Notion Tutorial: Mastering Notion Shortcuts

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Notion supports full keyboard operation and Markdown shortcuts, allowing you to accomplish anything without the need for a mouse. Here’s a brief overview of how to use these shortcuts:

General Shortcuts

If you’re not a shortcut enthusiast, we understand. However, if you can remember a few simple commands, you can still operate Notion like a pro.

    • Press cmd/ctrl + n to create a new page (only applicable to desktop applications, including browser Notion web pages and desktop applications).
    • Press cmd/ctrl + shift + n or use cmd/ctrl and then click to create a new Notion window.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + p to open the search box or jump to the recently viewed page.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + [ to go back to the history page.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + ] to go forward to the previous history page.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + shift + l to switch to dark mode (l is the letter L, not the number 1).

Markdown Style Shortcuts

When typing:

    • Surrounding text with ** will bold the text.
    • Surrounding text with * will italicize the text.
    • Surrounding text with “ will create inline code.
    • Surrounding text with ~ will strike through the text.

At the beginning of a new or existing content block:

    • Typing *, -, or +, then pressing space, will create an unordered list.
    • Typing [] will create a to-do list (no space between [ and ]).
    • Typing 1. then pressing space will create an ordered list.
    • Typing # then pressing space will create a level one heading.
    • Typing ## then pressing space will create a level two heading.
    • Typing ### then pressing space will create a level three heading.
    • Typing > then pressing space will create a toggle list.
    • Typing ” then pressing space will create a quote block.

Creating and Styling Content Shortcuts

    • Press enter to insert a line of text.
    • Press shift + enter to create a new line of text block.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + shift + m to create a comment pop-up.
    • Typing —- will create a divider (three consecutive hyphens -).
    • Select text, press cmd/ctrl + b to bold the text.
    • Select text, press cmd/ctrl + i to italicize the text.
    • Select text, press cmd/ctrl + shift + s to strike through the text.
    • Select text, press cmd/ctrl + k to add a link. You can also press cmd/ctrl + v on the selected text to quickly paste a link and convert the text into a link.
    • Select text, press cmd/ctrl + e to convert the text into inline code.
    • Press tab to indent. Note: When indenting, the current nested block is indented based on the previous block. If the parent block is selected, all blocks under that content block will be selected.
    • Press shift + tab to outdent.
    • At the beginning or end of a block, typing /turn can convert it into another type of block. You will see a candidate list pop up.
    • At the beginning or end of any text block, typing /color can change the text color or background color (to remove text color or background color, just type /default).

Editing and Moving Block Shortcuts

Any content in Notion is a block — from a line of text (or a paragraph of text) to an image or an embedded block. The following shortcuts allow you to edit the entire block when the block is selected.

    • Press esc to select the current cursor block. Or clear the selected block.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + a to select all of the current cursor block.
    • Press space to open the selected image in full screen. Or exit full screen.
    • Press the arrow keys to select other blocks.
    • Hold shift + up/down to expand the selection range up/down.
    • On Mac, use cmd + shift + click, on Windows/Linux, use option + shift + click to select or deselect blocks.
    • Use shift + click to select all blocks between the clicked block and other selected blocks.
    • Press backspace or delete to delete the selected block.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + d to duplicate the selected block.
    • Press enter to edit the selected block (or open the page within the page).
    • Press cmd/ctrl+ / to edit one or more blocks. This shortcut can change the block type, color, or edit, copy, or move the block. You will see a pop-up menu with a text input box. Here, please enter the action, block name, or color you want to enter.
    • In the Kanban view, select multiple cards, and then use cmd/ctrl + / to edit them at the same time.
    • Hold cmd/ctrl + shift + arrow keys to move the selected block.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + option/alt + t to expand or collapse the toggle list.
    • Press cmd/ctrl + shift + h to apply the most recent text color or background color effect to the selected text.
    • Press cmd/ctrl+ enter to modify the current cursor block. Modification means: Open the page, check or uncheck the to-do list, expand or close the toggle list, open the embedded block or image in full screen.

@ Commands

    • Mention members – Type @ and other workspace member names to remind them of something. They will receive a notification. Suitable for comments and discussion scenarios.
    • Mention pages – Type @ and the title of other pages in your workspace to create a link to this page. If you change the page title, this link will also automatically change.
    • Mention dates – Type @ and any form of date (can be “yesterday”, “today”, “tomorrow”, or even “next Wednesday”). Suitable for scenarios where you need to set a delivery date for yourself.
    • Add reminders – Type @remind and any form of date (including: “yesterday”, “today”, “tomorrow”, etc.). You can click on the link that appears to adjust the date to the exact time you want to be reminded. You will receive a notification at the set time point. When you just want to type @, press esc to close the @-command menu.

Slash Commands

Pressing / in Notion will call up a menu of all content blocks you can select or insert. You can press / and then type the name of any content block you want to add to add it faster. You can choose:

Basic block

    • /text or /plain to create a text block
    • /page to create a page (pressing enter will automatically open the page for you)
    • /bullet to create an unordered list
    • /num to create an ordered list
    • /todo to create a to-do list with a checkbox
    • /toggle to create a toggle list/div to create a light gray divider
    • /quote to create a large font quote block
    • /h1 or /# to create a level one heading
    • /h2 or /## to create a level two heading
    • /h3 or /### to create a level three heading
    • /link to create a reference to another page in your workspace.
    • Press esc to close the / menu. This is useful when you just want to type / during collaboration.

Database

    • /table-inline to create an inline table on the current page
    • /board-inline to create an inline board on the current page
    • /calendar-inline to create an inline calendar on the current page
    • /list-inline to create an inline list on the current page
    • /gallery-inline to create an inline gallery on the current page.
    • Change -inline in the above commands to -full to automatically create the corresponding database type on a new page. For example: /table-full, /board-full
    • /linked to create a reference database — a copy of an existing database, which you can insert into any page inline, you can filter its content, or browse. Suitable for creating multiple views based on the same database on the same page (the concept of views in the database).

Media Block

    • /image will call up a menu for uploading images, embedding image links, or adding image links from Unsplash.
    • /pdf allows you to paste a PDF file link, which will be embedded in the page.
    • /book allows you to create a webpage bookmark for any website link. Like this: Notion – The all-in-one workspace for your notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.
    • /video allows you to upload video files, or embed videos from YouTube, Vimeo, and other video websites.
    • /audio allows you to upload audio files, or embed audio from SoundCloud, Spotify, and other audio websites.
    • /code creates a code block, where you can write or copy code snippets.
    • /file allows you to upload any file from your computer and embed it in the page.
    • /embed allows you to add any of the 500+ embedded applications supported by Notion.

Advanced Block

    • /comment allows you to create a comment for the current block.
    • /duplicate allows you to create a copy of the current block.
    • /moveto allows you to move the current block to another page.
    • /delete allows you to delete the current block.
    • /toc allows you to create a table of contents for the current page.
    • /button or /template allows you to copy a template button for your defined combination block.
    • /bread allows you to insert breadcrumb navigation, which lets you know where you are currently working in the workspace.
    • /math or /latex allows you to write mathematical formulas and symbols using TeX syntax.

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