Chapter 17
Every key on one page
A lookup for every key Orbital knows: the built-in ones, the fixed ones, and the keys you use while writing. Each row links to the chapter that explains it.
The keys to learn first
You can reach everything from ⌘K, and every row there shows its key as a chip at its right end. So you never need this page to discover a key: open the palette, type what you want, and read the chip. Keep this page for looking one up.
| Action | Keys | See |
|---|---|---|
| Open or close the command palette | ⌘K | ⌘K |
| Search all of Tana | ⌘S | Search |
| Quick Add Task, from any Orbital window | ⇧⌘Space | Tasks |
| Complete or reopen a task; add, tick or remove a checkbox | ⌘↩ | Tasks |
| Go to Home (the Work View) | ⇧⌘H | Finding your way |
| Undo, redo | ⌘Z ⇧⌘Z | Writing |
Writing in a row
There is no edit mode: put the caret in a row and type. These are the keys the row itself answers to.
| Action | Keys | See |
|---|---|---|
| Split the row at the caret; at the very start, a new row above | ↩ | Writing |
| A line break inside the row | ⇧↩ | Writing |
| Indent, outdent | ⇥ ⇧⇥ | Writing |
| At the start of a row: take the bullet off, then join it to the row above | ⌫ | Writing |
| Bold, italic, code | ⌘B ⌘I ⌘E | Writing |
| Strike through | ⇧⌘S | Writing |
| Select the row's words; again, every row | ⌘A | Writing |
| Link a page, person or meeting | @ | Writing |
| Choose a block type, or create something | / | Writing |
| Into the formatting toolbar, with words selected | ⇥ | Writing |
| Leave the row | esc | Writing |
| Undo, redo, across every document | ⌘Z ⇧⌘Z | Writing |
Typed at the start of a row, - or * starts a bullet, 1. a numbered item, # to ### a heading, > a quote, [] a checkbox, three backticks a code block and --- a divider. Typed inline, **bold**, *italic*, ~~strike~~ and `code` turn into marks as you close them.
Moving rows and selecting
The arrows walk the caret from the title through the fields into the outline. Hold ⇧ to select whole rows; the moving keys then act on all of them.
| Action | Keys | See |
|---|---|---|
| The row above, below; past the first row, the page's fields and its title; with nothing focused, the first or last row | ↑ ↓ | Writing |
| At a row's edge: the row before, after | ← → | Writing |
| Collapse, expand | ⌘↑ ⌘↓ | Writing |
| Move the row or the selection among its siblings | ⇧⌘↑ ⇧⌘↓ | Writing |
| Select rows; past the first, the parent | ⇧↑ ⇧↓ | Writing |
| Add a row to the selection, or extend it | ⌘-click, ⇧-click | Writing |
| Delete the block, or the selected blocks, with their children | ⇧⌘⌫ | Writing |
| Open a read-only row, or what a reference points at | Space | Finding your way |
| Clear the selection | esc | Writing |
Getting around
Each page keeps its own history. Back and Forward walk it, and Home puts the whole window back the way you like it.
| Action | Keys | See |
|---|---|---|
| Go back, go forward | ⌘[ ⌘] | Finding your way |
| Go to Home | ⇧⌘H | Finding your way |
| Today: your node for today | ⌃⇧D | Pins & dates |
| Filter the rows on the page by text | ⌘F | Views |
| Clear and hide the filter | esc | Views |
| Copy the node's link, with no words selected | ⌘C | Sharing |
| Zoom into a row | Click its bullet | Finding your way |
| Select a row of a view, then edit or open it | Click, then click again | Views |
| Open a bullet in a new tab, a pane beside, a floating pane | ⌘ ⇧ ⌥-click | Windows |
| Open ⌘K on a row | Right-click, or ⌃-click | ⌘K |
In the palettes and overlays
⌘K, ⌘S and every page they open share the same keys. The Help tour and Quick Add Task lie over the whole window and have a few of their own; in both, ⌘K closes them and opens the palette.
| Action | Keys | See |
|---|---|---|
| Move, run the highlighted row | ↑ ↓ ↩ | ⌘K |
| Step back a page, or close | esc | ⌘K |
| Open the row's place in a new tab, a pane beside, a floating pane | ⌘↩ ⇧↩ ⌥↩ | ⌘K |
| Record a key for the highlighted row | ⇧⌘K | ⌘K |
| In the recorder: save, reset, cancel | ↩ ⌫ esc | ⌘K |
| Help tour: next page, previous page, close | → ← esc | First steps |
| Quick Add Task: choose the type | ↑ ↓ | Tasks |
| Quick Add Task: pick who gets it, and back | ⇥ | Tasks |
| Quick Add Task: create; with no title, process the clipboard's image | ↩ | First steps |
| A chat's composer: switch between To Tana and To the chat, in an empty message | ⇥ | Chats |
Windows and panes
Most pane keys work only while a window has more than one page; with one page, the row keeps them for moving the caret.
| Action | Keys | See |
|---|---|---|
| Open settings | ⌘, | Settings |
| New window | ⌃⌘N | Windows |
| New tab, on a new note | ⌘N | Windows |
| New pane, on a new note to the right | ⇧⌘N | Windows |
| New floating pane, on a new note | ⌥⌘N | Windows |
| Next pane, previous pane | ⌘/ ⇧⌘/ | Windows |
| Next tab, previous tab | ⇧⌘] ⇧⌘[ | Windows |
| Maximize or restore the pane | ⌥⌘↓ | Windows |
| Show all panes | ⌥⌘↑ | Windows |
| Zoom back, zoom forward | ⌥⌘[ ⌥⌘] | Windows |
| Step out of a zoom, with nothing focused | esc | Windows |
| Close the pane | ⌘W | Windows |
| Reload the window, every pane | ⌘R | First steps |
Fixed keys and your own
Every key on this page except the few below is a palette row with a default, and you can change it: highlight the row in ⌘K and press ⇧⌘K. Your keys follow you to every Mac you sign in on. The keys below are fixed, and the recorder refuses them with the reason.
| Action | Keys | See |
|---|---|---|
| The command palette | ⌘K | ⌘K |
| Record a key | ⇧⌘K | ⌘K |
| Larger text, smaller text, reset | ⇧⌘+ ⇧⌘- ⌘0 | Settings |
| Delete the block | ⇧⌘⌫ | Writing |
| Move the row or selection | ⇧⌘↑ ⇧⌘↓ | Writing |
A recorded key needs ⌘ or ⌃, or is a function key on its own such as F6. Sync, Focus graph, Show graph and most other rows start without a key, waiting for one of yours.