Keyboard shortcuts
Default desktop shortcuts and how to change them.
Reviewed against the application source on 5 October 2026. Focale is in active development; available commands and published packages may differ by build.
Common commands
Ctrl is the primary modifier on Linux and Windows; Command (Cmd) is used on macOS. The table lists defaults. Menu labels and command search show your effective assignments.
| Command | Linux / Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| New document | Ctrl+N | Cmd+N |
| Open | Ctrl+O | Cmd+O |
| Save | Ctrl+S | Cmd+S |
| Save As | Ctrl+Shift+S | Cmd+Shift+S |
| Export | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+W | Cmd+Option+Shift+W |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Cmd+Z |
| Redo | Ctrl+Shift+Z | Cmd+Shift+Z |
| Select All | Ctrl+A | Cmd+A |
| Deselect | Ctrl+D | Cmd+D |
| Invert selection | Ctrl+Shift+I | Cmd+Shift+I |
| Free Transform | Ctrl+T | Cmd+T |
| New raster layer | Ctrl+Shift+N | Cmd+Shift+N |
| Group layers | Ctrl+G | Cmd+G |
| Selection to new layer | Ctrl+J | Cmd+J |
| Fit canvas | Ctrl+0 | Cmd+0 |
| Actual size | Ctrl+1 | Cmd+1 |
| Preferences | Ctrl+K | Cmd+K |
| Search commands | Ctrl+Shift+P | Cmd+Shift+P |
Tool groups
Plain-letter shortcuts choose a tool group: V Move, M Marquee, L Lasso, W Selection, C Crop, I Sampling, J Healing, B Painting, S Clone, Y History, E Eraser, G Fill, O Toning, P Pen, A Path selection, T Text, K Frame, U Shape and Z Zoom.
Shift plus the group shortcut cycles related tools. The group remembers the most recently used tool. Tool shortcuts do not replace text entry while editing text.
Customize your shortcuts
Open Window → Keyboard Shortcuts, find a command and choose Change. Remove disables an assignment; Restore resets one command; Restore Defaults clears custom assignments.
Assigning an already-used chord transfers it to the new command and leaves the previous one unassigned. Workspaces and shortcut preferences belong to the application, not to .focale project files.