The most reused keyboard shortcut in software is Ctrl + D — it appears in 82 of the 269 applications we track. This page reports original statistics computed from the shortcut-tools dataset: 13,611 hand-verified shortcuts and CLI commands across 269 applications, as of July 2026. Every number below is derived directly from our own data — not aggregated from other sites.
• The dataset contains 13,611 shortcuts across 269 applications — an average of 47.1 per app.
• 32.4% of all shortcuts use the Ctrl key (4,377 shortcuts). Shift appears in 18.0% (2,442), Cmd in 6.4% (865), and Alt in 11.4% (1,544).
• 24.8% are single-key shortcuts (3,068) — mostly in creative tools and vi-style apps where modes replace modifiers.
• 17.5% are CLI commands rather than key combos (2,369), reflecting the growth of terminal-first and AI-agent tooling in 2025–2026.
Counting how many distinct applications bind the exact same combination. If you learn these 15, you carry them across dozens of tools.
| Shortcut | Used by |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + D | 82 apps |
| Ctrl + F | 67 apps |
| Ctrl + N | 67 apps |
| Ctrl + S | 66 apps |
| Ctrl + E | 65 apps |
| Ctrl + B | 65 apps |
| Ctrl + L | 64 apps |
| Ctrl + Z | 63 apps |
| Ctrl + K | 60 apps |
| Ctrl + R | 59 apps |
| Ctrl + C | 58 apps |
| Ctrl + I | 58 apps |
| Ctrl + A | 56 apps |
| Ctrl + P | 55 apps |
| Ctrl + Enter | 55 apps |
| Application | Shortcuts in dataset |
|---|---|
| Elasticsearch | 674 |
| Pro Tools | 325 |
| Proxmox VE | 300 |
| Vim (Advanced) | 296 |
| Microsoft Word | 261 |
| Mac | 226 |
| Cinema 4D | 222 |
| Cubase | 220 |
| Helix Editor | 202 |
| jq (JSON) | 193 |
Counts are computed directly from the shortcut-tools dataset (13,611 entries, 269 applications) on 2026-07-19. Every shortcut is verified by hand against official documentation before entering the dataset; version-specific commands carry a verification stamp on their platform page. Modifier counts match whole words (e.g. "Ctrl") within each key combination; the universal-shortcut table counts exact normalized matches only. Because the dataset curates the most useful shortcuts per app rather than exhaustive lists, per-app totals are floors, not ceilings.
Cite this page: shortcut-tools.com Keyboard Shortcut Statistics, July 2026. This page is refreshed when the dataset changes; the date above reflects the last computation.