# Notepad3 — Keyboard Shortcuts

A complete reference for the shortcuts wired into Notepad3 (`src/Notepad3.rc` accelerator table). The in-menu hint after each command is the live source of truth — if a future build moves a binding, the menu shows the current key first.

> Looking for a different keyboard reference?
> - **MiniPath** (the file-browser plugin, Ctrl+M): see [`minipath/KeyboardShortcuts.md`](minipath/KeyboardShortcuts.md).
> - **Command-line switches**: see [`cmdln/CmdLnOptions.md`](cmdln/CmdLnOptions.md).
> - **Regex syntax** (used in Find / Replace): see the section *"Regular Expression Syntax"* of [`cmdln/CmdLnOptions.md`](cmdln/CmdLnOptions.md), or the bundled `Build/Docs/Oniguruma_RE.txt`.
> - **What changed since Notepad2**: see the *"Migrating from Notepad2"* section of the [FAQ](faq/FAQ.md).

---

## Conventions

- **Modifier order** in this document: `Ctrl` → `Shift` → `Alt`. Notepad3 itself accepts any order.
- **Key spellings:** `←` `→` `↑` `↓` are the cursor arrows. `+` and `-` mean the regular keyboard keys; numeric-keypad equivalents are noted as `Num+`, `Num-`, `Num0`, etc., where they have a separate binding.
- **NP2** in the *Notes* column means "carried over unchanged from Notepad2"; **(orig-NP2: …)** means "this slot held a different action in Notepad2 — see the FAQ migration table for the full list".
- **Customising shortcuts** is not supported in Notepad3 (the table is compiled in). See the FAQ for workarounds.

---

## File

### File operations

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+N` | New (clear) document | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F4` | New (clear) document | Alias for `Ctrl+N` (no MDI in Notepad3) |
| `Ctrl+O` | Open file… | NP2 |
| `F5` | Reload current file from disk | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+S` | Save | NP2 |
| `F6` | Save as… | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F6` | Save a copy… | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+F6` | Save preserving original modification time | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+P` | Print… | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+M` | Run MiniPath file browser | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+H` | Open recent file (history)… | (orig-NP2: `Alt+H`) |
| `Alt+F4` | Exit Notepad3 | Standard Windows |
| `Esc` | Cancel auto-completion popup or active selection. If neither is active, optionally minimise / exit (configurable). | NP2 |
| `Shift+Esc` | Save current file and exit Notepad3 | NP2 |

### Path to clipboard

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+F9` | Copy filename only to clipboard | The IDM constant is named `INSERT_FILENAME` for historical reasons, but the action copies — it does not insert. |
| `Ctrl+Shift+F9` | Copy full path (directory + filename) to clipboard | Same naming caveat. |
| `Shift+F9` | Copy pathname to clipboard (legacy binding) | Identical to `Ctrl+Shift+F9` for saved files. For untitled documents, this one copies the localised "Untitled" placeholder. |

### Launch / external tools

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Shift+F` | Search in files (grepWin) | (orig-NP2: "Recode as default encoding") |
| `Alt+N` | Open a new empty Notepad3 window | NP2 |
| `Alt+Shift+N` | Duplicate current document into a new window (only when *Single File Instance* is off) | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+L` | Launch document with its associated application | NP2 |
| `Alt+L` | "Open with…" external program | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+R` | Run command… | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+1` | Web template 1 (configurable URL — pass selection / file path) | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+Shift+2` | Web template 2 | (N3) |

### Encoding

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `F8` | Recode (re-decode) — pick the source encoding to reload as | NP2. Internally loaded text is kept as UTF-8; this changes how the bytes were interpreted. |
| `F9` | Open the *Select Current Encoding* dialog | NP2 |
| `Shift+F8` | Reload as **UTF-8** | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+F8` | Reload an ASCII file as UTF-8 | NP2 |
| `Alt+F8` | Reload **without** parsing encoding tags or file variables | (N3) — useful when *mode: auto* etc. mis-triggers a lexer |
| `Ctrl+Shift+A` | Recode as system **ANSI** | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+O` | Recode as system **OEM** | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+F10` | Recode as **GB18030** | (N3) |

### Favorites

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Alt+I` | Open favorites… | NP2 |
| `Alt+K` | Add current file to favorites | NP2 |
| `Alt+F9` | Manage favorites… | NP2 |

