Copyright

This document is Copyright © 2023 by the LibreOffice Documentation Team. Contributors are listed below. This document maybe distributed and/or modified under the terms of either the GNU General Public License (https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), version 3 or later, or the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), version 4.0 or later. All trademarks within this guide belong to their legitimate owners.

Contributors

Contributors for this edition:

Peter Schofield

Contributors for previous editions:

Jean Hollis Weber

John A Smith

Kees Kriek

Olivier Hallot

Peter Schofield

Rafael Lima

Ron Faile Jr.

Skip Masonsmith

Steve Fanning

Feedback

Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to the Documentation Team forum at https://community.documentfoundation.org/c/documentation/loguides/ (registration is required) or send an email to: loguides@community.documentfoundation.org

Note

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Publication date and software version

Published July 2023. Based on LibreOffice 7.5 Community.
Other versions of LibreOffice may differ in appearance and functionality.

Introduction

LibreOffice can be used without requiring a pointing device, such as a mouse or trackball, by using the keyboard shortcuts that are available in Draw. Tasks as varied and complex as docking and un-docking toolbars and windows, or changing the size or position of objects can all be accomplished with using keyboard shortcuts. Although LibreOffice has an extensive set of keyboard shortcuts, each LibreOffice module has keyboard shortcuts that are specific to that module.

This appendix lists some of the more common keyboard shortcuts that apply to multiple components of LibreOffice. For shortcuts specific to Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math, or Base, refer to the relevant user guide for each module, or search the LibreOffice Help.

To assist a user with identifying keyboard shortcuts, shortcuts are indicated by text next to menu items and in tooltips for some tools on toolbars. In Writer, for example, some commonly used keyboard shortcuts, for example, are as follows:

File > Open on the Menu bar includes text indicating that Ctrl+O (macOS ⌘+O) is a keyboard shortcut.
Align Left tool in the Formatting toolbar has a tooltip indicating that Ctrl+L (macOS ⌘+L) is a keyboard shortcut.

A list of the available keyboard shortcuts in LibreOffice can be found on the Keyboard page of the Customize dialog. Go to Tools > Customize on the Menu bar and click on Keyboard to open the Keyboard page. Examples of keyboard shortcuts for Linux/Windows see Figure 1 and for macOS see Figure 2.

Figure 1: Customize dialog — Keyboard page for Linux/Windows

Figure 2: Customize dialog — Keyboard page for macOS

Note

Some keyboard shortcuts listed may not be available if the computer operating system uses the same shortcuts as LibreOffice for other tasks. To resolve any conflicts, assign different keys to these shortcuts by reconfiguring either LibreOffice (see Chapter 13, Customizing LibreOffice), or the computer operating system (see operating system documentation or help).

LibreOffice assistive tools

In addition to keyboard shortcuts, LibreOffice supports some assistive technology tools like screen magnification software, screen readers, and on-screen keyboards. Please note that except for the Windows platform, accessibility support relies on Java technology for communications with assistive technology tools. This means that the first program startup may take a few seconds longer, because the Java runtime environment has to be started as well.

The current list of supported assistive tools can be found on at https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Accessibility.

macOS keyboard shortcuts

Some keystrokes and menu items are different on a macOS computer from those used in Windows or Linux computers. This due to the way the different operating systems work and the different types of keyboards used. Also, the labelling on the keyboards may vary depending on the age of the computer and style of keyboard being used.

Tables 1, 2 and 3 show the most common variations in keyboard shortcuts and keyboard labelling. Table 4 shows examples of using macOS keyboard shortcuts. For more information on keyboard shortcuts, see LibreOffice Help.

