This page summarizes common editing commands and default keyboard shortcuts.
Select and move through the document
Horizontal (equation order) movement
Use the arrow keys ← Left and → Right to move through the document object by object.
Hold Ctrl while moving to move fast. Moving fast moves a term at a time, and skips over the contents of objects with fields.
Hold Shift while moving to select as you move. Selection automatically stops at field boundaries.
Vertical movement
Use the arrow keys ↑ Up and ↓ Down to move vertically through the document.
Grow and shrink the selection
Press Shift + ↑ Up to select more. This grows the selection to cover first the entire field, then the object containing the field, and so on, until the entire line is selected. For example, using select more twice in the denominator of a fraction would first select the denominator, then the entire fraction. Pressing Shift + ↓ Down will select less, reversing the procedure.
Delete
Press Delete to delete content after the insertion point and Backspace to delete content before the insertion point. An object will not be deleted until all of its fields are empty, so these keys will first delete the contents of an object before deleting the object itself. If there is a selection, pressing either key will delete the selection.
Fields
A field is a part of an object that holds more content. For example, the numerator and denominator of a fraction are both fields of the fraction object. Lines also count as fields (think of them as fields of the “document object”).
Move through fields
Pressing Enter moves through the document by fields, moving first to the end of the current field, then to the end of the next field. Holding Shift at the same time moves toward the start of the previous field instead.
Move or select to field end
Pressing Home or End will move to the start or end of the current field, respectively. Holding Shift at the same time will select the content from the caret to the start or end of the field.
Move content within field
Pressing Alt + ← Left or Alt + → Right will move the selection (or object at the insertion point) towards the the start or end of a field, respectively.
Pull content into field
Pressing Ctrl + . or Ctrl + , will pull math from outside of the object into the current field. For example, this can be used to move more content into parentheses without leaving the parentheses.
Push content out of a field
Pressing Ctrl + Shift + . or Ctrl + Shift + , will push math at the ends of the current field out of the object.
Lines
Move and select by line
Pressing Alt + Home or Alt + End will move to the start or end of the line, respectively, even from deep inside of an object.
Pressing Ctrl + A will select the entire line.
Change line order by moving a line up or down
Pressing Alt + ↑ Up or Alt + ↓ Down will move the current line up or down one line respectively. This can be used to reorder the logic of an argument.
Duplicate or clone a line
Pressing Ctrl + D will insert a copy of the current line immediately above the line, then continue editing the current line. This is useful for refining an equation in small steps.
Join and split (break) lines
It doesn’t usually make sense to join lines together in math the way you join lines in a word processor.
Since it would usually be a mistake, the editor does not do it automatically.
To join lines while deleting, press Ctrl + Delete or Ctrl + Backspace at the line end or start, respectively.
To split a line in two, press Ctrl + Enter.
Document
Move to start or end of document
Pressing Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End will move to the start or end of the document, respectively.
Objects
Abbreviations and autocomplete
Press Space to expand the abbreviation or autocompletion shown in the bubble. Press Alt + . to show other completion choices.
Exit a bracket-like object
Pressing a close bracket symbol (), ], or }) leaves the nearest bracket object of the same type. This also works for other objects that use the same symbol. For example, pressing ] will leave a matrix.
Unwrap and wrap objects
Press Ctrl + U to unwrap an object, replacing it with the contents of the current field.
For example, this would replace parentheses with the contents of the parentheses.
If a selection is active, and the selection is a single unwrappable object, then the first field of that object will be unwrapped.
Otherwise, if the selection is inside of an unwrappable object, the selection will replace the unwrapped object.
Holding Shift will select the field content after unwrapping it.
Inserting a math object while there is a selection active will wrap the selection by moving it into the object’s first field (if possible).
Take the reciprocal
Pressing Ctrl + R will flip the numerator and denominator of a fraction when used inside of it (or when a fraction is the only selected object). If the numerator was 1, the fraction will be unwrapped. If applied to a non-fraction, it will be converted into a fraction first.
Select a number
To select all of the contiguous digits of a number, right click on any digit in the number and choose Select Number.
Changing the type or accent of variables
To change or remove the accent on a variable, right click on it and choose Change Accent, then choose the desired accent.
To change the data type of a variable or identifier, right click on it and choose Change Data Type, then choose the desired type.
Edit history
Undo and redo
Press Ctrl + Z one or more times to undo edits. Press Ctrl + Y to redo edits that have been undone.
Clipboard
Cut/Copy/Paste
Press Ctrl + C to copy the selection to the clipboard. Press Ctrl + X to cut (copy and delete) the selection. Press Ctrl + V to paste the clipboard contents into the editor. The editor copies math content using a special plain text format; this allows content to be copied between the desktop and Web app editions seamlessly.
Memory cells offer additional clipboard-like “slots” for storing and inserting selected content.
The desktop editon offers additional commands to copy content to the clipboard using alternate formats, such as copying an image.