Keyboard shortcuts

A reference for Vellum keyboard shortcuts. Cmd means Command on macOS; use Ctrl on Windows and Linux where shown.

Press the button to record a shortcut.

Press the shortcut you want to find.

Copy the shortcuts and paste them into your Vellum workspace to query them directly. Copied Markdown to the clipboard.

Ergonomics

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Toggle the right sidebar	Shift + Cmd + \	Shift + Ctrl + \
Toggle the left sidebar	Cmd + \	Ctrl + \
Go back in history	Cmd + [	Ctrl + [
Go forward in history	Cmd + ]	Ctrl + ]
Toggle Zen mode	Cmd + .	Ctrl + .

Node management

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Duplicate a node above or below	Shift + Option + ↑ / ↓	Shift + Alt + ↑ / ↓
Move the current node	Shift + Cmd + ↑ / ↓	Shift + Ctrl + ↑ / ↓
Select multiple nodes	Shift + ↑ / ↓	Shift + ↑ / ↓
Select text, then expand the selection	Cmd + A	Ctrl + A
Copy the current node when nothing is selected	Cmd + C	Ctrl + C
Delete the current node	Cmd + Shift + Backspace	Ctrl + Shift + Backspace
Add a checkbox, or open a document's page	Cmd + Enter	Ctrl + Enter
Tick a task, or untick it (cursor in a line with a checkbox)	Cmd + Enter	Ctrl + Enter
Cancel a task, or reopen it (cursor in a line with a checkbox)	Shift + Cmd + Enter	Shift + Ctrl + Enter
Expand or collapse a node	Cmd + ↑ / ↓	Ctrl + ↑ / ↓
On a node with nothing left to collapse, fold the one it sits under and move there	Cmd + ↑	Ctrl + ↑
Expand or collapse all nodes	Ctrl + Cmd + ↑ / ↓	Ctrl + Alt + ↑ / ↓
Zoom into or out of a node	Shift + Cmd + . / ,	Shift + Ctrl + . / ,
Search the current outline	Cmd + F	Ctrl + F
Create a child of the current node (also works on a list line in a document)	Option + Enter	Alt + Enter
Create a node at the bottom of the page (cursor in a line with no checkbox)	Shift + Cmd + Enter	Shift + Ctrl + Enter

Node-management tips

• Selection: Press the select all shortcut repeatedly to expand your selection: text in the node, the whole node, its siblings and descendants, then progressively higher levels.
• Checkboxes: Type [] followed by a space at the start of a node to add a checkbox without using the shortcut.
• Outline search: Outline search includes folded nodes. From outline search, press Cmd + Enter to extend the search globally through the search palette.
• Delete node: Works also when inside a node, on the title.

Views

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Show or hide view options for the current row or page	Shift + Cmd + L	Shift + Ctrl + L

From a row in Daily Notes, this shows or hides that row's own view options. On a page with sections, it shows or hides the sort, group, and filter bar for the section your cursor is in, unless the page is being shown all together, in which case it flips the whole page. On a page without sections, use it from any row, or with nothing focused at all, to show or hide the page's own view options.

Search

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Open the search palette	Cmd + P	Ctrl + P
Next search result	Cmd + G	Ctrl + G
Previous search result	Cmd + Shift + G	Ctrl + Shift + G
Cycle search-palette sorting options	Cmd + S	Ctrl + S
Show letter navigation in the search palette	Option	Alt
Open a search result in the sidebar	Shift + Enter	Shift + Enter

Before you type in the search palette, it shows Recents, Marks, and Pinned pages. Pressing the palette shortcut followed by Enter returns you to your most recent location.

Search syntax cheat sheet

Use > with a space on both sides to find content inside a node; chain it to search deeper. Type @ to select a context as a pill, then search within it, find links to it, or find unlinked mentions. Context also works with tags.

To…	Use
Find words	project notes
Find an exact phrase	"project notes"
Exclude a word	project -archive
Filter by tag, including inherited tags	#tagname
Search by date	Natural-language dates
Find a nested item	gift list > computer > motherboard
Use a page or tag as context	@place

Create a node from search

You can create a node from the search palette with a name, tag, and context—for example:

I'm a new note @library #draft

Press Enter to create it and place the cursor in its title; press Enter again to begin its first bullet. When you type @, you can create the node at the current location with Cmd + Enter, or create it and add it to the sidebar with Shift + Cmd + Enter.

Commands and dates

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Open the command palette	Cmd + K	Ctrl + K
Open the date picker	Shift + Cmd + D	Shift + Ctrl + D
Go to today's page	Cmd + D	Ctrl + D

In the date picker, press a to go to the daily-notes node and t to open today's node.

Keyboard movement

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Center the current node on screen	Cmd + J	Ctrl + J
Open the Letters Overlay	Ctrl + S	Ctrl + S
Enter Select Mode	Esc	Esc
Go to the top of the page, in Select Mode	t	t
Go to the bottom of the page, in Select Mode	b	b
Go back, in Select Mode	'	'

The Letters Overlay assigns letters to visible lines and paragraphs. Type a search term, then type a displayed letter to move the cursor to that location.

To use t, b, and ', first leave editing by pressing Esc. Going back is useful for temporarily jumping to the top of a page: press Esc, then t; press ' to return to where you were working.

Marks

Vellum has up to four mark slots. Marks can point to nodes on a page or to entire pages, making it quick to move between important locations.

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Add or remove a mark (slots 1–4)	Shift + Ctrl + 1–4	Shift + Ctrl + 1–4
Go to a mark (slots 1–4)	Ctrl + 1–4	Ctrl + 1–4

You can reorder marks in the search palette.

Document search

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Search within the current document	Cmd + F	Ctrl + F

If text is selected, document search can prefill and highlight that text. Use Cmd + G / Ctrl + G and their Shift variants to move through occurrences.

Text styling

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Italic	Cmd + I	Ctrl + I
Bold	Cmd + B	Ctrl + B