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.
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.
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).
