Helix Editor Keyboard Shortcuts

Complete Helix Editor keyboard shortcuts reference — 202 shortcuts across 13 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Linux & Mac.

Movement (Normal Mode) (25)

Shortcut	Action
`h`	Move Left
`j`	Move Down
`k`	Move Up
`l`	Move Right
`w`	Next Word Start
`b`	Previous Word Start
`e`	Next Word End
`W`	Next WORD Start
`B`	Previous WORD Start
`E`	Next WORD End
`f`	Find Next Char
`t`	Find Till Next Char
`F`	Find Previous Char
`T`	Find Till Previous Char
`G`	Go to Line Number
`Alt + .`	Repeat Last Motion
`Home`	Start of Line
`End`	End of Line
`Ctrl + B`	Page Up
`Ctrl + F`	Page Down
`Ctrl + U`	Half Page Up
`Ctrl + D`	Half Page Down
`Ctrl + I`	Jump Forward
`Ctrl + O`	Jump Backward
`Ctrl + S`	Save Selection to Jumplist

Changes (30)

Shortcut	Action
`r`	Replace Character
`R`	Replace with Yanked
`~`	Switch Case
`	To Lower Case
Alt + `	To Upper Case
`i`	Insert Before
`a`	Append
`I`	Insert at Line Start
`A`	Insert at Line End
`o`	Open Line Below
`O`	Open Line Above
`.`	Repeat Last Insert
`u`	Undo
`U`	Redo
`Alt + u`	Earlier in History
`Alt + U`	Later in History
`y`	Yank
`p`	Paste After
`P`	Paste Before
`>`	Indent
`<`	Unindent
`=`	Format Selection
`d`	Delete Selection
`Alt + d`	Delete without Yanking
`c`	Change Selection
`Alt + c`	Change without Yanking
`Ctrl + A`	Increment Number
`Ctrl + X`	Decrement Number
`Q`	Record Macro
`q`	Replay Macro

Shell (5)

Shortcut	Action
`\|`	Pipe Through Shell
`Alt + \|`	Pipe To Shell
`!`	Insert Command Output
`Alt + !`	Append Command Output
`$`	Keep Piped Selections

Selection (35)

Shortcut	Action
`s`	Select Regex Matches
`S`	Split on Regex
`Alt + s`	Split on Newlines
`Alt + -`	Merge Selections
`Alt + _`	Merge Consecutive
`&`	Align Selections
`_`	Trim Whitespace
`;`	Collapse Selection
`Alt + ;`	Flip Selection
`Alt + :`	Ensure Forward Direction
`,`	Keep Primary Selection
`Alt + ,`	Remove Primary Selection
`C`	Add Cursor Below
`Alt + C`	Add Cursor Above
`(`	Rotate Selection Backward
`)`	Rotate Selection Forward
`Alt + (`	Rotate Contents Backward
`Alt + )`	Rotate Contents Forward
`%`	Select Entire File
`x`	Select Line
`X`	Extend to Line Bounds
`Alt + x`	Shrink to Line Bounds
`J`	Join Lines
`Alt + J`	Join and Select Space
`K`	Keep Matching Selections
`Alt + K`	Remove Matching Selections
`Ctrl + C`	Toggle Comments
`Alt + o`	Expand Selection
`Alt + i`	Shrink Selection
`Alt + p`	Previous Sibling Node
`Alt + n`	Next Sibling Node
`Alt + a`	Select All Siblings
`Alt + I`	Select All Children
`Alt + e`	End of Parent Node
`Alt + b`	Start of Parent Node

Search (6)

Shortcut	Action
`/`	Search
`?`	Search Backward
`n`	Next Match
`N`	Previous Match
`*`	Search Selection
`Alt + *`	Search Selection Literally

Minor Modes (8)

Shortcut	Action
`v`	Select Mode
`g`	Goto Mode
`m`	Match Mode
`:`	Command Mode
`z`	View Mode
`Z`	Sticky View Mode
`Ctrl + W`	Window Mode
`Space`	Space Mode

View Mode (z) (6)

