Dux Shell

Keyboard Navigation

Keyboard Navigation

Every DMS surface can be driven from the keyboard. This page lists the keys that work once a surface is open. The shortcuts that open them belong to your compositor; see Compositor Setup and Keybinds & IPC.

A few keys mean the same thing almost everywhere:

Action	Keys
Close the surface, or step back out of a sub-view first	Escape
Move the selection in a list	Up Down, Ctrl+J Ctrl+K
Run the selected item	Enter
Open the context menu of the selected item	Menu, F10

In right-to-left languages, Left and Right (and their Alt forms) are swapped.

Settings

Settings opens with the keyboard in the sidebar search field. The window has two regions, the sidebar and the page, and the keyboard is always in one of them.

Moving Between Regions

Action	Keys
Switch between the sidebar and the page	Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Move from the sidebar to the page	Alt+Right
Move from the page to the sidebar	Alt+Left
Search settings	Ctrl+F

Sidebar

Action	Keys
Search settings	type in the search field
Move through search results	Up Down, Tab Shift+Tab
Open the selected result	Enter
Highlight a page from the search field	Up Down, then Tab Shift+Tab to keep moving
Open the highlighted page and move into it	Enter
Move into the current page	Enter with nothing highlighted
Clear the search or the highlight	Escape
Move between sidebar rows	Up Down
Open the focused row	Enter, Space

Page

Action	Keys
Move between controls	Up Down, Tab Shift+Tab
Go back to the previous page	Alt+Left, Backspace
Leave a text field	Escape
Go back, or return to the sidebar from a top-level page	Escape

Controls that use the arrow keys themselves (text fields, lists, open menus) keep them; Tab still moves on. On a top-level page with nothing to go back to, Alt+Left returns to the sidebar. Escape never closes the Settings window; close it like any other window.

Launcher

The same keys work in the launcher modal, the spotlight bar, the launcher inside the island and the niri overview search.

Action	Keys
Move the selection	Up Down, Ctrl+J Ctrl+K
Move inside a grid or tile section	Left Right, Ctrl+H Ctrl+L
Jump a page	PgUp PgDown
Jump to the next or previous section	Ctrl+N, Ctrl+P
Next or previous mode	Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Tab
All, Apps, Files, Plugins mode	Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+4, Alt+1 to Alt+4
Open the selected item	Enter
Launch a new instance even when the default action is Focus	Ctrl+Enter
Paste the selected clipboard or plugin item	Shift+Enter
Show the actions of the selected item, then cycle them	Tab, Shift+Tab
Run the highlighted action	Enter
Open the context menu	Menu, F10
Leave a plugin filter, or return from an automatic switch to Files	Backspace in an empty search field
Close the actions, then the plugin filter, then the launcher	Escape

The mode shortcuts can be rebound in Settings → Launcher. Default action on that page chooses whether Enter launches an app or focuses its running window.

In a dms dmenu list with multi-select, Shift+Enter toggles the highlighted entry and Enter confirms the selection. In the app editor, Ctrl+S or Ctrl+Enter saves and Escape cancels.

Control Center

Action	Keys
Move between tiles and their toggle buttons	Tab, Shift+Tab
Activate the focused tile or button	Enter, Space
Enter edit mode	F2, Ctrl+E
Undo an edit	Ctrl+Z
Close a picker or sheet, go back from a page, leave edit mode, then close	Escape

A tile with details opens them; its icon button toggles it.

Dash

The dash opens with the keyboard already in the current tab, without a focus ring, so tab keys such as Space for play/pause on Media work straight away. The window has two regions, the tab row and the content, like Settings.

Action	Keys
Switch between the tab row and the content	Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Tab, F6, Shift+F6
Switch tabs from anywhere	Ctrl+PgDown, Ctrl+PgUp
Edit the layout	F2, Ctrl+E
Clear a tab-row highlight or close an open panel, then leave edit mode, then close the dash	Escape

On the tab row:

Action	Keys
Highlight the next or previous tab	Tab, Shift+Tab
Open the highlighted tab	Enter, Space
Switch tabs at once	Left Right (Up Down on a side tab rail), Home, End
Move into the content	Down (Right from a left rail)

In the content:

Action	Keys
Move between controls, wrapping around	Tab, Shift+Tab
Move between Overview cards	arrow keys when the card does not use them, Alt + arrow keys, Alt+H J K L
Cycle Overview cards	Alt+Tab, Alt+Shift+Tab
Return to the tab row	Alt + the arrow toward it, from the edge card or a tab without cards

Cards and tabs keep the keys they use themselves: the calendar moves its selected day with the arrows, and Media seeks with Left Right and changes the volume with Up Down. While a panel, sheet or editor inside a tab is open, such as calendar event details or the wallpaper browser, the dash's own keys (Ctrl+Tab, F6, F2, Tab wrapping and the Alt card keys) step aside so it can use them; Escape closes it first. The island's dash faces use the same keys.

Notification Center

The first Down (or Up) starts keyboard selection on the newest notification. Up on the first item leaves it again.

