Confluence Keyboard Shortcuts
Confluence's shortcuts split cleanly into two contexts that behave quite differently: editing a page, where the formatting toolbar shortcuts feel similar to a word processor, and browsing pages or spaces, where Atlassian's '?'-triggered shortcut overlay reveals a smaller set of navigation bindings. As an Atlassian product, it shares a few conventions with Jira — the global '?' help reference is identical in spirit — though the specific letter bindings differ since the two tools serve different daily workflows. Because it runs in the browser, the only real cross-OS wrinkle is Mac swapping in Cmd for the page-editing formatting shortcuts — the navigation overlay itself is unaffected since it uses unmodified letter keys. Page Templates, which let a team standardize the structure of recurring document types (meeting notes, project plans, retrospectives), are inserted at page-creation time rather than through a keyboard shortcut, since choosing among potentially dozens of templates is inherently a browsing task better suited to a visual picker. Because Confluence pages can be nested arbitrarily deep within a space's hierarchy, its page tree sidebar navigation matters more here than in a flatter wiki tool, and expanding/collapsing that tree efficiently becomes a real productivity factor once a space accumulates hundreds of pages over time. Favoriting pages and slash-command macro insertion both matter more the longer a team has used Confluence, since a mature space with hundreds of pages benefits significantly from a personal starred shortlist, and macros are what actually let a page do more than static text — embedding a live Jira issue list or an automatically generated table of contents rather than manually maintaining either by hand.
Editing
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create new page | C | C | Opens the page creation dialog from anywhere in a space, letting you pick a template or start blank without navigating to the Create button manually. |
| Edit current page | E | E | Switches the currently viewed page into edit mode immediately, equivalent to clicking the Edit button in the page header. |
| Save page | Ctrl+S | Cmd+S | Saves the current draft of the page being edited and returns to view mode, without needing to scroll to find the Save button. |
| Publish page | Ctrl+Enter | Cmd+Enter | Publishes the page from the editor, making the current draft the live visible version for anyone with access. |
| Start a new page from a template | Create dialog > choose Template | — | Starts a new page using a pre-built template for a recurring document type like meeting notes or a project plan, chosen from a visual picker at creation time rather than triggered by a keyboard shortcut. |
Page Navigation
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open quick search | / | / | Focuses the global search field from any page, letting you search page titles and content across all spaces you have access to. |
| Go to Dashboard | G then G | G then G | A chorded shortcut navigating to your personal Confluence dashboard, showing recently viewed and starred pages. |
| View page history | No default binding — open via page menu | No default binding | Confluence doesn't bind page history to a default keyboard shortcut; it requires opening the page's overflow menu and selecting History to see prior versions and who edited what. |
| Toggle page tree sidebar | [ (varies) | [ | Shows or hides the sidebar's nested page tree for the current space, useful for freeing screen width while reading a page or for quickly re-orienting within a deeply nested hierarchy. |
| Star/favorite current page | Star icon in page header (no keyboard shortcut) | — | Marks a page as a favorite, surfacing it in your personal starred-pages list on the dashboard for faster future access without navigating through the space's full page tree again. |
| Go to a specific space | G then S then select | G then S | Jumps to a chosen space's homepage via a chorded navigation shortcut, following the same G-prefix pattern as the dashboard shortcut but scoped to a specific space rather than your personal dashboard. |
Formatting
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bold selected text | Ctrl+B | Cmd+B | Bolds the selected text right in the page editor, the same convention nearly every rich-text editor follows. |
| Insert link | Ctrl+K | Cmd+K | Brings up the link dialog for whatever text is selected or wherever the cursor sits, accepting either an external URL or a title search that resolves to another page within Confluence itself. |
| Insert code block | Ctrl+Shift+M (varies by version) | Cmd+Shift+M | Inserts a code macro block with syntax highlighting options, the standard way to embed multi-line code or config snippets in a page. |
| Insert task list item | [] then Space (Markdown-style) | [] then Space | Type an opening and closing square bracket then a space right at the start of a line, and Confluence's editor auto-converts it into a checkable task item on the spot, part of its broader set of Markdown-style autoformat triggers. |
| Mention a teammate | @ (inside editor) | — | Typing the @ symbol opens a search for a teammate to mention, notifying them directly and linking to their profile, consistent with the mention convention shared broadly across Atlassian products. |
| Insert a table | Ctrl+Shift+7 (varies by version) | Cmd+Shift+7 | Inserts a basic table into the page at the cursor position, with row and column count adjustable afterward through the table's own hover controls. |
| Insert a macro | Type / then macro name (slash command) | — | Typing a forward slash opens a searchable list of macros (like a table of contents, a status label, or an embedded Jira issue), the primary way Confluence extends beyond plain rich text into structured, dynamic content blocks. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Ctrl+S save a draft instead of immediately publishing?
Confluence distinguishes between saving a draft (visible only to you until published) and publishing (making it the live version everyone sees), a deliberate separation that lets you work on edits over multiple sessions without affecting the page other people are currently viewing. Ctrl+Enter is the dedicated shortcut for actually publishing once you're ready.
Does the Jira-style '?' shortcut overlay work in Confluence too?
Confluence has its own shortcut reference, but it's typically accessed differently than Jira's overlay — check the Help menu for 'Keyboard Shortcuts' since the exact trigger key has varied across Confluence versions and isn't as consistently bound to a single global key as Jira's.
Why doesn't typing [] followed by space always create a task list?
This Markdown-style autoformat only triggers at the very start of a new line in the editor — if there's already text before the cursor on that line, typing the same characters mid-line just inserts literal brackets rather than converting the line into a task item.
Are page templates the same across every Confluence space, or can a team build their own?
Confluence ships with built-in templates for common document types, and spaces or organizations can also create and save their own custom templates, letting a team standardize the structure of their recurring documents (like meeting notes) beyond what's available out of the box.
Does mentioning someone with @ notify them the same way as tagging in a comment?
Yes, mentioning a teammate in page content sends them a notification and links to their profile, functioning the same way as an @-mention in a comment, since Confluence uses a consistent mention system across both page content and comment threads.
Why would I want to hide the page tree sidebar while reading?
Collapsing the page tree frees up horizontal screen space for the actual page content, which matters more on a smaller screen or when a space has accumulated a very deep, wide page hierarchy that takes up significant sidebar width when fully expanded.
Can Confluence pages be exported to PDF or Word for sharing outside the platform?
Yes, individual pages or whole spaces can be exported to PDF or Word format, which is commonly used for sharing a finished document with someone outside the organization who does not have Confluence access.
What is the slash command for inserting a macro, and why does Confluence rely on it so heavily?
Typing a forward slash anywhere in the editor opens a searchable list of available macros — structured content blocks like a table of contents, a Jira issue embed, or a status label — which is Confluence's primary way of extending pages beyond plain rich text, since browsing a menu for dozens of possible macro types would be slower than a searchable slash command once you already roughly know what you're looking for.