# Keyboard shortcuts

*See every keyboard shortcut in PromptMason, change any of them, and put them back to the defaults.*

Online version: https://promptmason.ai/docs/keyboard-shortcuts

PromptMason has keyboard shortcuts for moving between screens and for common actions. Below are the defaults. You can change any of them.

## Default shortcuts

The shortcuts are listed in the same three groups, and with the same names, as the **Keyboard shortcuts** dialog in Settings.

![The Keyboard shortcuts window listing each action with its key combination.](https://promptmason.ai/images/docs/keyboard-shortcuts-dialog.webp)

### Navigation

| Shortcut | Keys | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **Go to Home** | Ctrl+8 | Opens Home. |
| **Go to Blocks** | Ctrl+1 | Opens Blocks. |
| **Go to Canvas** | Ctrl+2 | Opens Build. |
| **Go to Prompts** | Ctrl+3 | Opens Prompts. |
| **Go to Explorer** | Ctrl+4 | Opens Explorer. |
| **Go to Chat** | Ctrl+9 | Opens Chat & Browse. |
| **Go to Variables** | Ctrl+5 | Opens Variables. |
| **Go to Archive** | Ctrl+6 | Opens Archive. |
| **Go to Settings** | Ctrl+7 | Opens Settings. |
| **Go to Help** | F1 | Opens Help, the guides inside PromptMason. See [Get help](https://promptmason.ai/docs/get-help#read-the-guides-in-promptmason). |

### Actions

| Shortcut | Keys | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **New item** | Ctrl+N | Starts something new on the screen you're on: a block on Blocks, a static prompt on Prompts, a variable on Variables, a folder on Explorer, or a chat on Chat & Browse. |
| **Find** | Ctrl+F | Puts the cursor in the current screen's search box. |
| **Delete** | Delete | On Blocks or Prompts, asks whether to archive or delete the open block or prompt. |
| **Copy to Clipboard** | Ctrl+Shift+C | On Blocks or Prompts, copies the open block or prompt while you're viewing it (not while you're editing it). |

### Editing

| Shortcut | Keys | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| **Save** | Ctrl+S | Saves what you're editing on Blocks or Prompts. On Build it saves the prompt as a dynamic prompt (on the **Markdown** tab, the document). |
| **Cancel / Close** | Esc | Stops editing on Blocks, Prompts or Build. If a dialog is open, Esc closes the dialog first. |
| **Undo (Canvas)** | Ctrl+Z | On Build's **Canvas** tab, undoes your last change to the prompt's blocks, such as adding, removing or moving one. |
| **Redo (Canvas)** | Ctrl+Shift+Z | On Build's **Canvas** tab, redoes what you undid. Ctrl+Y does the same. |
| **AI assist** | Ctrl+Shift+A | Runs AI assist, with no instruction, on the text box you're typing in, when that box has an **AI assist** button. See [Improve text with AI assist](https://promptmason.ai/docs/ai-assist). |

The dialog shows Esc as **Escape**.

Ctrl+Y always redoes on the Canvas tab. It isn't listed in the dialog and can't be changed.

## Shortcuts while you type

Only **Save**, **Cancel / Close**, **AI assist** and **Go to Help** work while the cursor is in a text box. The others do nothing while you're typing. That way the Delete key deletes a character rather than the item, and Ctrl+Z undoes your typing rather than a change on the Canvas tab. Click outside the text box to use them.

## Shortcuts for features that are off

Four shortcuts belong to a feature you can turn off in **Settings** → **Features**:

| Shortcut | Feature |
|---|---|
| **Go to Home** | Home dashboard |
| **Go to Chat** | Chat |
| **Go to Variables** | Variables |
| **AI assist** | AI assist |

While a feature is off, its shortcut does nothing and isn't listed in the dialog. Turn the feature on again to use it. See [Show or hide features](https://promptmason.ai/docs/features).

## Change a shortcut

1. Click **Settings** in the sidebar, then **General**.
2. Next to **Keyboard shortcuts**, click **Customize…**.
3. In the **Keyboard shortcuts** dialog, find the shortcut you want to change and click the keys shown next to it. The button changes to **Press keys…**.
4. Press the new keys, for example Ctrl+Shift+N.

The new keys show next to the shortcut and work straight away. There's no Save button. A changed shortcut gets a reset button next to it.

To stop without changing anything, press Esc or click somewhere else in the dialog. Because Esc stops recording, you can't record Esc itself. If you changed **Cancel / Close** and want Esc back, reset it (see [Go back to the defaults](#go-back-to-the-defaults)).

## If the keys are already in use

If another shortcut already uses the keys you pressed, the dialog shows a message in red, such as **"Ctrl+S" is already used by Save.**, and nothing changes.

- Press different keys, or
- Change the other shortcut first, then come back to this one.

The message can name a shortcut that isn't in the list, because its feature is off. Ctrl+Y is kept for **Redo (Canvas)**, so it can't be used for anything else.

## Go back to the defaults

- **One shortcut:** click the reset button next to it (it shows **Reset to default** when you point at it).
- **Every shortcut:** click **Reset all to defaults** at the bottom of the dialog. This button shows once you've changed at least one shortcut.

    ![The Keyboard shortcuts window with a changed shortcut, its reset button, and Reset all to defaults.](https://promptmason.ai/images/docs/keyboard-shortcuts-reset-buttons.webp)

Neither asks you to confirm. If you reset by mistake, change the shortcut again.

## Want a hand?

Paste this prompt into Claude, ChatGPT or another AI assistant, together with this guide, to be walked through it step by step:

> I want to change a keyboard shortcut in PromptMason. Walk me through changing it, and tell me what to do if the keys I want are already in use.