Customizable shortcuts

Hello there,

First of all, amazing product, I love it, very handy and intuitive !
I think that the possibility of customizing the editor shortcuts would be a cool feature.

For example, I’d like to be able to use ‘w’ for the hand tool and ‘x’ for the move tool

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I’d like to be able to use the function keys (F1 to F12) as custom shortcuts in Figma app for MacOS.

Figma does not allow function keys to be used for custom shortcuts. Typically this is possible in any app in Mac OS.

In screenshot below I’m able to define F1 to be used for ZOOM IN in Figma in the Mac OS Preferences Shortcuts options but nothing happens when the key is set to this value inside Figma app.Screenshot 2021-04-26 at 14.58.53

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You can modify this in MacOS Shortcuts per app. Personally I use control 3-6 for Send to Back, Send backwards, Bring forward and Bring to Front.

Thanks for your answer. Does the MacOS Shortcuts apply on the navigator version of Figma ?

Even in the desk app, those shortcuts doesn’t work (only bring forward works):

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I think alot of these MacOS Keyboard Shortcut don’t work because they’re not in Figma’s topbar menu, eg “Select Parent” isn’t there with the other select functions in the menu so it doesn’t work in the MacOS shortcut tool :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

It’s possible to go into the terminal and use hidutil and remap the keyboard keys, but that’s a pretty annoying process. https://www.grzegorowski.com/how-to-remap-single-mac-keyboard-key

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David, the shortcuts modifier in MacOS distinguishes between modifier keys and the rest of the keyboard. You typically can’t use a combination of only modifier keys as a shortcut ( Control, Command, Option and Shift). You need to combine a modifier key with another key like ‘Control+1’ or ‘Command+u’. Also be aware that MacOS and Figma is already using a lot of the available shortcuts, so try to test what you want to use first, to make sure that combination does not already perform an action in Figma or MacOS. Good luck :slight_smile: p.s. I’m not sure what you mean by navigator version, but if you mean Figma in browser, no, I believe the shortcuts won’t work there.

Hi Harald, I’m not using only modifier keys in my combinations (I have “^” and “$” that are not modifiers). And I use these shorcuts in XD and Sketch, it works well. So may be it’s already taken by Figma but nothing happen when I use these shortcuts. Anyway, again these shortcut issues are very annoying.

PS: Yes I was talking about the browser version sorry :stuck_out_tongue:

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Ok, I don’t know which keyboard you’re on, but for me MacOS will equate ‘^’ with the keyboard key Control. In your image, you have one shortcut that goes ‘^-⌘-^’, I believe MacOS interprets this as ‘Control-Command-Control’. There are also some combinations that Figma won’t accept like for example simply ‘F1’, which is why I started writing in this thread. My advice is to try out and experiment, you don’t need to have them identical to the typical Adobe layout. Even Adobe programs are inconsistent with the hotkey layout between themselves. Personally I prefer Control+3 to 6 for these 4 commands.

oh ok. Thanks for this explanation. I didn’t realise “^” was interpreted as Control :’( :’(. I’m using french keyboard.

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I’ve been using BetterTouchTool to solve my keyboard shortcuts problem on the Mac.

You can even fake text replacement (Mac’s text replacement doesn’t work inside Figma).

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EDIT: Got it!
Great workaround, saves me shitloads of time.

Solution to my problem:
I didn’t see the “send shortcut” input field when setting up the trigger to my new BTT shortcut. So I just need to figure out how to press some of the strange US keyboard keys.
For example the vertical line | which ist ⌥ + 7 on my german keyboard, so I have to send ⌘ + ⌥ + 7 and then the left Side Panel will be shown or hidden.

ORIGINAL POST:
I also have BTT but how did you manage to override those default shortcuts in figma?
I’m in the shortcuts meu in BTT and add figma as the app I want to assign shortcuts to, the I choose new shortcut for example ⌘ + I as this doesn’t work on my Macbook Pro Keyboard. So I will add ⌘ + I and then I have to add an action that is bound to said trigger. But how? BTT just shows standard BTT actions…

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Glad it works out for you. You can basically use whatever shortcuts you want under Config. Then under Assigned Action, choose Trigger Menubar Menu-Item. This allows you to just type in exact menu item you want to trigger.

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Now the Windows workaround with PowerToys does not work anymore. PowerToys does work for other apps, though. Any answers from the Figma team would be very welcome.

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Can you please recommend a 3rd party app that does that? I couldn’t find any

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Why Figma doesn’t support hotkeys customization? It’s really strange. How I can press “Alt+H” shortcut in ~0.3 sec, if my fingers at ASDF+space position? Maybe, Figma-developers make some video?)

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Even though on mac some things can be customised using mac system keyboard commands, things like cursor chat are currently not accessible as they are no menu items and thus can not be called via a mac settings keyboard shortcut.

PLEASE figma, finally work on the keyboard issue, this is really not acceptable for a company this large with so many users world wide.

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  1. Describe the problem your experiencing and how your idea helps solve this
    The ability to add custom keyboard shortcuts would make this tool SO much more customizable

  2. Add as much context as possible (screenshots, Figma files, mockups, etc.)
    Different designers have different ways of working. Why not give users the option to tailor their keyboard shortcuts to their workflow? (e.g. If I’m constantly center aligning objects, why not give me the ability to make that command more ergonomic for me?)

  3. Ask questions to bring the community into the conversation
    (e.g. Does anyone else experience this? Is anyone using a plugin or workaround to help solve this?, etc.
    Would this be useful to others?

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I too would like to request that F1-F12 be customizable as Figma shortcuts. In order to make the F keys work as a shortcut right now, I have to make the key combination “Command + F* key”. Like why?? I just want to press a single key for my shortcut, not multiple. It’s not like my F keys are even being used for anything else.