How to customize keyboard shortcuts in libreoffice

Keyboard shortcuts offer us a much more optimized way of working with the computer. Operating systems, like Windows, macOS, and Linux, have their own keyboard shortcuts. Also, most of the programs we use on a daily basis have their own shortcuts to help us be more productive. Writer is one of the best alternatives to Word that we can find, one of the LibreOffice suite programs , a totally free and open source suite. And, as expected, this program has its own keyboard shortcuts that allow us to work more efficiently when writing our documents.

Surely some of the keyboard shortcuts we are going to talk about are familiar to us, either because they are universal (such as Control + C or Control + V for copy and paste), or because they are very similar, or the same, to those that we can use in other programs.

Next we are going to see what are the quick commands that any user of this word processor should know.

Essential keyboard shortcuts for Writer

The following keyboard shortcuts must be memorized, as they will be useful to us whenever we are working with this processor:

• Ctrl + E – Select all.
• Ctrl + C – Copy selected text.
• Ctrl + V – Paste selected text.
• Ctrl + Alt + Shift + V – Paste plain text.
• Ctrl + G – Save document.
• Ctrl + I – Italic.
• Ctrl + N – Bold.
• Ctrl + J – Justify.
• Ctrl + D – Double underline.
• Ctrl + E – Center.
• Ctrl + H – Find and replace.
• Ctrl + L – Align left.
• Ctrl + R – Align Right.
• Ctrl + Z – Undo last change.
• Ctrl + Y – Redo last action.
• Ctrl + 0/1/2/3/4/5 – Apply titles.
• Ctrl + Enter – Page break.
• Ctrl + Backspace – Delete to the beginning of the word.
• Ctrl + Del – Delete to the end of the word.
• Ctrl + right arrow / left arrow – Go to the beginning or end of the word.
• Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow / Left Arrow – Select the entire word.
• Start – Go to the beginning of the line.
• End – Go to the end of the line.
• Control + Tab – Next word to auto-complete.

Other keyboard shortcuts

In addition to the above, this program has a series of additional keyboard shortcuts that allow us to access other functions and tools of the word processor. Many of the word processor functions can be opened using the keyboard shortcuts F:

• F2 – Open in formula menu.
• F3 – Execute automatic text input.
• F5 – Open browser.
• F7 – Check spelling.
• F8 – Extended selection activated.
• F9 – Fields.
• F11 – Styles.
• F12 – Numbering.
• Ctrl + F2 – More fields.
• Ctrl + F3 – Automatic text.
• Ctrl + F5 – Sidebar.
• Ctrl + F7 – Synonyms.
• Ctrl + F8 – Mark fields.
• Ctrl + F9 – Field names.
• Ctrl + F10 – Format marks.
• Ctrl + F11 – Fix focus on combo box.
• Ctrl + F12 – Table.
• Shift + F4 – Go to the next frame.
• Shift + F5 – Restore edit view.
• Shift + F8 – Activate multiple selection.
• Shift + F9 – Calculate table.
• Shift + F11 – New.
• Shift + F12 – Bullets.
• Ctrl + Shift + F4 – Data sources.
• Ctrl + Shift + F5 – Go to page.
• Ctrl + Shift + F8 – Blocked area.
• Ctrl + Shift + F9 – Update input fields.
• Ctrl + Shift + F11 – Update.
• Ctrl + Shift + F12 – Disable numbering.

We can also find specific keyboard shortcuts for when we work with tables within Writer. The most common are:

• Ctrl + A – If the cell is empty, select the entire table. Otherwise, select the content of it.
• Ctrl + Home – If the cell is empty, it goes to the beginning of the table. Otherwise, it is placed at the start of the box.
• Ctrl + End – If the cell is empty, it goes to the end of the table. Otherwise, it is placed at the end of the box.
• Ctrl + Tab – Add a tab stop.
• Alt + arrows – Increase or decrease the size of the rows and columns.

And of course to move and resize images and text boxes, like:

• Esc – Exit the selected box.
• F2 – Open edit mode.
• Alt + arrows – Move the selected box.
• Alt + Ctrl + arrows – Resize to the selected corner.
• Ctrl + Tab – Select the width of the object.

