Yesterday I mentioned a useful tip for using physical keyboards with iPads in my guide to unlocking the full potential of the iPad Pro. The tip actually works with all iOS 9 iPads connected to external keyboards over Bluetooth, Lightning, or the Smart Connector: hold Command (⌘) to see a list of supported keyboard shortcuts for the Home screen or app you’re in.

This works in most of Apple’s built-in apps and plenty of popular third-party apps as well, but it can be monotonous prompting that sheet in each app to get a sense of what keyboard shortcuts work. Instead, I’ve compiled a cheat sheet of which keyboard shortcuts work in all the system apps and several popular third-party apps. Whether you’re using Apple’s Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, Logitech’s excellent K811, or any other physical keyboard, these will make you more efficient when working on your iPad.

Enter the shortcuts by holding down the ⌘ (command) and, if applicable, shift or option keys together, then hitting the letter, number, or symbol. So for ⌘ shift H, hold down ⌘ and shift, then hit H to execute the shortcut.

App Switching + Search

⌘ shift H — Go to Home Screen (iOS 9.3 removed the need for shift)

H — Go to Home Screen (iOS 9.3 removed the need for shift) ⌘ space — Search

⌘ tab — Switch App

Calendar

⌘ N — New Event

⌘ F — Search

⌘ T — Show Today

⌘ R — Refresh Calendars

⌘ 1 — Go to Day View

⌘ 2 — Go to Week View

⌘ 3 — Go to Month View

⌘ 4 — Go to Year View

Camera

Volume +/- to take a photo or start/stop a video recording

Contacts

⌘ N — Create a New Contact

⌘ F — Search for a Contact

Mail

⌘ R — Reply

⌘ shift R — Reply All

⌘ shift F — Forward

⌘ shift J — Mark as Junk

⌘ shift L — Flag

⌘ shift U — Mark as Unread

⌘ up arrow — Go to Previous Message

⌘ down arrow — Go to Next Message

delete — Delete Message

⌘ shift N — Get All New Mail

⌘ option F — Mailbox Search

⌘ N — New Message

Maps

⌘ 1 — Switch to standard

⌘ 2 — Switch to Transit

⌘ 3 — Switch to Satellite

⌘ F — Begin Search

Messages

return — Send

⌘ N — New Message

Notes

⌘ B — Bold

⌘ I — Italics

⌘ U — Underline

⌘ option T — Title

⌘ option H — Heading

⌘ option B — Body

⌘ option L — Checklist

⌘ shift U — Mark as Checked

⌘ N — New Note

⌘ F — Find Note

Reminders

⌘ N — Create New Reminder

⌘ control I — Show Reminder Details

Safari

⌘ R — Reload Page

⌘ [ — Back

⌘ ] — Forward

⌘ F — Find…

⌘ L — Open Location…

⌘ T — New Tab

⌘ W — Close Tab

control shift tab — Show Previous Tab

control tab — Show Next Tab

control shift \ — Show All Tabs

Pages

⌘ F — Find

⌘ shift W — Show Word Count

⌘ N — Create Document

Keynote

⌘ N — Create Presentation

⌘ F — Find

⌘ shift K — Add Comment

⌘ option P — Play Slideshow

⌘ option A — Show Transitions and Builds

⌘ option N — Show Presenter Notes

Numbers

⌘ N — Create Spreadsheet

⌘ F — Find

⌘ option C — Copy Style

⌘ shift N — Insert Sheet

You may discover that additional keyboard shortcuts you’re familiar with from the Mac also work, including ⌘ plus X/C/V for cut, copy, and paste, while some shortcuts within apps only work in certain parts of those apps. Several popular apps from the App Store also support external keyboard shortcuts. Just hold the Command ⌘ key for a few seconds in each app to find out, or try out shortcuts you know from other apps if you don’t see a list. Here are some examples from popular apps:

Facebook Messenger

⌘ N — New Message

return — Line Break

⌘ return — Send

Fantastical

left arrow — Previous

right arrow — Next

up arrow — Earlier

down arrow — Later

⌘ return — Accept

esc — Cancel

⌘ N — New Event

⌘ S — Save

⌘ delete — Delete

⌘ F — Search

⌘ R — Reminders

⌘ I — Get Info

⌘ , — Preferences

⌘ shift F — Full Screen

⌘ T — Go to Today

⌘ K — Toggle Type

Google Chrome

⌘ T — New Tab

⌘ shift N — New Incognito Tab

⌘ shift T — Reopened Closed Tab

⌘ L — Open Location…

⌘ W — Close Tab

⌘ D — Bookmark This Page…

⌘ F — Find in Page…

⌘ R — Reload

⌘ left arrow — Back

⌘ right arrow — Forward

⌘ Y — History

⌘ shift . — Voice Search

Hipchat

⌘ F — Search chat history

⌘ option 1 — Chat tab

⌘ option 2 — Info tab

⌘ option 3 — Files tab

⌘ option 4 — Links tab

esc — Dismiss

Microsoft Outlook

⌘ up arrow — Select Previous Message

⌘ down arrow — Select Next Message

⌘ R — Reply

⌘ shift R — Reply All

⌘ J — Forward

⌘ 1 — Switch to Mail

⌘ 2 — Switch to Calendar

⌘ 3 — Switch to Files

⌘ 4 — Switch to People

⌘ 5 — Switch to Settings

⌘ N — Create New Message

⌘ shift N — Create New Event

Slack

up arrow —Move Up

down arrow — Move Down

option up arrow — Jump to previous channel

option down arrow — Jump to next channel

option shift up arrow — Jump to previous unread channel

option shift down arrow — Jump to next unread channel

option ` — Toggle the channel list

⌘ K — Show the Quick Switcher

⌘ T — Show the Quick Switcher (two ways!)

⌘ F — Perform a search

⌘ W — Close window

Tweetbot

⌘ 1 — Timeline

⌘ 2 — Mentions

⌘ 3 — Messages

⌘ 4 — Stats

⌘ 5 — Search

⌘ 6 — Faves

⌘ 7 — Profile

⌘ 8 — Lists

⌘ 9 — Mutes

⌘ N — Compose

Does your favorite app support keyboard shortcuts with iOS 9 on iPads? If you know about additional keyboard shortcuts hidden in iOS, let us know in the comments.

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