Keyboard Shortcuts Overview

[system]

Keyboard Shortcuts

Below you’ll find a complete list of all keyboard shortcuts in Agenda.

Agenda menu

Shortcut		Command
⌘ ,		Preferences…
⇧⌘ ⌫		Empty Trash…
⌃ L		Make App Private…
⇧⌃ L		Lock All Private Notes and Projects
⌘ H		Hide Agenda
⌥⌘ H		Hide Others
⌘ Q		Quit Agenda
⌥⌘ Q		Quit and Close All Windows

File menu

Shortcut		Command
⇧⌘ N		New Project…
⌥⌘ N		New Category…
⇧⌘ S		New Smart Overview From Search…
⌘ N		New Note
⌃⌘ N		New Note After Selected Note
⌘ O		Open in Separate Window
⌥ ⌘ O		Open in New Window
⌃ ⌘ O		Open in Full Screen Window
⌥ Space		Open Quickly… (also ⇧⌘ O)
⌘ W		Close Window
⌥⌘ W		Close All Windows
⌘ P		Print…
⌥⌘ P		Print Selected Notes…

Edit menu

Shortcut		Command
⌘ Z		Undo
⇧⌘ Z		Redo
⌘ X		Cut
⌘ C		Copy
⇧⌘ M		Copy as Markdown
⇧⌘ H		Copy as HTML
⇧⌘ L		Copy as Agenda Link
⌘ V		Paste
⌥⇧⌘ V		Paste and Match Style
⌘ ⌫		Delete
⌘ A		Select All
⇧⌃ ↑		Move Text Up
⇧⌃ ↓		Move Text Down
⌥ ⌘X		Cut Unchecked Items
⌥ ⌘C		Copy Unchecked Items
⌃⌘ C		Check / Uncheck Item
⌃⌥⌘ C		Check / Uncheck All Items
⌃⌘ B		Move Checked Items to Bottom
⌃ ⌥⌘ B		Move Unchecked Items to New Note
⌃⌘ R		Add Row Above
⌘ R		Add Row Below
⌃⌘ E		Add Column Before
⌘ E		Add Column After
⌘ F		Find…
⇧⌘ F		Find in All Projects
⌘ G		Find Next
⇧⌘ G		Find Previous
⌘ :		Show Spelling and Grammar
⌘ ;		Spell Check Document Now
fn fn		Start Dictation
⌃⌘ Space		Emoji & Symbols

Note menu

Shortcut		Command
⇧⌘ U		Mark as On the Agenda / Remove from On the Agenda
⌘ ⏎		Mark as Done / Undone
⌥⌘ ⏎		Mark as Done Completely (also Removes from On the Agenda)
⇧⌘ D		Assign Date…
⇧⌘ ⏎		Assign to Today
⇧⌘ K		Pin to Top / Unpin from Top
⌃⇧⌘ K		Make into Footnote / Unpin as Footnote
⌃⌘ ↑		Move to Before Previous Note
⌥⌃⌘ ↑		Move to Before First Note
⌃⌘ ↓		Move to After Next Note
⌥⌃⌘ ↓		Move to After Last Note
⌥⌘ ↑		Collapse
⌥⇧⌘ ↑		Collapse All
⌥⌘ ↓		Expand
⌥⇧⌘ ↓		Expand All
⌘ /		Precede by New Note / Split Note / Start New Note
⌥⌘ /		Merge Notes
⌘ D		Duplicate Note
⌥⌘ ⌫		Move to Trash

Insert menu

Shortcut		Command
⇧⌘ T / #		Tag
⇧⌘ P / @		Person
⇧⌘ R		Reminder
⇧⌘ Y		Star
⌃⌘,		Current Date
⌃⌘.		Current Time
⌃⌘H		Horizontal Rule
⌃⌘L		Table
⌘ K		Add Web Link…
⇧⌘ A		Attach File…

Format menu

Shortcut		Command
⌃⌘ 0		Body Text
⌃⌘ 1		Heading
⌃⌘ 2		Sub-Heading
⌃⌘ 3		Minor Heading
⌃⌘ 4		Minor Sub-Heading
⌃⌘ 5		Preformatted
⌃⌘ 6		Block Quote
⇧⌘ -		Dashed / Bullet List
⇧⌘ I		Numbered List
⇧⌘ C		Checklist
⌘ ]		Increase Indentation
⌘ [		Decrease Indentation
⌘ B		Bold
⌘ I		Italic
⌘ U		Underline
⌘ !		Highlight
⇧⌘ X		Strikethrough
⌘ L		Fixed Width
⌃⌘+		Superscript
⌃⌘-		Subscript