How to customize them

In addition to the keyboard shortcuts that come by default in Writer, which are the ones we have just seen, we can also create our own keyboard shortcuts in the program. And even modify the default shortcuts to make them as useful as possible.

For this, what we must do is open the main window of the program, and choose the menu section Tools> Customize.

We can see a new window like the one below, where we will find all the customization options that the program offers us. The section that interests us is that of the “Keyboard” tab.

Here we are going to see a complete list with all the possible keyboard shortcuts that we are going to be able to use in Writer. And each of these shortcuts with its corresponding function. We will be able to see all the available shortcuts, change the ones we want (for example, if we want the F2 key to do something else) or assign new functions to the keys, or key combinations, that are not being used.

In the upper right part of the customize window we will find two options. These allow us to switch between Writer-specific and LibreOffice-specific keyboard shortcuts. If we select this second we will find global shortcuts that can be used equally in all the programs in this suite. We can also add new keyboard shortcuts to this list or modify those that are already defined. Of course, it is advisable to be careful to avoid that the same keyboard shortcut does two different things, or we will have problems.

We can load and save our keyboard shortcut settings, and even reset all changes to return to the default settings.

It is true that LibreOffice Writer does not offer us much freedom to create our own shortcuts, but rather we have to adapt, in part, to the keys that appear to us. But in the list we will be able to find almost any combination that we want to use, so we will surely not miss anything.

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As well as using your mouse to operate software, you can also use your keyboard to perform specific functions. This page provides a list of keyboard shortcuts which you may find useful.

How to use a keyboard shortcut

Traditionally, keyboard shortcuts are written like so: Alt + F1. This means that you should press the Alt and F1 keys simultaneously. This is normally best achieved by holding down the modifier key (such as Ctrl or Alt or the Super(windows logo) key) and then pressing the second key once. You can then release the modifier key.

Finding keyboard shortcuts

Finding system keyboard shortcuts

To find (and change) system-level keyboard shortcuts, one can (at least in later, GNOME-based distros, e.g. ubuntu karmic) run the Keyboard Shortcuts applet, e.g. via System>Preferences>Keyboard Shortcuts on the main menu.

Finding application-specific keyboard shortcuts

While there are many standard keyboard shortcuts (see below), most applications also have keyboard shortcuts which are specific to themselves. These can normally be found in the pull-down menus at the top of the application’s screen. The example below shows a menu in Open Office.org Writer, with the keyboard shortcuts highlighted:

Desktop shortcuts

This section lists common keyboard shortcuts which you can use to operate parts of the desktop (such as windows and the menu bar).

Window shortcuts

These might not work on every machine, but are reasonably common:

These might change depending on the application you’re using, but work for most common applications:

Desktop Effects enabled shortcuts

All of the shortcuts listed in this section require Desktop Effects to be enabled.

Common application shortcuts

These shortcuts do not apply in all applications, but usually perform the functions listed below.

System shortcuts

Some of these shortcuts will restart important parts of your system. Only use them if you have to.

A list of low-level keyboard shortcuts is available on Wikipedia.

Application-specific shortcuts

This section covers common keyboard shortcuts for some important applications which are installed by default in Ubuntu.

Firefox Web Browser

These might not work for everyone, but can help with accessibility issues:

Alt Gr+Space Scrolls current tab/window down.

Alt Gr+Backspace Scrolls current tab/window up. You may find Alt Gr+Shift+Space works if Alt Gr+Backspace does not.

If you don’t have Alt Gr, it might be labelled something else. It’s usually to the right of the space bar.

See Mozilla Support for a full list of keyboard shortcuts in Firefox.

LibreOffice Writer

Press Tools ▸ Customize… ▸ Keyboard to change keyboard shortcuts in LibreOffice.

Laptop Function Shortcuts

Many laptops have function (Fn) keys which you can hold down to access more functions on the laptop’s keyboard. A list of these functions should be available from the manufacturer of the laptop.

Text Entry Shortcuts

If you want to have quick access to lines of text by using a hotkey, for example to enter your email address in forms, then you can use xbindkeys. Xbindkeys has a GUI utility to allow easy settings of hotkeys, but be aware that it’s a little more complicated than the default Ubuntu Shortcutkeys interface.

