Change keyboard shortcuts

Any command can have a different key, a second key, or none. Changes apply at once, and the menus and the tooltips that mention a key show the new one.

Open the Shortcuts page

Choose Help › Keyboard Shortcuts… (Ctrl+/ by default), or open File › Preferences… and pick Shortcuts. The list is grouped like the menus, followed by the tool keys and the fixed keys. Type in the filter box to find a command by name or by key: typing ctrl+e shows who holds it.

Give a command a new key

1. Select the command. The card below the list shows its description and where its key works, such as “Works in Grid” or “Works everywhere”.
2. Click the Key field and press the new key. A key can be a letter or digit alone, or with Ctrl, Shift or Alt. A held modifier records nothing until a key arrives.
3. If the key is free, it is bound at once.

Double-click the field to clear it first; it then reads “Press keys…”. Esc keeps the current key. The × in the field removes the key, so the command has none.

A row whose keys differ from the default shows a dot before them. Hover it to see “Default: …”.

Add a second key

Below Key, the Also row lists extra keys that run the same command. Click Add… and press the key. Click the × on a key to remove it. Fit, for example, has F, Ctrl+0 and Alt+0 by default.

Resolve a conflict

If another command already uses the key where yours works, the card says “Also used by Export (Grid)” and offers two buttons:

• Reassign gives the key to your command. The other command loses that key but keeps its others.
• Cancel leaves everything as it was.

Some keys can’t be taken, because a control handles them itself, such as Delete in the Layers list or the arrow keys that step through photos. The card says so, for example “Delete is the Layers list’s key in Edit”, and the field goes back to its old key.

Two commands can share a key if they never work in the same place. The crop’s X and Compare’s X are an example.

Go back to the defaults

• Reset on the card puts the selected command back on its default keys. It appears only when the command has been changed.
• Reset All puts every command back on its default keys, after asking “Put every command back on its default keys?”

Note

A fixed key, such as Enter to accept a crop or Esc to cancel one, is listed in gray at the bottom of the page. It is there for reference and can’t be changed.

The default keys are listed in Keyboard shortcuts.