Shortcuts

iA Writer for Mac provides a wide range of keyboard shortcuts to help you keep your hands on the keyboard and stay focused.

The majority of the available shortcuts are visible in the main menu.
A screenshot of the File menu with action shortcuts highlighted on the right side.

iA Writer for macOS follows the standard macOS system shortcuts and we may update shortcuts from time to time to ensure alignment with Apple’s conventions.
If you are used to Windows shortcuts or shortcuts from apps following Microsoft conventions (MS Word, IntelliJ, VS Code, Outlook…) this article will be useful to help you become faster at using Writer.

Files

File creation and management options.

Shortcut	Action
`⌘N`	New in Library in current window
`⌥⌘N`	New
`⇧⌘N`	New in Library
`⌘T`	New document in a tab in Library
`⌥⌘T`	New document in a tab outside Library
`⌘O`	Open a file
`⌘S`	Save active file
`⇧⌘S`	Duplicate active file
`⌥⇧⌘S`	Save active file as

The New shortcuts above show the default settings. The Preferred action setting under Files can change which command creates files in Library. The New Tab shortcuts follow that setting too, and require macOS window tabbing to be enabled.

Quick Search

Search your Library for documents, Wikilinks and tags. Starting in iA Writer 8, Quick Search includes the Document Outline: type to jump to any heading, file name, or text match.

Shortcut	Action
`⇧⌘O`	Quick Search
`⏎`	Open file in current window
`⇧⏎`	Open file in new window

Shortcuts to quickly navigate between panes, Locations, linked and previously opened documents, and more.

App

Shortcut	Action
`⌃⇥`	Cycle focus: Organizer → File List → Editor
`⌘,`	Settings…

Library Navigation

Shortcut	Action
`⇧⌘I`	Show iCloud in Library
`⇧⌘F`	Filter Library
`⌃1–9`	Open a Favorite file or show a Favorite folder in Library
`⌃⌥1–9`	Show Smart Folder in Library

Links

Shortcut	Action
`⌘⏎`	Open a link in Editor
`⌘`-click	Open a link in Editor
click	Open a link in Preview

When You Open a Link

Link	Action
Wikilinks	Open a document or create a new one, ready to type
Text content blocks	Open a document or create a new one, ready to type
Hashtags	Shown in Quick Search
Links	Open in default browser
Emails	New draft in default mail client
URL commands	Run if allowed

Document History

Shortcut	Action
`⌃⌘←`	Go to previous document
`⌃⌘→`	Go to next document

Interface

Shortcut	Action
`⇧⌘P`	Command Palette
`⌃⌘N`	Dark or light appearance
`⌃⌘S`	Show or hide Library
`⌘R`	Show or hide Preview
`⇧⌘R`	Reload Preview
`⌃Space`	Show completions
`⌃⌘F`	Enter or exit full screen
`⌘W`	Close active window
`⌥⌘W`	Close all windows

Editing

Document structure, text formatting, caret manipulation, Focus modes, and more.

Structure

Tab follows the Tab key preference in Editor settings. Option-Tab performs the opposite action. In a table, Tab selects cells.

Shortcut	Action
`⌘1–6`	Heading 1–6
`⌘L`	List
`⌥⌘L`	Task list
`⇧⌘L`	Ordered list
`⌥⇧⌘L`	Ordered task list
`⌥⌘X`	Mark task as completed
`⌘>`	Blockquote
`⌘/`	Comment
`⇥`	Indent or insert a tab
`⌥⇥`	Insert a tab or indent
`⇧⇥`	Outdent
`⌘[`	Decrease block indentation
`⌘]`	Increase block indentation
`⌥⌘↑`	Move selected line up
`⌥⌘↓`	Move selected line down

Formatting

Shortcut	Action
`⌘B`	Bold
`⌘I`	Italic
`⌥⌘U`	Strikethrough
`⇧⌘U`	Highlight
`⌘K`	Link
`⌥⌘K`	Image link
`⇧⌘K`	Wikilink
`⌃⌘K`	Footnote
`⌘J`	Code
`⇧⌘J`	Code block

Tables

Cell Selection

While editing a table, press ⇥ or ⏎ to select a whole cell. Typing replaces the selected contents.

