1---
  2title: Key Bindings and Shortcuts - Zed
  3description: Customize Zed's keyboard shortcuts. Rebind actions, create key sequences, and set context-specific bindings.
  4---
  5
  6# Key bindings
  7
  8Zed's key binding system is fully customizable. You can rebind any action, create key sequences, and define context-specific bindings.
  9
 10## Predefined Keymaps
 11
 12If you're used to a specific editor's defaults, you can change your `base_keymap` through the settings window ({#kb zed::OpenSettings}) or directly through your `settings.json` file ({#kb zed::OpenSettingsFile}).
 13We currently support:
 14
 15- VS Code (default)
 16- Atom
 17- Emacs (Beta)
 18- JetBrains
 19- Sublime Text
 20- TextMate
 21- Cursor
 22- None (disables _all_ key bindings)
 23
 24This setting can also be changed via the command palette through the `zed: toggle base keymap selector` action.
 25
 26You can also enable `vim_mode` or `helix_mode`, which add modal bindings.
 27For more information, see the documentation for [Vim mode](./vim.md) and [Helix mode](./helix.md).
 28
 29## Keymap Editor
 30
 31You can access the keymap editor through the {#kb zed::OpenKeymap} action or by running {#action zed::OpenKeymap} action from the command palette. You can easily add or change a keybind for an action with the `Change Keybinding` or `Add Keybinding` button on the command pallets left bottom corner.
 32
 33In there, you can see all of the existing actions in Zed as well as the associated keybindings set to them by default.
 34
 35You can also customize them right from there, either by clicking on the pencil icon that appears when you hover over a particular action, by double-clicking on the action row, or by pressing the `enter` key.
 36
 37Anything that you end up doing on the keymap editor also gets reflected on the `keymap.json` file.
 38
 39## User Keymaps
 40
 41The keymap file is stored in the following locations for each platform:
 42
 43- macOS/Linux: `~/.config/zed/keymap.json`
 44- Windows: `~\AppData\Roaming\Zed/keymap.json`
 45
 46You can open the keymap with the {#action zed::OpenKeymapFile} action from the command palette.
 47
 48This file contains a JSON array of objects with `"bindings"`.
 49If no `"context"` is set, the bindings are always active.
 50If it is set, the binding is only active when the [context matches](#contexts).
 51
 52Within each binding section, a [key sequence](#keybinding-syntax) is mapped to [an action](#actions).
 53If conflicts are detected, they are resolved as [described below](#precedence).
 54
 55If you are using a non-QWERTY, Latin-character keyboard, you may want to set `use_key_equivalents` to `true`. See [Non-QWERTY keyboards](#non-qwerty-keyboards) for more information.
 56
 57For example:
 58
 59```json [keymap]
 60[
 61  {
 62    "bindings": {
 63      "ctrl-right": "editor::SelectLargerSyntaxNode",
 64      "ctrl-left": "editor::SelectSmallerSyntaxNode"
 65    }
 66  },
 67  {
 68    "context": "ProjectPanel && not_editing",
 69    "bindings": {
 70      "o": "project_panel::Open"
 71    }
 72  }
 73]
 74```
 75
 76You can see all of Zed's default bindings for each platform in the default keymaps files:
 77
 78- [macOS](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-macos.json)
 79- [Windows](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-windows.json)
 80- [Linux](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-linux.json).
 81
 82If you want to debug problems with custom keymaps, you can use `dev: Open Key Context View` from the command palette.
 83Please file [an issue](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed) if you run into something you think should work but isn't.
 84
 85### Keybinding Syntax
 86
 87Zed has the ability to match against not just a single keypress, but a sequence of keys typed in order. Each key in the `"bindings"` map is a sequence of keypresses separated with a space.
 88
 89Each keypress is a sequence of modifiers followed by a key. The modifiers are:
 90
 91- `ctrl-` The control key
 92- `cmd-`, `win-` or `super-` for the platform modifier (Command on macOS, Windows key on Windows, and the Super key on Linux).
 93- `alt-` for alt (option on macOS)
 94- `shift-` The shift key
 95- `fn-` The function key
 96- `secondary-` Equivalent to `cmd` when Zed is running on macOS and `ctrl` when on Windows and Linux
 97
 98The keys can be any single Unicode codepoint that your keyboard generates (for example `a`, `0`, `£` or `ç`), or any named key (`tab`, `f1`, `shift`, or `cmd`). If you are using a non-Latin layout (e.g. Cyrillic), you can bind either to the Cyrillic character or the Latin character that key generates with `cmd` pressed.
 99
100A few examples:
101
102```json [settings]
103 "bindings": {
104   "cmd-k cmd-s": "zed::OpenKeymap", // matches ⌘-k then ⌘-s
105   "space e": "editor::Complete", // type space then e
106   "ç": "editor::Complete", // matches ⌥-c
107   "shift shift": "file_finder::Toggle", // matches pressing and releasing shift twice
108 }
109```
110
111The `shift-` modifier can only be used in combination with a letter to indicate the uppercase version. For example, `shift-g` matches typing `G`. Although on many keyboards shift is used to type punctuation characters like `(`, the keypress is not considered to be modified, and so `shift-(` does not match.