Table 1: Shift, Control and Alt keys

Windows or Linux	macOS
Control or Ctrl	⌘ or Cmd or Command
Alt	⌥ or Option or Alt
Shift or ⇧	Shift or ⇧
Caps Lock	⇪ or Caps Lock
Control or Ctrl	⌃ or Control or Ctrl

Table 2: Home and End keys

Windows or Linux	macOS
Home	Fn+Left Arrow
End	Fn+Right Arrow

Table 3: Page Up and Page Down

Windows or Linux	macOS
Screen Up	Fn+Up Arrow
Page Up	⌥ or Option or Alt+Fn+Up Arrow
Screen Down	Fn+Down Arrow
Page Down	⌥ or Option or Alt+Fn+Down Arrow

Table 4: Example of using macOS keyboard shortcuts

Windows or Linux	macOS equivalent	Effect
Tools > Options	LibreOffice > Preferences	Access setup options
Right-click	Control+click or right‑click depending on computer setup	Opens a context menu
Ctrl (Control)	⌘ (Command)	Used with other keys
Alt	⌥ (Option) or Alt, depending on keyboard	Used with other keys
F11	⌘+T	Open Styles deck in Sidebar

Note

Actual keys available on a macOS keyboard depend on the type of keyboard being used. For example, a macOS laptop keyboard does not have a Delete key, but a macOS keyboard with a numeric keypad does have a Delete key.

Keyboard shortcuts

Note

In computers using macOS, some keyboard shortcuts are not available and these unavailable keyboard shortcuts are indicated in the following tables with a blank cell.

Some of the shortcut keys may be assigned to the computer operating system and are not available for LibreOffice. Either assign different keys in LibreOffice using Tools > Customize > Keyboard on the Menu bar, or in the computer operating system. For more information, see Chapter 13, Customizing LibreOffice or the documentation/help for the computer operating system.

Using keyboard shortcuts

LibreOffice functions can be used by using keyboard shortcuts. For example, the Ctrl+O (macOS ⌘+O) keyboard shortcut is shown next to Open in the File menu on the Menu bar. To use this keyboard shortcut, press and hold down the Ctrl (macOS ⌘) key and then press the O key. Release both keys together after the dialog opens.

Opening menus and menu items

Table 5: Keyboard shortcuts for opening menus and menu items

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Alt+<?> (Windows only)		Opens a menu where <?> is an underlined character of the menu being opened. For example, Alt+F opens the File menu. When a menu is opened, there may be submenu items with underlined characters. Press the underlined character directly to carry out the action or option. Where two menu items have the same underlined character, press the character key again to move to the next menu item. Menu items that have no underlined character have to be clicked on directly.
Esc	Esc	Closes an open menu.
F6		Repeatedly pressing F6 switches the focus through the following objects: Menu bar. Every toolbar from top to bottom and from left to right. Every free window from left to right. Document.
	F6	Repeatedly pressing F6 switches the focus through the following objects: Each toolbar from top to bottom and from left to right. Sidebar. Document.
Shift+F6	Shift+F6	Switches focus through objects in the opposite direction.
Ctrl+F6	⌘+F6	Switches the focus to the document.
F10		Switches focus to the Menu bar and back.

Accessing menu commands

1) Press Alt, F6, or F10 to select the first item on the Menu bar (normally the File menu). In macOS, selection is the first tool on the Standard toolbar and this tool is normally New.

2) Press the right, or left arrow, to move the selection right, or left.

3) Press the Home key (macOS Fn+left arrow) or End key (macOS Fn+right arrow) to move menu selection to the first or last item on the Menu bar.

4) Press the down, or up arrow, to move the selection down, or up, the list of menu commands.

5) If necessary, press the right arrow to open any submenus on the selected menu. Submenus are indicated by a triangle ► or chevron > next to the name of a selected menu item.

6) If necessary, press the down, or up, arrow to move the selection down or up the list of submenu commands.

7) If necessary, press the left arrow to close a submenu.

8) Press Enter to run the selected menu, or submenu command.

Accessing toolbar commands

1) Press F6 repeatedly until the first icon on a toolbar is selected.

2) On a horizontal toolbar, press the right or left arrows to move tool selection to the right or left.

3) On a vertical toolbar, press the up or down arrows to move tool selection upward or downward.

4) Press the Home key (macOS Fn+left arrow) or End key (macOS Fn+right arrow) to move tool selection to the first or last tool on a toolbar.