Create the default config file for xbindkeys

When thats done, install xbindkeys-config, the GUI for xbindkeys

Now the utility that actually does the “typing”

Once each is installed, start both applications by bringing up “Run Application” with ALT -F2.

To keep the xbindkeys hotkeys active when you next start the computer you will have to add a new session, System –> Preferences –> Sessions. Put in the command “xbindkeys” into the command field (without the quotes).

You should be able to see the “Xbindkeys Config” window. Start a new hotkey. Hit “New” on the bottom row of buttons. Then use the edit area at the top right. Give the hotkey a name. Hit the “GetKey” button to set the keypress for a hotkey. Some hotkeys may conflict with other hotkeys on the system (a window will open or a compiz plugin will activate). If this happens then choose another combination like CTRL – ALT – F for example.

Now put the command to activate with that hotkey in the “Action” field. This can be anything, but to allow for the entry of a line of text into part of the GUI enter

The example shows an email address but it can be any line of text. Now hit “Apply” and test the hotkey in a Firefox field, text editor, or anywhere that text can be entered. Please note that using “Run Action” will not be able to test the command in xbindkeys-config, you will have to test it somewhere else.

Replacing keys with other keys

If you want to use xbindkeys to override certain keys on your keyboard, you can catch them with xbindkeys, and then emit new keypresses using xmacro. To install xmacro, use:

After this, you can find out the commands for specific keypresses by starting xmacrorec:

First give it the key which will allow you to quit the app, then press the keys you want to know the codes for. After this, you can use those codes in the commands you tell xbindkeys to run, for example:

will simulate a key press of the PageDown key. Thus, in my .xbindkeysrc the following contents

will turn the Backward/Forward buttons on my Thinkpad T41 into PageDown and PageUp keys, and will no longer disturb my browsing as I accidentally press those Backward/Forward while browsing.

More information

KeyboardShortcuts (последним исправлял пользователь gunnarhj 2016-01-02 19:19:42)

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As well as using your mouse to operate software, you can also use your keyboard to perform specific functions. This page provides a list of keyboard shortcuts which you may find useful.

How to use a keyboard shortcut

Traditionally, keyboard shortcuts are written like so: Alt + F1. This means that you should press the Alt and F1 keys simultaneously. This is normally best achieved by holding down the modifier key (such as Ctrl or Alt or the Super(windows logo) key) and then pressing the second key once. You can then release the modifier key.

Finding keyboard shortcuts

Finding system keyboard shortcuts

To find (and change) system-level keyboard shortcuts, one can (at least in later, GNOME-based distros, e.g. ubuntu karmic) run the Keyboard Shortcuts applet, e.g. via System>Preferences>Keyboard Shortcuts on the main menu.

Finding application-specific keyboard shortcuts

While there are many standard keyboard shortcuts (see below), most applications also have keyboard shortcuts which are specific to themselves. These can normally be found in the pull-down menus at the top of the application’s screen. The example below shows a menu in Open Office.org Writer, with the keyboard shortcuts highlighted:

Desktop shortcuts

This section lists common keyboard shortcuts which you can use to operate parts of the desktop (such as windows and the menu bar).

Window shortcuts

These might not work on every machine, but are reasonably common:

These might change depending on the application you’re using, but work for most common applications:

Desktop Effects enabled shortcuts

All of the shortcuts listed in this section require Desktop Effects to be enabled.

Common application shortcuts

These shortcuts do not apply in all applications, but usually perform the functions listed below.

System shortcuts

Some of these shortcuts will restart important parts of your system. Only use them if you have to.

A list of low-level keyboard shortcuts is available on Wikipedia.

Application-specific shortcuts

This section covers common keyboard shortcuts for some important applications which are installed by default in Ubuntu.

Firefox Web Browser

These might not work for everyone, but can help with accessibility issues:

Alt Gr+Space Scrolls current tab/window down.

Alt Gr+Backspace Scrolls current tab/window up. You may find Alt Gr+Shift+Space works if Alt Gr+Backspace does not.

If you don’t have Alt Gr, it might be labelled something else. It’s usually to the right of the space bar.

See Mozilla Support for a full list of keyboard shortcuts in Firefox.

LibreOffice Writer

Press Tools ▸ Customize… ▸ Keyboard to change keyboard shortcuts in LibreOffice.