---

## Edit

### Basic clipboard / undo

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Z` | Undo | NP2 |
| `Alt+Backspace` | Undo (alt) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Y` | Undo (alt) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Y` | Redo | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Z` | Redo (alt) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+X` | Cut selection — or **cut current line** if no selection (Visual-Studio style) | (orig-NP2: cut only when something selected) |
| `Shift+Del` | Cut (alt) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+C` | Copy selection — or **copy current line** if no selection | (orig-NP2: copy only when something selected) |
| `Alt+C` | Copy entire document | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+E` | Copy add (append selection to clipboard) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+V` | Paste | NP2 |
| `Shift+Ins` | Paste (alt) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+K` | Swap clipboard with selection | NP2 |
| `Del` | Clear selection | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+A` | Select all | NP2 |
| `Insert` | Toggle Insert / Overtype mode | Standard Scintilla; not advertised by the menu |

### Words

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Alt+Enter` | Complete word (autocomplete from buffer) | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+←` | Move caret one word left | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+→` | Move caret one word right | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Backspace` | Delete word **before** the caret | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Del` | Delete word **after** the caret | NP2 |

### Lines

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Alt+↑` | Move current line / selected block **up** | NP2 |
| `Alt+↓` | Move current line / selected block **down** | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+X` | Cut whole line(s) — even when only part is selected | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+C` | Copy whole line(s) — even when only part is selected | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+D` | Duplicate selection — or current line if no selection | NP2 |
| `Alt+D` | Transpose lines (swap current with the one above) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+D` | Delete current line | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Backspace` | Delete from caret to start of line | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Del` | Delete from caret to end of line | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+W` | Column wrap — break long lines at a column | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+I` | Split lines at spaces (rebreak text) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+J` | Join lines (single-space joiner) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+J` | Fuse lines (no space inserted) | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+Shift+J` | Join lines, preserve paragraph breaks | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+D` | Unite duplicate lines (remove duplicates within selection) | (N3) |
| `Alt+Y` | Merge consecutive empty lines into one | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+Y` | Merge consecutive blank-or-whitespace-only lines | (N3) |
| `Alt+R` | Remove all empty lines from selection | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+B` | Remove all blank-or-whitespace-only lines | (N3) |

### Block & indent

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Tab` | Indent selected block — or accept autocompletion when its popup is open, or insert a tab when caret is in plain text | NP2 |
| `Shift+Tab` | Unindent selected block | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Tab` | Insert a literal tab character (bypasses indent reformat) | NP2 |
| `Alt+B` | Pad lines with trailing spaces to longest-line width | NP2 |
| `Alt+Z` | Strip first character of each line | NP2 |
| `Alt+U` | Strip last character of each line | NP2 |
| `Alt+W` | Strip trailing blanks | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+P` | Compress runs of blanks to single space | NP2 |
| `Alt+M` | Modify lines (prefix / suffix dialog)… | NP2 |
| `Alt+J` | Align lines… | NP2 |
| `Alt+O` | Sort lines… | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+,` | Jump to selection start | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+.` | Jump to selection end | NP2 |

### Comments

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Q` | Toggle line comment | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+/` (or `Ctrl+Num/`) | Toggle line comment (alternative binding) | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+Alt+Q` | Add line comment (without toggling) | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Q` | Remove line comment (without toggling) | (N3) |
| `Alt+Shift+Q` | Block-edit line comments (multi-caret edit at comment start of each line) | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Q` | Toggle stream / block comment | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+/` (or `Ctrl+Shift+Num/`) | Toggle stream comment (alternative binding) | (N3) |

### Enclose selection

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl+1` | Enclose within `''` (single quotes) |
| `Ctrl+2` | Enclose within `""` (double quotes) |
| `Ctrl+3` | Enclose within `()` |
| `Ctrl+4` | Enclose within `[]` |
| `Ctrl+5` | Enclose within `{}` |
| `Ctrl+6` | Enclose within `` `` `` (backticks) |
| `Alt+Q` | Enclose with custom strings (before / after dialog)… |

### Convert (case, encoding, hex)

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Shift+U` | Selection → UPPERCASE | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+U` | Selection → lowercase | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+U` | Invert case | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+I` | Title Case | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+O` | Sentence case | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+T` | Convert spaces to tabs (everywhere in selection) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+S` | Convert tabs to spaces (everywhere in selection) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+T` | Convert **indent** spaces to tabs only | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+S` | Convert **indent** tabs to spaces only | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+E` | URL-encode selection | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+R` | URL-decode selection | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F10` | File-system path → URL (e.g. `C:\path` → `file:///C:/path`) | (N3) |
| `Alt+F10` | URL → file-system path | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+Alt+X` | Char → hex code | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+C` | Hex code → char | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+E` | Escape C special chars (`\n` etc.) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+R` | Unescape C special chars | NP2 |