5) Press Enter to action the selected tool on the toolbar.

6) To insert an object into a drawing or presentation after selecting the required object on the Drawing toolbar, use the key combination Ctrl+Enter (macOS ⌘+Enter) to insert the object in the center of the drawing page or slide.

Note

If a tool on a toolbar has an editable text field, for example Load URL or Line Width, the Tab or Shift+Tab keys are then used to move the selection right or left onto the next tool on the toolbar.

Navigation

Navigate through a document using keyboard shortcuts as shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Keyboard shortcuts for navigation

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Left Arrow	Left Arrow	Moves the cursor one character to the left.
Shift+Left Arrow	Shift+Left Arrow	Moves the cursor one character to the left and selects the character.
Ctrl+Left Arrow	⌥+Left Arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.
Right Arrow	Right Arrow	Moves the cursor one character to the right.
Shift+Right Arrow	Shift+Right Arrow	Moves the cursor one character to the right and selects the character.
Ctrl+Right Arrow	⌥+Right Arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next word.
Up Arrow	Up Arrow	Moves the cursor up one line.
Shift+Up Arrow	Shift+Up Arrow	Moves the cursor up one line in the text and selects the lines of text.
Ctrl+Up Arrow	⌥+Up Arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the paragraph.
Down Arrow	Down Arrow	Moves the cursor down one line.
Ctrl+Down Arrow	⌘+Down Arrow	Moves the cursor to the end of the paragraph.
Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow	⌥+Shift+Down Arrow	Moves the cursor to the end of the paragraph. Selects the text in the paragraph from the cursor position to the end of the paragraph.
Home	Fn+Left Arrow or Ctrl+A	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
Shift+Home		Moves the cursor to the beginning of the line and selects the text from the cursor position.
Ctrl+Home	⌘+Up Arrow	Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document.
End	Fn+Right Arrow or Ctrl+E	Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.
Shift+End		Moves the cursor to the end of the line and selects the text from the cursor position.
Ctrl+End	⌘+Down Arrow	Moves the cursor to the end of the document.
Page Up	Fn+Up Arrow	Scrolls up one page.
Ctrl+Page Up	⌘+Fn+Up Arrow	Moves the cursor to the header.
Page Down	Fn+Down Arrow	Scrolls down one page.
Ctrl+Page Down	⌘+Fn+Down Arrow	Moves the cursor to the footer.

Text selection and deletion

Select and delete text using keyboard shortcuts as follows:

Select text while moving the cursor, hold down the Shift key as the cursor is moved.
Double‑click on a word with the cursor to select the word.
Triple‑click in a sentence with the cursor to select the whole of the sentence.
Click four times in a paragraph with the cursor to select the whole of the paragraph.
Select all of the text or objects in a document, use Ctrl+A (macOS ⌘+A).
Use Ctrl+Delete to delete everything from the cursor position to the end of the word.
Use Ctrl+Backspace to delete everything from the cursor position to the beginning of the word.
For macOS, use ⌘+Delete (if the keyboard has a Delete key) to delete everything from the cursor position to the end of the word.
For macOS, use ⌘+Backspace to delete everything from the cursor position to the beginning of the line.

Controlling dialogs

When opening any dialog, one element or option is highlighted indicating that the element or option has focus on it. For example, a button, option field, entry in a list box, or checkbox. How the element or option is highlighted depends on the computer operating system and how the computer is setup.

Table 7: Keyboard shortcuts for controlling dialogs

Shortcut Keys	Result
Enter	Activates selected button. When no button is selected, Enter is equivalent to clicking OK.
Esc	Closes dialog without saving any changes made while the dialog was open. Esc is also equivalent to clicking Cancel. When a drop-down list is open and selected, Esc closes the list.
Spacebar	Checks or clears an empty checkbox.
Up or Down Arrow	Moves focus up or down a list. Increases or decreases value of a variable. Moves focus vertically within a section of dialog.
Left or Right Arrow	Moves focus horizontally within a section of a dialog.
Tab	Advances focus to the next section or element of a dialog.
Shift+Tab	Returns focus to the previous section or element in a dialog.
Alt+Down Arrow (macOS ⌥+Down Arrow)	Shows items in a drop-down list.