Laptop Function Shortcuts

Many laptops have function (Fn) keys which you can hold down to access more functions on the laptop’s keyboard. A list of these functions should be available from the manufacturer of the laptop.

Text Entry Shortcuts

If you want to have quick access to lines of text by using a hotkey, for example to enter your email address in forms, then you can use xbindkeys. Xbindkeys has a GUI utility to allow easy settings of hotkeys, but be aware that it’s a little more complicated than the default Ubuntu Shortcutkeys interface.

Create the default config file for xbindkeys

When thats done, install xbindkeys-config, the GUI for xbindkeys

Now the utility that actually does the “typing”

Once each is installed, start both applications by bringing up “Run Application” with ALT -F2.

To keep the xbindkeys hotkeys active when you next start the computer you will have to add a new session, System –> Preferences –> Sessions. Put in the command “xbindkeys” into the command field (without the quotes).

You should be able to see the “Xbindkeys Config” window. Start a new hotkey. Hit “New” on the bottom row of buttons. Then use the edit area at the top right. Give the hotkey a name. Hit the “GetKey” button to set the keypress for a hotkey. Some hotkeys may conflict with other hotkeys on the system (a window will open or a compiz plugin will activate). If this happens then choose another combination like CTRL – ALT – F for example.

Now put the command to activate with that hotkey in the “Action” field. This can be anything, but to allow for the entry of a line of text into part of the GUI enter

The example shows an email address but it can be any line of text. Now hit “Apply” and test the hotkey in a Firefox field, text editor, or anywhere that text can be entered. Please note that using “Run Action” will not be able to test the command in xbindkeys-config, you will have to test it somewhere else.

Replacing keys with other keys

If you want to use xbindkeys to override certain keys on your keyboard, you can catch them with xbindkeys, and then emit new keypresses using xmacro. To install xmacro, use:

After this, you can find out the commands for specific keypresses by starting xmacrorec:

First give it the key which will allow you to quit the app, then press the keys you want to know the codes for. After this, you can use those codes in the commands you tell xbindkeys to run, for example:

will simulate a key press of the PageDown key. Thus, in my .xbindkeysrc the following contents

will turn the Backward/Forward buttons on my Thinkpad T41 into PageDown and PageUp keys, and will no longer disturb my browsing as I accidentally press those Backward/Forward while browsing.

More information

KeyboardShortcuts (последним исправлял пользователь gunnarhj 2016-01-02 19:19:42)

The Shortcuts page in Settings provides a list of keyboard shortcuts in the DevTools and features to customize the shortcuts. To navigate to the Shortcuts page, complete the following steps.

• Select Shift + ? .

Navigate to the Shortcuts page.

The Shortcuts page in Settings

Match keyboard shortcuts in the DevTools to Microsoft Visual Studio Code

To match the keyboard shortcuts in the Microsoft Edge DevTools for equivalent actions in Visual Studio Code, complete the following steps.

Open the Shortcuts page.

Choose the Match shortcuts from preset dropdown and change DevTools (Default) to Visual Studio Code.

Match keyboard shortcuts in the DevTools to Visual Studio Code

For example, to pause or continue running a script in Visual Studio Code, you select F5 . With the DevTools (Default) preset, to pause or continue running a script, you select F8 . When you change the preset to Visual Studio Code, you now also select F5 , just like in Visual Studio Code.

Cheat sheets for various stuff

LibreOffice’s default options are not always what I want, and custom settings (used to?) get lost after installing an upgrade. This is an overview of my local changes to the defaults.

Font substitution

MS Office documents that use the Calibri and Cambria fonts look horrible in LibreOffice.

Install fonts Carlito and Caladea

Custom keyboard shortcuts

In Impress, Tools > Customize > Keyboard

Custom colours

The LibreOffice colour palette is loaded from an XML file in

/.config/libreoffice/4/user/config/standard.soc . To add custom colours, it’s best to add them once using the GUI (Tools > Options > Colors) and save them separately. To load your custom colours later, load the colour file.

If you only want to add some colours, copy/paste the XML code defining those colours into standard.soc .

