Zotero Keyboard Shortcuts
Note that the Shortcuts pane of the Preferences allows you to change some of those 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 |
| Move to Trash without Confirmation Dialog | Shift+Del | 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 |
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+PgDn1) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
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 | Not available |
PDF Reader
This section is incomplete.
| Function | Windows/Linux | macOS |
| 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 |
Word Processor Plugin
Customize your Shortcuts
The third-party Zutilo plugin adds various functions not available in Zotero itself through extra menu items and keyboard shortcuts.
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