Keyboard shortcuts & command palette

Move through Self-Engine from the keyboard: jump to any module, create things and submit timers without reaching for the mouse.

How shortcuts work

Shortcuts work in the web app and in the Mac app. Two are worth remembering: ? shows every shortcut at any time, and the command palette reaches every command by search.

⌘ / Ctrl means the Command key on a Mac and Ctrl on Windows and Linux.
“G then D” means: press G, let go, then press D. Single letters are pressed without Shift.
While you type in a text field, the letter shortcuts are off. Shortcuts with ⌘ / Ctrl, such as the command palette, work there too.

Show all keyboard shortcuts

?

Open the command palette

⌘ / Ctrl+K

The keyboard shortcuts overview, grouped by area, with the keys for each command — Press ? on any page to see this list.

Navigate

G (“go”) followed by the first letter of an area takes you to that module from anywhere.

Dashboard

GthenD

Projects (project overview)

GthenW

Tasks (Today)

GthenT

Calendar

GthenC

Finance

GthenF

Habits

GthenH

Settings

GthenS

Expand or collapse the sidebar

⌘ / Ctrl+B

Focus the search of the current page

/

Capture and act

The most common actions have their own shortcuts. O stands for “open”.

Create the main item of the current page

N

Quick capture: a task, appointment, payment and more from anywhere

OthenC

Start or submit a timer

TthenS

Open or close time tracking

OthenT

Open or close the agenda

OthenA

Open the AI assistant (when enabled)

OthenI

Turn selection mode for several items on or off

S

Switch the color scheme: dark, light, system

⌘ / Ctrl+Shift+L

Note N adapts to the page: in Tasks it adds a task, in a project a time entry, in the calendar an appointment, in Finance a transaction, a recurring transaction or a finance project. T S starts the top timer when none is running and submits it when exactly one is running. If several run, time tracking opens so you can choose.

The command palette

⌘ / Ctrl + K opens the command palette. Type a few letters and it finds any command: pages, views, creating things, the color scheme, “What's new” and more.

↑ and ↓ choose, Enter runs, Esc closes the palette.
Many commands deliberately have no shortcut of their own, such as single views like Inbox or Planned, the finance sections or creating something in another module. The palette still reaches them in seconds, and you can give them a shortcut in the settings.

The command palette with its search field and the commands it offers on the Tasks page — The action of the current page comes first, here adding a task.

Customize shortcuts

Every shortcut can be changed, turned off or reset.

Open the settings
Press G then S, or open the settings from your profile picture, and choose “Keyboard shortcuts” under General.
Record a new shortcut
Pick a command and press the new key combination or sequence. The other shortcuts pause while you record.
Turn off or reset
Turn off a single shortcut that gets in your way. “Reset all” restores the defaults.

The keyboard shortcuts settings with every command and its current shortcut — Each command shows its shortcut; change, turn off or reset it right in the list.

Tip Your shortcuts sync with your account, so they apply on every device you are signed in on.

Keys inside views

Some views bring keys of their own:

When renaming and when quickly adding subtasks, Enter confirms and Esc cancels.
When time entries overlap, pick the offered solution with 1, 2 or 3 and confirm with Enter.
On the task board, change a column's width at its handle with ← and →; Home and End jump to the narrowest and widest width.