Custom colours for HoGent:

This project is maintained by bertvv

Hosted on GitHub Pages — Theme by orderedlist

Make commonly used tasks easier with custom hotkeys

Science Photo Library / Getty Images

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If you spend a lot of time in Microsoft Office, you can save time by customizing your own keyboard shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are just one way to streamline how you work in Microsoft Office, but they can make a big difference, especially for tasks you use often.

Shortcut assignments might vary depending on the operating system you’re on and the version of Microsoft Office you have installed.

How to Customize Keyboard Shortcuts

Before looking at how to actually change a keyboard shortcut, let’s open the appropriate window:

Open a Microsoft Office program, such as Word.

Navigate to File > Options to open that program’s options window, such as Word Options in MS Word.

Open the Customize Ribbon option from the left.

Choose the Customize. button on the bottom of that screen, next to Keyboard shortcuts:.

Creating ‘Hotkeys’

The Customize Keyboard window is how you can control the hotkeys used in Microsoft Word (or whatever other MS Office program you’ve opened). Choose an option from the Categories: section and then pick an action for the hotkey in the Commands: area.

For example, maybe you want to change the shortcut key used to open a new document in Microsoft Word. Here’s how:

Choose File Tab from the Categories: section.

Select FileOpen from the right pane, in the Commands: section.

One of the default shortcut keys (Ctrl+F12) is shown here in the Current key: box, but next to it, in the Press new shortcut key: text box, is where you can define a new hotkey for this particular command.

Select that text box and then enter the shortcut you want to use. Instead of typing letters like Ctrl, just strike that key on your keyboard. In other words, hit the shortcut keys as if you were actually using them, and the program will auto-detect them and enter the appropriate text.

For example, hit the Ctrl+Alt+Shift+O keys if you want to use that new shortcut to open documents in Word.

You’ll see a Currently assigned to: sentence show up under the Current keys: area after hitting the keys. If it says [unassigned], then you’re good to move on to the next step.

Otherwise, the shortcut key you entered is already assigned to a different command, which means that if you assign that same hotkey to this new command, the original command will no longer work with this shortcut.

Choose Assign to make the new keyboard shortcut apply to the command you selected.

You can now close any open windows relating to the settings and options.

Cheat sheets for various stuff

LibreOffice’s default options are not always what I want, and custom settings (used to?) get lost after installing an upgrade. This is an overview of my local changes to the defaults.

Font substitution

MS Office documents that use the Calibri and Cambria fonts look horrible in LibreOffice.

Install fonts Carlito and Caladea

Custom keyboard shortcuts

In Impress, Tools > Customize > Keyboard

Custom colours

The LibreOffice colour palette is loaded from an XML file in

/.config/libreoffice/4/user/config/standard.soc . To add custom colours, it’s best to add them once using the GUI (Tools > Options > Colors) and save them separately. To load your custom colours later, load the colour file.

If you only want to add some colours, copy/paste the XML code defining those colours into standard.soc .

Custom colours for HoGent:

This project is maintained by bertvv

Hosted on GitHub Pages — Theme by orderedlist

Emacs Keybindings for LibreOffice Jul 9, 2013

As I wrote recently, I’ve had a difficult time finding a Linux word processor that meets my day to day needs and also allows me to easily use Emacs keybindings.

After that post, I finally bit the bullet and manually configured at least a few of the more commonly used Emacs keybindings in LibreOffice Writer. As I mentioned previously, this process is made painful by the need to remap numerous conflicting default shortcuts along the way, while avoiding the creation of new conflicts with the application and the desktop environment.

Now that it’s done, though, I figured I share the fruits of my labor. The final solution is far from elegant, but is better than any of my own previous attempts, and I’ve reduced the number of unresolved shortcut conflicts I found in other solutions around the web.

Here’s the saved shortcuts file, which can be imported as-is into LibreOffice, in the event it’s helpful to anyone else. For the sake of posterity, I should note that it was created using LibreOffice v4.0.4.2, and I’m providing it, as usual, with no warranty express or implied:

Note that there’s no need to unzip the file—LibreOffice expects this file format. To import it, download the file, open LibreOffice Writer, go to ‘Tools > Customize > Keyboard’ and click the ‘Load’ button. Select the file, click “Okay,” and you’re done.

