Keyboard shortcuts

BetterBoard is built for keyboard-first use. The command palette gives you access to every action without touching the mouse. Individual shortcuts cover navigation, work item editing, and board controls.

Command palette

Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) from anywhere on the board to open the command palette. You can also press . (period) as an alternative.

The palette gives you instant access to board actions, work item actions on the selected work item, and navigation. Type to filter available commands. Press Enter to execute, Escape to close, and Backspace on an empty query to go back to the root.

Navigation

Use arrow keys to move focus between cards on the board.

Key	Action
↑ ↓ ← →	Move focus to the nearest card in that direction
Shift+↑ Shift+↓ Shift+← Shift+→	Move focus and extend selection (range select)
Enter	Open focused work item in Jira
Escape	Close open editor → close palette → clear selection (cascading)

Work item shortcuts

These shortcuts act on the focused or hovered card. If work items are selected, the action applies to all selected work items.

Key	Action
A	Open assignee picker
S	Open status picker
P	Open priority picker
L	Open labels picker
D	Open due date picker (if due date field is shown)
T	Open start date picker (if start date field is shown)
I	Assign to me (no picker — updates immediately)
O	Open work item in Jira
Space	Toggle selection (for bulk actions)

Board shortcuts

These shortcuts work at any time without requiring a card to be focused.

Key	Action
⌘K / Ctrl+K	Open command palette
⌘F / Ctrl+F	Open quick search
⌘⌫ / Ctrl+Delete	Delete selected work items (opens confirmation)
F	Open filter picker
C	Create new work item
Shift+C	Open card color options
N then V	Create new view (two-key chord)
G then A	Open the global board directory (two-key chord)
.	Open command palette (alternative to ⌘K)

Bulk selection

Select multiple work items to act on them together. There are three ways to build a selection:

• Space — toggles selection on the focused card
• ⌘+click (Mac) / Ctrl+click (Windows/Linux) — adds or removes a card from the selection
• Shift+click or Shift+arrow — selects a contiguous range

With multiple work items selected, the bulk action bar appears at the bottom of the board. You can also use ⌘K to run actions on all selected work items at once. See Bulk editing for details.

Shortcuts are suppressed when focus is inside a text input, dropdown, or inline editor. ⌘K and Escape always work regardless.