Shortcut	Action
`zz`	Center Line
`zt`	Align to Top
`zb`	Align to Bottom
`zm`	Align to Middle
`zj`	Scroll Down
`zk`	Scroll Up

Goto Mode (g) (19)

Shortcut	Action
`gg`	Go to File Start
`ge`	Go to File End
`gf`	Go to File
`gh`	Go to Line Start
`gl`	Go to Line End
`gs`	First Non-Whitespace
`gt`	Top of Screen
`gc`	Middle of Screen
`gb`	Bottom of Screen
`gd`	Go to Definition
`gy`	Go to Type Definition
`gr`	Go to References
`gi`	Go to Implementation
`ga`	Alternate File
`gm`	Last Modified File
`gn`	Next Buffer
`gp`	Previous Buffer
`g.`	Last Modification
`gw`	Go to Word

Match Mode (m) (6)

Shortcut	Action
`mm`	Matching Bracket
`ms`	Surround Add
`mr`	Surround Replace
`md`	Surround Delete
`ma`	Select Around Object
`mi`	Select Inside Object

Window Mode (Ctrl + W) (10)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl + W, W`	Next Window
`Ctrl + W, V`	Vertical Split
`Ctrl + W, S`	Horizontal Split
`Ctrl + W, F`	Open File in Split
`Ctrl + W, H`	Move to Left Split
`Ctrl + W, J`	Move to Split Below
`Ctrl + W, K`	Move to Split Above
`Ctrl + W, L`	Move to Right Split
`Ctrl + W, Q`	Close Window
`Ctrl + W, O`	Only This Window

Space Mode (23)

Shortcut	Action
`Space, f`	File Picker
`Space, F`	File Picker (cwd)
`Space, b`	Buffer Picker
`Space, j`	Jumplist Picker
`Space, g`	Changed File Picker
`Space, k`	Show Documentation
`Space, s`	Document Symbols
`Space, S`	Workspace Symbols
`Space, d`	Document Diagnostics
`Space, D`	Workspace Diagnostics
`Space, r`	Rename Symbol
`Space, a`	Code Action
`Space, h`	Select References
`Space, '`	Last Picker
`Space, c`	Toggle Comments
`Space, C`	Toggle Block Comments
`Space, p`	Paste Clipboard After
`Space, P`	Paste Clipboard Before
`Space, y`	Yank to Clipboard
`Space, Y`	Yank Main Selection
`Space, R`	Replace with Clipboard
`Space, /`	Global Search
`Space, ?`	Command Palette

Unimpaired (22)

Shortcut	Action
`]d`	Next Diagnostic
`[d`	Previous Diagnostic
`]D`	Last Diagnostic
`[D`	First Diagnostic
`]f`	Next Function
`[f`	Previous Function
`]t`	Next Type Definition
`[t`	Previous Type Definition
`]a`	Next Parameter
`[a`	Previous Parameter
`]c`	Next Comment
`[c`	Previous Comment
`]T`	Next Test
`[T`	Previous Test
`]p`	Next Paragraph
`[p`	Previous Paragraph
`]g`	Next Change
`[g`	Previous Change
`]G`	Last Change
`[G`	First Change
`]Space`	Add Newline Below
`[Space`	Add Newline Above

Insert Mode (7)

Shortcut	Action
`Escape`	Back to Normal Mode
`Ctrl + R`	Insert Register
`Ctrl + K`	Delete to Line End
`Ctrl + H`	Delete Previous Char
`Ctrl + J`	Insert New Line
`Alt + Backspace`	Delete Previous Word
`Alt + Delete`	Delete Next Word

📄 View Printable Cheat Sheet — Download as PDF or print · 🧩 Combine with other tools

Related Shortcut Pages

Vim Emacs Nano Zed Editor VS Code tmux

Search 13,500+ shortcuts across 269 platforms

Explore All Platforms Practice Shortcuts

📜 Every shortcut on this page is taken from the official Helix Editor documentation — docs.helix-editor.com

🔧 Spotted an error or a missing shortcut? Suggest an edit on GitHub — every accepted fix goes live on this page, the API and the CLI.

🤖 Ask AI about Helix Editor shortcuts

Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"

ChatGPT Claude Perplexity Gemini Grok