Interactions · Keyboard
Keyboard Shortcut
Also called: Hotkey, Keybinding, Keyboard shortcuts
Trigger actions directly with key combos, like Ctrl+S to save or Ctrl+K to open search, so experienced users can work faster.
In detail
Keyboard shortcuts are a "fast lane" for frequent users, common in editors, admin panels, and design tools. Common conventions: Ctrl/Cmd+S to save, Ctrl/Cmd+K to open a command palette or search, Esc to close a dialog, / to focus the search box, Ctrl/Cmd+Z to undo. Windows uses Ctrl and Mac uses Cmd, so handle them separately.
When designing them: don't override the browser's common shortcuts (like Ctrl+T and Ctrl+W). While the user is typing in an input, single-letter shortcuts must stop working, or typing will trigger them by accident. Show shortcuts in menu items or button tooltips so users can discover them. Feature-heavy products can pop up a shortcut list when you press ?.
Shortcuts are only an extra. Every feature still needs to work with a mouse.
Developer infoTerm ID, DOM cues, match priority
- Term ID
interaction-keyboard-shortcut- DOM selectors
- No DOM cues. This concept isn't detected directly on a page.
- Priority
- 1 · when several match at the same level, the higher priority wins
- Version
- v1 · updated Sep 30, 2026