Zotero Keyboard Shortcuts

Zotero Desktop App

Note that the Shortcuts pane of the Zotero preferences allows you to change some of these keyboard shortcuts.

Adding Items to your Zotero Library

Function	Windows/Linux	Mac OS
Save to Zotero	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+S	`Cmd`+`Shift`+S
Create a New Item by Hand	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+N	`Cmd`+`Shift`+N
Create a New Note	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+O	`Cmd`+`Shift`+O
Import	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+I	`Cmd`+`Shift`+I
Import from Clipboard	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Alt`+I	`Cmd`+`Option`+`Shift`+I

Editing Items (Info Tab)

Add Another Author/Creator when Editing Creator	`Shift`+`Enter`	`Shift`+`Enter`
Save Abstract or Extra field	`Shift`+`Enter`	`Shift`+`Enter`

Removing or Deleting Items and Collections

Function	from My Library	from a Collection
Move to Trash	`Del`	`Shift`+`Del` / `Cmd`+`Delete`
Move to Trash without Confirmation Dialog	`Shift`+`Del` / `Cmd`+`Delete`	Not Available
Remove from Collection	Not Applicable	`Del` (Only for top-level items)

Function	Key
Delete Collection (and Keep Items in Library and Others Collections, if any)	`Del`
Delete Collection and Move Items to Trash	`Shift`+`Del` / `Cmd`+`Delete`

Creating Citations and Bibliographies (Quick Copy)

Function	Windows/Linux Defaults	Mac OS Defaults
Copy Selected Item Citations to Clipboard	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+A	`Cmd`+`Shift`+A
Copy Selected Items to Clipboard	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+C	`Cmd`+`Shift`+C

Navigating between Zotero Panes

Function	Windows/Linux	Mac OS
Focus Libraries (Left) Pane	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+L	`Cmd`+`Shift`+L
Move through Panes and Fields	`Tab`/`Shift`+`Tab`	`Tab`
Move through Info/Notes/Tags/Related Tabs	`→` and `←` (or `Ctrl`+`Tab`/`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Tab` or `Ctrl`+`PgUp`/`Ctrl`+`PgDn`)	`Ctrl`+`PgUp`/`Ctrl`+`PgDn`¹⁾
Quick Search	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+K	`Cmd`+`Shift`+K
Quick Search	`Ctrl`+F	`Cmd`+F

Moving Between Tabs

Zotero supports most standard shortcuts for switching between tabs:

Ctrl+PageDown/PageUp (Control+Fn+Up/Down on most Mac keyboards)
Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift-Tab
Cmd+Shift+[/] (macOS only)
Cmd+Option+←/→ (macOS only)
Cmd/Ctrl+1 through 9

Searching

Function	Windows/Linux	Mac OS
Quick Search	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+K	`Cmd`+`Shift`+K
Quick Search	`Ctrl`+F	`Cmd`+F
Find/Highlight Collection(s) an Item belongs to	Hold down `Ctrl` (Windows) or `Alt` (Linux)	Hold down `Option`

Feeds

Function	Windows/Linux	Mac OS
Mark All Feed Items as Read/Unread	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+R	`Cmd`+`Shift`+R
Mark Feed as Read/Unread	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`	`Cmd`+`Shift`+`

Other Shortcuts

Function	Windows/Linux	Mac OS
Expand/Collapse Collections or Items List	`+`/`-`	`+`/`-`
Highlight All Collections an Item is in	Hold down `Ctrl` (Windows) or `Alt` (Linux)	Hold down `Option`
Count Items (Result Appears in Right-Hand Pane)	`Ctrl`+A	`Cmd`+A
Edit Collection Names (Left Pane)	`F2`	`Return`

PDF Reader

This section is incomplete. See this GitHub comment for other available shortcuts.

Function	Windows/Linux	macOS
Switch between annotation tools	`Alt`-`1`/`2`/`3`/`4`	`Option`-`1`/`2`/`3`/`4`
Back (in-PDF link)	`Alt`+`Left`, `Ctrl`+`[` (Linux)	`Cmd`+`Left`, `Cmd`+`[`
Forward (in-PDF link)	`Alt`+`Right`, `Ctrl`+`]` (Linux)	`Cmd`+`Right`, `Cmd`+`]`

Notes

This section hasn't been fully updated for the new note editor in Zotero 6.

Function	Windows/Linux	Mac OS
Bold	`Ctrl`+B	`Cmd`+B
Italic	`Ctrl`+I	`Cmd`+I
Underline	`Ctrl`+U	`Cmd`+U
Select All	`Ctrl`+A	`Cmd`+A
Undo	`Ctrl`+Z	`Cmd`+Z
Redo	`Ctrl`+Y or `Ctrl`+`Shift`+Z	`Cmd`+Y or `Cmd`+`Shift`+Z
Cut	`Ctrl`+X	`Cmd`+X
Copy	`Ctrl`+C	`Cmd`+C
Paste	`Ctrl`+V	`Cmd`+V
Paste without formatting	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+V	`Cmd`+`Shift`+V
Format Heading 1 to 6	`Shift`+`Alt`+1/6	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+1/6
Format as Paragraph	`Shift`+`Alt`+7	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+7
Format as Div	`Shift`+`Alt`+8	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+8
Format as Address	`Shift`+`Alt`+9	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+9
Find and Replace	`Ctrl`+F	`Cmd`+F
Insert Link	`Ctrl`+K	`Cmd`+K
Focus/jump to toolbar	`Alt`+F10	`Alt`+`F10`

Zotero Connector

Chrome, Firefox, and Edge all provide a way to assign a keyboard shortcut to the Save to Zotero button. Consult your browser documentation for more information.

Word Processor Plugins

Customize your Shortcuts

The third-party Zutilo plugin adds various functions not available in Zotero itself through extra menu items and keyboard shortcuts.

kb, basics

¹⁾

MacBooks and the Apple Wireless Keyboard don't have dedicated Page-Up/Page-Down keys, so you have to use Fn+Up/Down-arrow on those to simulate the Page-Up/Page-Down keys.

Function	Windows/Linux	Mac OS
Toggle Tag Selector	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+T	`Cmd`+`Shift`+T
Assign Colored Tag to an Item	1 to 6 keys	1 to 6 keys