112
113The `alt-` modifier can be used on many layouts to generate a different key. For example, on a macOS US keyboard, the combination `alt-c` types `ç`. You can match against either in your keymap file, though by convention, Zed spells this combination as `alt-c`.
114
115It is possible to match against typing a modifier key on its own. For example, `shift shift` can be used to implement JetBrains' 'Search Everywhere' shortcut. In this case, the binding happens on key release instead of on keypress.
116
117### Contexts
118
119If a binding group has a `"context"` key, it will be matched against the currently active contexts in Zed.
120
121Zed's contexts make up a tree, with the root being `Workspace`. Workspaces contain Panes and Panels, and Panes contain Editors, etc. The easiest way to see what contexts are active at a given moment is the key context view, which you can get to with the `dev: open key context view` command in the command palette.
122
123For example:
124
125```
126# in an editor, it might look like this:
127Workspace os=macos keyboard_layout=com.apple.keylayout.QWERTY
128  Pane
129    Editor mode=full extension=md vim_mode=insert
130
131# in the project panel
132Workspace os=macos
133  Dock
134    ProjectPanel not_editing
135```
136
137Context expressions can contain the following syntax:
138
139- `X && Y`, `X || Y` to and/or two conditions
140- `!X` to check that a condition is false
141- `(X)` for grouping
142- `X > Y` to match if an ancestor in the tree matches X and this layer matches Y.
143
144For example:
145
146- `"context": "Editor"` - matches any editor (including inline inputs)
147- `"context": "Editor && mode == full"` - matches the main editors used for editing code
148- `"context": "!Editor && !Terminal"` - matches anywhere except where an Editor or Terminal is focused
149- `"context": "os == macos > Editor"` - matches any editor on macOS.
150
151It's worth noting that attributes are only available on the node they are defined on. This means that if you want to (for example) only enable a keybinding when the debugger is stopped in vim normal mode, you need to do `debugger_stopped > vim_mode == normal`.
152
153> Note: Before Zed v0.197.x, the `!` operator only looked at one node at a time, and `>` meant "parent" not "ancestor". This meant that `!Editor` would match the context `Workspace > Pane > Editor`, because (confusingly) the Pane matches `!Editor`, and that `os == macos > Editor` did not match the context `Workspace > Pane > Editor` because of the intermediate `Pane` node.
154
155If you're using Vim mode, we have information on how [vim modes influence the context](./vim.md#contexts). Helix mode is built on top of Vim mode and uses the same contexts.
156
157### Actions
158
159Almost all of Zed's functionality is exposed as actions.
160Although there is no explicitly documented list, you can find most of them by searching in the command palette, by looking in the default keymaps for [macOS](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-macos.json), [Windows](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-windows.json) or [Linux](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/main/assets/keymaps/default-linux.json), or by using Zed's autocomplete in your keymap file.
161
162Most actions do not require any arguments, and so you can bind them as strings: `"ctrl-a": "language_selector::Toggle"`. Some require a single argument and must be bound as an array: `"cmd-1": ["workspace::ActivatePane", 0]`. Some actions require multiple arguments and are bound as an array of a string and an object: `"ctrl-a": ["pane::DeploySearch", { "replace_enabled": true }]`.
163
164### Precedence
165
166When multiple keybindings have the same keystroke and are active at the same time, precedence is resolved in two ways:
167
168- Bindings that match on lower nodes in the context tree win. This means that if you have a binding with a context of `Editor`, it will take precedence over a binding with a context of `Workspace`. Bindings with no context match at the lowest level in the tree.
169- If there are multiple bindings that match at the same level in the tree, then the binding defined later takes precedence. As user keybindings are loaded after system keybindings, this allows user bindings to take precedence over built-in keybindings.
170
171The other kind of conflict that arises is when you have two bindings, one of which is a prefix of the other. For example, if you have `"ctrl-w":"editor::DeleteToNextWordEnd"` and `"ctrl-w left":"editor::DeleteToEndOfLine"`.
172
173When this happens, and both bindings are active in the current context, Zed will wait for 1 second after you type `ctrl-w` to see if you're about to type `left`. If you don't type anything, or if you type a different key, then `DeleteToNextWordEnd` will be triggered. If you do, then `DeleteToEndOfLine` will be triggered.
174
175### Non-QWERTY keyboards
176
177Zed's support for non-QWERTY keyboards is still a work in progress.
178
179If your keyboard can type the full ASCII range (DVORAK, COLEMAK, etc.), then shortcuts should work as you expect.
180
181Otherwise, read on...
182
183#### macOS
184
185On Cyrillic, Hebrew, Armenian, and other keyboards that are mostly non-ASCII, macOS automatically maps keys to the ASCII range when `cmd` is held. Zed takes this a step further, and it can always match key-presses against either the ASCII layout or the real layout, regardless of modifiers and the `use_key_equivalents` setting. For example, in Thai, pressing `ctrl-ๆ` will match bindings associated with `ctrl-q` or `ctrl-ๆ`.