View menu

Shortcut		Command
⌘ 1		On The Agenda
⌘ 2		Today
⌘ 3..9		Select Smart Overviews in Sidebar
⌃ 1		Project List
⌃ 2		Table of Contents
⌘ T		Show Today’s Calendar
⌥⌘ T		Show Calendar Date…
⌥⌘ ←		Previous Day
⌥⌘ →		Next Day
⌘ 0		Use Standard Text Size
⌘ + / =		Increase Text Size
⌘ -		Decrease Text Size
⌥⌘ 0		Use Standard Text Spacing
⌥⌘ + / =		Enlarge Text Spacing
⌥⌘ -		Reduce Text Spacing
⌃⌘ T		Go to Today
⌃⌘ S		Go to Selected Note
⌃⌘ ←		Go Back in History
⌃⌘ →		Go Forward in History
⌥⌘ S		Show/Hide Projects Sidebar
⌥⌘ R		Show/Hide Related Panel
⌥⌘ I		Show/Hide Formatting Palette
⌥⇧⌘ I		Show/Hide Formatting Window
⌃⌘ F		Enter Full Screen

Window menu

Shortcut		Command
⌘ M		Minimize
⌥⌘ M		Minimize All
⇧⌘ 0		Main Window
⌥⇧⌘ T		Tags
⌥⇧⌘ P		People
⌥⇧⌘ C		Colors
⌥⇧⌘ Y		Templates
⌥ ⇧⌘ O		Stay on Top of Selected Note (Open in Floating Window)

Help menu

Shortcut		Command
⌘ ?		Agenda Community

Text Editing

Shortcut		Command
⌥/⌃/⇧ ⏎		Insert soft (non-paragraph-breaking) return character
⌥⇥		Insert tab character

Keyboard Navigation

While focus is on the project sidebar:

Shortcut		Command
⇥ / ⏎ / →		Shift focus to the notes list
↑		Select previous item
↓		Select next item

While focus is on the notes list:

Shortcut		Command
⏎		Begin editing the selected note
←		Shift focus to the project sidebar
→		Select note title
⇧ ⇥ / ↑		Select previous note
⇥ / ↓		Select next note
Escape		End editing the selected note

While focus is on the calendar popover:

Shortcut		Command
←		Select previous day (hold ⇧ to extend the selection)
→		Select next day (hold ⇧ to extend the selection)
⌥ ←		Go to previous month
⌥ →		Go to next month
↑		Select previous week (hold ⇧ to extend the selection)
↓		Select next week (hold ⇧ to extend the selection)
⌥ ↑		Go to previous year
⌥ ↓		Go to next year
⏎		Done / Save
Escape		Cancel

Modifiers

Symbol		Key
⌘		command
⌥		option/alt
⌃		control/ctrl
⇧		shift

App Tip

@lunkmoln

The app CheatSheet gives you a list of all shortcuts in any app by holding down the Cmd-key a few seconds.

@BruceN

I’ve been using this for a while as a crutch.You can also set it up show any custom kb shortcuts. Or just create a pdf of the cheat sheet.

GitHub - Anze/KeyCluCask: A simple and handy overview of application shortcuts · GitHub

Big thanks to @lunkmoln and @BruceN for the above tips!

Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

Did you know you can assign (and change) the keyboard shortcuts for Agenda yourself? For example you can re-assign the Open Quickly command a different shortcut by going to the System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts:

This works with any command, and also note that those are ellipses (… or ⌥ ;), not three periods.

When two menu items have the same name

Some names appear more than once in Agenda’s menus. For example there is a Red under Format > Highlight and another Red under Note > Mark with Color. If you just enter Red, macOS picks whichever it finds first, so you may end up colouring the whole note when you meant to highlight the selected text.

To remove the ambiguity, enter the full menu path in the Menu title field, using -> between the levels and no spaces around the arrows:

Format->Highlight->Red

That tells macOS exactly which Red you mean. Apple documents the syntax in Create keyboard shortcuts for apps on Mac.

Two things to watch out for, since the match has to be exact:

• Capitalisation and punctuation must match the menu exactly. For items ending in an ellipsis, that is a real … character, not three periods.
• Use a colour that actually exists in the menu. The Highlight colours are Accent Color, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Brown, Pink, Purple and Gray, plus any custom colours you have added. There is no Orange. If you enter a colour that isn’t there, nothing will match, and it looks like the path syntax failed when it didn’t.

Also worth knowing before you set anything up: Format > Highlight already has a built-in shortcut, ⇧⌘ 1. It toggles highlighting using your last-used colour. If you mostly stick to one colour, that may be all you need.

[chau]

Hello, thank you for these shortcuts. They are not only super helpful but also taught me some new Agenda features.

Just a quick question, when we select Preferences in the Agenda App, in Appearance there is an example of the appearance. I noted a green box for article (see screenshot). How do you do this? Or is this just a placeholder example for Command-K and attaching files? Thank you.

I noted a green box for article (see screenshot). How do you do this?

This is an attached file:

Shortcut		Command
⇧⌘ A		Attach File…

Once you have attached the file you can click/tap-and-hold it to reveal a set of options that includes showing it in so-called “inline” style. This will make it appear as a green token:

See also Attachments, Images and Drawings

[chau]

Perfect, thank you @mekentosj for your help and explanation. I am looking forward to try it out.