### Insert

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Enter` | Insert new line **above** current line | (orig-NP2: new line with toggled auto-indent) |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Enter` | New line with **toggled** auto-indent option | (orig-NP2: `Ctrl+Enter`) |
| `Alt+X` | Insert HTML / XML tag… | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F8` | Insert encoding identifier comment | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F5` | Insert short date/time | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+F5` | Insert long date/time | NP2 |
| `Shift+F5` | Update existing timestamps in document (regex-driven) | NP2. Pattern is `[Settings2] TimeStampRegEx`. |

### Numbers

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Alt++` (or `Ctrl+Alt+Num+`) | Increase the number under the caret | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+-` (or `Ctrl+Alt+Num-`) | Decrease the number under the caret | NP2 |

### Find, Replace, Goto

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+F` | Find… | NP2 |
| `Alt+F3` | Save the current find text as the persistent default | NP2 |
| `F3` | Find next | NP2 |
| `Shift+F3` | Find previous | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F3` | Find next occurrence of the current selection | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+F3` | Find previous occurrence of the current selection | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+H` | Replace… | NP2 |
| `F4` | Replace next | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+G` | Goto line / column dialog | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+F` | Search in files (grepWin) | (orig-NP2: "Recode as default") |
| `Ctrl+B` | **Find matching brace** — if the caret is at a brace `()[]{}` jump to its match; if not at a brace, jump to the nearest enclosing opening brace. If a brace-block selection is active, the caret toggles between the two brace endpoints while preserving the selection. Shows a calltip if no match or no enclosing brace exists. | NP2+ |
| `Ctrl+Shift+B` | **Select to matching brace** — selects the brace pair enclosing the caret (inclusive of both braces). Repeated presses expand the selection outward one nesting level at a time. Pressing when the caret is at the closing brace of the current selection pivots the caret to the opening brace (same selection, reversed direction); pressing again when at the opening brace expands to the next outer pair. Shows a calltip if no match or no enclosing brace exists. | NP2+ |
| `Ctrl+Alt+F2` | Expand selection to next match | (orig-NP2: `F2`) |
| `Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F2` | Expand selection to previous match | (orig-NP2: `Shift+F2`) |

#### Inside the Find / Replace dialog

A dedicated accelerator table applies while the modeless Find/Replace window has focus:

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl+F` | Switch to *Find* tab |
| `Ctrl+H` | Switch to *Replace* tab |
| `F3` | Find next (without leaving the dialog) |
| `Shift+F3` | Find previous |
| `Alt+F3` | Save current pattern as default |
| `F4` | Replace next |
| `Ctrl+S` | Save dialog window position |
| `Ctrl+R` | Reset dialog window position |

### Bookmarks

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `F2` | Goto next bookmark | (orig-NP2: expand selection to next match — moved to `Ctrl+Alt+F2`) |
| `Shift+F2` | Goto previous bookmark | (orig-NP2: expand selection to previous match) |
| `Ctrl+F2` | Toggle bookmark on current line | (N3) |
| `Alt+F2` | Clear all bookmarks | (N3) |

### Selection

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Space` | Select word at caret — or whole line if word already selected | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+Space` | Multi-select all matches of word at caret | (N3) |
| `Alt+Shift+Arrows` | Rectangular selection | NP2 |
| `Alt+Left-mouse-drag` | Rectangular selection | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+.` | Copy GUID to clipboard | (N3). The IDM is named `INSERT_GUID` for historical reasons but the action copies. |

### Mouse

| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl`-click on a hyperlink / URL hotspot | Open in default browser |
| `Alt`-click on a hyperlink | Load target as a file in Notepad3 |
| `Ctrl`-click on a colour swatch (when colour-hotspot highlighting is on) | Open the colour picker |
| `Ctrl`-mouse-wheel | Zoom in / out |

---

## View

### Visual aids

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+W` | Toggle word wrap | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+L` | Toggle long-line marker | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+G` | Toggle indentation guides | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+7` | Toggle wrap symbols | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+8` | Toggle whitespace markers | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+9` | Toggle line-ending markers | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+W` | Toggle hyperlink hotspots | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+Shift+V` | Toggle visual brace matching | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+I` | Highlight current line | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+N` | Toggle line numbers | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+M` | Toggle bookmark margin | NP2 |

### Mark occurrences

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| `Alt+A` | Toggle "mark all occurrences" of current word |

### Folding

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Alt+F` | Toggle all folds (collapse / expand all) |
| `Alt++` | Jump to next fold point |
| `Alt+-` | Jump to previous fold point |
| `Alt+←` | Collapse current fold |
| `Alt+→` | Expand current fold |

