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Keyboard Shortcuts

VNote is built to be driven from the keyboard. Almost every action has a shortcut, many actions use chord shortcuts (press one combination, then another), and the whole scheme is configurable. Combine this with Vi mode and you can work almost entirely without the mouse.

Chord shortcuts

Some VNote shortcuts are chords, written as two parts separated by a comma. For example:

  • Ctrl+G, S — open the snippet panel: press Ctrl+G, release, then press S.
  • Ctrl+G, I — apply a snippet at the cursor.
  • Ctrl+G, G — activate United Entry.

The Ctrl+G prefix leads to a family of "go / global" actions; type the prefix and VNote shows you the follow-up keys.

Where shortcuts are defined

Shortcuts live in the main configuration file vnotex.json, in two tables: application-level actions under core.shortcuts, and editor/editing actions (Save, bold, headings, Find, apply snippet, and so on) under editor.shortcuts. Each action maps to a key sequence, for example:

"core": {
    "shortcuts": {
        "UnitedEntry": "Ctrl+G, G",
        "FullScreen": "F11"
    }
},
"editor": {
    "shortcuts": {
        "ApplySnippet": "Ctrl+G, I"
    }
}

To see the authoritative list of every action and its default binding, inspect the core.shortcuts and editor.shortcuts sections of your vnotex.json (the defaults are filled in by VNote). See Settings for where these folders are and how the default/user layers work.

Customizing a shortcut

  1. Open your user configuration vnotex.json.
  2. Under core.shortcuts (application actions) or editor.shortcuts (editing actions), set the value to the key sequence you want, using the same Modifier+Key and comma-chord notation.
  3. Restart VNote for the change to take effect.

Because shortcuts are just configuration, you can also carry your bindings between machines by syncing your user configuration — see Settings and Make VNote portable.

Shortcuts and Vi mode

When Vi mode is enabled, Vi keys handle text editing inside a note (motions, operators, insert/normal/visual modes), while VNote's application shortcuts continue to handle app-level actions — switching notes, toggling docks, opening United Entry, applying snippets, and so on. The two layers coexist: Vi for editing text, VNote shortcuts for driving the application.

Tips

  • Learn the Ctrl+G prefix first — it unlocks snippets and United Entry, two of the biggest time-savers.
  • Reference shortcuts from tasks with ${config:main.core.shortcuts.<Action>} if you script around them.
  • If a shortcut seems inactive, check for a conflict in core.shortcuts and confirm you restarted VNote after editing the file.