Here, specifically, are the Emacs keybindings I implemented, along with where to find them under LibreOffice’s ‘Tools > Customize > Keyboard’ interface if you want to reset them or mess with them yourself:

C-f: forward one character (Navigate > Go Right)
C-b: back one character (Navigate > To Character Left)
C-n: next line (Navigate > To Line Below)
C-p: previous line (Navigate > To Top Line)

M-f: forward one word (Navigate > To Word Right)
M-b: back one word (Navigate > To Word Left)

C-a: beginning of logical line (Navigate > To Paragraph Begin)
C-e: end of logical line (Navigate > To Paragraph End)

C-v: next page (Navigate > Next Page)
M-v: previous page (Navigate > Previous Page)

M-d: kill rest of word (Edit > Delete to End of Word)
C-k: kill rest of logical line (Edit > Delete to End of Paragraph)
C-w: kill selection (Edit > Cut)
M-w: copy selection (Edit > Copy)

C-y: yank clipboard content (Edit > Paste)

Note that I opted for logical lines, not screen lines, when it came to keybindings like C-a, C-e, and C-k. This means that a line goes on until a carriage return, as opposed to ending each time the text wraps. It’s possible, though, to have it either way if you care to futz with the shortcut configurations.

As indicated, implementing the above keybindings meant remapping some of LibreOffice’s default shortcuts. Below are the new keybindings I gave to shortcuts that were overwritten by my new configuration:

Create New Document (Application > New)
Previously: C-n
Now: C-M-Shift-n

Print Document (Documents > Print)
Previously: C-n
Now: C-M-Shift-p

Close Document (Documents > Close)
Previously: C-w
Now: C-M-Shift-w

Center Text (Format > Centered)
Previously: C-e
Now: C-M-Shift-e

Make Text Bold (Format > Bold)
Previously: C-b
Now: C-M-Shift-b

Select All (Edit > Select All)
Previously: C-a
Now: C-M-Shift-a

Redo (Edit > Redo)
Previously: C-y
Now: C-Shift-Z (Common “redo” shortcut for other applications)

Paste (Edit > Paste)
Previously: C-v
Now: C-y (Another Emacs keybinding)

There is one still-broken keybinding. ‘M-w’ previously opened the “Window” dropdown menu, but is no longer mapped to this feature. I’m sure this is fixable, but I haven’t yet found the menu option or configuration file for remapping LibreOffice’s menu shortcuts.

Note that, while the above replacement bindings are verbose, making them so prevents a snowball of other shortcut conflicts that would likely end up being worse in the long run. And I tried to be consistent, so as to make the remappings easy to remember.

If, at any time, you want to undo these keybindings and go back to the LibreOffice defaults, you can use the ‘Tools > Customize > Keyboard’ interface in Libreoffice to change them back. This requires a lot of work by hand, however.

The simplest way to get back all the original LibreOffice keybindings is to close LibreOffice. Then, locate and delete the ‘registrymodifications.xcu’ file inside your LibreOffice settings folder (usually ‘

/.config/libreoffice’; and make a backup first, for the love of God—don’t just wipe it because I told you to), then restart LibreOffice. ‘registrymodifications.xcu’ houses the tweaks we’ve made, so deleting it gets rid of them instantly, and restarting LibreOffice will regenerate the deleted file with default settings. The downside of this, though, is that it has the potential to simultaneously destroy other customizations you may have made to LibreOffice. If you want to do more precise surgery on registrymodifications.xcu, check out this LibreOffice help forum thread, which gives instructions for excising keybinding modifications from the file.

In any case, please enjoy, and feel free to post your own fixes/improvements/solutions in the comments.

Speed up your workflow and get rid of repetitive tasks

Want to know how to create keyboard shortcuts to do anything on Windows 10? This guide will help. Surprisingly, it’s quite easy to create a quick keybind that can open programs, perform repeatable tasks, and speed up your workflow.

I’ll suggest a number of different options you can use to make keyboard shortcuts and provide some examples of how you can use them to their max potential.

Open Programs Quickly

I can see this shortcut option being useful for a large number of Windows 10 users. It’s quick and easy to set it up so that a quick shortcut can open any executable file. Here’s how to do it.

First, download the WinHotKey program from Directedge. It’s free to use. It’s a bit old, but it works and it’s clean. Once downloaded, go through the installer wizard, then launch WinHotKey. In WinHotKey, click New HotKey in the top left.

