Help → Melanite Help does the same
F2	Rename the selected item. Focus moves to the Inspector's file name field with the name selected, so you can type over it and press Enter to commit

• F2 only covers the part before the extension (the extension never changes)
• With several items selected it opens bulk rename
• While a note is open, F2 renames that note

Walk the Sidebar from the keyboard (A / R)

A (All) focuses "All" at the top of the Sidebar. From there, Up Down walk down it:

All → Starred → Untagged → kinds (Notes / Images / …) → Trash → smart filters → Recent tags → the "Search tags" box

Enter runs the row you are on (a section switches the list; Recent tags opens). Pressing A on its own does not change the list — it only moves you there.

Once you reach the search box, Down carries straight on into the tag cursor (below). "All" through to the last tag is one continuous Up Down path, so you never have to reach for the mouse halfway. Going back up works the same way: when the cursor leaves the first tag, focus returns to the rows above the box.

R (Recent) opens "Recent tags" and steps straight to the first entry — the quickest way back to a tag you just applied (→ Recent tags).

Tags and group headings are not Up Down stops

Below the search box the tag cursor takes over (two things moving on the same Up Down would leave you guessing which one responds). Use Tab and the mouse to collapse and expand groups.

Find and apply a tag (F)

F (or F4) jumps to the Sidebar's "Search tags" box. Think of it as a pair: Cmd+F for the toolbar's search box, F for the tag one.

From there you can pick tags without touching the mouse.

Key	Action
Up Down	Walk through the tags in the order they appear on screen (collapsed groups are skipped)
Enter	Filter by that tag (press again to remove it)
Alt+Enter	Exclude that tag (press again to undo)
Esc	Move focus back to the list (what you typed stays)

Focus stays in the box after you pick

The cursor stays in the search box, so you can type another name and add it, or move with Up Down and press Enter again to take a tag back off. Tag filtering is about combining several tags, so picking one does not end it.

To get back to a tag you just used, Recent tags is the shorter path (R opens it from anywhere).

Reload the list (F5)

Refetches the list on the spot. It is the catch-all fix for "what I see doesn't match what's on disk" after something outside Melanite touched the library. Four things happen together:

What it does	When it helps
Re-reads files changed outside Melanite	You saved a note or image in another app, or Dropbox / iCloud sync changed something
Refetches the list	A modified date or size looks stale
Refetches tag counts	The sidebar counts look stale
Scans your watched folders	A file you dropped in hasn't arrived yet

"List reloaded" appears even when nothing changed, so you can tell "the key didn't work" apart from "nothing had changed". Filters, selection and sort order are left alone (to drop the filters, use Cmd+Shift+F). The command palette entry "Reload the list" does the same.

Open the right-click menu from the keyboard (Shift+F10)

In the list, press Shift+F10 (or the Menu key on Windows) to open the right-click menu for the focused item. You can drive it entirely from the keyboard.

Key	Action
Up Down	Move between entries
Home / End	Jump to the first / last entry
Enter / Space	Run the selected entry
Esc	Close the menu (focus returns to the list)

Nothing opens when nothing is selected. Press Esc to put focus back on the file list, pick an item with the arrow keys, then press it.

macOS may claim the function keys first

By default macOS maps F1 F2 to display brightness and F11 to "Show Desktop". To send them to the app, turn on "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" under System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Function Keys (or hold Fn while pressing the key).

You don't have to: the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P) runs the same actions — search for "manual", "rename", "reload" or "full screen". Shift+F10 and F3 are not in the palette (the first needs a focused item, and the search box is right there once the palette closes).

Back / forward (Cmd+[ / Cmd+])

After following a link or switching tags, you can return to the list you were looking at, just like a browser's back and forward.

Action	macOS	Windows
Back	Cmd+[	Alt+Left
Forward	Cmd+]	Alt+Right

Your mouse's back / forward (side) buttons do the same. On macOS it is also "View → Back / Forward" in the menu bar; on both platforms it is in the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P).

