Last updated: 2026-07-02
Keyboard Shortcuts
Master Jam SQL Studio with these keyboard shortcuts. Learn the essential commands for query execution, navigation, editing, and results management on macOS and Windows/Linux.
Global Shortcuts
These shortcuts work throughout the application, regardless of which panel has focus.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| New Query Tab | Cmd+T | Ctrl+T |
| Open Data Import | Cmd+I | Ctrl+I |
| New Window | Cmd+Shift+N | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Open File | Cmd+O | Ctrl+O |
| Save File | Cmd+S | Ctrl+S |
| Save As | Cmd+Shift+S | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Close Tab | Cmd+W | Ctrl+W |
| Close Window | Cmd+Shift+W | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Toggle Terminal | Cmd+` | Ctrl+` |
| Open Settings | Cmd+, | Ctrl+, |
| Toggle Sidebar | Cmd+B | Ctrl+B |
| Command Palette | Cmd+Shift+P | Ctrl+Shift+P |
| Quick Open | Cmd+P | Ctrl+P |
| Search Query History | Cmd+Shift+Y | Ctrl+Shift+Y |
Cmd+N / Cmd+O shown on macOS. Those two menu accelerators are macOS-only — on Windows/Linux Ctrl+N and Ctrl+O are left alone because the embedded terminal already relies on them (shell history-next and nano’s Write Out), so the menu items there are click-only. Use Cmd/Ctrl+T (New Query Tab, above) as the cross-platform keyboard route.Tab Strip Keyboard Navigation
The workspace tab strip is a single keyboard stop: only the active tab is in the Tab order, so pressing Tab moves on to the next toolbar/panel instead of walking every open tab.
- Arrow Left / Right — move focus between tabs (does not activate them); focus wraps from the last tab back to the first
- Enter or Space — activate the focused tab
- Shift+F10 (or the Menu key) — open the focused tab's right-click menu from the keyboard
- Middle-click — close a tab without switching to it first
- The close button becomes visible once a tab has keyboard focus, not only on mouse hover
Command Palette
The Command Palette (Cmd+Shift+P on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux) gives you fuzzy-searchable access to every command, database object, saved connection, and setting from a single keyboard-driven interface.
What You Can Do
- Run workspace commands — open a New Query, Table Explorer, Schema Compare, Data Compare, start a cross-engine migration (Migrate Database/Table to Connection), and more
- Search database objects — find tables, views, stored procedures, and functions by name, then drill down into contextual actions (Select Top, Script CREATE, Design Table, etc.)
- Quick-connect — search saved connections and connect with a single Enter
- Toggle settings — switch dark mode, open specific settings sections, toggle sidebar or terminal
- Navigate — go to Home, open Tab History, expand Explorer or Scripts panel
Tips
- Each command shows its keyboard shortcut badge, so the palette doubles as a shortcut reference.
- Use Shift+Enter on a command that needs a connection to force the connection/database selector dialog instead of using the explorer's current selection.
- Press Backspace on an empty search to return from an object's action sub-menu to the main search.
- The palette is also accessible from the search trigger on the Start Page and the toolbar search button.
Query Editor Shortcuts
Shortcuts for writing and executing SQL queries in the query editor.
Execution
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Execute Query | Cmd+E | Ctrl+E |
| Execute Query (Alternative) | F5 | F5 |
| Execute Selection | Click the floating Execute button that appears next to your selection (no keyboard shortcut — toolbar/F5 always run the full editor content) | |
| Execute with Actual Plan | Cmd+Shift+E | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Execute with Estimated Plan | Cmd+L | Ctrl+L |
| Cancel Query | Escape | Escape |
View
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle Results Pane | Cmd+J | Ctrl+J |
Editing
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Format SQL | Shift+Alt+F | Shift+Alt+F |
| Comment Line | Cmd+/ | Ctrl+/ |
| Block Comment | Cmd+Shift+/ | Ctrl+Shift+/ |
| Find | Cmd+F | Ctrl+F |
| Find and Replace | Cmd+H | Ctrl+H |
| Find Next | Cmd+G | F3 |
| Find Previous | Cmd+Shift+G | Shift+F3 |
| Undo | Cmd+Z | Ctrl+Z |
| Redo | Cmd+Shift+Z | Ctrl+Y |
| Select All | Cmd+A | Ctrl+A |
| Duplicate Line | Cmd+Shift+D | Ctrl+Shift+D |
| Delete Line | Cmd+Shift+K | Ctrl+Shift+K |
| Move Line Up | Alt+Up | Alt+Up |
| Move Line Down | Alt+Down | Alt+Down |
| Indent Line | Tab | Tab |
| Outdent Line | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab |
| Trigger Parameter Hints | Cmd+Shift+Space | Ctrl+Shift+Space |
Cursor and Selection
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-cursor (Add) | Cmd+Click | Ctrl+Click |
| Add Cursor Above | Cmd+Alt+Up | Ctrl+Alt+Up |
| Add Cursor Below | Cmd+Alt+Down | Ctrl+Alt+Down |
| Select Word | Cmd+D | Ctrl+D |
| Select All Occurrences | Cmd+Shift+L | Ctrl+Shift+L |
| Expand Selection | Cmd+Shift+Right | Ctrl+Shift+Right |
| Shrink Selection | Cmd+Shift+Left | Ctrl+Shift+Left |
| Go to Line | Cmd+G | Ctrl+G |