In the new window that appears, give the hotkey a name. After, choose what combination you’d like to trigger the shortcut. For example, I chose to do Windows+F2. After, you can click the Browse option to find the location of the executable you’d like to open.

Alternatively, you can just copy and paste the location. WinHotKey will automatically grab the application icon so that you are given visual context about it. You can now open your program with the hotkey you’ve specified.

You must make sure that your keyboard shortcut doesn’t conflict with any existing shortcuts, either Windows defaults or from within the WinHotKey interface. For example, Alt+F4 couldn’t be used. It’s best to stick to Windows + ’X’ combinations to avoid conflicts.

Automatically Type Text

If you consistently type the same sentences or words, you can automate it with WinHotKey too. To do this, click New Hotkey in WinHotKey, then click the drop down box under I want WinHotKey to: and select Type some text.

Now, type or paste the text into the box at the bottom of the new hotkey window. Finally, make sure to choose a new keyboard shortcut you haven’t used before.

There isn’t a limit on how many characters you use with this shortcut, but if there is a line break in anything you paste, it will end there. So, it’s best for copying single paragraphs, things like hashtags for Instagram or social links for YouTube descriptions.

Open Folders and Documents in Windows 10

WinHotKey can also be used to quickly open specific folders and documents within Windows 10. You can simply select the Open a Document or Open a Folder options under the I want WinHotKey to: dropdown box and then follow the same steps as above.

This time though, you’ll need to browse to a specific file or application. If you choose the open document option, most documents will work, so long as you have a supporting application defaulted to open those kinds of files. From my testing, I could get Photoshop, office apps like Excel, PDF files, and text files.

If a file didn’t work, Windows 10 will ask you to choose a default application for that file type, and then future hotkeys with that file type would then also work.

Use Autohotkey for Emojis

AutoHotkey is another application for Windows 10 that can help you to create more complex keyboard shortcuts. This software can be used to automate a large number of different tasks. You can download Autohotkey from their website for free.

Once you’ve downloaded it, extract the file to a memorable location. Then, in the directory, double click an .ahk file, then when asked, choose to browse what application should be used to open such files. Next, browse and navigate to AutoHotkeyU64. This will allow you to run AutoHotkey scripts by double clicking them.

It’s very easy to use emojis on a smartphone, but there isn’t any easy way to do this on a computer by default. With Autohotkey, you can set up a number of emoji shortcuts. Here’s how to do it.

Creating a hotkey extension can be quite complex, but thankfully there are dozens of great autohotkey scripts on the internet. For creating emojis, we’d suggest this one.

On the page shared above, click the Raw button to be taken to a raw text file. Next, press Ctrl+A to select the entire code. Then press Ctrl+C to copy it all. After, open a Notepad file and paste the code there.

Now, click File in Notepad, then click Save as. Navigate to the directory you extracted Autohotkey. Next, click the Save as type drop down box and select All files. Now, name it Emoji.ahk and click Save.

To use this hotkey script, you’ll need to double click it each time you start your PC. After, you can type emoji codes like :smiley: to automatically use emojis. At any time, you can refer back to the Github link above to see which codes are used for each emoji.

More Advanced Autohotkey Scripts

The potential for more advanced Autohotkey scripts is quite impressive. You can read up on some of the best scripts here. Some examples include the following:

• Magnify the screen with keybinds
• Use mouse gestures
• Drag windows easily
• Quickly access your favorite folders
• View upload/download speed via a small on-screen overlay

Summary

I hope that this guide on using Windows keyboard shortcuts has been useful. Did you learn anything? I hope so. Did you struggle with any of the suggestions in this guide? If so, send me a Tweet and I’ll be happy to help out as soon as possible.

Ollie stumbled upon writing online whilst participating in a mobile network forum back in 2011. Since then, he has developed an incredible passion for writing about all sorts of tech from smartphones, PC hardware, software, and everything in between. Read Ollie’s Full Bio

JetBrains Rider includes several predefined keymaps and lets you customize frequently used shortcuts.

To view the keymap configuration, open the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S and select Keymap .

Among all of the predefined keymaps, you will most probably choose one of the following:

Visual Studio/ Visual Studio (OSX) — this keymap is recommended for users who:

have no experience with other IDEs;

have experience with plain Visual Studio;

have experience with Visual Studio + ReSharper and who preferred the ‘Visual Studio’ keyboard scheme in ReSharper.

