Use keyboard shortcuts (Block Editor)

Several keyboard shortcuts are available for you in WordPress visual (block) editor. These shortcuts allow you to do simple tasks without reaching for your mouse.

You can access the list of all the available shortcuts by clicking Shift + Alt + H  or ⌃ + ⌥ + H

Windows

Global Shortcuts

Switch between visual editor and code editor	Ctrl + Shift + Alt + M
Toggle fullscreen mode	Ctrl + Shift + Alt + F
Open the block list view	Shift + Alt + O
Show or hide the settings sidebar	Ctrl + Shift + ,
Navigate to the next part of the editor	Ctrl + ` Shift + Alt + N
Navigate to the previous part of the editor	Ctrl + Shift + ` Shift + Alt + P
Navigate to the nearest toolbar	Alt + F10
Save your changes	Ctrl + S
Undo your last changes	Ctrl + Z
Redo your last undo	Ctrl + Shift + Z

Selection shortcuts

Select all text / blocks when typing	Ctrl + A
Clear selection	escape
Unselect selected blocks	double escape

Block shortcuts

Duplicate the selected block(s)	Ctrl + Shift + D
Unselect selected block(s)	double escape
Remove the selected block(s)	Shift + Alt + Z
Insert a new block before the selected block(s)	Ctrl + Alt + T
Insert a new block after the selected block(s)	Ctrl + Alt + Y
Remove multiple selected blocks	del backspace
Move the selected block(s) up	Ctrl + Shift + Alt + T
Move the selected block(s) down	Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Y
Change the block type after adding a new paragraph	/

Text formatting

Make the selected text bold	Ctrl + B
Make the selected text italic	Ctrl + I
Convert the selected text into a link	Ctrl + K
Add a link selected from available links	[[
Remove a link	Ctrl + Shift + K
Underline the selected text	Ctrl + U

Mac

Global shortcuts

Switch between visual editor and code editor	⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + M
Toggle fullscreen mode	⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + F
Open the block list view	⌃ + ⌥ + O
Show or hide the settings sidebar	⇧ + ⌘ + ,
Navigate to the next part of the editor	⌃ + ` ⌃ + ⌥ + N
Navigate to the previous part of the editor	⌃ + ⇧ + ` ⌃ + ⌥ + P
Navigate to the nearest toolbar	⌥ + F10
Save your changes	⌘ + S
Undo your last changes	⌘ + Z
Redo your last undo	⇧ + ⌘ + Z

Selection shortcuts

Select all text / blocks when typing	⌘ + A
Clear selection	escape

Block shortcuts

Duplicate the selected block(s)	⇧ + ⌘ + D
Unselect selected blocks	double escape
Remove the selected block(s)	⌃ + ⌥ + Z
Insert a new block before the selected block(s)	⌥ + ⌘ + T
Insert a new block after the selected block(s)	⌥ + ⌘ + Y
Remove multiple selected blocks	del backspace
Move the selected block(s) up	⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + T
Move the selected block(s) down	⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + Y
Change the block type after adding a new paragraph	/

Text formatting

Make the selected text bold	⌘ + B
Make the selected text italic	⌘ + I
Convert the selected text into a link	⌘ + K
Add a link selected from available links	[[
Remove a link	⇧ + ⌘ + K
Underline the selected text	⌘ + U

Block editor keyboard shortcuts are divided into four parts:

1. Global shortcuts
2. Selection shortcuts
3. Block shortcuts
4. Text formatting shortcuts

Global shortcuts

Switch between visual editor and code editor

You can switch between the Visual (Block) Editor and Code editor using :

Ctrl + Shift + Alt + M or ⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + M

If you are on your visual editor screen

You can press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + M or ⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + M, the screen switches to the code editor and vice versa.

Toggle fullscreen mode

You can toggle full screen mode by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Alt + F or ⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + F

Open the block list view

You can open the block list view by pressing Shift + Alt + O or ⌃ + ⌥ + O

Show or hide the settings sidebar

You can show or hide the settings sidebar by pressing Ctrl + Shift + ,  or  ⇧ + ⌘ + ,

Navigate to the next part of the editor

You can navigate to the next part of the editor using two different shortcuts:

• Windows: Ctrl + ` or Shift + Alt + N
• Mac: ⌃ + ` or ⌃ + ⌥ + N

In the above pictures, the blue highlight shows the block which you are accessing.

