Notion Shortcuts for Mac and Windows: The Keys Worth Learning

The Notion shortcuts worth learning first are cmd + P to search, cmd + / to edit selected blocks, and cmd + option + 1 to 9 to turn a line into a heading, list, toggle, code block or page. On Windows, cmd becomes ctrl, and the block-type keys become ctrl + shift + 1 to 9. Database peek navigation is the other exception: on a Mac it uses the control key, not cmd.

If you mostly write briefs and meeting notes, start with the block-type keys and text formatting. If your day runs through databases, start with search, peek navigation and cmd/ctrl + /. I'd learn about ten shortcuts and type markdown for everything else, because # and a space makes a heading the same way on a Mac and Windows, so there's nothing to translate.

Every row below spells out the Mac key and the Windows key separately. Notion's help writes most shortcuts as cmd/ctrl, and that shorthand is exactly where the cheat sheets in the accuracy section go wrong.

Which Notion shortcuts should you learn first?

These ten replace the clicks behind everyday page work: finding a page, changing a block, moving it, and adding a comment or a link.

Notion's keyboard shortcuts help uses cmd/ctrl to mean command on a Mac and control on Windows and Linux, and says its instructions are for English/QWERTY keyboards. Two groups don't follow that simple swap. Block types pair cmd + option on a Mac with ctrl + shift on Windows, and peek navigation uses control on both systems.

How accurate are popular Notion shortcut lists?

I compared three of the cheat sheets that rank for "notion shortcuts", published by Everhour, Super and Keychron, against Notion's help pages and flagged 11 entries. Eight contradict Notion's documentation, two appear nowhere in Notion's help, and one is outdated.

• Everhour: 3 entries contradict the help.
• Super: 3 contradict it and 2 aren't documented.
• Keychron: 2 contradict it and 1 is outdated.

The most common slip is database peek navigation on a Mac, which is wrong in two of the three lists. Notion's help gives the control key there, and the cmd + shift + J in Everhour's list is Notion AI's default shortcut instead. The count covers the entries I flagged; it isn't a grade for every row in each list.

The two undocumented entries are Super's cmd + H for highlighting and its date and time inserts (cmd + shift + D and cmd + shift + T). For dates, Notion's help documents typing @ and a date instead. The outdated one is Keychron's FAQ answer that Notion doesn't let you customize shortcuts: the Notion AI and Command Search shortcuts can be changed in Settings → Preferences.

When a list and Notion's help disagree, go with the help. Every table in this guide follows the help's wording and gives both keys on each row.

Move around and search without the mouse

Search is the shortcut I'd learn first, because it gets you to a recently viewed page without opening the sidebar. cmd/ctrl + P opens it, and Notion's search help adds that cmd/ctrl + K does the same when your cursor isn't focused on a block. Hold cmd/ctrl while clicking a result to open it in a new tab in the web app or in a new window in the desktop app.

The sidebar key isn't in Notion's main shortcut list; it comes from Notion's guide to the sidebar. When a phrase inside a database page won't turn up in search, start with the guide to finding page text from database search; it covers which search to use and what search leaves out.

Desktop app shortcuts

Notion's shortcut list files the first five of these under desktop keyboard shortcuts.

The help gives option + shift + click for opening a page as a new window on a Mac and lists no Windows key for it. The refresh key comes from Notion's desktop app help, which suggests cmd/ctrl + R when new features don't show up yet or the app hasn't updated for a few days.

Write and format text faster

Most of these act on selected text, so select first and then press the key.

You can also paste a URL over selected text with cmd/ctrl + V to turn it into a link. If you'd rather not reach for modifiers at all, the same formatting works as markdown while you type: two asterisks on both sides of a word for bold, one for italic, a backtick for inline code and a tilde for strikethrough.

Two slash commands round this out. Type /turn at the beginning or end of a block to change its type, and /color to change its text or highlight color; /default removes the color again.

Press enter for a new line of text and shift + enter for a line break inside the same block. If you need a list inside a table cell, the guide to bullet points in a table covers where shift + enter line breaks are the dependable route and where real bullets work.

Turn a line into a heading, list or toggle

This is the group where the Mac and Windows keys differ the most. Notion's help says cmd + option is the combination for Mac and ctrl + shift is the combination for Windows and Linux, so an H1 is cmd + option + 1 on a Mac and ctrl + shift + 1 on Windows.

The markdown column works at the beginning of any new line or existing block. Two blocks have markdown but no number key: type " and a space for a quote block, or three dashes (---) for a divider.

Notion's help also warns that Windows machines might have ctrl + shift bound already by another function. If a block-type key does nothing on Windows, I'd switch to markdown or the slash commands (/h1, /todo, /toggle) rather than fight the binding, because they create the same blocks without touching ctrl + shift.

Select, move and duplicate blocks

Start with esc in this group, because the move, duplicate and edit keys act on selected blocks. Press esc to select the block you're in, or to clear blocks you've already selected.

The whole-block select isn't a simple cmd-to-ctrl swap: Notion's help gives alt + shift + click for Windows/Linux. The modify key, cmd/ctrl + enter, opens a page, checks or unchecks a to-do, opens or closes a toggle, or makes an embed or image full-screen, depending on the block you're in.

Once blocks are selected, the menu that appears shows the word count and character count for your selection. That's handy when a client brief has a word limit.

