Keyboard navigation shortcuts¶

This page details keyboard navigation for people who cannot use a mouse or other pointing device, or who want to use a keyboard as much as possible. For keyboard shortcuts that are useful to all users, see Useful keyboard shortcuts instead.

Tip

If you cannot use a pointing device like a mouse, you can control the mouse pointer using the numeric keypad on your keyboard. See Click and move the mouse pointer using the keypad for details.

Navigate user interfaces¶

Keys	Action
`Tab` and `Ctrl`+`Tab`	Move keyboard focus between different controls. `Ctrl`+`Tab` moves between groups of controls, such as from a sidebar to the main content. `Ctrl`+`Tab` can also break out of a control that uses `Tab` itself, such as a text area. Hold down `Shift` to move focus in reverse order.
Arrow keys	Move selection between items in a single control, or among a set of related controls. Use the arrow keys to focus buttons in a toolbar, select items in a list or grid view, or select a radio button from a group.
`Ctrl`+Arrow keys	In a list or grid view, move the keyboard focus to another item without changing which item is selected.
`Shift`+Arrow keys	In a list or grid view, select all items from the currently selected item to the newly focused item. In a tree view, items that have children can be expanded or collapsed, to show or hide their children: expand by pressing `Shift`+`→`, and collapse by pressing `Shift`+`←`.
`Space`	Activate a focused item such as a button, check box, or list item.
`Ctrl`+`Space`	In a list or grid view, select or deselect the focused item without deselecting other items.
`Alt`	Hold down the `Alt` key to reveal accelerators: underlined letters on menu items, buttons, and other controls. Press `Alt` plus the underlined letter to activate a control, just as if you had clicked on it.
`Esc`	Exit a menu, popup, switcher, or dialog window.
`F10`	Open the first menu on the menu bar of a window. Use the arrow keys to navigate the menus.
`Shift`+`F10` or `Menu`	Pop up the context menu for the current selection, as if you had right-clicked.
`Ctrl`+`F10`	In the file manager, pop up the context menu for the current folder, as if you had right-clicked on the background and not on any item.
`Ctrl`+`PageUp` and `Ctrl`+`PageDown`	In a tabbed interface, switch to the tab to the left or right.

Navigate the desktop¶

Keys	Action
The `Super` key	Switch between the Activities overview and desktop. In the overview, start typing to instantly search your applications, contacts, and documents.
`Super`+`Tab`	Quickly switch between windows. Hold down `Shift` for reverse order.
`Super`+`	Switch between windows from the same application, or from the selected application after `Super`+`Tab`. This shortcut uses ` on US keyboards, where the ` key is above `Tab`. On all other keyboards, the shortcut is `Super` plus the key above `Tab`.
`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`Tab`	Give keyboard focus to the top bar. In the Activities overview, switch keyboard focus between the top bar, dash, windows overview, applications list, and search field. Use the arrow keys to navigate.
`Super`+`Page Up` and `Super`+`Page Down`	Switch between workspaces.
`Alt`+`F6`	Cycle through windows in the same application. Hold down the `Alt` key and press `F6` until the window you want is highlighted, then release `Alt`. This is similar to the `Alt`+` feature.
`Alt`+`Esc`	Cycle through all open windows on a workspace.
`Super`+`V`	Open the notification list. Press `Esc` to close.

Navigate windows¶

Keys	Action
`Alt`+`F4`	Close the current window.
`Alt`+`F5` or `Super`+`↓`	Restore a maximized window to its original size. Use `Alt`+`F10` to maximize. `Alt`+`F10` both maximizes and restores.
`Alt`+`F7`	Move the current window. Press `Alt`+`F7`, then use the arrow keys to move the window. Press `Enter` to finish moving the window, or `Esc` to return it to its original place.
`Alt`+`F8`	Resize the current window. Press `Alt`+`F8`, then use the arrow keys to resize the window. Press `Enter` to finish resizing the window, or `Esc` to return it to its original size.
`Shift`+`Super`+`Page Up` and `Shift`+`Super`+`Page Down`	Move the current window to a different workspace.
`Shift`+`Super`+`←`	Move the current window one monitor to the left.
`Shift`+`Super`+`→`	Move the current window one monitor to the right.
`Alt`+`F10` or `Super`+`↑`	Maximize a window. Press `Alt`+`F10` or `Super`+`↓` to restore a maximized window to its original size.
`Super`+`H`	Minimize a window.
`Super`+`←`	Maximize a window vertically along the left side of the screen. Press again to restore the window to its previous size. Press `Super`+`→` to switch sides.
`Super`+`→`	Maximize a window vertically along the right side of the screen. Press again to restore the window to its previous size. Press `Super`+`←` to switch sides.
`Alt`+`Space`	Pop up the window menu, as if you had right-clicked on the title bar.