ReSharper/ ReSharper (OSX) — this keymap is recommended for users who have experience with Visual Studio + ReSharper and who preferred the ‘ReSharper 2.x/IntelliJ IDEA’ keyboard scheme in ReSharper.

IntelliJ/ IntelliJ (OSX) — this keymap is recommended for users who have experience with IntelliJ IDEA or some of the JetBrains IntelliJ-platform-based IDEs and who preferred to use the ‘Default’/’Mac OS X 10.5+’ keymap there.

If you are using Rider on macOS, it is recommended to choose a keymap with the OSX suffix, for example Visual Studio OSX .

You cannot change predefined keymaps. When you modify any shortcut, JetBrains Rider creates a copy of the currently selected keymap, which you can configure. Click to duplicate the selected keymap, rename, remove, or restore it to default values.

A custom keymap is not a full copy of its parent keymap. It inherits unmodified shortcuts from the parent keymap and defines only those that were changed. For information about the keymap files, see Location of user-defined keymaps.

The keymap itself is a list of actions with corresponding keyboard and mouse shortcuts, and abbreviations. To find an action by name, type it in the search field. If you know the shortcut of an action, click and press the key combination in the Find Shortcut dialog.

When consulting this documentation, you can see keyboard shortcuts for the keymap that you use — choose it with the selector at the top of the page:

Add a keyboard shortcut

On the Keymap page of the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S , right-click an action and select Add Keyboard Shortcut .

In the Keyboard Shortcut dialog, press the necessary key combination.

If you want to use Enter , Escape , or Tab , click and select the necessary key or combination. Pressing them in the Keyboard Shortcut dialog will result in the actual action, such as closing the dialog.

If necessary, select the Second stroke checkbox to define a complex shortcut with two sequential key combinations.

Click OK to save the shortcut.

The key combination that you press is displayed in the Keyboard Shortcut dialog, as well as a warning if it conflicts with existing shortcuts.

Add a mouse shortcut

On the Keymap page of the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S , right-click an action and select Add Mouse Shortcut .

In the Mouse Shortcut dialog, move the mouse pointer to the central area and click or scroll as necessary.

Click OK to save the shortcut.

The performed mouse manipulations are displayed in the Mouse Shortcut dialog, as well as a warning if it conflicts with existing shortcuts.

Add an abbreviation

An abbreviation can be used to quickly find an action without a shortcut. For example, you can press Ctrl+Shift+A and type the name of the Jump to Colors and Fonts action to quickly modify the color and font settings of the element under the current caret position. If you assign an abbreviation for this action (like JCF ), you can then type it instead of the full action name.

On the Keymap page of the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S , right-click an action and select Add Abbreviation .

In the Abbreviation dialog, type the desired abbreviation and click OK .

Reset action shortcuts to default

If you changed, added, or removed a shortcut for an action, you can reset it to the initial configuration.

On the Keymap page of the Settings/Preferences dialog Ctrl+Alt+S , right-click an action and select Reset Shortcuts .

In addition to keymaps distributed with JetBrains Rider, you can install the following keymaps via plugins:

Location of user-defined keymaps

All user-defined keymaps are stored in separate configuration files under the keymaps subdirectory in the JetBrains Rider configuration directory:

\keymaps Example C:\Users\JohnS\AppData\Roaming\JetBrains\Rider2020.3\keymaps

Each keymap file contains only the differences relative to the parent keymap.

You can use these files to share your custom keymaps with team members or between your IDE instances. Copy the corresponding keymap file and put it in the keymaps directory on another JetBrains Rider installation.

Conflicts with global OS shortcuts

Predefined keymaps do not cover every possible platform, version, and configuration. Some shortcuts can conflict with global system actions and shortcuts for third-party software. To fix these conflicts, you can reassign or disable the conflicting shortcut.

JetBrains Rider detects conflicts with system shortcuts and notifies you with a popup message:

Click Modify shortcuts to open the Keymap settings dialog where you can make the necessary adjustments:

Here are a few examples of possible system shortcut conflicts with the default keymap in JetBrains Rider. Make sure that function keys are enabled on your system.