Keyboard shortcuts

Open the commands in the message box, switch teams, open decisions, jump between a team's tabs and write to kanman without leaving the keyboard.

Keyboard shortcuts help when you move around kanman many times a day. You do not need to learn all of them: ? shows the same list in the app, / opens the commands in the message box, and Keyboard shortcuts in your avatar menu opens the list too.

On Mac, use Cmd instead of Ctrl. The tables below list the default keys of exactly the shortcuts the ? overlay shows, in the same groups. You can change most of them, see Customise shortcuts.

Global

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+P Commands in the composer: puts / into the message box and opens the command list (also Ctrl+K and /)
Ctrl+, Search settings
? Show keyboard shortcuts
Esc Close dialog or panel; closes a page opened beside the conversation

Create

Shortcut Action
N Write to kanman: focuses the conversation’s message box with this team chosen (beside a page the page stays open)
Ctrl+Shift+B New team (opens the team setup)

For the G sequences, press G, release it, then press the second key within one and a half seconds. The team shortcuts (G then M, A or S) work on the team you are looking at; outside a team, kanman asks you to open one first.

Shortcut Action
G then T Switch team (opens the team switcher; type to filter)
G then M Go to the mind (the team’s board)
G then A Go to all tasks (the team’s work)
G then S Go to the Team tab
Ctrl+Shift+S Plan and usage
Ctrl+Shift+L Log out: opens your avatar menu on Log out; Enter signs you out, Esc keeps you signed in

The audit log and the workspace settings are one step away in the message box: press /, type aud or work and press Enter.

Text editing (in text fields)

Only while you type in a text editor, for example when you edit a story description. Outside text fields, Ctrl+Shift+S opens Plan and usage:

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+B Bold
Ctrl+I Italic
Ctrl+` Inline code
Ctrl+Shift+S Strikethrough
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Shift+Z Redo

In the conversation

The conversation is one stop in the Tab order: Tab from the top bar lands on the newest message.

Shortcut Action
↑ / ↓ Move to the previous or next message
Home / End Jump to the oldest loaded or the newest message
← / → Move through the links and buttons of the message you are on
Tab Go on through the message’s links and buttons, then to the message box
Esc Back from a link or button to its message

In the command list

While the command list above the message box is open:

Shortcut Action
↑ / ↓ Move through the list
Enter Run the highlighted command or open the highlighted result
Tab Complete the highlighted command, for example /sea becomes /search
Esc Close the list; your text stays

A few commands only exist in a certain context and show their shortcut next to the command while they are available. See Commands in the message box.

Team page, questions and runs

The team page, kanman’s pinned questions and the run page have no single-key shortcuts. Moving a story to another column is done in your tracker, by dragging the card or with its Move to menu, so a story is never moved to Ready by an accidental key press. Answering a decision and stopping or retrying a run always take a deliberate click or Enter on the focused button.

Customise shortcuts

You can give most shortcuts your own keys. Your keys follow your account to every device you sign in on.

  1. Click your avatar in the top bar, choose Your settings and open Keyboard shortcuts (/account/shortcuts). You also get there with Customise shortcuts at the bottom of the ? overlay, or by typing “keyboard” in settings search (Ctrl+,).
  2. Next to a shortcut, click Change and press the new keys. Esc cancels.
  3. The change is saved right away and works everywhere at once: Saved appears on the row, and Undo in the message at the bottom brings the old keys back. Changed shortcuts carry a Custom label.

You can change Ctrl+P for the commands in the message box, the settings search shortcut, Write to kanman (N), New team, the second key of the G sequences, Plan and usage, and log out.

kanman refuses keys that would not work well, explains why under the row, and lets you press again straight away:

  • A combination needs Ctrl (Cmd on Mac) or Alt, so it does not fire while you type. Single keys and the second key of a G sequence are pressed on their own.
  • Only letters, digits, punctuation keys and F1 to F12 can be used.
  • Keys your browser or system uses (copy, paste, open or close a tab, reload and similar), the keys for text formatting, undo and redo, ?, /, G, J and K are reserved.
  • Keys that another shortcut already uses are refused, so two shortcuts never share the same keys.

To go back, click the reset icon on a row to restore that shortcut’s default, or Reset all to defaults to restore every shortcut after a confirmation. Reset all to defaults appears at the top of the page only while at least one shortcut is customised.

A few shortcuts are fixed; Fixed shortcuts at the end of the page folds open to list them: ?, / and Ctrl+K (the commands in the message box), Esc and the keys for text formatting, undo and redo. Commands that only appear in the command list in a certain context keep their keys as well.

The ? overlay and the hints in the command list always show your own keys.

Accessibility

  • Every action with a shortcut is also available with the mouse, touch and screen readers.
  • Single-key shortcuts such as ?, /, N and G are inactive while you type in a text field.
  • If a shortcut conflicts with your assistive technology, give it other keys under Customise shortcuts.

Last updated: January 1, 0001

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