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Quick links: |  | Windows Document Lists View/Edit Pane The Sorter

|  |  | Interface Shortcuts

For some people, navigating an application via keyboard shortcuts feels much more efficient. Below are some shortcuts for getting around the interface. Some are common to most Mac applications; others are specific to DEVONthink. And if you're looking for hotkeys for command shortcuts, we also have those listed. There are a few keys found only on extended keyboards. Here are the equivalents available on laptops using the Function key: Extended Keys: Home: Function-Left arrow End: Function-Right arrow Page Up: Function-Up arrow Page Down: Function-Down arrow Windows Control-Tilde (~): Cycles through open application windows. This is a common macOS shortcut. Control-Tab: Cycles focus between the sidebar, item list, view/edit pane, the Tags bar, and inspectors, depending on what elements are visible. Escape: Cancels processes, closes dialogs or Quick Look previews, etc., depending on the context. Command-}: Cycles to the next tab. Command-{: Cycles to the previous tab.
Note: Hold ⇧ to cycle in reverse order.
Document Lists Navigating items: Up/Down arrow: Navigates up and down in all views. Use ⇧ to select multiple entries. Left/Right arrow: Expands or collapses the selected groups in horizontal split, vertical split or List views, or navigates to previous/next item in other views. Option-click (the triangle in front of a group): Expands or collapses all groups that are contained within this group as well. Option-Left/Right arrow: Expands or collapses the selected groups and all their children the item list. Selecting items: Shift-click: Selects consecutive items. Shift-arrow: Extends the next consecutive item to the current selection. Command-click: Adds a non-consecutive item to the selection. Manipulating items: Return: Renames documents. Backspace: Deletes selected items. Command-Drag: When dragging items from the Finder, this moves, not copies, the file into the database. Option-drag: Duplicates items to the drag destination instead of moving it. Command-Option-drag: Creates replicants for the items at the drag destination. Dragging items from the Finder to DEVONthink with ⌥⌘ pressed indexes the item. Dragging items into documents with ⌥⌘ held inserts a link to the item. Item List: Command-Shift-O: Opens a selected document in the system default application. Tab: Jumps to the first or next editable column when using the item list in List view. Space: Opens the standard Quick Look panel showing a preview of the selected items. Option-Space: Opens a full screen Quick Look slideshow. Command-bracket: Using [ and ], goes backwards and forwards through the visited locations. View/Edit Pane The first section of shortcuts are generally applicable to documents like Markdown, rich text, etc. Keys more specific to other formats are listed separately. Home/End: Goes to beginning or end of any view. Page up/down: Scrolls one page up and down in any view. Space/Shift-Space: Scrolls one page down or up in non-editable views, e.g., web pages, images, or PDF documents. Command-click: Opens the target of a link in a new tab or separate window. Command-Shift-click: Opens a link in a new tab and activates it. This requires enabling tabbed browsing in Settings > General. Option-click (a link): For HTML-based files, adds the clicked URL to the Download Manager panel. Option-click (a word): Initiates a search with the clicked word as the search term. Option-drag: Selects text using a rectangular selection ribbon. Command-Option-drag: Inserts a cross-link for groups or documents dropped into a rich text document. Dragging files or folders from the Finder to a rich text document with ⌥⌘ pressed creates links to them. PDFs and Images: Control-Shift-Command- +: Zooms in. Control-Shift-Command- —: Zooms out. Command-0: Display at actual size. Command-=: Zoom to fit. Control-Command-W: Zoom to width. Command-drag: Scrolls the visible area with the mouse. Sheets: Return: Moves one cell down for editing. Shift-Return: Moves one cell up for editing. Tab: Moves one cell to the right for editing. Shift-Tab: Moves one cell to the left for editing. Arrows: Moves the editing selection. Escape: Stops editing. Multimedia: Spacebar: Start and stop playback. Left/Right Arrows: Move forward or backward one frame or .25 second. Option-Left/Right Arrows: Jump to the beginning or end of the file. Shift-Left/Right Arrows: Move forward or backward in 15 second intervals. The Shift-interval is customizable in the hidden preferences. Command-Left/Right Arrows: Change forward or reverse playback speeds. Option-Forward/Reverse buttons: Hold the Option key and click the forward or reverse buttons to change playback speeds in .1 increments, e.g., 2.1, 2.2, etc. Up/Down Arrows: Adjust the playback volume. Hold Option to switch between mute and full volume.
Note: These keys operate when a multimedia file is playing in a document window. They are not global controls, i.e., they will have no effect on an audio file playing in a minimized window.
The Sorter Views: You can jump to a specific view by pressing Option-Command and 1 through 6, starting at the Navigation view. General Note Creation and Clipping: Command-S: Saves the entered data. Equivalent to clicking Add. Escape: Clears any entered data. Equivalent to pressing the retreating circle icon. Voice and Video Note: Spacebar: Start and stop recording. Screen Capture: Command-1: Capture the entire window. Command-2: Capture a highlighted window. Command-3: Capture a selected area. Both of the next two functions use the Web Clip view. However, when opened via the Clip To DEVONthink browser extension, the hotkeys have different functions. Web Clip: Command-1: Clips from the default browser. Command-2: Clips from a URL you've copied to the clipboard. Command-3: Type a URL to clip and any associated data, e.g., comments, tags, etc.. Clip to DEVONthink: Command-F: Toggles the Clutter-free option. Command 1-9: Chooses the format to clip to (in order from 1): Plain Text, Rich Text, Bookmark, Formatted Note, HTML Page, Markdown, Web Archive, PDF (One Page), and PDF (Paginated).