Work without the mouse

Filarr has a key for most of what you do in a day. This article follows a working day, from unlocking Filarr in the morning to locking it in the evening, and gives the keys for each step. A few moments are still quicker with one click: the end of the article lists them.

The keys below are those of the desktop app. The complete list is in Keyboard shortcuts.

Three rules to start

F1 opens the list of shortcuts, at any time.
Esc closes what is open: the palette, a window, a preview.
While the cursor is in a text field or in a note, most shortcuts wait, so they never get in the way of your typing. The ones with Ctrl+Shift still work, and so do Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9.

Morning: open Filarr

If Filarr asks, unlock it. The cursor is already in the field.
- With a password, type it and press Enter.
- With a PIN, type it. In the profile picker, Enter confirms. On the lock screen with six boxes, a six-digit PIN opens Filarr at the last digit. With a shorter PIN, press Tab until Unlock is highlighted, then Enter.
Press Ctrl+Shift+D. Today's daily note opens, and Filarr creates it if needed. The tasks you left unchecked in your last daily note wait under Carried Over.

Find a file

Press Ctrl+K (or Ctrl+P). The command palette opens.
Type a few letters of a file or folder name.
Move with ↑ and ↓, or Tab, then press Enter.

A folder opens. A file opens as it would with a double-click.

The command palette after typing "new": the actions New folder, Daily Note, Focus timer, Keyboard shortcuts and Refresh with their shortcuts, then a recent file, and the hints to navigate, run and close at the bottom

The palette also runs commands. Type "tasks", "folders", "tidy up my files" or "dark theme", then press Enter.

The palette looks at the names of your files and folders. To find a word inside a document or a note, use the search box at the top of the window: see Find anything.

Browse a folder

In an open folder, when no text field has the cursor:

Keys	What they do
Arrow keys	Move from one item to the next
`Home`, `End`	Go to the first or the last item
`Enter`	Open the selected folder or file
`Space`	Preview the selected file (select it with the arrow keys first). `Space` or `Esc` closes the preview
`Alt+↑`	Go up to the parent folder
`Alt+←`, `Alt+→`	Go back to the previous screen of the tab, go forward again
`F2`	Rename
`Ctrl+X`, `Ctrl+C`	Move or copy the selection: a window asks for the destination folder
`Del`	Send to the trash, after a confirmation
`Ctrl+A`, `Esc`	Select everything, clear the selection
`Ctrl+Alt+N`	Create a folder

The quick preview shows most files without leaving Filarr: emails, Word documents, archives, PDF files and more.

The quick preview of an email: To, Subject and Date at the top, the message below, and "Press Space to close" at the bottom

Browse in columns

The Columns view of the Folders page shows a folder, its subfolders and their files side by side.

Press Ctrl+K, type "folders" and press Enter.
Press Tab until Columns is highlighted, then Enter. The Folders page opens on this view from then on, until you choose another one.
Press Tab until the first folder of the list is highlighted, then Enter to select it.

Then ↑ and ↓ move in a column, → opens the selected folder in the next column, and ← goes back. Space previews the selected file, and Enter opens the folder or the file.

Write and link a note

Press Ctrl+Shift+N. In the template window, Tab moves from one choice to the next and Enter picks one. Esc closes the window and creates nothing.
Click Untitled and type the title. Press Enter: the cursor goes down into the text.
Write.

If you always start from a blank page, tick Never suggest templates once in that window: Ctrl+Shift+N then opens a blank note straight away.

While you write:

You type	You get
`/`, a few letters, then `Enter`	A block: heading, list, table, callout and more
`[[`, a few letters, then `Enter`	A link to a note, a file or a folder. `Tab` in the list switches between link, embed and date
`![[`	Another note shown inside this one
`@`	A date
`[ ]` and a space, at the start of a line	A task
`Ctrl+K`	A link to a web page (in the text, `Ctrl+K` does not open the palette)
`Ctrl+F`	Find and replace in the note
`Esc`, then `Ctrl+Shift+↑` or `Ctrl+Shift+↓`	The block selected, then moved up or down
`Ctrl+Shift+F`	Distraction-free mode, on or off

Jump to another note

While you write, Ctrl+P opens the Quick Switcher instead of the palette. Type a few letters of a note title and press Enter. Start with # to search the headings of all your notes: Filarr opens the note at that heading. Esc closes the switcher.

See Link your notes for everything links can do.

Add a task with a date

The Tasks page understands dates in plain words.

Press Ctrl+K, type "tasks" and press Enter.
Press n. The cursor goes to the new task field.
Type the task, for example Call Léa tomorrow at 3pm !high, and press Enter.

The task goes into the note Things to do, unless you picked another note. Then press Tab to reach a task: Space completes it, Enter opens its details, and Esc closes them. See The Tasks page.

Switch tabs and panels

Keys	What they do
`Ctrl+T`	Open a new tab, on the home screen
`Ctrl+W`	Close the tab
`Ctrl+Tab`, `Ctrl+Shift+Tab`	Go to the next tab, the previous tab
`Ctrl+1` to `Ctrl+9`	Open one of your favorites
`Ctrl+Alt+\`	Put the current tab in a panel on the right
`Ctrl+\`	Move between the two panels
`Ctrl+Shift+\`	Merge the two panels
`Ctrl+B`	Show or hide the sidebar
`Ctrl+Shift+B`	Go to the next way of showing the bars
`Alt+Home`	Go to the home screen

When the cursor is in a note, Ctrl+Shift+Tab and Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 still work. The other tab keys wait until the cursor is out of the text.

A favorite gets its number once, from the sidebar: see Tags, favorites and recent files.

Evening: lock

In the desktop app, press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L. Filarr locks at once, even when another application is in front. The profile menu shows the same shortcut next to Lock.

The web app has no key to lock. Choose Lock in the profile menu, offered for a profile linked to a cloud account, or let Auto-lock do it: Ctrl+, opens the Settings, and Auto-lock is on the Security page. See Lock Filarr.

Where a click is still quicker

Putting the cursor in a note once it is open, to start writing.
Giving a favorite its number, from the right-click menu of the sidebar.
Setting the date of a task from inside a note. From the keyboard, type it on the Tasks page instead, as above.
Dragging files onto a folder. Ctrl+X does the same from the keyboard.