Action	Keys
Move the selection	Up Down, Tab Shift+Tab, Ctrl+N Ctrl+P, Ctrl+J Ctrl+K
Open the selected notification	Enter
Run one of its actions	1 to 9
Expand or collapse the group	Space
Expand the message text	E
Dismiss the selected notification	Delete, Backspace
Clear all	Shift+Delete, Shift+Backspace
Switch between Current and History	Left, Right
Show the key hints	F10
Close	Escape

On the History tab, Up Down move, Delete or Backspace removes the entry, Shift+Delete clears the history and F10 shows the hints.

Clipboard History

Typing filters the list. Press F10 for the hints overlay.

Action	Keys
Move the selection	Up Down, Tab Shift+Tab, Ctrl+N Ctrl+P, Ctrl+J Ctrl+K
Copy the entry	Enter, Ctrl+C
Paste the entry	Shift+Enter
Pin or unpin	Ctrl+S
Edit	Ctrl+E
Preview	Ctrl+Space
Delete the entry	Delete
Clear all	Shift+Delete
Switch between Recent and Saved	Ctrl+Tab, Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Show the key hints	F10
Close	Escape

With Settings → Clipboard → Enter to paste on, Enter pastes and Shift+Enter copies.

In the preview, Up Down or Tab move to the neighbouring entry, Enter copies or pastes, and Escape or Ctrl+Space closes the preview. In the editor, Ctrl+S saves and returns to the list, Ctrl+Shift+S saves and closes, Ctrl+Shift+V saves and pastes, and Escape returns to the list.

Power Menu

Action	Keys
Move the selection (list)	Up Down, Tab Shift+Tab, Ctrl+N Ctrl+P, Ctrl+J Ctrl+K
Move the selection (grid)	arrow keys, Ctrl+N Ctrl+P across, Ctrl+J Ctrl+K down and up
Run the selected action	Enter
Close	Escape

Each action also has its own key, shown on its button:

Action	Key
Reboot	R
Soft reboot	B
Reboot to firmware setup	F
Log out	X
Power off	P
Lock	L
Suspend	S
Hibernate	H
Restart DMS	D
Switch User	U
Reboot to a boot entry	1 to 9

With Settings → Power & sleep → Hold to confirm on, hold the key until the ring fills; releasing early cancels. Lock and Restart DMS run at once.

System Monitor

Action	Keys
Processes, Performance, Disks, System tab	1 to 4
Search processes	Ctrl+F
Move the selection	Up Down, Ctrl+J
First or last process	Home, End
Show or hide process details	Enter, Space
Kill the selected process	Delete, Ctrl+K
Open the context menu	Menu, F10
Close	Escape

The process list popout on the bar uses the same keys, without the tab numbers. In the context menu, Up Down or J K move, Enter or Space run the entry, and Escape, Left or H close it. Killing a process always asks first.

Lock Screen

Action	Keys
Unlock	type the password, Enter
Move the cursor	Left Right, Home End, Ctrl+B Ctrl+F, Ctrl+A Ctrl+E
Delete a character	Backspace, Ctrl+H, Delete, Ctrl+D
Delete the previous word	Ctrl+W, Ctrl+Backspace
Delete to the start or end	Ctrl+U, Ctrl+K
Move to the on-screen keyboard button, when shown	Tab
Hide the on-screen keyboard, cancel a security key prompt, or clear the field	Escape
Unlock with a security key	Ctrl+Q (off by default)

Turn on the security key shortcut and pick its key in Settings → Lock screen → Security key shortcut. Any key dismisses the video screensaver and cancels the fade before the screen locks.

Island

Action	Keys
Collapse the island	Escape

The launcher inside the island uses the launcher keys.

Workspace Overview

On niri:

Action	Keys
Focus the column to the left or right	Left, Right
Focus the workspace above or below	Up, Down
Search apps	type a letter
Close the overview	Enter, Escape

On Hyprland, Left and Right switch workspaces on the current monitor and Escape closes the overview.

Keybinds Cheatsheet

Action	Keys
Search	Ctrl+F
Find a bind by pressing it	press the shortcut while the search field is focused
Scroll	Up Down, Ctrl+J Ctrl+K
Close	Escape, or the shortcut that opened the cheatsheet

Dialogs and Menus

Surface	Keys
Confirmation dialogs	Left Right choose a button, Enter confirms, Escape cancels
Context menus	Up Down move, Enter runs the entry, Escape or Left closes
Power profile picker	arrow keys or Tab move, Enter or Space apply, 1 to 3 apply directly, Escape closes
App and browser picker	arrow keys move, Enter opens, Tab toggles Always use this app, Ctrl+Shift+C copies the target, Escape closes
Multiplexer sessions	Up Down or Ctrl+J Ctrl+K move, Enter attaches (or creates a new session), Ctrl+N new, Ctrl+R rename, Ctrl+D kill, Escape closes
Notepad	Ctrl+S save, Ctrl+O open, Ctrl+N new, Ctrl+F find (Enter / Shift+Enter next and previous match), Escape closes the slideout