Sublime Text Keyboard Shortcuts

Q: Ctrl + D grabbed an occurrence I didn't want. Now what?

Press Esc to drop back to a single cursor and start the selection again — it is usually faster than trying to repair a multi-selection. If the extra matches are a recurring problem, Ctrl + Shift + L on a hand-made selection gives you precise control over exactly which lines get cursors.

Q: What is the difference between Ctrl + F and Ctrl + Shift + F?

Ctrl + F searches the current file, with F3 and Shift + F3 walking through matches. Ctrl + Shift + F searches across files — the whole project or any folder set you specify — and collects results in a dedicated buffer you can jump into. Ctrl + H is the in-file variant with replacement.

File & Navigation 6

Ctrl+P

Go to File

Quick file open

Ctrl+Shift+P

Command Palette

Open command palette

Ctrl+R

Go to Symbol

Jump to symbol

Ctrl+G

Go to Line

Jump to line

Ctrl+Tab

Next Tab

Switch to next tab

Ctrl+Shift+Tab

Previous Tab

Switch to previous tab

Editing 7

Ctrl+D

Select Word

Select next occurrence of word

Ctrl+L

Select Line

Select entire line

Ctrl+Shift+K

Delete Line

Delete current line

Ctrl+Shift+D

Duplicate Line

Duplicate current line

Ctrl+/

Toggle Comment

Comment or uncomment line

Ctrl+]

Indent

Indent selection

Ctrl+[

Unindent

Unindent selection

Multi-cursor 4

Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down

Add Cursor

Add cursor above/below

Ctrl+Shift+L

Split into Lines

Split selection into lines

Alt+F3

Select All

Select all occurrences

Esc

Single Cursor

Return to single cursor

Search 5

Ctrl+F

Find

Find in file

Ctrl+H

Replace

Find and replace

Ctrl+Shift+F

Find in Files

Search across files

F3

Find Next

Find next occurrence

Shift+F3

Find Previous

Find previous occurrence

View 3

Ctrl+K, Ctrl+B

Toggle Sidebar

Show/hide sidebar

F11

Fullscreen

Toggle fullscreen mode

Shift+F11

Distraction Free

Enter distraction free mode

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Multiple cursors change how you edit

Sublime's signature move is Ctrl + D: it selects the word under the cursor, and each further press adds the next occurrence as another cursor — type once and the change lands everywhere. Alt + F3 skips the stepping and selects every occurrence at once, Ctrl + Shift + L turns a block selection into one cursor per line, and Esc collapses everything back to a single cursor. Renaming a variable, editing a column of values, wrapping a list in quotes — all become a single pass instead of a find-and-replace ritual.

Navigation runs through one overlay wearing three hats. Ctrl + P opens Goto Anything for fuzzy file names; Ctrl + R is the same overlay pre-filled for symbols in the current file; Ctrl + G pre-fills it for a line number. Learn Ctrl + P and the other two come free.

Line surgery and the chorded sidebar

The line-level verbs pay for themselves within a day: Ctrl + Shift + K deletes the current line, Ctrl + Shift + D duplicates it, Ctrl + L selects it whole (press again to extend downward), Ctrl + / toggles comments, and Ctrl + ] / Ctrl + [ shift indentation. Note the two-step notation in Ctrl + K, Ctrl + B for the sidebar: hold Ctrl, press K, then press B — Sublime calls these chords, and several commands live behind the Ctrl + K prefix. For focus, F11 goes fullscreen and Shift + F11 enters Distraction Free mode, which also hides the sidebar, tabs, and minimap.

Frequently asked questions

What does the comma in Ctrl + K, Ctrl + B mean?

It is a chord — two keystrokes in sequence. Keep Ctrl held, press K, then press B. Sublime reserves the Ctrl + K prefix for a whole family of second-step commands, so if the editor seems to pause after Ctrl + K, it is waiting for the rest of the chord.

Ctrl + D grabbed an occurrence I didn't want. Now what?

Press Esc to drop back to a single cursor and start the selection again — it is usually faster than trying to repair a multi-selection. If the extra matches are a recurring problem, Ctrl + Shift + L on a hand-made selection gives you precise control over exactly which lines get cursors.

What is the difference between Ctrl + F and Ctrl + Shift + F?

Ctrl + F searches the current file, with F3 and Shift + F3 walking through matches. Ctrl + Shift + F searches across files — the whole project or any folder set you specify — and collects results in a dedicated buffer you can jump into. Ctrl + H is the in-file variant with replacement.

Is there a Vim mode?

Yes — Vintage, Sublime's built-in Vim emulation, ships disabled. Remove Vintage from the ignored_packages list in your settings to enable modal editing while keeping every shortcut on this page functional.

Do these shortcuts work on macOS?

The letters stay, the modifier changes: Cmd replaces Ctrl for most bindings — Cmd + P for Goto Anything, Cmd + D for expand-to-word. A few differ by platform (multi-cursor with the arrow keys, for instance), so check Preferences → Key Bindings when something does not fire.

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