Keybindings Overview

Claude Code Keybindings

Reference for keyboard shortcuts shipped with Claude Code, platform quirks, and how to customize them.

Table of Contents

1. How keybindings work
2. Global bindings
3. Chat bindings
4. Navigation bindings
5. Dialog & Menu Bindings
6. Platform quirks
7. Customization
8. Discrepancies & notes

Overview

18 contexts with 80+ shipped bindings across global, chat, selection, dialog, and specialized modes.

Context	Purpose	Primary Keys
Global	Always active	ctrl+c, ctrl+d, ctrl+l, ctrl+r, ctrl+shift+f
Chat	Chat input focus	enter, escape, meta+p, meta+o, meta+t
Autocomplete	Suggestion menu	tab, escape, up, down
Confirmation	Permission/choice dialogs	y, n, enter, escape, up, down
Settings	Settings panel	up, down, space, enter, /
Help	Help overlay	escape
Transcript	Transcript view	escape, q, ctrl+e, ctrl+c
HistorySearch	History search mode	ctrl+r, escape, tab, enter
Task	Running task/agent	ctrl+b
ThemePicker	Theme picker	ctrl+t
Tabs	Tab navigation	tab, shift+tab, left, right
Attachments	Image attachment nav	left, right, backspace, delete
Footer	Footer indicators (tasks, teams, diff)	up, down, left, right, enter
MessageSelector	Rewind/message selection	up, down, shift+up, shift+down, enter
DiffDialog	Diff viewer	left, right, up, down, enter, escape
ModelPicker	Model selection (ANT only)	left, right
Select	Generic list/choice	up, down, j, k, enter, escape
MessageActions	Message action menu (gated)	up, down, c, p, enter, escape

Quick Reference

All shipped bindings by key, with context, action, feature gate (if any), and platform.

Key	Action	Context	Feature Gate	Platform
ctrl+c	Interrupt	Global	—	All
ctrl+d	Exit	Global	—	All
ctrl+l	Redraw screen	Global	—	All
ctrl+t	Toggle todos	Global	—	All
ctrl+o	Toggle transcript	Global	—	All
ctrl+shift+b	Toggle brief	Global	KAIROS or KAIROS_BRIEF	All
ctrl+shift+o	Toggle teammate preview	Global	—	All
ctrl+r	History search	Global, HistorySearch	—	All
ctrl+shift+f	Global search	Global	QUICK_SEARCH	All
cmd+shift+f	Global search	Global	QUICK_SEARCH	All
ctrl+shift+p	Quick open	Global	QUICK_SEARCH	All
cmd+shift+p	Quick open	Global	QUICK_SEARCH	All
meta+j	Toggle terminal	Global	TERMINAL_PANEL	All
escape	Cancel prompt / dismiss dialog	Chat, Confirmation, Help, Transcript, HistorySearch, DiffDialog, MessageActions	—	All
ctrl+x ctrl+k	Kill agents	Chat	—	All
shift+tab	Cycle editor mode	Chat	—	Windows 24.2+, macOS, Linux
meta+m	Cycle editor mode	Chat	—	Windows <24.2
meta+p	Open model picker	Chat	—	All
meta+o	Toggle fast mode	Chat	—	All
meta+t	Toggle thinking	Chat	—	All
enter	Submit prompt / select item	Chat, Confirmation, HistorySearch, MessageSelector, DiffDialog, MessageActions, Select	—	All
up	History previous / navigate up	Chat, Confirmation, Settings, Tabs, Attachments, Footer, MessageSelector, Select, MessageActions, DiffDialog	—	All
down	History next / navigate down	Chat, Confirmation, Settings, Tabs, Attachments, Footer, MessageSelector, Select, MessageActions, DiffDialog	—	All
ctrl+_	Undo	Chat	—	All
ctrl+shift+-	Undo (Kitty protocol)	Chat	—	All
ctrl+x ctrl+e	Open external editor	Chat	—	All
ctrl+g	Open external editor	Chat	—	All
ctrl+s	Stash prompt	Chat	—	All
alt+v	Paste images	Chat	—	Windows
ctrl+v	Paste images	Chat	—	macOS, Linux
shift+up	Message actions / prev user msg	Chat, MessageSelector, MessageActions	MESSAGE_ACTIONS	All
space	Voice push-to-talk / toggle selection	Chat, Confirmation, Settings	VOICE_MODE (Chat only)	All
tab	Accept autocomplete / next field / next tab	Autocomplete, Confirmation, Tabs	—	All
shift+tab	Previous tab / cycle mode	Tabs, Confirmation	—	All
y	Confirm yes	Confirmation	—	All
n	Confirm no	Confirmation	—	All
ctrl+e	Toggle explanation / toggle syntax highlight	Confirmation, Transcript, ThemePicker	—	All
ctrl+d	Toggle permission debug info	Confirmation	—	All
/	Search settings	Settings	—	All
r	Retry loading usage data	Settings	—	All
j	Navigate down (vi-style)	Settings, MessageSelector, Select, MessageActions	—	All
k	Navigate up (vi-style)	Settings, MessageSelector, Select, MessageActions	—	All
ctrl+p	Previous / up	Settings, MessageSelector, Select, Footer	—	All
ctrl+n	Next / down	Settings, MessageSelector, Select, Footer	—	All
q	Exit transcript	Transcript	—	All
left	Previous item / prev file	Tabs, Attachments, Footer, DiffDialog, MessageSelector, ModelPicker	—	All
right	Next item / next file	Tabs, Attachments, Footer, DiffDialog, MessageSelector, ModelPicker	—	All
pageup	Page up	Scroll	—	All
pagedown	Page down	Scroll	—	All
wheelup	Scroll up one line	Scroll	—	All
wheeldown	Scroll down one line	Scroll	—	All
ctrl+home	Jump to top	Scroll	—	All
ctrl+end	Jump to bottom	Scroll	—	All
ctrl+shift+c	Copy selection	Scroll	—	All
cmd+c	Copy selection (kitty protocol)	Scroll	—	macOS, Linux, kitty
ctrl+b	Background task (tmux: press twice)	Task	—	All
meta+up	Jump to top / first item	MessageSelector, MessageActions	—	All
meta+down	Jump to bottom / last item	MessageSelector, MessageActions	—	All
super+up	Jump to top	MessageActions	—	All
super+down	Jump to bottom	MessageActions	—	All
shift+down	Next user message	MessageActions	MESSAGE_ACTIONS	All
ctrl+up	Jump to top	MessageSelector	—	All
ctrl+down	Jump to bottom	MessageSelector	—	All
shift+k	Jump to top (vi-style)	MessageSelector	—	All
shift+j	Jump to bottom (vi-style)	MessageSelector	—	All
c	Copy / accept action (MessageActions)	MessageActions	MESSAGE_ACTIONS	All
p	Paste / accept action (MessageActions)	MessageActions	MESSAGE_ACTIONS	All
ctrl+c	Exit message actions	MessageActions	MESSAGE_ACTIONS	All

Total bindings: 85+

See Also

• ../Settings/ui-display.md — UI display settings that affect key behavior.
• Commands — built-in commands including /keybindings.
• ../ENV/README.md — environment variables for terminal detection.
• Official docs: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/keyboard-shortcuts