Controlling documents and windows

The keyboard shortcuts for controlling documents and windows in LibreOffice are shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Keyboard shortcuts for controlling documents and windows

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Ctrl+O	⌘+O	Opens the Open dialog to select and open a document.
Ctrl+S	⌘+S	Saves the current document. If the document is a previously unsaved file, the shortcut opens the Save As dialog.
Ctrl+N	⌘+N	Creates a new document.
Shift+Ctrl+N	⌘+Shift+N	Opens the Templates dialog.
Ctrl+P	⌘+P	Opens the Print dialog to print the document.
Ctrl+F	⌘+F	Opens the Find toolbar.
Ctrl+H	⌥+⌘+F	Opens the Find and Replace dialog.
Ctrl+Shift+F		Searches for the last entered search term.
Ctrl+Shift+J		Toggles the view between full-screen mode and normal mode in Writer or Calc.
Ctrl+Shift+R	⌘+Shift+R	Opens and closes the rulers.
F1	F1	Opens the LibreOffice Help contents in your default browser. If the local Help package is not installed, LibreOffice opens the online Help located at https://help.libreoffice.org.
Shift+F1	Shift+F1	Turns the cursor into a What’s This? question mark. Shows the tip for an item underneath the cursor. The shortcut does not work with the online help.
Shift+F2	Shift+F2	Turns on Extended Tips for the currently selected command, icon or control. The shortcut does not work with the online help.
Ctrl+Shift+F10	⌘+Shift+F10	Docks and undocks floating toolbars, Sidebar and Navigator.
Ctrl+F4 or Alt+F4	⌘+F4	Closes the current document. Closes LibreOffice when the last open document is closed.
Ctrl+Q	⌘+Q	Exits LibreOffice.

Editing or formatting documents

The keyboard shortcuts for editing and formatting documents in LibreOffice are shown in Table 9.

Table 9: Keyboard shortcuts for editing and formatting documents

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Enter	Enter	When an OLE object is selected, activates the software used to create the OLE object. When a drawing object is selected, activates text mode.
Ctrl+X	⌘+X	Cuts selected text or objects from a document and places them in the clipboard.
Ctrl+C	⌘+C	Copies selected text or objects and places them in the clipboard.
Ctrl+V	⌘+V	Places text or objects from the clipboard that have copied or cut into the document.
Ctrl+Alt+ Shift+V	⌘+⌥+Shift+V	Pastes unformatted text from the clipboard. The text is pasted using the format that exists at the insertion point.
Ctrl+Shift+V	⌘+Shift+V	Opens the Paste Special dialog.
Ctrl+A	⌘+A	Selects all text and objects in a document.
Ctrl+Z	⌘+Z	Undoes last action.
Ctrl+Y	⌘+Y	Redoes last action.
Ctrl+Shift+Y	⌘+Shift+Y	Repeats last command.
Ctrl+I	⌘+I	Applies the Italic attribute to selected characters and text.
Ctrl+B	⌘+B	Applies the Bold attribute to selected characters and text.
Ctrl+U	⌘+U	Applies the Underline attribute to selected characters and text.
Ctrl+M	⌘+M	Removes direct formatting from selected text or objects. This command is also available in Format > Clear Direct Formatting in the Menu bar.

Sidebar keyboard shortcuts

General

The general keyboard shortcuts for using the Sidebar in LibreOffice are shown in Table 10.

Table 10: General keyboard shortcuts for Sidebar

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Tab	Tab	Moves the focus in the Sidebar.
Shift+Tab	Shift+Tab	Moves the focus in the reverse direction in the Sidebar.
Shift+F10	Shift+F10	Opens a context menu for the selected element in the Sidebar.
Home	Fn+Left Arrow	Moves focus to first entry.
End	Fn+Right Arrow	Moves focus to last entry.
Up or Down Arrow	Up or Down Arrow	Moves the selection up or down and opens the panels in the selected deck.
Right Arrow	Right Arrow	Opens any sub-elements in the selected element.
Left Arrow	Left Arrow	Closes any sub-elements in the selected element.
Ctrl+Enter	⌘+Enter	Opens the Properties dialog for the selected element.

