Menu commands show their shortcut beside them, so the menu bar is always the authority. This is the same list in one place.
These work on iPad too, with a hardware keyboard — iPadOS shows the same menu bar as macOS, and both platforms drive one set of commands rather than two. There is no iPad-only exception list: every menu command below is wired on both, including ⌥⌘N New Window, Close Tab, Open in New Window, Open Collection, the command palette (⇧⌘P) and Graph (⇧⌘G). One command is simply named for the file manager it opens — “Reveal in Finder” on macOS reads “Reveal in Files” on iPad. HelloNotes opens no window of its own on either platform: the Graph opens in the panel beside your note, and the Mind Map, the Assistant and Ask Your Library open as tabs beside your notes. A window happens when you ask for one by name.
Notes & files
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘N | New note |
| ⌥⌘N | New window |
| ⇧⌘T | Today’s note |
| ⌃⌘N | New note from a prompt… |
| ⌘O | Open… — recent collections, and every way to open one |
| ⌃⌘K | Quick Capture… — append a thought to today’s note |
| ⇧⌘O | Open Quickly… |
| ⌥⌘R | Rescan collection |
| ⇧⌘R | Rename note… |
| ⌘D | Duplicate note |
| ⇧⌘D | Add / remove bookmark |
| ⇧⌘L | Review links… |
| ⌘⌫ | Move note to Trash |
| ⌃⌘D | Dictate to daily note |
| ⇧⌘P | Command palette… |
| ⌘P | Print… |
Editing
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘F | Find & replace in the note |
| ⌥⌘F | Search all collections |
| ⌘B | Bold |
| ⌘I | Italic |
| ⌥⌘1 … ⌥⌘3 | Heading level 1–3 |
| ⇧⌘7 | Bulleted list |
| ⇧⌘9 | Numbered list |
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘1 … ⌘4 | View: Edit / Preview / Markdown / Split |
| ⇧⌘G | Graph — the open note’s links, in the right panel |
| ⇧⌘M | Mind Map — the collection’s links, in a tab |
| ⇧⌘J | Ask Your Library, in a tab |
| ⇧⌘A | Assistant, in a tab |
| ⌘, | Settings… |
System-wide, on the Mac
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌃⌥⌘N | Bring HelloNotes forward and start a new note |
Inside particular views
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘W | Close the editor tab, when more than one is open — otherwise ⌘W closes the window |
| ⌘⏎ | Append, in Quick Capture |
| Return | Next match, in the find bar; open the selected row, in Open Quickly and the command palette; send, in the Assistant; ask, in Ask Your Library |
| Return / Esc | Approve / deny a change the Assistant is waiting to make |
| Esc | Close the find bar or a sheet; dismiss Open Quickly and the palette. On iPhone, where the right panel covers the note, it closes the panel too |
| ↑ / ↓ | Move through notes in the sidebar (when it has the focus), results in Open Quickly, commands in the palette, and versions in History |
| ↑ / ↓, then Return or Tab | Choose a note or a tag in the list that appears while you type a [[ link or a # tag, and insert it; Esc closes the list |
| ↑ or ← | At the very top of a note, move the caret up into its title |
| ↓, Return or Tab | In the title, move the caret into the note’s body (on iPad, Return) |
| ← / → | Previous / next slide, in Slides |
| ← / → | Previous / next diagram, in the diagram viewer, when a note has more than one |
While a suggestion is showing
These need Suggest as I type switched on. The first three act on suggestion text that is already visible and do nothing when none is — so Esc still belongs to whatever else is open. ⌥Esc and F5 are the opposite: they ask for a suggestion when none is showing. →, ⌥Esc and F5 are the Mac’s; on iPad, tapping the suggestion accepts it.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌥⇥ | Accept the suggestion |
| → | Accept the suggestion (Mac) |
| Esc | Dismiss it |
| ⌥Esc / F5 | Ask for a suggestion now (Mac) |
Standard macOS shortcuts
Because the editor is a native text view, every system text shortcut works as it does elsewhere on macOS — ⌘Z undo, ⇧⌘Z redo, ⌥←/⌥→ by word, ⌘↑/⌘↓ to the start or end of the document, and the full set of Emacs-style control bindings.
The Edit menu also carries what the system puts there — Writing Tools, dictation and Emoji & Symbols, where your device offers them.