Cursor Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Cursor AI Commands

Cursor-specific AI shortcuts layered on top of VS Code. These are the bindings that change most often, so they're verified against Cursor's official keyboard shortcuts docs.

Open Agent / Composer

Toggle the AI side panel to run the agent for multi-file edits and complex tasks. (Cmd + E toggles the dedicated Agent layout.)

Open Chat

Toggle the AI side panel to ask questions about your code.

Inline Edit

Open the inline AI editor to generate or modify code in place. In the terminal, the same key opens the AI command prompt bar instead.

Switch Mode (Agent / Ask / Plan)

Open the mode menu to switch how the AI behaves.

Cycle AI Model

Loop between the available AI models.

Add Selection to Chat

Send the selected code into the current chat as context (Cmd + L adds it to a new chat instead).

Accept / Reject AI Changes

Apply or discard the AI's suggested changes across the chat.

Accept Tab Suggestion

Accept the current Tab autocomplete suggestion. Use Esc to dismiss it.

Accept Next Word

Accept just the next word of a Tab suggestion — useful for partial accepts.

Terminal AI Command

In the integrated terminal, generate a shell command from natural language, then run it.

Workflows That Compound

The shortcuts pay off most when chained. Three combinations worth building into muscle memory:

• Targeted edit: Select code → Cmd + K → describe the change → Enter → Cmd + Enter to accept the diff.
• Ground a question in your codebase: Cmd + L → type @Codebase then your question. Cursor runs a semantic search and answers with citations.
• Generate a terminal command: Focus the terminal → Cmd + K → describe it in plain English → Cmd + Enter to run.

All Cursor shortcuts are remappable: Cmd + Shift + P → "Keyboard Shortcuts", or edit keybindings.json directly.

Essential Editing

Fundamental shortcuts for code editing and manipulation.

Cut, Copy, Paste Line

Cut, copy, or paste entire lines without selection.

Tip: Without selection, cuts/copies entire line

Duplicate Line

Duplicate current line or selection above or below.

Move Line Up/Down

Move current line or selection up or down.

Delete Line

Delete entire line.

Insert Line Below/Above

Insert new line below or above current line.

Comment/Uncomment Line

Toggle line comment.

Block Comment

Toggle block comment.

Indent/Outdent

Indent or outdent line/selection.

Format Document

Auto-format entire document.

Format Selection

Format only selected code.

Multi-Cursor Editing

Edit multiple locations simultaneously for maximum productivity.

Add Cursor Above/Below

Add additional cursor on lines above or below.

Add Cursor at Click Position

Add cursor wherever you click.

Select All Occurrences

Select all occurrences of current word/selection.

Select Next Occurrence

Add next occurrence of selection to multi-cursor.

Skip Next Occurrence

Skip current occurrence and move to next.

Column (Box) Selection

Select rectangular region of text.

Navigation

Navigate through files, symbols, and code efficiently.

Go to File

Quick open file by name.

Prefixes: @ symbol in file, # symbol in workspace, : line number, > command palette

Go to Symbol in File

Jump to function, class, or symbol in current file.

Go to Symbol in Workspace

Search for symbol across entire workspace.

Go to Line

Jump to specific line number.

Go to Definition

Jump to definition of symbol under cursor.

Peek Definition

View definition inline without leaving current file.

Go to References

Find all references to symbol.

Navigate Back/Forward

Navigate through cursor position history.

Next/Previous Editor

Switch between open editor tabs.

Go to Bracket

Jump to matching bracket.

Search & Replace

Powerful search and replace functionality across files.

Find in File

Search within current file.

Find & Replace in File

Search and replace within current file.

Find in Files

Search across all files in workspace.

Replace in Files

Replace across all files in workspace.

Find Next/Previous

Navigate through search results.

Select All Find Matches

Select all occurrences of current search.

Command Palette

Access all commands and features through the command palette.

Show Command Palette

Open command palette to access all commands.

Settings

Open settings UI or JSON.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Open keyboard shortcuts editor.

Terminal

Integrated terminal shortcuts for command-line work.

Toggle Terminal

Show/hide integrated terminal.

Create New Terminal

Open new terminal instance.

Focus Terminal

Move focus to terminal pane.

Kill Terminal

Close active terminal instance.

Split Terminal

Split terminal pane.

Display & Layout

Manage editor layout and visibility.

Toggle Sidebar

Show/hide sidebar (file explorer).

Toggle Panel

Show/hide bottom panel (terminal, problems, output).

Zen Mode

Enter distraction-free full-screen mode.

Split Editor

Split editor vertically.

Focus Editor Group

Switch focus between split editors.

Zoom In/Out

Increase/decrease editor zoom level.

File Management

Manage files and editor tabs efficiently.

New File

Create new untitled file.

Open File

Open file dialog.

Save File

Save current file.

Save As

Save file with new name/location.

Save All

Save all open files.

Close Editor

Close current editor tab.

Close All Editors

Close all open editor tabs.

Reopen Closed Editor

Reopen last closed editor tab.

Copy Path

Copy file path to clipboard.

Reveal in File Explorer

Show file in sidebar.

Refactoring

Code refactoring and symbol manipulation.

Rename Symbol

Rename symbol across all references.

Quick Fix

Show available quick fixes and refactorings.

Show Hover

Show hover information (type info, docs).

Trigger Suggest

Manually trigger IntelliSense suggestions.

Trigger Parameter Hints

Show function parameter hints.

Debugging

Debug your code with breakpoints and step-through execution.

Toggle Breakpoint

Add/remove breakpoint on current line.

Start/Continue Debugging

Start debugging or continue to next breakpoint.

Step Over

Execute current line and move to next.

Step Into

Step into function calls.

Step Out

Step out of current function.

Stop Debugging

Stop debug session.

Show Problems

Open problems panel (errors, warnings).

Emmet Abbreviations

Rapid HTML/CSS generation with Emmet shortcuts.

Expand Abbreviation

Expand Emmet abbreviation into full code.

<!-- Before: ul>li*5 -->
<!-- After Tab: -->
<ul>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
  <li></li>
</ul>

Common Emmet Patterns

// Child: >
div>ul>li

// Sibling: +
div+p+span

// Climb up: ^
div>ul>li^div

// Multiply: *
ul>li*3

// Grouping: ()
div>(header>ul>li*2)+footer>p

// ID and Class
div#header.container.main

// Attributes
a[href="#" title="Link"]

// Text: {}
li{Item $}*3

// CSS Properties
m10 → margin: 10px;
p20-30 → padding: 20px 30px;
w100p → width: 100%;

Pro Tips

• Customize shortcuts: Open Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts → Search for any command
• Format on Save: Enable in Settings → "Format on Save"
• Auto Save: Settings → Files: Auto Save → "afterDelay"
• Workspace settings: Create .vscode/settings.json in project root
• Custom snippets: Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P → "Configure User Snippets"
• Cursor AI Tips: Use Cmd+K with selected code for targeted inline edits, Cmd+I to open the agent for multi-file work, and @-mention files or @Codebase in chat to add context

Additional Resources

• VS Code Keyboard Shortcuts Documentation
• Cursor IDE Documentation
• VS Code Shortcuts PDF (Windows)
• VS Code Shortcuts PDF (macOS)
• VS Code Shortcuts PDF (Linux)