Actions and default shortcuts
Fundamentals of Midnight Commander shortcuts
Explanation to the description of key combinations
Keyboard combinations are selected by modifiers. Following modifiers are used in mc:
- Ctrl - "Control" key or "Ctrl";
- Meta - "Alternate" key, or "Alt", or "Meta", also can be replaced with a single "Esc" or "Escape";
- Esc - "Escape" key or "Esc";
- Shift - "Shift" key. It may also appear on the keyboard as a pointer showing up below the keys "Caps Lock" or below the key "Enter".
The simultaneous pressing of several keys
If you need to press multiple keys simultaneously, then that pressing is described as the summation. For example, if you need to press "Control" and "r", it would be described as:
Ctrl+r
If you need to press the keyboard combination with uppercase letters (for example Ctrl and R):
Ctrl+Shift+r
keyboard key combination with Meta modificator described similarly:
Meta+r Meta+Shift+r
Simultaneous pressing does not mean literally the same time - you must press the modifier, then the required key, then release the key modifier. For example, to enter the combination of Meta+r:
- Push Alt key and not released it;
- Push the r key and immediately released it;
- Release Alt key.
In the case of adding a Shift modifier (Meta + Shift + R, for example), the steps that:
- Push Alt key and not released it;
- Push Shift key and not released it;
- Push r key and immediately released it;
- Release Shift key;
- Release Alt key.
Successive pressing of several keys
If you need to press a first key (or keyboard combination) and then the second such action is recorded as a sequence, separated by commas. For example, press a Ctrl+p a combination, and then further to press "p", it would be described as follows:
Ctrl+p,p
Or, if you need to click twice Ctrl+p:
Ctrl+p,Ctrl+p
Several shortcuts on one action
Each keyboard combination for some one action is described with a new line. Below are tables of keyboard combinations, and actions to which they are linked
File manager actions
File panel actions
| Action | Default shortcut | Description |
| Up | Up, C-p | move the selection bar to the previous entry in the panel |
| Down | Down, C-n | move the selection bar to the next entry in the panel |
| Left | Left | move the selection bar to the left |
| Right | Right | move the selection bar to the right |
| PageUp | PgUp, Alt-v | move the selection bar one page up |
| PageDown | PgDn, Alt-p | move the selection bar one page down |
| Top | Home, a1, Alt-< | move the selection bar to the first entry in the panel |
| Bottom | End, c1, Alt-> | move the selection bar to the last entry in the panel |
| TopOnScreen | Alt-g | move the selection bar to the first visible entry in the panel |
| MiddleOnScreen | Alt-r | move the selection bar to the middle visible entry in the panel |
| BottomOnScreen | Alt-j | move the selection bar to the last visible entry in the panel |
| CopySingle | Shift-F5, F15 | |
| MoveSingle | Shift-F6, F16 | |
| DeleteSingle | Shift-F8, F18 | |
| Search | Ctrl-s, Alt-s | start a quick filename search in the directory listing |
| SelectCodepage | Alt-e | change charset of current panel |
| History | Alt-H | show the directory history |
| HistoryNext | Alt-u | move to the next directory in the history |
| HistoryPrev | Alt-y | move to the previous directory in the history |
| EditNew | Shift-F4, F14 | |
| ViewRaw | Shift-F3, F13 | |
| Select | + ('plus' key) | select (tag) a group of files |
| Unselect | \ ('backslash' key) | unselect a group of files |
| SelectInvert | Alt-* | invert selection on the current panel |
| PanelOtherSync | Alt-i | make the current directory of the current panel also the current directory of the other panel |
| PanelOtherCd | Alt-o | If the currently selected file is a directory, load that directory on the other panel and moves the selection to the next file. If the currently selected file is not a directory, load the parent directory on the other panel and moves the selection to the next file |
| PanelOtherCdLink | Alt-l | If the currently selected file is a link to the directory, load that directory on the other panel and moves the selection to the next file |
| CdChild | Ctrl-PgDn | move to the child directory |
| CdParent | Ctrl-PgUp | move to the parent directory |
| CdParentSmart | move to the parent directory only if command line is empty, else erase the previous character in the command line | |
| Mark | Ins, Ctrl-t | tag or untag files. To untag files, just retag a tagged file |
| MarkDown | Shift-Down | tag file and move the selection bar to the next entry |
| MarkUp | Shift-Up | tag file and move the selection bar to the previous entry |
| Enter | Enter | |
| Sort | ||
| SortReverse | ||
| SortPrev | ||
| SortNext | ||
| SortByName | ||
| SortByExt | ||
| SortBySize | ||
| ScrollLeft | scroll long file names in panel to the left | |
| ScrollRight | scroll long file names in panel to the right |
