Daily Workflow
Crab Desktop is designed for keyboard-first workflows. Every action
is accessible via keyboard, and shortcuts are customizable in
Settings → Shortcuts.
These shortcuts work regardless of which view is active:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Cmd+Shift+P | Open Command Palette |
Cmd+K | Quick Open (fuzzy file search) |
Cmd+, | Open Settings |
Cmd+Shift+T | New Terminal |
Ctrl+` | Toggle Terminal |
Cmd+W | Close current tab/pane |
Cmd+Shift+W | Close window |
Cmd+Q | Quit application |
Cmd+R | Reload window |
Cmd+Shift+I | Toggle Developer Tools |
| Shortcut | View |
|---|
Cmd+1 | Dashboard |
Cmd+2 | Explorer |
Cmd+3 | Search |
Cmd+4 | Changes |
Cmd+5 | Large Files |
Cmd+6 | Branches |
Cmd+7 | Worktrees |
Cmd+8 | Timeline |
Cmd+Shift+E | Focus Explorer |
Cmd+Shift+F | Focus Search |
Cmd+Shift+G | Focus Changes |
Cmd+Shift+B | Focus Branches |
| Shortcut | Action | Context |
|---|
Cmd+Enter | Commit | Changes view, message focused |
Cmd+Shift+K | Push | Any view |
Cmd+Shift+L | Pull | Any view |
Cmd+Shift+S | Stash | Any view |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Space | Toggle stage/unstage selected file |
Cmd+A | Select all files |
Delete | Discard selected changes |
Cmd+Z | Undo last stage/unstage |
]c | Next hunk |
[c | Previous hunk |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
↑ / ↓ | Navigate entries |
Enter | Open file / expand folder |
← | Collapse folder |
→ | Expand folder |
/ | Focus filter |
Cmd+N | New file |
Cmd+Shift+N | New folder |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Enter | Checkout selected branch |
Cmd+N | Create new branch |
Delete | Delete selected branch |
F2 | Rename selected branch |
/ | Focus filter |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
↑ / ↓ | Navigate commits |
Enter | Open commit detail |
Cmd+C | Copy commit SHA |
/ | Focus search |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Cmd+\ | Split horizontal |
Cmd+Shift+\ | Split vertical |
Cmd+W | Close pane |
Cmd+F | Search in scrollback |
Cmd+K | Clear terminal |
Alt+← / Alt+→ | Switch panes |
Cmd+↑ / Cmd+↓ | Scroll by page |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
]c | Next change |
[c | Previous change |
Cmd+D | Toggle unified/split |
Space | Stage/unstage hunk |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Enter | Execute search |
F4 | Next match |
Shift+F4 | Previous match |
Cmd+Shift+H | Toggle replace |
Cmd+Alt+Enter | Replace all |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
Enter | Confirm / Submit |
Escape | Cancel / Close |
Tab | Next field |
Shift+Tab | Previous field |
All shortcuts can be customized:
- Open Settings → Shortcuts (or
Cmd+K Cmd+S)
- Search for the command
- Click the shortcut cell
- Press the new key combination
- Conflicts are highlighted automatically
Custom keybindings are stored in localStorage and can be
exported/imported as JSON for sharing across machines.
When two commands share the same shortcut:
- The more specific context wins (view-specific > global)
- Conflicts are highlighted in yellow in the shortcuts editor
- The user is prompted to resolve on detection
| macOS | Windows/Linux | Action |
|---|
Cmd | Ctrl | Primary modifier |
Option | Alt | Secondary modifier |
Cmd+Shift | Ctrl+Shift | Tertiary modifier |
Ctrl | (varies) | Terminal passthrough |