|kitty| is capable of running multiple programs organized into tabs and windows. The top level of organization is the :term:`OS window <os_window>`. Each OS window consists of one or more :term:`tabs <tab>`. Each tab consists of one or more :term:`kitty windows <window>`. The kitty windows can be arranged in multiple different :term:`layouts <layout>`, like windows are organized in a tiling window manager. The keyboard controls (which are :ref:`all customizable <conf-kitty-shortcuts>`) for tabs and windows are:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Line up | :sc:`scroll_line_up` (also ⌥+⌘+⇞ and ⌘+↑ on macOS) |
| Line down | :sc:`scroll_line_down` (also ⌥+⌘+⇟ and ⌘+↓ on macOS) |
| Page up | :sc:`scroll_page_up` (also ⌘+⇞ on macOS) |
| Page down | :sc:`scroll_page_down` (also ⌘+⇟ on macOS) |
| Top | :sc:`scroll_home` (also ⌘+↖ on macOS) |
| Bottom | :sc:`scroll_end` (also ⌘+↘ on macOS) |
| Previous shell prompt | :sc:`scroll_to_previous_prompt` (see :ref:`shell_integration`) |
| Next shell prompt | :sc:`scroll_to_next_prompt` (see :ref:`shell_integration`) |
| Browse scrollback in less | :sc:`show_scrollback` |
| Browse last cmd output | :sc:`show_last_command_output` (see :ref:`shell_integration`) |
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New tab | :sc:`new_tab` (also ⌘+t on macOS) |
| Close tab | :sc:`close_tab` (also ⌘+w on macOS) |
| Next tab | :sc:`next_tab` (also ⌃+⇥ and ⇧+⌘+] on macOS) |
| Previous tab | :sc:`previous_tab` (also ⇧+⌃+⇥ and ⇧+⌘+[ on macOS) |
| Next layout | :sc:`next_layout` |
| Move tab forward | :sc:`move_tab_forward` |
| Move tab backward | :sc:`move_tab_backward` |
| Set tab title | :sc:`set_tab_title` (also ⇧+⌘+i on macOS) |
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| New window | :sc:`new_window` (also ⌘+↩ on macOS) |
| New OS window | :sc:`new_os_window` (also ⌘+n on macOS) |
| Close window | :sc:`close_window` (also ⇧+⌘+d on macOS) |
| Next window | :sc:`next_window` |
| Previous window | :sc:`previous_window` |
| Move window forward | :sc:`move_window_forward` |
| Move window backward | :sc:`move_window_backward` |
| Move window to top | :sc:`move_window_to_top` |
| Visually focus window | :sc:`focus_visible_window` |
| Visually swap window | :sc:`swap_with_window` |
| Focus specific window | :sc:`first_window`, :sc:`second_window` ... :sc:`tenth_window` (also ⌘+1, ⌘+2 ... ⌘+9 on macOS) (clockwise from the top-left) |
Additionally, you can define shortcuts in :file:`kitty.conf` to focus neighboring windows and move windows around (similar to window movement in :program:`vim`):
map ctrl+left neighboring_window left map shift+left move_window right map ctrl+down neighboring_window down map shift+down move_window up ...
You can also define a shortcut to switch to the previously active window:
map ctrl+p nth_window -1
nth_window will focus the nth window for positive numbers (starting from zero) and the previously active windows for negative numbers.
To switch to the nth OS window, you can define nth_os_window. Only positive numbers are accepted, starting from one.
You can define shortcuts to detach the current window and move it to another tab or another OS window:
# moves the window into a new OS window map ctrl+f2 detach_window # moves the window into a new tab map ctrl+f3 detach_window new-tab # moves the window into the previously active tab map ctrl+f3 detach_window tab-prev # moves the window into the tab at the left of the active tab map ctrl+f3 detach_window tab-left # asks which tab to move the window into map ctrl+f4 detach_window ask
Similarly, you can detach the current tab, with:
# moves the tab into a new OS window map ctrl+f2 detach_tab # asks which OS Window to move the tab into map ctrl+f4 detach_tab ask
Finally, you can define a shortcut to close all windows in a tab other than the currently active window:
map f9 close_other_windows_in_tab
The full list of actions that can be mapped to key presses is available :doc:`here </actions>`.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Copy to clipboard | :sc:`copy_to_clipboard` (also ⌘+c on macOS) |
| Paste from clipboard | :sc:`paste_from_clipboard` (also ⌘+v on macOS) |
| Paste from selection | :sc:`paste_from_selection` |
| Pass selection to program | :sc:`pass_selection_to_program` |
| Increase font size | :sc:`increase_font_size` (also ⌘++ on macOS) |
| Decrease font size | :sc:`decrease_font_size` (also ⌘+- on macOS) |
| Restore font size | :sc:`reset_font_size` (also ⌘+0 on macOS) |
| Toggle fullscreen | :sc:`toggle_fullscreen` (also ⌃+⌘+f on macOS) |
| Toggle maximized | :sc:`toggle_maximized` |
| Input Unicode character | :sc:`input_unicode_character` (also ⌃+⌘+space on macOS) |
| Open URL in web browser | :sc:`open_url` |
| Reset the terminal | :sc:`reset_terminal` (also ⌥+⌘+r on macOS) |
| Edit :file:`kitty.conf` | :sc:`edit_config_file` (also ⌘+, on macOS) |
| Reload :file:`kitty.conf` | :sc:`reload_config_file` (also ⌃+⌘+, on macOS) |
| Debug :file:`kitty.conf` | :sc:`debug_config` (also ⌥+⌘+, on macOS) |
| Open a |kitty| shell | :sc:`kitty_shell` |
| Increase background opacity | :sc:`increase_background_opacity` |
| Decrease background opacity | :sc:`decrease_background_opacity` |
| Full background opacity | :sc:`full_background_opacity` |
| Reset background opacity | :sc:`reset_background_opacity` |