User Key Bindings

This page describes how user can update key bindings in Brackets.

Key bindings for default commands or extensions can be overridden or removed.

Currently, only key bindings for commands can be updated -- not editor bindings currently handled by the CodeMirror keymap. Key bindings cannot be modified for special commands: cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, or select all.

Quick Start

Use Debug > Open User Key Map to open the keymap.json in Brackets so it can be edited. If the file does not already exist, then it will be automatically created.

Changes to key bindings are applied immediately on File Save.

Location

The keymap.json file is located in the the user data folder. The user data folder is located at:

• Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Brackets
• Win XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Brackets -- (aka %appdata%\Brackets)
• Win Vista/7/8: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Brackets -- (aka %appdata%\Brackets)
• Linux: ~/.config/brackets -- (aka $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/brackets)

JSON Data Format

The JSON data format is:

{
    "overrides": {
        "<key>": "<command-id>"
        [, "<key>": "<command-id>"]
    }
}

Where:

<key> is a unique key. <command-id> is the command id string to assign, or null to remove a key binding.

Modifier keys are operating system specific, so on Mac use Cmd versus Ctrl on Windows. The following table lists all the valid modifier keys and other supported key names.

Windows/Linux	Mac	Notes
Ctrl	Cmd
Alt	Opt
Shift	Shift
	Ctrl	Control key only available on Mac
Up	Up	displayed as ↑ on mac
Down	Down	displayed as ↓ on mac
Left	Left	displayed as ← on mac
Right	Right	displayed as → on mac
Backspace	Backspace
Enter	Enter
Tab	Tab
Space	Space
PageUp	PageUp
PageDown	PageDown
Home	Home
End	End
Insert	Insert
Delete	Delete

Command ID can be found in this file, but it does not have any command ID from the extensions. So it is better to install "Display Shortcuts" extension from Extension Manager. See https://github.com/redmunds/brackets-display-shortcuts for how to use the extension to show the key bindings.

Exceptions

Special Commands

Currently, the shortcuts to these commands cannot be updated or re-assigned:

• key: Ctrl/Cmd-A, command: "edit.selectAll"
• key: Ctrl/Cmd-C, command: "edit.copy"
• key: Ctrl/Cmd-V, command: "edit.paste"
• key: Ctrl/Cmd-X, command: "edit.cut"
• key: Ctrl/Cmd-Z, command: "edit.undo"
• key: Ctrl/Cmd-Y, Cmd-Shift-Z, command: "edit.redo"

Mac Reserved Shortcuts

These shortcuts cannot be overridden on Mac:

• "Cmd-,"
• "Cmd-H"
• "Cmd-Alt-H"
• "Cmd-M"
• "Cmd-Q"

Import Mac key bindings from Sublime Text

    "overrides": {
        "Cmd-Shift-L":     "edit.splitSelIntoLines",
        "Ctrl-Shift-Up":   "edit.addCursorToPrevLine",
        "Ctrl-Shift-Down": "edit.addCursorToNextLine",
        "Cmd-Shift-D":     "edit.duplicate",
        "Ctrl-Shift-K":    "edit.deletelines",
        "Cmd-L":           "edit.selectLine",
        "Cmd-D":           "cmd.addNextMatch",
        "Cmd-Opt-1":       "cmd.splitViewNone",
        "Cmd-Opt-2":       "cmd.splitViewVertical",
        "Cmd-Opt-Shift-2": "cmd.splitViewHorizontal",
        "Ctrl-G":          "navigate.gotoLine",
        "Cmd-Opt-Right":   "navigate.nextDoc",
        "Cmd-Opt-Left":    "navigate.prevDoc",
        "Cmd-R":           "navigate.gotoDefinition",
        "Cmd-P":           "navigate.quickOpen"
    }

Import Windows key bindings from Sublime Text

    "overrides": {
        "Ctrl-Shift-L":  "edit.splitSelIntoLines",
        "Ctrl-Alt-Up":   "edit.addCursorToPrevLine",
        "Ctrl-Alt-Down": "edit.addCursorToNextLine",
        "Ctrl-Shift-D":  "edit.duplicate",
        "Ctrl-Shift-K":  "edit.deletelines",
        "Ctrl-D":        "cmd.addNextMatch",
        "Alt-Shift-1":   "cmd.splitViewNone",
        "Alt-Shift-2":   "cmd.splitViewVertical",
        "Alt-Shift-8":   "cmd.splitViewHorizontal",
        "Ctrl-R":        "navigate.gotoDefinition",
        "Ctrl-P":        "navigate.quickOpen"
    }