Keyboard Shortcuts

Last reviewed: 2026-07-26

Press F1 (or Command palette → Show keyboard shortcuts) to open the shortcuts window at any time. It groups every shortcut and mouse gesture into areas you switch with the chips along the top, has a search box that spans all areas, and detects your platform automatically: it shows Ctrl/Alt on Windows and Linux and ⌘/⌥ on macOS. In the tables below, Ctrl therefore means ⌘ on macOS and Alt means ⌥.

General

Notes & files

In the file tree: click selects and opens, Ctrl+click toggles a multi-selection, Shift+click selects a range, middle-click opens a file in a new tab, drag moves files, right-click opens the context menu, and Delete moves the selection to the trash.

View, windows & tabs

The focus mode (both sidebars hidden) lives in the command palette. Pinning a tab, reloading it and the closing group (Close others / to the left / to the right / all) are on the tab’s right-click menu.

Format text

Works in the editor (live preview or source):

You can also select text for the floating toolbar (bold, italic, strikethrough, code, highlight, link), and click a rendered [ ] checkbox to toggle a task in any mode.

Edit text

Insert

Type these in the editor:

Dropping a file into the editor embeds an image (or copies in and links another file).

Graph

Mouse: scroll to zoom; middle-mouse drag or Ctrl+drag to pan (even over a node); drag on empty space draws a selection lasso (vault map); Alt+drag moves a node with its linked neighbors (vault map); drag one node onto another to create a link or database relation (vault map); a single click opens (context/base graph) or selects (vault map); double-click a folder bubble to unfold it (double-click the ring to collapse); Ctrl+click opens in the split, middle-click opens in a new tab; right-click for the context menu; the pin needle (top right) toggles whether positions are remembered.

Databases (.base)

Mouse & gestures (everywhere)

• Block handle (⠿): tap for the block menu (turn into, duplicate, move, delete); drag to reorder.
• Tabs: drag to reorder, between panes, or to an edge to split; right-click opens the tab menu (Pin, Reload, Open in split, closing group). A pinned tab moves to the front and survives every mass close.
• Action bar (far left): hold a button briefly and drag to reorder it (top and bottom group stay separate); Esc cancels.
• Links: click a wiki / Markdown link to open it (Ctrl+click for a new tab).
• Right-click a selection or field for Plainva’s own copy / cut / paste menu. F5 and Ctrl+R do not reload the app (they would drop tabs and unsaved buffers) — they read the vault again instead.
• Peek window: drag the header to move, the corner grip to resize; ◀ ▶ is its own history.
• Calendar: click the month name to pick month/year; click a day for its daily note.
• Image editor: draw with the mouse (pen/arrow/rectangle/text/crop); zoom with the buttons.

See also

• Getting Started — interface and editor modes
• Search