Keyboard shortcuts

You can use the canvas, menus and many controls without dragging. The keys below depend on where focus is. Tab moves forward through controls and Shift + Tab moves back. Close a text field or move focus out of it before using an app shortcut.

On a Mac, use Command. On Windows and Linux, use Ctrl for the corresponding combinations. Alt is called Option on a Mac keyboard.

App shortcuts#

These work outside text fields and editable text.

Quick search also accepts ⌘K on a Mac. Type at least two characters, use Up and Down to choose a result, and Enter to open it. Escape closes the box. It groups nodes, Pixls and pin notes; Search and go explains its scope and the broader Search window.

Keyboard shortcuts opens a small sheet with the app combinations. Escape or Close shortcuts closes it.

The browser uses combinations such as Command/Ctrl + L for its address bar. Use the combinations in this table for Glob Social. Text editing keeps its usual undo and redo keys; there is no canvas-wide undo history for rearrangements or deletion.

Navigate the canvas#

Tab to the canvas. It takes one stop in the Tab order. After you have focused a node, returning to the canvas can return to that node.

A visible ring marks keyboard focus. The view pans when needed to keep the focused node visible. Selection is different from travelling inside a node: use the entrance gestures in Nodes and the canvas and Pins.

Glob Time has its own keys on its timeline.

Move a node#

With a node focused, press M to pick it up. Use arrows to move it. Press Space or Enter to put it down; Escape restores its starting position.

The node must be movable. This canvas is read only. and [name] cannot be moved. identify restrictions. Keyboard controls follow the same editing permissions as pointer gestures.

Link or cut#

With a node focused, press L to start a connection. Use the arrows to focus the other end, then Enter to connect. Escape abandons the action.

Press X to cut a connection. The arrows move among its connected nodes; Enter cuts the selected connection. Escape cancels. These actions use the currently selected link or bridge kind. Links and moving nodes explains the difference.

Delete a selection#

Outside text entry, Delete or Backspace asks to delete the selected node or nodes. Read Delete this node? or Delete N nodes? before confirming.

A node menu's Delete is a separate route and removes the node immediately. Removing a pin removes its placement, not the target. Do not rely on a later canvas Undo to recover a removal.

Canvas chat takes Enter in some situations#

While signed in with canvas chat available, Enter or / opens Chat on the canvas when your pointer is over the canvas and focus is on the canvas or page background. That happens before the canvas's ordinary Enter action.

If Enter opens chat when you meant to select, link or cut, close chat with Escape and move the pointer outside the canvas before trying Enter again. When moving a node, Space is another way to put it down.

Inside the chat bar, Enter sends the line. Escape closes the bar and discards its current text. Sending can be refused even though your own bubble appeared; check the returned message. See Live rooms and presence.

Holding Shift outside text fields reveals node-body previews. Release it to return to the usual view. The narrow-screen Show note bodies control offers a persistent alternative.

Menus and popups#

On an entry that supports it, press Shift + F10 or the Menu key to open its menu. This includes canvas nodes, chat lines and many list entries.

On Color in a node menu, Right opens the colour flyout. Left or Escape returns from the flyout to its menu. Escape then closes the menu. Forms can have their own saved and unsaved states; read the buttons before closing them.

Escape closes the topmost dismissible popup first. When you are inside a node and there is no typing, gesture or popup using it, Escape can leave that place. At Home or the Nexus root, it does not take you to an outer canvas.

Text entry and tabs#

A new node's title field uses Enter to finish, Tab to continue into its editor, and Escape to leave title entry. Escape on an empty new title can abandon that empty node.

In the wall composer, Enter posts and Shift + Enter inserts a line break. Chat's emoticon suggestions use Up and Down to select, Tab or Enter to complete, and Escape to dismiss. Accepting a suggestion does not send that same Enter as a chat line.

Tab rows that support arrow navigation, including Freemarket categories, use Left and Right to change tabs; Home and End choose the first and last.

If a shortcut does nothing, check whether a field or menu has focus and whether you may perform the action. More ways to work with focus and reduced motion are in Accessibility.