Keyboard Shortcuts

The following tables list keyboard shortcuts in the environment.

File Operations

Shortcut Action
Ctrl-N Open a new document and add it to the existing project.
Ctrl-Shift-N Open a new project.
Ctrl-O Open an existing project.

Ctrl-W

Close the current document.
Ctrl-S Save the current file.
Ctrl-Shift-S Save all open files.
Ctrl-P Print the current document.
Alt-F4 Quit.

Basic Editing

Shortcut Action

Ctrl-X

Shift-Delete

Cut.

Ctrl-C

Ctrl-Insert

Copy.

Ctrl-V

Shift-Insert

Paste.

Ctrl-Z

Alt-Backspace

Undo.

Ctrl-Y

Alt-Shift-Backspace

Redo.

Shift-F10

Application Key

Open shortcut menu for selected item.

Delete

Delete.

Ctrl-Delete

Delete and rewire.

Selecting and Moving Objects

Shortcut Action
Shift-Click

Select multiple objects.

Add object to the current selection.

Ctrl-A Select all objects.
Arrow keys Move selected objects in grid-sized increments.
Shift-Arrow keys Move selected objects four grid units.
Ctrl-Drag Copy and drag selected object.
Ctrl-Shift-Drag Copy selected object and move it along one axis.
Shift-Resize Resize selected object while maintaining aspect ratio.
Ctrl-Resize Resize selected object while maintaining center point.
Shift-Ctrl-Resize Resize selected object while maintaining both aspect ratio and center point.
Ctrl-Drag open area Create additional blank space along the axis you drag the mouse.
Double-click open area Add free label or comment to panel or diagram.
Spacebar-Drag Pan across panel or diagram.

Navigating the Environment

Shortcut Action
Ctrl-F Find and replace text or objects within a document.
Ctrl-Shift-F Find and replace text or objects within a project.

Enter

F3

Ctrl-G

Search document for next instance of text or an object. This command is only available when in Find mode.

Shift-Enter

Shift-F3

Shift-Ctrl-G

Search document for previous instance of text or an object. This command is only available when in Find mode.
Ctrl-Tab Cycle through document tabs in the order in which they appear onscreen.
Ctrl-Shift-Tab Cycle through document tabs in the opposite order in which they appear onscreen.

Ctrl-Shift-Spacebar

Shift focus to the application-wide search bar.
Ctrl-\

Hide and show all tabs.

Hide and show all panes.

Navigating the Panel and Diagram

Editor Command Shortcut Action
Panel and diagram selectors Ctrl-E Toggle between the panel and diagram view. If the icon view is active, switch to the panel view.
Search

Ctrl-Spacebar

(Chinese keyboards) Ctrl-Alt-Spacebar

Shift focus to the palette search bar.
— Ctrl-' Toggle the diagram grid on/off.
— Shift-Ctrl-; Toggle Smart Guides on/off. Smart Guides help you align objects on the panel.
Vertical scroll bar Mouse wheel Scroll the document vertically.
Horizontal scroll bar Shift-Mouse wheel Scroll the document horizontally.
— Tab Shift focus from one control to another in tabbing order while the code is running.
— Shift-Tab Shift focus from one control to another in reverse tabbing order while the code is running.
— Ctrl-Alt-I Open and close the icon editor.

Debugging Commands

Editor Command Shortcut Action
Step In

Ctrl-Down arrow

F10

Open a node and pause.
Step Over

Ctrl-Right arrow

F11

Execute a node without stepping into the node and pause at the next node.
Step Out

Ctrl-Up arrow

Shift-F11

Complete execution of the current node and pause.
Add/Remove Breakpoint Ctrl-[ Add or remove a breakpoint on the selected node or wire to pause execution at that breakpoint.
Add/Remove Probe Ctrl-] Add or remove a probe on the selected wire, which allows you to view intermediate values on the selected wire as the code runs.

Help Commands

Shortcut Action
Ctrl-H Display the Context Help.
F1 Access additional information on ni.com.

Running Code

Editor Command Shortcut Action
Run Ctrl-R Execute this code.
Abort Ctrl-. Stop the code immediately, before it finishes executing.
Ctrl-Run button Recompile the code in the current document.
Ctrl-Shift-Run button Recompile the code in all documents in memory.

Wiring

Editor Command Shortcut Action
Remove Broken Wires Ctrl-B Delete all broken wires from the diagram.
—

Esc

Right-click

Ctrl-Z

Delete a wire you are in the process of creating.
— Single-click wire Select one wire segment.
— Double-click wire Select a wire branch.
— Triple-click wire Select the entire wire.
— Ctrl-click wire Create a new wire branch from an existing wire.
— Single-click while wiring Tack down the wire segment and start a new wire segment.
— Double-click while wiring End the wire without connecting it to a node.
— Tap spacebar while wiring Switch the direction of a wire between horizontal and vertical.

Clean Up Diagram

Clean Up Selection

Ctrl-U Organize the diagram or the selected code to make it easier to understand.
Clean Up Wire Select Clean Up Wire from the shortcut menu Route a selected wire to decrease the number of bends in the wire and avoid crossing objects on the diagram.

Editing Text

Shortcut Action
Double-click text Select a single word in a string.
Triple-click text Select the entire string.

Ctrl-Right arrow

Ctrl-Left arrow

Move the cursor within a string by one word in the direction of the arrow.
Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
End Move the cursor to the end of the current line.
Ctrl-Home Move the cursor to the beginning of the string.
Ctrl-End Move the cursor to the end of the string.
Esc Cancel text entry.
Ctrl-Enter Submit text entry.

Capturing Data

Editor Command Shortcut Action
Capture panel data button Ctrl-D Save current data values on the panel to the Captured Data tab.

Navigating the Project Files and Captured Data Tabs

Shortcut Action
* (Numeric keypad) Expand everything under the selected folder.
+ (Numeric keypad) Expand the selected folder.
- (Numeric keypad) Collapse the selected folder.
Right arrow Expand the selected folder if it is closed. Otherwise, this keyboard shortcut selects the first child.
Left arrow Collapse the selected folder if it is open. Otherwise, this keyboard shortcut selects the parent.

Ctrl-up arrow

Ctrl-down arrow

Scroll through the pane without changing the current selection.
Any printable key(s) Select the item beginning with the entered letter(s).
Enter Open the selected document.
F2 Rename the selected item.

Page Up

Home

Move the selection to the first item in the tree.

Page Down

End

Moves the selection to the last item in the tree.

Zooming

Shortcut Action
Ctrl-Mouse wheel Zoom.
Ctrl-+ Zoom in.
Ctrl-- Zoom out.
Ctrl-0 Zoom to fit.
Ctrl-9 Zoom to fit the selection.