### Display navigation

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Alt+V` | Focused View — show only lines matching word/selection | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+PgUp` / `Ctrl+PgDn` | Goto previous / next block (paragraph or fold) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+PgUp` / `Ctrl+Shift+PgDn` | Select to previous / next block | NP2 |
| `Alt+PageUp` | Paragraph navigation up | (N3) |
| `Alt+PageDown` | Paragraph navigation down | (N3) |
| `Ctrl+↑` | Scroll one line up (without moving caret) | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+↓` | Scroll one line down (without moving caret) | NP2 |

### Zoom

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| `Ctrl++` (or `Ctrl+Num+`) | Zoom in |
| `Ctrl+-` (or `Ctrl+Num-`) | Zoom out |
| `Ctrl+0` (or `Ctrl+Num0`) | Reset zoom to 100 % |

### Window position

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Shift+K` | Copy current window position to clipboard as `/p x,y,cx,cy` switch | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+P` | Snap window to default position on current monitor | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F11` | Snap window to internal initial-default position | (N3) |
| `F11` | Toggle full-area window (full-screen) | (N3) |

---

## Appearance

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `F12` | Select syntax scheme for current file | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+F12` | Customize schemes (colours, fonts, …) | NP2 |
| `Shift+F12` | Switch to the secondary common base scheme | NP2 |
| `Shift+F11` | Force *Default Text* (no syntax) on current file | (N3) |
| `Alt+F12` | Change the global default font | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+F12` | Change the **active scheme's** default font | (N3) |

---

## Settings

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+T` | Tab settings (tab width, indent width, tabs↔spaces)… | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Shift+H` | Toggle automatic close of HTML / XML tags | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+Alt+A` | Toggle accelerated word navigation (alternate word separators) | (N3) |
| `Alt+F5` | File-change notification settings… | NP2 |

### Window-level toggles

| Shortcut | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `Ctrl+Shift+L` | Toggle "reuse window" for next launch | NP2 |
| `Alt+T` | Toggle "always on top" | NP2 |
| `Alt+G` | Toggle transparent mode | NP2 |
| `Ctrl+9` | Display selected text excerpt in window title | NP2 |

### Configuration file

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| `F7` | Save settings now (write `Notepad3.ini`) |
| `Ctrl+F7` | Open `Notepad3.ini` in the editor |

---

## Help

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| `F1` | Open online documentation |
| `Shift+F1` | About dialog |

---

## Cheatsheet — function keys at a glance

A compact summary of the function-key family (most frequent collisions):

| Key | Plain | Ctrl | Shift | Alt | Ctrl+Shift | Ctrl+Alt | Ctrl+Shift+Alt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `F1` | Online docs | — | About | — | — | — | — |
| `F2` | Goto next bookmark | Toggle bookmark | Goto prev bookmark | Clear all bookmarks | — | Expand sel to next match | Expand sel to prev match |
| `F3` | Find next | Find next selection | Find previous | Save find text | Find prev selection | — | — |
| `F4` | Replace next | New (clear) doc | — | Exit | — | — | — |
| `F5` | Reload file | Insert short date | Update timestamps | File-change notify | Insert long date | — | — |
| `F6` | Save as | Save copy | — | — | — | Save preserving mtime | — |
| `F7` | Save settings now | Open INI | — | — | — | — | — |
| `F8` | Recode (encoding) | Insert encoding ID | Reload as UTF-8 | Skip encoding tags | Reload ASCII as UTF-8 | — | — |
| `F9` | Encoding dialog | Copy filename | Copy path | Manage favorites | Copy full path | — | — |
| `F10` | (system menu) | Path → URL | — | URL → Path | Recode GB18030 | — | — |
| `F11` | Fullscreen toggle | Initial position | Default text scheme | — | — | — | — |
| `F12` | Pick scheme | Customize schemes | 2nd common base | Default font | — | Scheme default font | — |

---

## See also

- [`faq/FAQ.md`](faq/FAQ.md) — *"Migrating from Notepad2"* lists every shortcut whose meaning was reassigned, plus the **why**.
- [`cmdln/CmdLnOptions.md`](cmdln/CmdLnOptions.md) — full command-line reference.
- [`config/Configuration.md`](config/Configuration.md) — `[Settings2]` keys that affect editor behaviour.
- [`minipath/KeyboardShortcuts.md`](minipath/KeyboardShortcuts.md) — keyboard shortcuts for the bundled MiniPath file browser.
- `Build/Docs/KeyboardShortcuts.txt` — the plain-text version that ships with releases (auto-derived; this Markdown is the canonical edited copy).