VisualEditor/Portal/Keyboard shortcuts

This page outlines the various mouse and keyboard commands supported by VisualEditor. If you have ideas for new useful commands, or have noticed problems with the existing ones, please let us know on the Feedback Page.

For the full list of Wikipedia shortcuts, see: w:WP:Keyboard shortcuts.

Commonly-used shortcuts

PC shortcut Action Icon Mac shortcut

Ctrl+B Bold   ⌘ Cmd+B

Ctrl+I Italic   ⌘ Cmd+I

Ctrl+K Insert link   ⌘ Cmd+K

Ctrl+⇧ Shift+K Insert citation   Cite ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+K

Ctrl+X Cut ⌘ Cmd+X

Ctrl+C Copy ⌘ Cmd+C

Ctrl+V Paste ⌘ Cmd+V

Ctrl+⇧ Shift+V Paste as plain text ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+V

Ctrl+Z Undo   ⌘ Cmd+Z

Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Z Redo   ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+Z

Tab ↹ Indent list   Tab ↹

⇧ Shift+Tab ↹ Outdent list   ⇧ Shift+Tab ↹

Ctrl+\ or Ctrl+M Clear formatting   ⌘ Cmd+\ or ⌘ Cmd+M

Alt+s Save Publish changes… Ctrl+⌥ Option+s

Template editor dialog shortcuts and keyboard interactions

These shortcuts only apply when editing a template instance in the pop-up dialog. Those marked with a * only apply in the cases of multi-part template content. The shortcuts can be used to turn a single template into multi-part template content by adding another template or a wikitext part.

PC shortcut Action Icon Mac shortcut

Spacebar Toggle a checkbox, adding or removing a parameter Spacebar

↵ Enter Add a parameter and immediately switch the focus to the input to start adding a value ↵ Enter

Ctrl+⇧ Shift+D Add an undocumented parameter ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+D

Ctrl+D Add a template* (linked, not nested)   ⌘ Cmd+D

Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Y Add a wikitext part*   ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+Y

Ctrl+Del Delete a part (template or wikitext) when selected in the sidebar*   ⌘ Cmd+Del

Ctrl+⇧ Shift+ Move a part up when selected in the sidebar*   ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+

Ctrl+⇧ Shift+ Move a part down when selected in the sidebar*   ⌘ Cmd+⇧ Shift+

Full list of mouse and keyboard interactions

Feature  Action
Move cursor with mouse Clicking
Move cursor with keyboard Direction keys[1]
Select content with mouse Dragging
Select content with mouse Double and triple clicking
Select content with keyboard Shift + (Direction keys)[1]
Select word with mouse Double click word
Select block with mouse Triple click block
Adjust selection with mouse Shift + Click
Load insertion formatting from content Move cursor
Insert text with keyboard Character and number keys
Insert special characters with keyboard Multiple character or number keys using an input method editor
Delete with keyboard ← Backspace and Delete
Delete word with keyboard Alt+← Backspace and Alt+Delete ⌥ Option+← Backspace and ⌥ Option+Delete
Delete line with keyboard Ctrl+← Backspace and Ctrl+Delete ⌘ Command+← Backspace and ⌘ Command+Delete
Undo with keyboard Ctrl+Z ⌘ Command+Z
Redo with keyboard Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Z ⌘ Command+⇧ Shift+Z
Copy selection with keyboard Ctrl+C ⌘ Command+C
Cut selection with keyboard Ctrl+X ⌘ Command+X
Paste selection with keyboard Ctrl+V ⌘ Command+V
Copy selection from menu "Copy" in context or browser menu
Cut selection from menu "Cut" in context or browser menu
Paste selection from menu "Paste" in context or browser menu
Highlight object with mouse Clicking
Toggle bold on selected content and in insertion formatting with mouse Click bold tool in toolbar
Toggle italic on selected content and in insertion formatting with mouse Click italic tool in toolbar
Toggle bold on selected content and in insertion formatting with keyboard Ctrl+B ⌘ Command+B
Toggle italic on selected content and in insertion formatting with keyboard Ctrl+I ⌘ Command+I
Split block with keyboard ↵ Enter
Merge blocks with keyboard Backspace at beginning or delete at end of block boundary
Switch the direction you write in between right-to-left and left-to-right Ctrl+⇧ Shift+X ⌘ Command+⇧ Shift+X

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Direction keys: Up, down, left, right, home, end, page-up and page-down