Customize Keyboard Shortcuts

You can customize the keyboard shortcuts for your YouTrack server. All the keyboard commands, tips, and shortcut help pages are updated for all users. You can select a pre-configured keyboard shortcut scheme or install your own. The following pre-configured shortcut schemes are available:

Shortcut Scheme	Description
Default	This is the default shortcut scheme for YouTrack. For a list of keyboard shortcuts, see Keyboard Shortcuts.
Scheme for Slavic Layouts	This is an alternative shortcut scheme that was designed for users who work with keyboards that support Slavonic languages. The shortcuts that are supported by this scheme are described in the next section.

Scheme for Slavic Layouts

When the Scheme for Slavic Layouts is enabled, alternative shortcuts are used to perform the actions described in the table below.

Action	Shortcut	Description
Repeat Last Command	`Alt` + `Shift` + `J`	Similar to the shortcut that opens the Apply Command dialog - `Ctrl` + `Alt` + `J`
Add Comment	`Alt` + `Shift` + `W`	Write
Add File	`Alt` + `Shift` + `O`	Open
Take Screenshot	`Alt` + `Shift` + `R`	Run a screenshot tool
Paste From Clipboard	`Alt` + `Shift` +`I`	Attach image
Paste From Clipboard Without Preview	`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `Shift` + `I`	Similar to the paste from clipboard command

Enable a Shortcut Scheme

You can select a default set of keyboard shortcuts to use in YouTrack.

To select one of the default shortcut schemes:

From the Administration menu, select Server Settings > Global Settings.
Select the Internationalization tab.
In the Keyboard Shortcuts section, select the desired scheme from the drop-down list.
Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.
Press F5 to refresh the page and apply the new shortcut scheme.

Create Your Own Shortcut Scheme

If you prefer to use your own set of keyboard shortcuts, you can edit a default shortcut scheme and upload it to YouTrack.

To create and apply your own shortcut scheme:

From the Administration menu, select Server Settings > Global Settings.
Select the Internationalization tab.
In the Keyboard Shortcuts section, click the Export selected shortcuts button. The definitions for the selected scheme are exported as a JSON file.
Modify the JSON file.
When done, upload the file to your YouTrack server by clicking the Import shortcuts button and selecting the updated file.
Verify that the updated scheme is set as the current scheme.
Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

Shortcut Scheme Syntax

When you download the JSON file for the current shortcuts scheme, you only need to change a few values to modify the keys used for each command. The syntax of the file is pretty straight-forward. However, there are some points to consider. Here is an example of a shortcut definition:

{
    "name" : "IncreaseIssueVisibility",
    "variants" : [ {
        "keyStroke" : {
            "alt" : true,
            "ctrl" : true,
            "meta" : false,
            "shift" : false,
            "keyCode" : 61,
            "name" : "=",
            "macName" : "="
        },
        "browser" : [ "firefox" ]
    }, {
        "keyStroke" : {
            "alt" : true,
            "ctrl" : true,
            "meta" : false,
            "shift" : false,
            "keyCode" : 187,
            "name" : "»",
            "macName" : "»"
        },
        "os" : [ "windows" ],
        "browser" : [ "opera" ]
    }, {
        "keyStroke" : {
            "alt" : true,
            "ctrl" : true,
            "meta" : false,
            "shift" : false,
            "keyCode" : 107,
            "name" : "k",
            "macName" : "k"
        },
        "os" : [ "linux" ],
        "browser" : [ "opera" ]
    }, {
        "keyStroke" : {
            "alt" : false,
            "ctrl" : true,
            "meta" : true,
            "shift" : false,
            "keyCode" : 61,
            "name" : "=",
            "macName" : "="
        },
        "os" : [ "macintosh" ],
        "browser" : [ "opera" ]
    }, {
        "keyStroke" : {
            "alt" : true,
            "ctrl" : true,
            "meta" : false,
            "shift" : false,
            "keyCode" : 187,
            "name" : "=",
            "macName" : "="
        }
    } ]
}

Every shortcut is represented by its name, which should not be changed, and an array of keystrokes.
In most situations, there is just one keystroke is the array, which represents the shortcut for all browsers and operating systems (like the last one in this example).
Sometimes you need to make special shortcuts for specific browsers and/or operating systems. In this case, list browser- and OS-specific shortcuts before the generic shortcuts. The more specific the shortcut, the higher it is listed in keyStrokes array.
The os and browser attributes contain the arrays of strings, representing the appropriate operating systems and browses. All possible variations are presented in the example.
The keyCode attribute is required, and is equal to the ASCII code of the character.
The name and macName attributes are optional. These values are used in help and tooltips. If absent, their value is derived from the keyCode.

Last modified: 21 April 2023