In Notepad3 you can use a combination of keys to do things that typically need a mouse, track-pad or other input devices. These key combinations are keyboard shortcuts and help provide an easier and usually quicker method of navigating and executing commands in Notepad3.
Contribute
If you think we made a mistake or you discovered a keyboard shortcut not mentioned in the table, contact us and tell us about it. We will make sure to fix it as soon as possible.
Notepad3’s Keyboard Shortcuts
Rather than reaching for your mouse to click on the menu, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts:
File
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+N
New file.
Ctrl+F4
Close file (identical to Ctrl+N).
Ctrl+O
Open file…
F5
Reload file.
Ctrl+S
Save file.
F6
Save file as…
Ctrl+F6
Save file copy…
Ctrl+Alt+F6
Save with original file “Date/Time”.
Ctrl+P
Print file…
Ctrl+M
Run MiniPath file Browser plugin…
Ctrl+Alt+H
Open Recent file (History)…
Alt+F4
Exit Notepad3.
Esc
Cancel current state (AutoCompletion or Selection)
Esc
Minimize or Exit Notepad3 (optionally, if no state).
Shift+Esc
Path to Clipboard
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+F9
Copy Filename Only to Clipboard.
Ctrl+Shift+F9
Copy Full Path to Clipboard.
Launch
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Shift+F
Search in Files.
Alt+N
Open Document in New Window.
Alt+Shift+N
Duplicate Current Document in New Window (If Not “Only One Instance”).
Ctrl+L
Launch Document.
Alt+L
Open With…
Ctrl+R
Run Command…
Ctrl+Shift+1
Web Template 1
Ctrl+Shift+2
Web Template 2
Encoding
Shortcut
Function
Shift+F8
Select UTF-8 as Default.
F9
Open Select Current file Encoding…
Ctrl+Shift+A
Recode to ANSI.
Ctrl+Shift+O
Recode to OEM.
Ctrl+Shift+10
Recode to GB18030.
Ctrl+Shift+F8
Reload an ASCII file as UTF-8 file.
Alt+F8
Ignore Encoding Tags.
F8
Open Select Source Encoding to Reload file…
Favorites
Shortcut
Function
Alt+I
Open Favorites…
Alt+K
Add Current File to Favorites…
Alt+F9
Manage Favorites…
Edit
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Z
Undo.
Alt+Backspace
Undo.
Ctrl+Shift+Y
Undo.
Ctrl+Y
Redo.
Ctrl+Shift+Z
Redo.
Ctrl+X
Cut.
Shift+Del
Cut.
Ctrl+C
Copy.
Alt+C
Copy All.
Ctrl+E
Copy Add.
Ctrl+V
Paste.
Shift+Ins
Paste.
Ctrl+K
Swap.
Del
Delete.
Ctrl+A
Select All.
Words
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Alt+Enter
Complete Word.
Ctrl+ ←
Cursor Word Left.
Ctrl+ →
Cursor Word Right.
Ctrl+Backspace
Delete Word Before/Left.
Ctrl+Del
Delete Word After/Right.
Lines
Shortcut
Function
Alt+ ↑
Move Line (Block) Up.
Alt+ ↓
Move Line (Block) Down.
Ctrl+X
Cut Selection or Current Line, if No Selection.
Ctrl+Shift+X
Cut Selection Whole Line(s).
Ctrl+C
Copy Selection or Current Line, if No Selection.
Ctrl+Shift+C
Copy Selection Whole Line(s).
Ctrl+D
Duplicate Line or Selection.
Alt+D
Transpose Lines.
Ctrl+Shift+D
Delete Line.
Ctrl+Shift+Backspace
Delete Line Left.
Ctrl+Shift+Del
Delete Line Right.
Ctrl+Shift+W
Column Wrap…
Ctrl+I
Split Lines.
Ctrl+J
Join Lines.
Ctrl+Alt+J
Fuse Lines.
Ctrl+Shift+J
Preserve Paragraphs.
Ctrl+Alt+D
Unite Duplicate Lines.
Alt+Y
Merge Empty Lines.
Ctrl+Alt+Y
Merge Blank Lines.
Alt+R
Remove Empty Lines.
Ctrl+Alt+B
Remove Blank Lines.
Advanced
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Shift+Q
Stream Comment.
Ctrl+D
Duplicate Selection or Line.
Alt+B
Pad with Blanks.
Alt+Z
Strip First Character.
Alt+U
Strip Last Character.
Alt+W
Strip Trailing Blanks.
Ctrl+Alt+P
Compress Blanks.
Alt+M
Modify Lines…
Alt+J
Align Lines…
Alt+O
Sort Lines…
Ctrl+,
Jump to Selection Start.
Ctrl+.
Jump to Selection End.
Tab
Indent Selected Block.
Shift+Tab
Unindent Selected Block.
Ctrl+Tab
Insert Tabulator.
Line Comment
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Q
Toggle.
Ctrl+Alt+Q
Add.
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Q
Remove.
Alt+Shift+Q
Block Edit.
Enclose Selection
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+1
Enclose within ” (Single Quotes).
Ctrl+2
Enclose within “” (Double Quotes).
Ctrl+3
Enclose within ().
Ctrl+4
Enclose within [].
Ctrl+5
Enclose within {}.
Ctrl+6
Enclose within “ (Backticks).
Alt+Q
Enclose With… (Enclose Before/After Selection).
Convert
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Shift+U
Selection in Uppercase.
Ctrl+U
Selection in Lowercase.
Ctrl+Alt+U
Selection in Invert Case.
Ctrl+Alt+I
Selection in Title Case./td>
Ctrl+Alt+O
Selection in Sentence Case.
Ctrl+Shift+T
Convert in Selection Spaces to Tabs.
Ctrl+Shift+S
Convert in Selection Tabs to Spaces.
Ctrl+Alt+T
Convert in Selection Indent to Tabs.
Ctrl+Alt+S
Convert in Selection Indent to Spaces.
Ctrl+Shift+E
URL Encode.
Ctrl+Shift+R
URL Decode.
Ctrl+Alt+X
Char To HEX.
Ctrl+Alt+C
Hex To Char.
Insert
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Enter
New Line Above.
Ctrl+Shift+Enter
New Line with Toggled Auto Indent Option. (orig-NP2: Ctrl+Enter)
Alt+X
HTML/XML Tag…
Ctrl+F8
Encoding Identifier.
Ctrl+F5
Time/Date (Short Form).
Ctrl+Shift+F5
Time/Date (Long Form).
Shift+F5
Update Timestamps.
Miscellaneous
Shortcut
Function
Ctrl+Shift+.
Copy GUID to Clipboard.
Ctrl+Alt+E
Escape C Special Chars.
Ctrl+Alt+R
Unescape C Special Chars.
Ctrl+Alt+Num.keypad+
Increase Number.
Ctrl+Alt+Num.keypad-
Decrease Number.
Ctrl+B
Find Matching Brace.
Ctrl+Shift+B
Select to Matching Brace.
Ctrl+Alt+F2
Expand Selection to Next Match. (orig-NP2: F2)
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F2
Expand Selection to Previous Match. (orig-NP2: Shift+F2)
Ctrl+Space
Select Word or Lines.
Ctrl+Shift+Space
Multi-Select All Matches.
Alt+Shift+Arrows
Rectangular Selection.
Alt+Left Mouse
Rectangular Selection.
Ctrl+Left Mouse
On hovering color indicator → Open color selection.