Navigate to the previous part of the editor

You can navigate to the previous part of the editor using two different shortcuts:

• Windows: Ctrl + Shift + ` or Shift + Alt + P
• Mac: ⌃ + ⇧ + ` or ⌃ + ⌥ + P

Navigate to the nearest toolbar

You can navigate to the nearest toolbar by pressing Alt + F10 or ⌥ + F10

Save your changes

You can save your changes by pressing: Ctrl + S or ⌘ + S

Suppose you are in the visual editor and made some changes.

When you press Ctrl + S or ⌘ + S, the Save draft changes to Saved indicating that the changes you made are successfully saved.

Undo your last changes

Suppose if you typed or did something which you want to undo immediately, you can do it by pressing Ctrl + Z or ⌘ + Z

After using shortcuts:

Redo your last undo

Similarly, you can redo your last undo by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Z or ⇧ + ⌘ + Z. If you are on Windows you can use the default shortcut as well, Ctrl + Y.

This brings back what you just undo.

Selection shortcuts

Select all text / blocks when typing

You can use these shortcuts to select text.

You can select all text in current block when typing Ctrl + A or ⌘ + A. Press again to select parent block or all blocks (if no parrent).

Clear selection

You can clear the selection by pressing Esc

Block shortcuts

These shortcuts are specific to the block which you are accessing them.

Duplicate the selected block(s)

Suppose you are typing in a block.

If you press Ctrl + Shift + D or ⇧ + ⌘ + D, the whole block is duplicated and appears just underneath the block which you were typing.

Remove the selected block(s)

You can remove the selected block(s) by pressing Shift + Alt + Z or ⌃ + ⌥ + Z

Unselect selected block(s)

You can unselect the selected block(s) by pressing Esc twice

Insert a new block before the selected block(s)

You can insert a new block before the selected block(s) by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or ⌥ + ⌘ + T

Insert a new block after the selected block(s)

You can insert a new block after the selected block(s) by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Y or ⌥ + ⌘ + Y

Remove multiple selected blocks

Suppose you have selected multiple blocks.

If you press del / backspace, all the selected blocks are removed.

Move the selected block(s) up

Suppose you have selected a block.

If you press Ctrl + Shift + Alt + T or ⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + T, the whole block moves one step upward.

You can use this shortcut multiple times to bring the block further upwards.

Move the selected block(s) down

Similarly, you can move the selected block(s) down by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Y or ⌥ + ⌘ + ⇧ + Y

You can use this shortcut multiple times to bring the block further downwards.

Change the block type after adding a new paragraph

Suppose you have added paragraph to a block and selected that block.

If you press / the menu to change the block type appears.

Insert links to existing posts and pages

Typing [[ trigger autocompleter for internal links.

Text formatting

These shortcuts can be used for formatting the text within a block.

Make the selected text bold

You can make the selected text bold by pressing Ctrl + B or ⌘ + B

Example: This is the bold text.

Make the selected text italic

You can make the selected text italic by pressing Ctrl + I or ⌘ + I

Example: This is a italic text.

Convert the selected text into a link

You can convert the selected text into a link by pressing Ctrl + K or ⌘ + K

Example: This is link text.

Remove a link

Suppose you have selected a text with a link.

If you press Ctrl + Shift + K  or  ⇧ + ⌘ + K, the selected link is removed.

Underline the selected text

You can underline the selected text by pressing Ctrl + U or ⌘ + U

Example: This is underline text.

Inline code

Convert selected text to inline code with Ctrl + Alt + X or ⌘ + Alt + X

Transform blocks

Convert the current paragraph or heading to a heading of level 1 to 6 with Shift + Alt + 1-6 or ⌘ + Alt + 1-6.

Convert the current heading to a paragraph with Shift + Alt + 0.