Complete Postman keyboard shortcuts reference — 27 shortcuts across 5 categories. Quick reference cheat sheet for Windows & Mac.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Enter | Send Request |
| Ctrl + S | Save |
| Ctrl + Shift + S | Save As |
| Ctrl + T | New Tab |
| Ctrl + N | Create New |
| Ctrl + L | Jump to URL |
| Ctrl + 1 | Focus First Tab |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + K | Search Postman |
| Ctrl + Shift + P | Command Palette |
| Ctrl + Shift + F | Find and Replace |
| Ctrl + F | Search Sidebar |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Alt + 1 | Focus Sidebar |
| Ctrl + Alt + 2 | Focus Builder |
| Down | Next Item |
| Up | Previous Item |
| Right | Expand |
| Left | Collapse |
| Shift + Down | Select Next Too |
| Shift + Up | Select Previous Too |
| Enter | Open Request |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + C | Copy |
| Ctrl + V | Paste |
| Ctrl + D | Duplicate |
| Ctrl + E | Edit / Rename |
| Delete | Delete |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + \ | Toggle Sidebar |
| Ctrl + Alt + C | Open Console |
The core Postman rhythm is four keys long: Ctrl + L drops the cursor into the URL bar, Ctrl + Enter fires the request from anywhere in the app, Ctrl + S saves the result into its collection, and Ctrl + T opens the next tab. Add Ctrl + 1 through Ctrl + 9 for jumping straight to a numbered tab and you can iterate on an API without touching the mouse between sends.
Postman has two different search doors, and knowing which one to open saves time. Ctrl + K searches things — workspaces, collections, requests, and APIs across your account. Ctrl + Shift + P opens the command palette, which searches actions: it understands feature names and plain language, so it is the faster path to a setting you cannot remember the location of. Ctrl + F stays local and simply filters what the sidebar shows.
Ctrl + Alt + 1 focuses the sidebar and Ctrl + Alt + 2 focuses the request builder, so you can bounce between browsing and editing without clicking. Inside the sidebar the arrow keys expand and collapse collections, Shift + Up/Shift + Down grow a multi-selection, and Enter opens the highlighted request. Before experimenting with a working request, press Ctrl + D to duplicate it — you keep the known-good version and mutate the copy. When you need to know what Postman actually sent — final headers, cookies, redirects — Ctrl + Alt + C opens the Console, and Ctrl + \ hides the sidebar when the response viewer needs the room.
Yes — substitute Cmd for Ctrl throughout: Cmd + Enter sends, Cmd + K searches, Cmd + Alt + C opens the Console. The letter part of each shortcut stays the same.
Make sure a request tab actually has focus — if you are inside a modal dialog or a different pane, the shortcut has nothing to send. Note also that a few features are desktop-only: Find and Replace on Ctrl + Shift + F, for instance, is not available in the browser version, where the browser itself may also claim some Ctrl combinations first.
Ctrl + K finds artifacts: requests, collections, environments, workspaces. Ctrl + Shift + P finds capabilities: it runs commands and navigates to features by name. If you know what you want to open, use K; if you know what you want to do, use Shift + P.
Select it in the sidebar and press Ctrl + D to duplicate before editing. Rename the copy with Ctrl + E so the two stay distinguishable, and delete the experiment with Delete when you are done.
Open the Postman Console with Ctrl + Alt + C. It logs every request with the final resolved URL, headers, variable substitutions, redirects, and certificate details — usually the fastest way to find out why a server rejected a call that looks correct in the builder.
Open your assistant with this page preloaded as the source — great for follow-up questions like "which of these work in other apps?"