Selecting and Typing in Notebooks

The Wolfram Language has many special features that optimize the entry and editing of both ordinary text and Wolfram Language input in notebooks.

Making Selections

double-click — select a word or function name

triple-click — select a function and its arguments

repeated clicking — continue expanding selection

(Key1[ctrl, .]) — expand selection within a cell or beyond

(Key1[ctrl, a]) — select a whole notebook

(Key1[alt, click]) — select all cells in a notebook with the same style ("Section", "Input", etc.)

Brackets & Syntax

(Key2[ctrl, shift, b]) — match brackets

(MenuGrayLink[Help, paclet:guide/HelpMenu]) ▶ (MenuGrayLink[Why the Coloring?, paclet:ref/menuitem/WhyTheColoring]) — find out why input is red or has other syntax coloring

Help & Command Completion

(Key0[F1]) — search for help on the name selected, or to the left

(Key1[shift, F1]) — bring up a new instance of the help viewer

(Key1[ctrl, k]) — complete a command name, character name, etc.

Entering Styled Text

(Key1[alt, enter]) — create a new cell of the same style as above

(Key1[alt, n]) — pick a style for a cell (4 for section heading, 7 for text, etc.)

(Key1[alt, 0]) — enter a style to use for a cell

(Key1[ctrl, b]), (Key1[ctrl, i]) — toggle bold, italic

(Key1[alt, +]), (Key1[alt, -]) — make font larger, smaller

(OrangeLink[Entering Special Characters », paclet:guide/SpecialCharacters])

(Key0[esc]) name (Key0[esc]) — enter hundreds of special characters by short names

(OrangeLink[Math & Tabular Input », paclet:guide/MathematicalTypesetting])

(Key1[ctrl, space]) — move out of a script position

(Key1[ctrl, comma]), (Key1[ctrl, return]) — create a 2D grid

(Key1[ctrl, (]), (Key1[ctrl, )]) — start, end an inline math cell in text, or text in math

Typing Shortcuts

(Key0[del]) — delete next character

(Key1[shift, ←]), (Key1[shift, →]) — extend selection back or forward

(Key1[ctrl, ←]), (Key1[ctrl, →]) — skip back or forward a word

(Key2[ctrl, shift, ←]), (Key2[ctrl, shift, →]) — extend selection back, forward a word

Cell Operations

(Key0[↓]), (Key0[↑]) — move down or up inside or outside of cells

(Key2[ctrl, shift, m]), (Key2[ctrl, shift, d]) — merge or divide cells

(Key2[ctrl, shift, e]) — toggle to unformatted expression form of a cell

(Key2[shift, alt, n]) — change cell style (4 for section heading, 7 for text, 9 for input, etc.)