Keyboard shortcuts

Work faster and keep your hands on the keyboard. Vigilare provides comprehensive keyboard shortcuts for navigating, editing, and managing your reminders without reaching for the mouse.

Viewing all shortcuts

Access the complete shortcut reference anytime.

In-app shortcut list

How to access

1. Click the ? (help) button in the sidebar
2. The complete shortcut list opens in a popover

What you’ll see

• Every shortcut with a short description
• A single flat list (not grouped into tabs or categories)
• Visual keyboard key representations

Window control

Manage the Vigilare window with shortcuts.

Iconify window

Shortcut — ⌘E

What it does

• Minimizes window to tiny circular icon
• Hides task list from view
• Keeps app running
• Quick restore with click

When to use

Screen Sharing:
- Before sharing: ⌘E
- Tasks hidden from view
- Click icon after to restore

Focused Work:
- Remove visual distraction
- Keep accessible
- Quick restore when needed

Presentations:
- Hide personal tasks
- Professional appearance
- One keystroke to hide/show

Related

• Double-click icon to restore
• Or click Dock icon to show window
• See Window Management

Enlarge the layout

Shortcut — ⌘+

What it does

• From the compact window, grows it into the wide two-column layout and reveals the sidebar
• Already in the wide layout? Nothing changes — there is no larger view to switch to

Shrink the layout

Shortcut — ⌘-

What it does

• From the wide layout, collapses back to the compact single column and hides the sidebar
• From the compact window, minimizes to the circular icon — the same result as ⌘E

List navigation

Move through your task list efficiently.

Move selection up

Shortcut — ↑ (Up Arrow)

What it does

• Moves selection to previous task
• Visual highlight follows
• Wraps to bottom if at top

Use case

Quick scanning:
1. Click any task
2. Press ↑ repeatedly
3. Review tasks upward
4. Stop at task of interest

Move selection down

Shortcut — ↓ (Down Arrow)

What it does

• Moves selection to next task
• Highlights current selection
• Wraps to top if at bottom

Use case

Morning review:
1. Click first task
2. Press ↓ through list
3. Read each task
4. Plan your day

Extend the selection

Shortcut — Shift+↑ / Shift+↓

What it does

• Grows or shrinks the selection one row at a time from the moving end
• A bare ↑ or ↓ collapses back to a single moving selection
• Pairs with multi-select for bulk actions — see Task Management

Open the list browser

Shortcut — ⌘O

What it does

• Drops a searchable panel over the list
• Type to filter your lists, then pick one to switch to it
• Press ⌘O again (or Escape) to close the panel

Navigation tips

Efficient scanning

Arrow keys + Space:
1. ↓ to next task
2. Space to complete
3. ↓ to next task
4. Space to complete
→ Keyboard-only workflow

Jump to section

• Click search bar: focus search
• Tab: cycle through UI elements
• Arrow keys: navigate list

Reminder management

Quick actions on selected tasks.

Toggle completion

Shortcut — Space (Space Bar)

What it does

• Marks selected task complete/incomplete
• Works both ways
• Instant visual feedback

Workflow

Completing tasks:
1. Use ↓ to select task
2. Press Space to complete
3. ↓ to next task
4. Space to complete
5. Repeat

Visual change

• Checkbox fills
• Text gets strikethrough
• Task grays out
• Moves to completed section

Edit selected reminder

Shortcut — Enter (Return Key)

What it does

• Opens edit window for selected task
• Same as double-clicking
• Cursor in title field

Quick edit flow

Task needs updating:
1. ↓ to select task
2. Enter to edit
3. Update title/notes
4. Escape to close (edits save automatically)
5. Back to list

Add new task

Shortcut — just start typing (when window focused)

What it does

• Focus automatically moves to quick add bar
• Type task title
• Enter to create

Fast capture

Interrupt arrives:
1. Focus Vigilare (click or ⌘Tab)
2. Start typing immediately
3. Press Enter
4. Task created
→ 5 seconds total

Editing shortcuts

While in edit window for a reminder.

Saving

The editor saves automatically — there is no save-and-close keystroke.

What happens

• Changes are saved as you type and flushed when the editor closes
• Press Escape or navigate back to close the editor; your edits are kept and synced to Apple Reminders
• Inside the editor, ⌘Return submits a comment rather than saving the task

Closing the editor

Shortcut — Escape (Esc Key)

What it does

• Closes the editor and returns to the main list
• Your changes are kept and synced — the editor auto-saves, so Escape does not discard edits

Use case

Done editing:
1. Update the task
2. Press Escape
3. Changes are saved
4. Back to the list

Text formatting (in Markdown editor)

Bold — ⌘B Italic — ⌘I Undo — ⌘Z Redo — ⌘Shift+Z Select all — ⌘A

See Markdown Editor for complete editor shortcuts.

System shortcuts

Standard macOS shortcuts that work in Vigilare.

