Skip to content
FrostyBee Docs LogoFrostyBee Docs

Keyboard Shortcuts

This page lists the default keyboard shortcut of every Vaste command, and the fixed keys that work in each view. To change a command’s shortcut, see Custom shortcuts.

Keys on macOS

Section titled “Keys on macOS”

The Vaste documentation writes keys as they are on Windows and Linux. On macOS:

  • Ctrl in a shortcut is Cmd. For example, Search is Ctrl + F on Windows and Linux and Cmd + F on macOS.
  • Alt is Option.

Vaste shows the keys of your system in its menus, tooltips, and the command palette.

Some default shortcuts are also macOS system shortcuts, such as Cmd + Q, Cmd + H, and Cmd + W, and on macOS Option with a letter types a special character. If a default shortcut does not work on your Mac, assign another key in Custom shortcuts.

Commands

Section titled “Commands”

The commands are grouped as in the Keyboard category of Settings and in the command palette. A command marked “None” has no default shortcut: run it from the command palette, or assign a key.

File

Section titled “File”
Command Default What it does
Open file Ctrl + O Open a file in the current window
Open in new window Ctrl + Shift + N Open a file in another Vaste window
Close file Ctrl + W Close the current file, without closing Vaste
Reload file Ctrl + R Reload the current file from disk
File statistics Ctrl + I Count the lines, words, characters, and bytes

View

Section titled “View”
Command Default What it does
Toggle hex view Ctrl + H Switch between Text view and Hex view
Toggle table view Ctrl + T Switch between Text view and Table view
Toggle NDJSON view Ctrl + J Switch between Text view and NDJSON view
Toggle grep view Ctrl + Shift + G Show only the lines that match the search
Toggle word wrap Alt + Z Wrap long lines in Text view
Toggle line numbers None Show or hide line numbers
Toggle log-level colours None Tint lines by log level
Show JSON in line Alt + J Show the JSON in the active line, formatted
Toggle delta-t gutter None Show the time since the previous timestamped line
Toggle time histogram None Show the time strip beside the scrollbar

Search and navigation

Section titled “Search and navigation”
Command Default What it does
Search Ctrl + F Open the search panel
Go to line Ctrl + G Go to a line number in Text view
Find in files Ctrl + Shift + D Search every file in a folder
Pinned results Ctrl + Shift + P Show or hide the pinned results
Add search to chain Ctrl + Shift + A Add the current search to the combined search chain
Find strings Alt + S List the readable text in a file, in Hex view
Go to time Ctrl + Shift + T Go to the first line at or after a time

Tools and panels

Section titled “Tools and panels”
Command Default What it does
Column filter Ctrl + Shift + F Show or hide the column filters in Table view
SQL query Ctrl + Q Show or hide the SQL panel, in Table view and NDJSON view
Toggle header row None Treat the first row of a CSV or TSV file as column names
Bookmarks Ctrl + B Show or hide the Bookmarks panel
Schema panel Ctrl + Shift + J Show or hide the NDJSON Schema panel
Data inspector Alt + I Show or hide the data inspector in Hex view
Entropy strip Alt + E Show or hide the entropy strip in Hex view
Byte histogram None Count the byte values of the file or the selection, in Hex view
Checksums Ctrl + Shift + K Compute checksums of the file or the selection, in Hex view
Scratchpad Ctrl + Shift + S Show or hide the scratchpad
Highlighters Ctrl + Shift + H Manage highlighter rules
Highlight selection Alt + H Add a highlighter for the selected text
Timestamp format None Choose how the timestamps in the file are read
CSV dialect None Choose the delimiter, quote, and header row
Record view Alt + Enter Show the active table row as a list of fields
Rename column F2 Give the active table column another name
Copy row as Markdown None Copy the active table row, or the selected rows, as a Markdown table
Copy row as JSON None Copy the active table row, or the selected rows, as JSON
Copy row as TSV None Copy the active table row, or the selected rows, as tab-separated values
Show all columns None Show every hidden table column
Reset table layout None Restore the file’s column order, names, and visibility
Analyze table None Find ragged rows and duplicate rows
Next ragged row F8 Go to the next row with the wrong number of fields
Previous ragged row Shift + F8 Go to the previous row with the wrong number of fields
Next duplicate row Alt + F8 Go to the next row that repeats an earlier row
Previous duplicate row Alt + Shift + F8 Go to the previous row that repeats an earlier row
Show original row None Go from the active duplicate row to the earlier row it repeats
Show only ragged rows None Filter the table to the ragged rows
Show only duplicate rows None Filter the table to the duplicate rows

Application

Section titled “Application”
Command Default What it does
Settings Ctrl + , Open or close Settings
Command palette Ctrl + K Open the command palette

Most commands work only where they apply: for example, Toggle word wrap in Text view and Checksums in Hex view. Elsewhere, the command palette shows why a command is unavailable.

Fixed keys

Section titled “Fixed keys”

These keys cannot be changed in Settings.

Anywhere in a file

Section titled “Anywhere in a file”
Key Action
Ctrl + C Copy the selection: lines or a block in Text view, bytes in Hex view, a cell or rows in Table view
F3, Shift + F3 Go to the next or previous search match
m, then a letter Set a bookmark, in Text view and Hex view. See Bookmarks
', then a letter Go to a bookmark
Page Up, Page Down, Home, End Scroll the current view, even when it does not have focus
Space, Shift + Space Scroll one screen down or up in the view that has focus
Esc Clear the selection, or close the open panel, menu, or dialog

Text view and Grep view

Section titled “Text view and Grep view”
Key Action
Up, Down Scroll one line
Shift + click Select a range of lines
Alt + drag Select a block of text, with word wrap off

Hex view

Section titled “Hex view”
Key Action
Up, Down, Left, Right Move the byte cursor, or scroll when there is no cursor
Shift + an arrow key Extend the byte selection
Shift + click Select a range of bytes
Esc Clear the selection and keep the cursor

Table view

Section titled “Table view”
Key Action
Left, Right Move the active cell to another column
Up, Down Move the active cell to another row, or scroll when no cell is active
Shift + click Select a range of rows
Shift + Up, Shift + Down Extend the row selection
Enter Show the active cell’s value
Esc Close the open menu or popover, clear the selected rows, or clear the active row
Alt + Up, Alt + Down In Record view, show the previous or next row

Panels and dialogs

Section titled “Panels and dialogs”
Where Key Action
Search panel Enter Run the search
Search panel Esc Close the panel
Go to line, Go to time Enter, Esc Go, or close the box
Column name, filter name Enter, Esc Save, or cancel
Decompressing overlay Esc Cancel the decompression
Settings Esc Close Settings

While Settings is open, the other shortcuts do not work. Ctrl + , closes Settings, and Ctrl + K closes it and opens the command palette.

In the SQL editor, Ctrl + Enter runs the query. See SQL queries.

Command palette

Section titled “Command palette”

Press Ctrl + K to open the command palette, search for any command by name, and run it. The palette shows each command’s current shortcut, including the ones you changed. See Command palette.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”