Gallery

The keyboard shortcuts for the Gallery on the Sidebar in LibreOffice are shown in Table 11.

Table 11: Keyboard shortcuts for the Gallery

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Ctrl+R		Opens the Enter Title dialog. Only themes added to LibreOffice can be renamed. Themes installed with LibreOffice cannot be renamed.
Ctrl+D	⌘+D	Deletes themes that have been added to LibreOffice. Themes installed with LibreOffice cannot be deleted.
Insert		Inserts a new theme into the Gallery and opens the Insert of New Theme dialog.
Ctrl+Shift+Insert	⌘+Shift+ Insert	Inserts the selected object as a linked object into the current document.
Ctrl+I	Ctrl+I	Inserts a copy of the selected object into the current document.
Ctrl+P Spacebar Enter	Ctrl+P Spacebar Enter	Switches between a view of a list of object previews and a selected object.

Database table keyboard shortcuts

The keyboard shortcuts for using a database table in LibreOffice are shown in Table 12.

Table 12: Keyboard shortcuts for a database table

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Ctrl+Shift+F4	⌘+Shift+F4	Opens and closes a database table in a document for editing.
Spacebar	Spacebar	Toggles row selection, except when the row is in edit mode.
Ctrl+ Spacebar	⌘+Spacebar	Toggles row selection.
Shift+ Spacebar	Shift+ Spacebar	Selects the current column.
Ctrl+Page Up	⌘+⌥ + Fn+ Up Arrow	Moves the cursor to the first row.
Ctrl+Page Down	⌘+⌥ + Fn+ Down Arrow	Moves the cursor to the last row.

Controlling macros

Keyboard shortcuts for controlling macros in LibreOffice are shown in Table 13. For more information on macros, see Chapter 11, Getting Started with Macros.

Table 13: Keyboard shortcuts for controlling macros

Windows Linux	macOS	Effect
Ctrl+*	⌘+*	Runs a macro field. The multiplication sign is only available on a numeric keypad.
Shift+Ctrl+Q	⌘+Ctrl+Q	Stops a running macro.

Windows

Linux

macOS

Effect

Ctrl+*

⌘+*

Runs a macro field. The multiplication sign is only available on a numeric keypad.

Shift+Ctrl+Q

⌘+Ctrl+Q

Stops a running macro.

Entering Unicode numbers

Each character in LibreOffice can be entered into a document by typing its Unicode hexadecimal number and then the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+X (mac OS ⌘+⌥+X) to create the character. For example, to enter the copyright sign into text, type U+00A9 followed immediately by Ctrl+Alt+X (mac OS ⌘+⌥+X) and the copyright sign © appears at the cursor position in the text.

Note

Unicode hexadecimal numbers in the range U+0000 to U+0020 are not converted into characters using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+X (mac OS ⌘+⌥+X).

Defining keyboard shortcuts

In addition to using the built-in keyboard shortcuts listed in this Appendix, custom keyboard shortcuts can be defined. For more information, see Chapter 13, Customizing LibreOffice.

To check if a keyboard shortcut is is already in use, open the Keyboard page in the Customize dialog and scroll though the listed keyboard shortcuts. Go to Tools > Customize on the Menu bar to open the Customize dialog.

Copyright

Contributors

Feedback

Publication date and software version

Introduction

LibreOffice assistive tools

macOS keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

Using keyboard shortcuts

Opening menus and menu items

Accessing menu commands

Accessing toolbar commands

Navigation

Text selection and deletion

Controlling dialogs

Controlling documents and windows

Editing or formatting documents

Sidebar keyboard shortcuts

General

Gallery

Database table keyboard shortcuts

Controlling macros

Entering Unicode numbers

Defining keyboard shortcuts

Further reading

Contents