Application control

Settings — ⌘, (Command + Comma)

• Opens Settings window
• Standard macOS convention
• Access all preferences

Quit — ⌘Q

• Quits Vigilare completely
• Window closes
• Menu bar icon remains (if applicable)
• Restart from Applications

Text editing

Cut — ⌘X Copy — ⌘C Paste — ⌘V Select all — ⌘A

Undo — ⌘Z Redo — ⌘Shift+Z

Find — ⌘F (focuses search if available)

Shortcut categories

Understanding the organization.

Window category

Controls for window appearance and visibility.

Shortcuts

• ⌘E — Iconify window
• ⌘+ — Enlarge the layout
• ⌘- — Shrink the layout, or iconify from the compact window

Purpose — manage window presence and size without closing app

Editing category

Actions for modifying reminder content.

Shortcuts

• ⌘Return — Add comment
• ⌘B — Bold text
• ⌘I — Italic text

Purpose — format reminder notes and add comments

List navigation category

Movement through your task list.

Shortcuts

• ↑ — Move selection up
• ↓ — Move selection down
• Shift+↑ / Shift+↓ — Extend the selection
• ⌘O — Toggle the list browser

Purpose — keyboard-based list browsing

Reminder management category

Actions on tasks themselves.

Shortcuts

• Space — Toggle completion
• Enter — Edit selected reminder
• Type — Add new task

Purpose — create and manage tasks

Power user workflows

Combine shortcuts for maximum efficiency.

The keyboard-only review

Morning task review without mouse:
1. Click Vigilare window (or ⌘Tab to it)
2. Press ↓ to start from top
3. Read task
4. Space to complete if done
5. ↓ to next
6. Repeat through list
7. ⌘E to iconify when done

The quick capture

Interrupt handling:
1. ⌘Tab to Vigilare (or click)
2. Start typing task
3. Enter to save
4. ⌘Tab back to work
→ 3-5 seconds total

The rapid completion

End of day task cleanup:
1. Click first completed task
2. Space to mark complete
3. ↓ to next
4. Space to complete
5. ↓, Space, ↓, Space...
→ Clear list in seconds

The deep edit

Task needs detail:
1. ↓ to select task
2. Enter to edit
3. Update title
4. Tab to notes
5. Add detailed notes with ⌘B, ⌘I
6. Escape to close (edits save automatically)
→ All keyboard, no mouse

Customization

Note on shortcut customization.

Fixed shortcuts

Cannot be changed

• Vigilare shortcuts are fixed
• No customization in Settings
• Standard across all users
• Consistent experience

Why fixed?

Design decision

• Prevents conflicts
• Consistent documentation
• Easier support
• Standard macOS conventions

Future possibility

• Custom shortcuts may come later
• User feedback considered
• Would require significant UI

Learning the shortcuts

Tips for memorizing and adopting shortcuts.

Start small

Week 1 — learn most used

• Space for completion
• ↑/↓ for navigation
• Enter for editing

Week 2 — add saving

• ⌘Return in edit view
• Escape to cancel

Week 3 — window control

• ⌘E for iconify
• Restore workflows

Muscle memory

Practice

• Use shortcuts instead of clicking
• Even if slower at first
• Repetition builds speed
• Soon becomes automatic

Cheat sheet

• Keep shortcuts tab open
• Reference when needed
• Gradually memorize common ones

Context matters

In main window

• Arrow keys: navigation
• Space: toggle completion
• Typing: add new task

In edit window

• ⌘Return: save
• Escape: cancel
• ⌘B/I: formatting

Shortcut quick reference

Complete at-a-glance table.

Main window

Shortcut	Action
⌘E	Iconify window
⌘+	Enlarge the layout (show sidebar)
⌘-	Shrink the layout, or iconify from the compact window
⌘O	Toggle the list browser
↑	Move selection up
↓	Move selection down
Shift+↑ / Shift+↓	Extend the selection up or down
Space	Toggle completion
Enter	Edit selected reminder
Type	Add new task (in quick add bar)

Edit window

Shortcut	Action
⌘Return	Add comment (in editor) / add task (main view)
Escape	Cancel editing
⌘B	Bold text (notes)
⌘I	Italic text (notes)
⌘Z	Undo
⌘Shift+Z	Redo

System

Shortcut	Action
⌘,	Open Settings
⌘Q	Quit Vigilare
⌘C	Copy
⌘V	Paste
⌘X	Cut

Troubleshooting

Shortcut not working

Check

1. Is Vigilare window focused? Click it first
2. Right context? (main window vs edit window)
3. Conflicting system shortcut?
4. Try clicking to focus, then shortcut

Wrong action happens

Conflicts

• System shortcuts take priority
• Other app shortcuts may conflict
• Check System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts
• Disable conflicting shortcuts if necessary

Shortcuts forgotten

Solution

• Settings → Shortcuts tab
• Complete reference always available
• Descriptions explain each one
• Print or screenshot for reference

Related features

• Window Control — Iconify feature details
• Task Management — Task editing workflows
• Editor — Editor-specific shortcuts
• Settings — View shortcuts list