Going back restores:

What	Examples
Filters	The Sidebar selection (tags, starred, kind, trash…), excluded tags, the search text, size
Temporary filters	Jumping to a link, "Select N", picking a day in the calendar
View	Grid / list / calendar / map (and the month you were on in the calendar)
The items you had selected	Shown in the middle of the list

For example, jump from a 2-hop link to another file, check it, then press Cmd+[ — you are back to the search text and selection from before the jump.

• A history entry is made when the filters change. Just clicking a different item doesn't make one (when you come back, the last item you picked there is selected again)
• Typing into the search box in one go counts as a single step
• Sort order and thumbnail size are not rolled back (they are your own settings, so they stay)
• Filters on a tag you have since deleted, and selected items you have since moved to the trash, are not restored
• If you had more than 1,000 items selected, the selection is not restored

It does nothing while you are editing a note

In the editor, Cmd+[ / Cmd+] indent / outdent lines. To go back, press Esc to return to the list first. It also does nothing while a dialog or Quick Preview is open.

Not the same as Cmd+Z

Cmd+Z (Undo) reverses an operation such as tagging. Back / forward only moves between places you looked at — it never touches tags or files.

History lasts only while the app is running (50 steps). It is cleared when you quit or switch libraries.

Clear all filters (Cmd+Shift+F)

Drops every filter at once — sidebar, search box, calendar and the rest — and puts the list back to "All". One key to undo a stack of narrowing steps.

What is cleared	Examples
The sidebar selection	Tags, favorites, untagged, kinds, trash
Tag filters and exclusions	The tags shown in the chip bar
The search term	The toolbar search box
The size filter	"1.0 MB or larger", etc.
Temporary filters	A calendar day selection, a backlink or Quick Open selection

• The view does not change (grid / list / calendar / map stay as they are)
• With nothing applied it just says "No filters are applied"
• On macOS it is also "View → Clear All Filters"; on both platforms it is in the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P)

→ See Finding Files for details

Command palette (Cmd+Shift+P)

Find and run an action by name. Where Quick Open (Cmd+P) searches for items, this searches for actions — switching views, importing, acting on the selection, applying smart filters, settings, statistics, the integrity check, and more.

It is also the keyboard route to actions that aren't on this page. That matters most on Windows, where Melanite doesn't draw a menu bar inside the window.

→ See Command Palette for the full picture

Undo (Cmd+Z)

Press Cmd+Z in the list to undo the last metadata operation. Press repeatedly to go further back.

These operations can be undone:

Operation	Examples
Tag add / remove	Tagged with T, dragged from the Sidebar, removed in bulk
Link create / delete	Made or removed via the Inspector or drag & drop
Favorites	Toggled with S
Memo change	Rewrote the Inspector memo
Location change	Manual entry, map right-click, bulk set
Rename	Renamed in the Inspector
Move to Trash	Deleted with Del
Pasted note	Made a note from text with Cmd+V in the list (undone by moving it to the Trash)

What cannot be undone

• Importing files — involves actual files, so it is out of scope (notes made by pasting are the exception)
• Delete Forever — the file itself is gone (a confirmation dialog appears first)
• Note text — handled by Cmd+Z inside the editor (ordinary text undo)

In text fields, undo is text undo

With the cursor in the search box, memo field, or editor, Cmd+Z undoes typing. To undo an app operation, press Esc to focus the list first.

History is kept only while the app is running. Quitting the app or switching libraries clears it.

The ones worth memorizing

Starting out? These four first.

Key	Why
Space	Check contents without opening. The most used key
Cmd+P	The shortest path when you know the name
T	Select → T → type: tagging done
Cmd+N	Capture a thought the moment it arrives

About Ctrl+E on macOS

On macOS, Ctrl+E is left to "move to end of line" (the editor's own binding). Use Cmd+E for the preview. You can reassign it in Settings → "Shortcuts" tab.