Keyboard shortcuts

Maths Explore is built to be driven from the keyboard: add a maths block, write it, move on to the next, and never reach for the mouse. This page is the lot.

On a Mac, press ⌘ where Ctrl is shown and ⌥ where Alt is. The app’s own menus show the Mac keys. Shortcuts pause while a dialog is open, except F1. The sheet-wide ones (undo, copy, delete) stand aside while you’re typing inside a block – those keys keep their ordinary meaning in text. Ctrl + A is the exception: it selects every block, even from inside one.

Help

Keys	Does
`F1`	Opens these docs in a help window beside the sheet, at the page for what you’re working on. Later presses reuse the same window.

Where it lands depends on where you are:

Inside a built-in function’s brackets, such as round(…): that function’s entry in the reference. In nested calls the innermost one wins.
On a function highlighted in the suggestion menu: its entry, before you’ve accepted it.
Anywhere else in a maths block: Built-in functions.
In a table: Tables. In a text block: Text blocks.
With calcsheet options open: Calcsheet options.
Nothing in particular: the docs home, which is also where the header’s Help button goes.

Your own functions have no entry here, so a call to one opens the built-in functions reference. That holds even for one you’ve named round, which shadows the built-in on that sheet. On a Mac keyboard F1 usually needs fn held down.

Files

Keys	Does
`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `N`	New calcsheet. The `Alt` is deliberate: browsers keep plain `Ctrl` + `N` for themselves. Not while typing in a block.
`Ctrl` + `O`	Open: goes to Home, where your calcsheets are listed.
`Ctrl` + `S`	Save.
`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `S`	Save as…, once the sheet is saved to a file. Before that it is the same as Save, which asks where to save.
`Ctrl` + `P`	Print. The same dialog exports a PDF.

Editing the sheet

Keys	Does
`Ctrl` + `Z`	Undo.
`Ctrl` + `Y` or `Ctrl` + `Shift` + `Z`	Redo.
`Ctrl` + `A`	Select every block.
`Shift` + click or `Ctrl` + click	Add a block to the selection, or take it out again. A grouped block brings its whole group.
`Ctrl` + `C` / `Ctrl` + `X`	Copy or cut the selected blocks. They paste into any calcsheet, including one open in another tab.
`Ctrl` + `V`	Paste, just beside the selected blocks, or in the middle of the view when nothing is selected. With the insertion beacon showing, blocks paste at the beacon instead.
`Delete`	Remove the selected blocks.

Zoom

Keys	Does
`Ctrl` + `=` or `Ctrl` + `+`	Zoom in.
`Ctrl` + `-`	Zoom out.
`Ctrl` + `0`	Back to 100 %.
`Ctrl` + scroll wheel	Zoom in and out. The browser’s own page zoom never kicks in.

The numpad’s +, - and 0 work too. Zoom runs from 25 % to 250 % in steps of 20 %.

Adding blocks at the beacon

Click an empty spot on a page and the insertion beacon appears there with its toolbar. While it is showing, the keyboard does the toolbar’s job:

Keys	Does
any letter, digit or symbol	A maths block that starts with that character. Just begin typing the maths.
`Enter`	An empty maths block.
`’`	A text block.
`#`	A user-function block.
`Delete`	Closes up one row of empty space below the beacon, pulling the blocks beneath it up. Press again to keep closing.
`Ctrl` + `V`	Paste at the beacon: copied blocks, an image (as a new diagram block) or plain text (prose as text blocks, LaTeX as maths blocks; see Using LaTeX).
`Escape`	Dismiss the beacon.

In a maths block

Keys	Does
`:`	Types the assignment `:=`. Inside a subscript it first hops out, so `A_3 :=` comes out right.
`#`	In an empty block, inserts a function-definition template.
`Enter`	Finishes the block and opens a new maths block below it.
`Space`	Inside a subscript or superscript: leaves the script. Anywhere else: a visible space, ignored when the maths is evaluated.
`^` then digits	The whole number goes into the exponent. Type `2^10` straight through, with no arrow key needed.
`“` or `Shift` + `Alt` + `T`	Switch to text mode, for a label such as a table key. The same keys switch back to maths.

While the suggestion menu is open:

Keys	Does
`↓` / `↑`	Move through the suggestions.
`Enter` or `Tab`	Accept the highlighted suggestion.
`Escape`	Close the menu.

In a text block

Keys	Does
`Enter`	Finishes the text and opens a new maths block below it.
`Ctrl` + `Enter`	A new paragraph within the block.
`Shift` + `Enter`	A line break.
`Alt` + `1` … `Alt` + `4`	Heading level 1 to 4.
`Alt` + `Shift` + `1` … `4`	A numbered heading, level 1 to 4, numbered continuously through the sheet.
`Ctrl` + click a link	Opens it in a new tab. A plain click places the caret.

Markdown typed into a text block formats as you go: a second * or _ turns bold on and off, a second ~ strikethrough; and at the start of a line, #, ## or ### followed by a space makes a heading, - a bulleted list, 1. a numbered list and > a quote.

In a description block under a maths block, Ctrl + B is bold and Ctrl + I italic.

In a table

Keys	Does
`Tab` / `Shift` + `Tab`	Next / previous cell, wrapping at row ends. `Tab` past the last cell appends a new row.
`Enter`	Down one row. On the last row, appends a new one.
`Escape`	Leave the cell.
`Tab` or `Enter` in the name field	Into the first cell.
`Shift` + `Alt` + `T`	Type the cell as text. A word in a body cell is otherwise read as maths.

In a diagram

Keys	Does
`Escape`	Cancel the drawing tool, or the shape in progress.
`Enter`	Finish a multiline.
`Delete` or `Backspace`	While drawing a multiline: remove its last point. Otherwise: delete the selected shapes.
`←` `↑` `→` `↓`	Nudge the selected shapes by 1 px, or 10 px with `Shift`. Each nudge is one undo step.
`Shift` + drag	With the select tool: a selection box around several shapes.
`Shift` while drawing a line	Holds the segment to a multiple of 45°.
`Shift` while moving	Moves along a 45° line from where the drag began.
`Shift` while resizing	Crops instead of scaling.
`Ctrl` + `C` / `X` / `V`	Copy, cut and paste shapes between diagrams.

Menus and dialogs

Escape closes any dialog, dropdown or right-click menu.