| Go to Beginning | Cmd+Home | Ctrl+Home |
| Go to End | Cmd+End | Ctrl+End |
Navigation Shortcuts
Navigate between tabs, panels, and views.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Next Tab | Cmd+Shift+] | Ctrl+Tab |
| Previous Tab | Cmd+Shift+[ | Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Go to Tab 1-9 | Cmd+1 to Cmd+9 | Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 |
| Focus Object Explorer | Cmd+Shift+E | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Focus Query Editor | Cmd+1 | Ctrl+1 |
| Focus Results Grid | Cmd+2 | Ctrl+2 |
| Toggle Full Screen | Ctrl+Cmd+F | F11 |
| Zoom In | Cmd+= | Ctrl+= |
| Zoom Out | Cmd+- | Ctrl+- |
| Reset Zoom | Cmd+0 | Ctrl+0 |
Results Grid Shortcuts
Shortcuts for working with query results and table data.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Copy Selection | Cmd+C | Ctrl+C |
| Copy with Headers | Cmd+Shift+C | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Select All Rows | Cmd+A | Ctrl+A |
| Select Row | Click row number | Click row number |
| Extend Selection | Shift+Click | Shift+Click |
| Multi-select Rows | Cmd+Click | Ctrl+Click |
| Navigate Cells | Arrow keys | Arrow keys |
| Page Down | Page Down | Page Down |
| Page Up | Page Up | Page Up |
| Go to First Row | Cmd+Home | Ctrl+Home |
| Go to Last Row | Cmd+End | Ctrl+End |
Table Explorer Shortcuts
Shortcuts for browsing and editing table data in Table Explorer.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle Edit Mode | Cmd+E | Ctrl+E |
| Save Changes | Cmd+S | Ctrl+S |
| Discard Changes | Escape | Escape |
| Add New Row | Cmd+N | Ctrl+N |
| Delete Selected Rows | Cmd+Delete | Ctrl+Delete |
| Refresh Data | Cmd+R | Ctrl+R |
| Toggle Filter Panel | Cmd+F | Ctrl+F |
| Export Data | Cmd+Shift+E | Ctrl+Shift+E |
Foreign Key Breadcrumb Navigation
Walk the FK navigation tree inside a Table Explorer tab without taking your hands off the keyboard.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Activate previous sibling (or previous in the active path) | Cmd+← | Ctrl+← |
| Activate next sibling (or next in the active path) | Cmd+→ | Ctrl+→ |
| Activate parent | Cmd+↑ | Ctrl+↑ |
| Activate first child | Cmd+↓ | Ctrl+↓ |
Object Explorer Shortcuts
Shortcuts for navigating and interacting with database objects.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Expand Node | Right Arrow | Right Arrow |
| Collapse Node | Left Arrow | Left Arrow |
| Navigate Up/Down | Up/Down Arrow | Up/Down Arrow |
| Open Object | Enter | Enter |
| Context Menu | Right-click or Ctrl+Click | Right-click or Shift+F10 |
| Refresh Tree | Cmd+R | Ctrl+R |
| Search Objects | Cmd+Shift+F | Ctrl+Shift+F |
Sessions Shortcuts
Shortcuts for managing workspace sessions.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Save Session | Cmd+Shift+S | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Open Sessions Dialog | Cmd+Shift+O | Ctrl+Shift+O |
Snippets
Shortcuts for using code snippets.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Expand Snippet | Tab | Tab |
| Next Placeholder | Tab | Tab |
| Previous Placeholder | Shift+Tab | Shift+Tab |
| Exit Snippet Mode | Escape | Escape |
Schema Overview Shortcuts
Shortcuts for navigating the schema visualization.
| Action | macOS | Windows/Linux |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom In | Cmd+= or Scroll Up | Ctrl+= or Scroll Up |
| Zoom Out | Cmd+- or Scroll Down | Ctrl+- or Scroll Down |
| Fit to Screen | Cmd+0 | Ctrl+0 |
| Pan | Click + Drag | Click + Drag |
| Select Node | Click | Click |
| Open Selected Object | Double-click | Double-click |
Cmd+P (macOS) or Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) to print this page for a quick reference card.Frequently asked questions
What is the keyboard shortcut to execute a SQL query?
Press F5 to execute the full editor content. The keyboard shortcut always runs the entire query — to run only selected text, click the floating Execute button that appears next to your selection.
How do I format SQL code in Jam SQL Studio?
Press Shift+Alt+F to format your SQL code. This works on both macOS and Windows/Linux.
How do I open a new query tab?
Press Cmd+T on macOS or Ctrl+T on Windows/Linux to open a new query tab. Use Cmd+W or Ctrl+W to close the current tab.
What is the shortcut to view an execution plan?
Press Cmd+Shift+E (macOS) or Ctrl+Shift+E (Windows/Linux) to execute with an actual plan. Press Cmd+L or Ctrl+L to show the estimated plan without executing.
How do I cancel a running query?
Press Escape to cancel a running query. This stops execution on the server side.
How do I open the Command Palette in Jam SQL Studio?
Press Cmd+Shift+P on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux to open the Command Palette. You can also click the search trigger on the Start Page or the toolbar search button. The palette lets you fuzzy-search every command, database object, saved connection, and setting. Select a database object to drill down into contextual actions like Select Top, Script CREATE, or Design Table.
Ready to Get Started?
Download Jam SQL Studio and put these shortcuts to use.