Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Navigate MATLAB

Since R2025a. Replaces Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Navigate MATLAB (R2024b).

Using keyboard shortcuts to navigate MATLAB^® can increase productivity and is useful in situations where using a mouse is not an option.

This table describes the actions and related keyboard shortcuts useful for navigating MATLAB without a mouse.

Navigate MATLAB Desktop

Action	Keyboard Shortcut
Move forward and backward through the different areas of the MATLAB desktop, including the toolstrip, Current Folder toolbar, sidebar panels, and Command Window.	Ctrl+F6 and Ctrl+Shift+F6 On an installed version of MATLAB, you also can use Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab. On macOS systems, use Command+F6 and Command+Shift+F6 instead.
Move into a tool, for example, into the current toolstrip tab.	Tab
Move between controls within a tool, for example, between toolstrip tabs or between the items on a toolstrip tab.	Up/Down Arrow, Left/Right Arrow
Move between groups of open documents, for example, between Editor and Live Editor documents, or docked figures.	Ctrl+Page Up, Ctrl+Page Down Not supported in MATLAB Online™.
Close controls within a tool, for example, documents in the Editor and Live Editor.	Delete
Make an open tool the active tool.	Command Window: Ctrl+0 Command History: Ctrl+1 Files panel: Ctrl+2 Workspace panel: Ctrl+3 Editor: Ctrl+Shift+0 Figures: Ctrl+Shift+1 Variables editor: Ctrl+Shift+3 On macOS systems, use the Command key instead of the Ctrl key. Not supported in MATLAB Online.
Move between code and output in the Live Editor when output is on the right.	Ctrl+Shift+O On macOS systems, use Option+Command+O instead.
Move focus between the command prompt and scroll buffer in the Command Window.	Shift+Tab
Open the context menu.	Shift+F10
Show access keys for the toolstrip.	Alt Not supported on macOS systems.
Open a toolstrip tab and show access keys for the toolstrip.	Alt+<character> For example, pressing Alt followed by H accesses the Home tab and displays access keys for the options available on that tab. Not supported on macOS systems.
Perform a search.	Ctrl+Shift+Space On macOS systems, use Command+Shift+Space instead.
Open the Settings window.	Ctrl+, On macOS systems, use Command+, instead.
Display a compact list of keyboard shortcuts.	Ctrl+/

Navigate Figures

You can explore plotted data using keyboard shortcuts. Once a figure is selected, the shortcuts described above are slightly modified.

This table describes the actions and related keyboard shortcuts useful for navigating figures in MATLAB without a mouse.

Action	Keyboard Shortcut
Navigate forward.	Tab When focus is on the figure, pressing Tab steps into the axes. If a figure has multiple axes and focus is on the first axes, then pressing Tab steps to the next axes.
Reverse navigation.	Shift+Tab Navigate axes in the reverse order as Tab.
Navigate down.	Ctrl+Down Arrow If focus is on a set of axes, then Ctrl+Down Arrow focuses the first focusable element within the axes. For example, if a title is present, focus jumps from the axes to the title. If no titles or labels are present, then focus jumps from the axes to an object within the axes.
Navigate up.	Ctrl+Up Arrow Focus shifts from an element to its parent element. For example, if focus is on a line, then Ctrl+Up Arrow shifts focus to the axes.

Additional Keyboard Shortcuts

In addition to navigation, keyboard shortcuts are useful for accessing other frequently used actions in MATLAB.

This table describes several of these actions and their related keyboard shortcuts. For additional keyboard shortcuts, see the documentation for a specific tool or feature.

Action	Keyboard Shortcut
Cancel the current action.	Esc (escape) For example, if you have a context menu open, pressing Esc closes the context menu. If you have the Command History pop-up window open in the Command Window, pressing Esc closes the Command History.
Interrupt MATLAB execution.	Ctrl+C On Windows® and Linux® systems, you also can use Ctrl+Break. On macOS systems, you also can use Command+. (period).