Work faster in databases and tables

Peek navigation is the database shortcut two of the three lists I compared got wrong. While a database page is open in peek view, a Mac uses control + shift + K for the previous page and control + shift + J for the next one; Windows uses ctrl + K and ctrl + J. The cmd + shift + J you'll find in one of them is Notion AI's default shortcut, not a peek key.

To change many records at once, select multiple rows or cards in the database, then press cmd/ctrl + / and edit them all together.

Two of these keys have a second meaning elsewhere in Notion's help. cmd/ctrl + D fills down when several table cells are selected and duplicates when blocks are selected. cmd/ctrl + R fills right with cells selected, and the desktop app help gives the same keys for refreshing the app. I'd check what's selected before pressing either one.

Use @, [[, + and slash commands

These commands are characters you type rather than key combinations, which is why I'd reach for them on Windows. Type @ and you get a menu:

• Mention a person by typing @ and a workspace member's name; they're notified.
• Link another page inline with @ and its name, and the link changes automatically if the page is renamed.
• Add a date with @ and a date in any format, including "today", "tomorrow" or "next Wednesday", which is handy for due dates.
• Set a reminder with @remind and a date, and you'll receive a notification at that time. If one doesn't arrive, the checklist for a reminder missing from your Inbox starts with Inbox visibility.

Press esc to dismiss the @ menu when you only want to type the @ symbol. Both [[ and + link or create pages; [[ shows page linking options first, and + shows page creation options first.

Typing / brings up the full menu of content blocks, and esc clears it if you only wanted a slash. These are the ones I'd memorize. The first few repeat the number-key blocks, which helps on any Windows machine where ctrl + shift is taken.

A template button repeats a set of blocks when someone clicks it. If you're deciding between a button someone clicks and a rule that runs on its own, buttons vs. database automations compares the two triggers.

Open Notion AI and search from anywhere

By default, cmd + shift + J on a Mac and ctrl + shift + J on Windows opens Notion AI, and Notion's AI FAQ says it works even when you're not working in Notion. The shortcut needs the desktop app: Notion's guide to what you can do with AI says the Notion Desktop app must be installed for it to work.

Inside a page, there's a lighter route. Notion's guide to AI for docs says to press the space key on a new line and enter a prompt when you want it to draft new text.

Command Search is the desktop app's search-from-anywhere. The desktop help describes triggering it with a customizable keyboard shortcut, the menu bar on a Mac or the task bar on Windows, so you can search or ask Notion AI without bringing the app to the foreground.

The shortcut costs nothing to learn; what you can do with it depends on your plan. Notion AI is available on Business and Enterprise Plans, and Free and Plus users get a limited number of complimentary AI responses to try it. The Notion AI review for small teams covers what it costs and when it's worth paying for.

Can you change Notion shortcuts?

You can change two of them: the Notion AI shortcut and the Command Search shortcut, both in Settings → Preferences. For AI, enter your shortcut next to Keyboard shortcut for Notion AI. For Command Search, use Keyboard shortcut for Command Search on the same screen, where you can also toggle off Use Command Search or Show Notion in Menu Bar.

Notion's help documents no setting for remapping the editor shortcuts in the tables above. I'd move the AI shortcut only if it collides with a key you already use elsewhere, since Notion's AI guides describe the default keys.

Why isn't a Notion shortcut working?

Check these in order:

1. The modifier. Peek navigation uses control on a Mac. Block types use cmd + option on a Mac and ctrl + shift on Windows, not alt.
2. What's selected or focused. cmd/ctrl + K adds a link when text is selected and opens search when your cursor isn't in a block. Keys such as cmd/ctrl + D and cmd/ctrl + shift + arrows act on selected blocks, so press esc first.
3. A Windows binding. ctrl + shift may already be bound to another function on Windows. Markdown and slash commands create the same blocks.
4. Your keyboard layout. Notion's help says its instructions are for English/QWERTY keyboards, so keys such as \, [ and ] can sit somewhere else on yours.
5. Browser or desktop app. The new page, window and tab keys are listed as desktop shortcuts, and the Notion AI shortcut needs the desktop app installed.
6. A Mac system shortcut. On a Mac, Command-H hides the front app and Shift-Command-5 takes a screenshot or screen recording. Those keys belong to macOS, so a list that assigns them to Notion is pointing you at a system shortcut.
7. An app that needs a refresh. If new features don't show up in the desktop app, refresh it with cmd/ctrl + R.
8. The list itself. If the key came from a cheat sheet, check it against Notion's help or the tables here.

My verdict: ten keys, then markdown

Learn the ten shortcuts in the first table and type markdown or slash commands for the rest. For a freelancer writing client briefs and notes, that means the block-type keys, cmd/ctrl + K for links and cmd/ctrl + shift + M for comments. For a small team working in shared databases, I'd add peek navigation and cmd/ctrl + / for several rows at once, because both let you work through records without leaving the keyboard.

Shortcuts make the edit faster. They don't decide which blocks, views or page structure a client project needs; make that call first, then speed up the typing.

Questions that come up next

Is there a printable list of Notion shortcuts?

Yes: the tables in this guide, or Notion's free All Shortcuts template, rated 4.5 from two ratings.

Is there a Notion shortcut for inserting an image?

No. Notion's help lists no key combination for images. Type /image to upload or embed one, or to add one from Unsplash.

How do I insert today's date in Notion?

Type @ and then today. The @ menu accepts a date in any format, and /date adds a timestamp too. Notion's help lists no key combination for dates.