Command Palette in Every App
The command palette is the closest thing modern software has to a universal "do anything" interface. Press one shortcut, type what you want, and the app does it — no menu hunting, no mouse, no friction. Once you learn one app's command palette, you've effectively learned the keyboard interface for half your tools.
This page maps the command palette in every major app that has one, plus the patterns that turn it from a cool feature into a daily habit.
The shortcut you'll memorize once
Most apps have settled on a near-universal shortcut: Cmd + Shift + P on Mac, Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows and Linux. VS Code popularized this in 2015 and the convention spread. Some apps use Cmd + K or Cmd + / instead — both shorter, and we'll note them where they apply.
Throughout this guide, shortcuts are shown in macOS notation. On Windows and Linux, substitute Ctrl for Cmd unless noted otherwise.
Code editors
All four major code editors have polished command palettes. They're the most refined examples — fuzzy matching, recently used commands at the top, keyboard shortcut hints inline.
| App | Shortcut | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| VS Code | Cmd + Shift + P | The original. Type > for commands only, : for line numbers, @ for symbols in the current file. |
| Cursor | Cmd + Shift + P | Same as VS Code (Cursor is a fork). Same workflow, plus AI-specific commands. |
| Sublime Text | Cmd + Shift + P | Sublime's "Goto Anything" (Cmd + P) is a related but separate feature for file and symbol search. |
| JetBrains IDEs | Cmd + Shift + A | Called "Find Action." Same idea, different keys. Cmd + Shift + P opens "Find in Project" instead — trips up VS Code converts. |
If you only learn one command palette, learn VS Code's — its conventions (the >, :, @ prefixes; the way it ranks recent commands) appear in many other tools because so many devs use it daily.
Notes and documents
Block-based and outline-based note apps treat the command palette as a first-class feature. They tend to use shorter shortcuts because they're invoked even more often than in code editors.
| App | Shortcut | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Notion | Cmd + / | Slash commands also work inline — type / inside any block to insert a heading, list, callout, or database. Same key, two contexts. |
| Obsidian | Cmd + P | Lightweight, fuzzy-matches every command from core and installed plugins. Plugin commands appear here too — one of the reasons Obsidian's plugin ecosystem feels so seamless. |
| Linear | Cmd + K | One of the most polished command palettes outside code editors. Issue creation, navigation, filters — all from the keyboard. |
Communication
Slack has two related shortcuts that together approximate a command palette:
| Action | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Keyboard shortcut help | Cmd + / | Searchable list of every Slack shortcut. Useful for discovery, less useful as a daily palette. |
| Quick switcher | Cmd + K | Jump to any channel, DM, or app by typing the name. The closest Slack has to a true command palette and the one you'll use constantly. |
Microsoft Teams has its command box at Cmd + /, which functions similarly to Slack's quick switcher. Discord notably lacks a command palette as of writing.
Design and browsers
| App | Shortcut | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Figma | Cmd + / | Called "Quick Actions." Search any tool, plugin, or menu item. Plugins integrate cleanly so installing them effectively adds to your palette. |
| Chrome | Cmd + Shift + A | Tab search, not a true command palette. Searches open tabs by title or URL — invaluable when you have 47 of them. |
| Edge | Cmd + Shift + P | True command palette in Edge, but most commands are devtools-focused. Tab search lives at Cmd + Shift + A like Chrome. |
| GitHub | Cmd + K | Search and navigate from anywhere on GitHub. Keeps adding command-palette-like behavior over time. |
Operating systems
The OS-level command palette is the deepest cut — it lets you launch and control your entire computer without touching the mouse.
| Tool | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| macOS Spotlight | Cmd + Space | Launch apps, calculate, convert units, find files, dictionary lookups. Apple has been quietly extending it for years. |
| Raycast | Option + Space (configurable) | A Spotlight replacement that's effectively a command palette for your entire computer. Snippets, window management, integrations with Notion, GitHub, Linear, and scripts. Power users tend to switch from Spotlight and never look back. |
| Windows Search | Win + S | Closest Windows equivalent to Spotlight. Less polished as a command palette but works for app launching and basic search. |
| PowerToys Run | Alt + Space | Microsoft's free Spotlight-style launcher for Windows. Available via PowerToys. Closer to Raycast in shape than Windows Search. |
Patterns that make command palettes powerful
Once the shortcut is muscle memory, here's how to actually use it well:
- Type the verb, not the noun. "Format" not "code formatting." "Open" not "the file." Most palettes are tuned for verb-first matching.
- Trust the fuzzy match. You don't have to type the full command name.
tg sboften matches "Toggle Sidebar" — most palettes accept arbitrary character sequences. - Watch the inline shortcut hints. Most command palettes show the keyboard shortcut next to commands you've used. Over time you graduate from "open palette → type → enter" to direct shortcuts for the 5–10 commands you use most.
- Recent commands rise to the top. Useful for repetitive workflows; the second time you do something, it's a single Enter away.
- Use it to discover. The fastest way to learn an app is to open the command palette and skim what's there. Better than reading docs.
Apps that should have a command palette but don't
Notably absent from the command palette club:
- Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint — Office has menus and ribbons but no consistent palette. The "Tell Me" feature (Alt + Q) is the closest equivalent and is widely underused.
- Gmail and Outlook — Gmail's Cmd + / shows shortcuts but isn't a true command palette. Outlook lacks one entirely.
- Safari and Firefox — no native command palette. Browser extensions fill the gap.
Time will fix this. Keyboard-first interfaces are clearly winning, and the apps without command palettes feel increasingly dated next to the ones that have them.
Where to start
If you're new to keyboard-first work, the command palette is the meta-shortcut to learn first. It's the one shortcut that makes every other shortcut discoverable: open the palette, type what you want to do, see the keyboard combo next to it, learn that combo by repetition. After a month, you'll have absorbed the 10–15 shortcuts you actually use, and the palette becomes a fallback for the long tail of less-frequent actions.
Pick the app you spend the most time in. Open its command palette right now. Type "settings" or "preferences" — that's usually how you confirm the palette is working. Then close it, do whatever you were going to do, and the next time you reach for the mouse to open a menu, open the palette instead.