[GRH]

I installed CheatSheet on the Mac and though it works it does not show ALL the shortcuts of Agenda (as compared to the pdf)
Any idea what that is?
Best,
Gerald

[marcelocajueiro]

Hello,

Would be great to use CMD + [ and ] to go back and forward in history, just like any other browser. (I’m using the current existing shortcut)

[Pat_Maddox]

You can define custom shortcuts for any application in Application Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts and then go to the App Shortcuts section (more detailed instructions here). I have those exact shortcuts set up in fact:

[trebso]

This doesn’t include shortcuts like [[ - which I can’t find anywhere in the forum!

I know how to use [[ to add a link to another note, but I thought it could also be used to create a new note at the same time - but perhaps I’m imaginging that.

[kuenwei]

just tried and found below 2 shortcut don’t work on MacBook Air.

⌥⌃⌘ ↑ Move to Before First Note
⌥⌃⌘ ↓ Move to After Last Note

[mekentosj]

Thanks, we’ll take a look.

[mekentosj]

@kuenwei

just tried and found below 2 shortcut don’t work on MacBook Air.

⌥⌃⌘ ↑ Move to Before First Note
⌥⌃⌘ ↓ Move to After Last Note

Update: this should be fixed in the Agenda 16.1 update I believe.

[JonathanIM]

This is very helpful, thanks

[nm4hdrdxrw]

Hey ya all!
I have a problem regarding the shortcuts. I cant use any shortcut with the „^“. Any idea why? I tried many things, but it just won’t work. It is pretty annoying, because it really slows me down.
Thank you in forward for answers and ideas!

[drewmccormack]

That character indicates the “control” key. Are you using the control key. (It is not the typed letter ^)

[patrickrushton]

For the sake of muscle memory, I’ve changed my forward/back shortcuts to ⌘[ and ⌘] since those tend to be the macOS standard (in Safari, Finder, Preview, App Store, Settings, at least).

In Agenda those key combinations are pre-set for outdent/indent, but instead I just use (shift)-tab.

[d_chadwick]

I’m running into an issue here. I want to highlight different text in different colors, but AFAIK the only way to do that is to dig through Format > Highlight > (color) either from the main menu or from the context menu. That’s quite slow, so I figured I’d use the App Shortcuts feature in macOS to call up the color I want. So I created a shortcut for “Red”.

Well, the problem with that is that there’s another submenu item already called Red, which is under Note > Mark with Color. So when I invoke the shortcut I made for highlighting text, it just marks the entire note with that color.

On a future release of Agenda, you should consider differentiating the names of those sub-menu commands so the correct one can be invoked using the App Shortcuts control you recommend.

OR, add some native shortcuts to those items. (Seems to me it would be more desireable and perhaps easier to just rename them and let users assign their own shortcuts.)

[drewmccormack]

Good catch, and there’s a fix for this that doesn’t need any changes on our end.

macOS lets you specify a full menu path in the “Menu title” field, using → as the separator. So instead of just “Red”, enter:

Format->Highlight->Red

No spaces around the arrows. That tells macOS exactly which “Red” you mean, so it won’t grab Note > Mark with Color > Red any more.

Apple documents this here, if you want the details:

Create keyboard shortcuts for apps on Mac

Two things to watch out for, since the match has to be exact:

• Capitalisation and punctuation must match the menu exactly. For items ending in an ellipsis, that’s a real … character, not three periods.
• There’s no Orange in the Highlight menu. The colours are Accent Color, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Brown, Pink, Purple and Gray, plus any custom colours you’ve added. If you try a colour that isn’t there, nothing will match and it’ll look like the path syntax failed.

Also worth knowing: Format > Highlight already has a built-in shortcut, Cmd+! (Cmd+Shift+1). It toggles highlighting using your last-used colour. If you mostly stick to one colour, that may be all you need, and it works right away with no setup.

[d_chadwick]

Perfect, thanks for the prompt response! Now ⌃G gets me Green, etc. (I’m using different colors to call out text sections that require different kinds of work on my end, and shortcuts massively streamline that process)

[drewmccormack]

Glad that helped! Nice use case too.

[Roms]

I’ve created a simple PopClip extension for changing the text color that takes advantage of the custom shortcuts described above.

#popclip
name: Agenda TextColor
requirements: [text]
actions:
- title: Yellow
  icon: circle filled Y
  key combo: ctrl shift cmd Y
- title: Red
  icon: circle filled R
  key combo: ctrl shift cmd R
- title: Green
  icon: circle filled G
  key combo: ctrl shift cmd G

If you like using PopClip but don’t want to memorize all the shortcuts, you can copy the script, paste it into a text editor, and save it as a file named AgendaTextColor.popcliptxt. This script can be customized or expanded as desired. Then double-click the .popcliptxt file to open it, and the extension will be automatically activated in the PopClip app.

For this to work, you’ll need to create your own shortcuts that match the script, such as Ctrl+Shift+Cmd+Y for the color yellow, etc.