186
187On keyboards that support extended Latin alphabets (French AZERTY, German QWERTZ, etc.), it is often not possible to type the entire ASCII range without `option`. This introduces an ambiguity: `option-2` produces `@`. To ensure that all the built-in keyboard shortcuts can still be typed on these keyboards, we move key bindings around. For example, shortcuts bound to `@` on QWERTY are moved to `"` on a Spanish layout. This mapping is based on the macOS system defaults and can be seen by running `dev: open key context view` from the command palette.
188
189If you are defining shortcuts in your personal keymap, you can opt into the key equivalent mapping by setting `use_key_equivalents` to `true` in your keymap:
190
191```json [keymap]
192[
193  {
194    "use_key_equivalents": true,
195    "bindings": {
196      "ctrl->": "editor::Indent" // parsed as ctrl-: when a German QWERTZ keyboard is active
197    }
198  }
199]
200```
201
202### Linux
203
204Since v0.196.0, on Linux, if the key that you type doesn't produce an ASCII character, then we use the QWERTY-layout equivalent key for keyboard shortcuts. This means that many shortcuts can be typed on many layouts.
205
206We do not yet remap shortcuts so every built-in shortcut is typeable on every layout. If your layout cannot type some ASCII characters, you may need custom key bindings. We plan to improve this.
207
208## Tips and tricks
209
210### Disabling a binding
211
212If you'd like a given binding to do nothing in a given context, you can use
213`null` as the action. This is useful if you hit the key binding by accident and
214want to disable it, or if you want to type the character that would be typed by
215the sequence, or if you want to disable multikey bindings starting with that key.
216
217```json [keymap]
218[
219  {
220    "context": "Workspace",
221    "bindings": {
222      "cmd-r": null // cmd-r will do nothing when the Workspace context is active
223    }
224  }
225]
226```
227
228A `null` binding follows the same precedence rules as normal actions, so it disables all bindings that would match further up in the tree too. If you'd like a binding that matches further up in the tree to take precedence over a lower binding, you need to rebind it to the action you want in the context you want.
229
230This is useful for preventing Zed from falling back to a default key binding when the action you specified is conditional and propagates. For example, `buffer_search::DeployReplace` only triggers when the search bar is not in view. If the search bar is in view, it would propagate and trigger the default action set for that key binding, such as opening the right dock. To prevent this from happening:
231
232```json [keymap]
233[
234  {
235    "context": "Workspace",
236    "bindings": {
237      "cmd-r": null // cmd-r will do nothing when the search bar is in view
238    }
239  },
240  {
241    "context": "Workspace",
242    "bindings": {
243      "cmd-r": "buffer_search::DeployReplace" // cmd-r will deploy replace when the search bar is not in view
244    }
245  }
246]
247```
248
249### Remapping keys
250
251A common request is to be able to map from a single keystroke to a sequence. You can do this with the `workspace::SendKeystrokes` action.
252
253```json [keymap]
254[
255  {
256    "bindings": {
257      // Move down four times
258      "alt-down": ["workspace::SendKeystrokes", "down down down down"],
259      // Expand the selection (editor::SelectLargerSyntaxNode);
260      // copy to the clipboard; and then undo the selection expansion.
261      "cmd-alt-c": [
262        "workspace::SendKeystrokes",
263        "ctrl-shift-right ctrl-shift-right ctrl-shift-right cmd-c ctrl-shift-left ctrl-shift-left ctrl-shift-left"
264      ]
265    }
266  },
267  {
268    "context": "Editor && vim_mode == insert",
269    "bindings": {
270      "j k": ["workspace::SendKeystrokes", "escape"]
271    }
272  }
273]
274```
275
276There are some limitations to this, notably:
277
278- Any asynchronous operation will not happen until after all your key bindings have been dispatched. For example, this means that while you can use a binding to open a file (as in the `cmd-alt-r` example), you cannot send further keystrokes and hope to have them interpreted by the new view.
279- Other examples of asynchronous things are: opening the command palette, communicating with a language server, changing the language of a buffer, anything that hits the network.
280- There is a limit of 100 simulated keys at a time.
281
282The argument to `SendKeystrokes` is a space-separated list of keystrokes (using the same syntax as above). Due to the way that keystrokes are parsed, any segment that is not recognized as a keypress will be sent verbatim to the currently focused input field.
283
284If the argument to `SendKeystrokes` contains the binding used to trigger it, it will use the next-highest-precedence definition of that binding. This allows you to extend the default behavior of a key binding.
285
286### Forward keys to terminal
287
288If you're on Linux or Windows, you might find yourself wanting to forward key combinations to the built-in terminal instead of them being handled by Zed.
289
290For example, `ctrl-n` creates a new tab in Zed on Linux. If you want to send `ctrl-n` to the built-in terminal when it's focused, add the following to your keymap:
291
292```json [settings]
293{
294  "context": "Terminal",
295  "bindings": {
296    "ctrl-n": ["terminal::SendKeystroke", "ctrl-n"]
297  }
298}
299```
300
301### Task Key bindings
302
303You can also bind keys to launch Zed Tasks defined in your `tasks.json`.
304See the [tasks documentation](tasks.md#custom-keybindings-for-tasks) for more.