Shortcut	Action
`⇥`	Select next cell
`⇧⇥`	Select previous cell
`⏎`	Select cell below
`⇧⏎`	Select cell above

At the last column, Tab can add a column. At the last row, Return can add a row. Press Return in an empty final row to leave the table.

Insert Rows and Columns

The ⌥-arrow shortcuts for inserting rows and columns work only when a whole cell is selected. Press ⇥ or ⏎ in the table first.

Shortcut	Action
`⌥←`	Insert column before
`⌥→`	Insert column after
`⌥↑`	Insert row above
`⌥↓`	Insert row below

Move and Delete Rows and Columns

These shortcuts work with the cursor in a table cell.

Shortcut	Action
`⌥⌘←`	Move column left
`⌥⌘→`	Move column right
`⌥⌘↑`	Move row up
`⌥⌘↓`	Move row down
`⌃⌘⌫`	Delete column
`⌥⌘⌫`	Delete row

Focus

Shortcut	Action
`⌘D`	Enable or disable Focus Mode
`⇧⌘D`	Enable or disable Syntax Highlight
`⌥⇧⌘D`	Enable or disable Style Checking
`⇧⌘A`	Show or hide Authorship

Copy and Paste

Shortcut	Action
`⌘C`	Copy selected text
`⌥⌘C`	Copy formatted selected text
`⇧⌘C`	Copy selected text as HTML
`⌃⌘C`	Copy selected text as Markdown (includes Content Blocks)
`⌘V`	Paste

Find

Shortcut	Action
`⌘F`	Find
`⌥⌘F`	Find and replace
`⌘E`	Use selection for find
`⌘G`	Find next
`⇧⌘G`	Find previous

Move Caret To

Shortcut	Action
`←`	Previous character
`→`	Next character
`↑`	Previous line
`↓`	Next line
`⌘←`	Start of line
`⌘→`	End of line
`⌘↑`	Start of document
`⌘↓`	End of document
`⌥←`	One word left
`⌥→`	One word right
`⌥↑`	Start of this or previous line
`⌥↓`	End of this or next line

Shortcut	Action
`⌥⌘←`	Start of this or previous sentence
`⌥⌘→`	End of this or next sentence

In a table, Option-Command-Left and Option-Command-Right move columns.

Shortcut	Action
`⌘+`	Make text larger
`⌘-`	Make text smaller
`⌘0`	Default text size

Export

Export and printing options.

Shortcut	Action
`⇧⌘E`	Export
`⌘P`	Print
`⌥⌘P`	Print plain text

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

macOS allows you to map menu items to non-reserved keyboard shortcuts.

For example, say you frequently use the Show in Library option found in the File menu. Mapping this to a keyboard shortcut would save you from having to move from the keyboard to the mouse/trackpad to select the option.

Let’s map Show in Library to ⌃S.

Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → App Shortcuts.
Click ＋ and choose iA Writer from the Application menu.
Enter Show in Library in Menu title, exactly as it appears in the app’s menu.
Click the Keyboard shortcut field and press ⌃S together.
Click Done.

Two screenshots side by side of macOS settings for app shortcuts.

When successful you’ll see the shortcut added next to the menu item in iA Writer and you’ll be able to trigger the action with your shortcut.

Side by side screenshots of the File menu before and after adding the custom shortcut.

Note that some key combinations will not work due to being mapped to system functions or other restrictions. If this happens, please repeat the steps above to re-map the menu item to a new key combination.

Basics

Markdown Guide

How to apply basic formatting in iA Writer simply by adding a few punctuation characters.

Features

An overview of iA Writer’s features on Mac, iPhone, iPad and Windows.

Settings

Learn how to tweak iA Writer’s settings to suit your needs.

FAQ

Below are answers to common questions. Everyone is special, but most questions that we get overlap.

Languages

Learn which languages iA Writer supports across its platforms, including spellcheck, Syntax Highlight and Style Check.

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