Best Raspberry Pi Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know (2021)

We recently compiled a long list of the best Raspberry Pi commands for beginners. Similarly, we have devised the best Raspberry Pi keyboard shortcuts for users who want to master everything on the Raspbian OS. This article includes built-in keyboard shortcuts, along with instructions on how to create custom keyboard shortcuts for your Raspberry Pi. If desired, you can also disable certain keyboard shortcuts on the Pi board. So let’s check the details without delay.

Best Raspberry Pi Keyboard Shortcut (2021)

If you want to use your Raspberry Pi on your keyboard, you’re in the right place. You can easily navigate your Raspberry Pi OS using the keyboard shortcuts below. Note that some of these hotkeys will not work if you are remotely connecting to your Raspberry Pi via SSH. This list is very useful if you want to use RaspberryOS for your desktop setup.

Raspbian OS keyboard shortcut

• Open terminal: Ctrl + Alt + T

The terminal is the core of the Raspberry Pi, and if you want quick access, you can use the keyboard shortcuts above on your Raspbian OS. This shortcut opens the terminal immediately, whether in a folder or web page.

• Close current window: Ctrl + Q

Press to close the terminal or open window. Ctrl and Q Together with Raspbian OS. The terminal window will close immediately.

• Open system menu: Ctrl + Esc

Would you like to open the system menu from the upper right corner of the Raspberry Pi without touching the mouse? You can use this shortcut to open it seamlessly.

• Program switching: Alt + tab

You can switch between open programs by pressing the Alt and Tab keys, similar to the Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts.

• Maximize the current window: Alt + F11

This Raspbian OS keyboard shortcut is the most popular hotkey among GUI users. To maximize the Raspberry Pi window, just press Alt and F11.

• Minimize all open windows: Ctrl + Alt + D

If you want to minimize all active windows (also known as Show Desktop), you can use this keyboard shortcut on your Raspberry Pi. It works like a charm.

• Open the run dialog: Alt + F2

Like Windows, the Raspberry Pi OS uses shortcuts to open certain utilities and programs.[実行]There is also a dialog. You can open a terminal (lxterminal),browser(midori) Or shut down the machine (sudo shutdown 0)[実行]From the dialog.

• Take a screenshot: PrntSc or Fn + PrntSc

To take a screenshot on your Raspberry Pi, you can: Just press the “Prnt Sc” key With the keyboard. If that doesn’t work, press Fn along with PrntSc.

• Exit NanoEditor: Ctrl + X

If you are new to Raspberry OS and its default text editor, you may find it annoying to use the Nano text editor. To exit the Nano text editor, press Ctrl and X at the same time to return to the terminal.

• Save changes to text: Ctrl + O

If you used the Nano Editor to make changes to the text file, you can press Ctrl and O. afterwards, Press the “Y” key to save your changes..

• Open drop-down menu: Alt + space

If you are viewing a window and want to access the drop-down menu, press Alt and Spacebar, then press the underlined key to minimize or maximize the window. You can also close the window. Alternatively, you can use this Raspberry Pi keyboard shortcut to open a drop-down menu of files and folders.

Create custom keyboard shortcuts on Raspberry Pi

1. To create a custom hotkey on your Raspberry Pi, you must first do the following: Open terminal.. Then execute the following command.

sudo nano /etc/xdg/openbox/lxde-pi-rc.xml

2. This will open an XML file that holds all the existing key bindings on your Raspberry PiOS. Well, move down and say “Key bindings to run the application“Here you can modify existing keyboard shortcuts or add your own custom hotkeys.

3. To add a custom keyboard shortcut to your Raspberry Pi, you need to do the following: Follow the syntax below..

<keybind key="custom_keyboard_shortcut">
      <action name="operation">
         <command>command_name</command>
      </action>
</keybind>

4. Now you can assign your own keyboard shortcut under the keybind key. For example, if you press the Ctrl + B shortcut to open the Chromium browser, follow this syntax: C For Ctrl When B Is for the shortcut letter B. This is what the keybind entry looks like.

<keybind key="C-B">
       <action name="operation">
          <command>command_name</command>
       </action>
</keybind>

5. By the way, here are some key binding keys to note.Remember, these are case sensitive Key binding.

• C –NS
• A – Alt
• S–Shift
• space –Space key
• Return – input
• BackSpace – Backspace

6. Then go to the action name. Now, The general one is Execute, And it performs most of your actions. If you want to know more about the different types of actions, please visit this page. So, if you define key binding shortcuts and actions, your entry looks like this:

<keybind key="C-B">
        <action name="Execute">
           <command>command_name</command>
        </action>
 </keybind>

7. Move to the last part. This is the command name. Now you need to define the application to open. To find the command name for your application, right-click on the application and Open “Properties”.. Then go to the Desktop Entry section and copy everything in the Command field. This is the command name and must be entered in the above syntax. So if you use the Ctrl + B shortcut to open Chromium, the entry looks like this:

<keybind key="C-B">
         <action name="Execute">
            <command>chromium-browser</command>
         </action>
</keybind>

8. Then add this entry to the XML file opened from the terminal.Then press Ctrl + O Press Y to save your changes and Ctrl + X to exit the Nano Editor.

9. Finally, run sudo reboot You can do that by restarting your Raspberry Pi. Now, every time you press the Ctrl + B shortcut, the Raspbian OS will open the Chromium browser. Here’s how to create your own keyboard shortcut on your Raspberry Pi.

Disable keyboard shortcuts on Raspberry Pi

1. To disable certain keyboard shortcuts on your Raspberry Pi, you need to do the following: Open the same XML file As explained in the above method. Open a terminal and run the following command.

sudo nano /etc/xdg/openbox/lxde-pi-rc.xml

2. Go to “Key bindings to run the application” Delete the key binding entry That’s it for that keyboard shortcut. Press Ctrl + O, then select Y, and then press Ctrl + X to exit the editor.

Easy to use Raspberry Pi with keyboard shortcuts

Therefore, these are the best keyboard shortcuts for navigating the Raspberry Pi OS. We also showed you how to create your own custom hotkeys on your Raspberry Pi, just like in Windows 10. If you are an advanced user, we recommend that you mess with the XML file as described above. It will increase your productivity many times. Anyway, it’s all from us. If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments section below.