DBeaver Keyboard Shortcuts
DBeaver is built on the Eclipse platform, which shows clearly in its shortcut conventions — anyone who's used Eclipse-based Java IDEs will recognize the general shape of the keymap immediately, even though DBeaver's actual focus is SQL editing and database object browsing rather than application development. The shortcuts that matter most day to day split between SQL editor actions (executing queries, formatting SQL) and the database navigator tree for browsing schemas and tables. A few navigator-tree shortcuts inherited from Eclipse (like the generic rename binding) can conflict with OS-level bindings on Mac, so DBeaver remaps a handful of them slightly rather than keeping the raw Eclipse defaults. Because it's free and supports an unusually wide range of database engines through one consistent interface — Postgres, MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and various NoSQL stores all through the same navigator and SQL editor — DBeaver tends to attract developers and analysts who regularly touch more than one type of database and don't want to learn a separate specialized client's shortcut set for each one.
Sql Editor
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format SQL | Ctrl+Shift+F | Cmd+Shift+F | Reformats the current SQL with consistent indentation and capitalization according to DBeaver's configured SQL formatting style, useful for cleaning up pasted or auto-generated queries. |
| Trigger autocomplete | Ctrl+Space | Cmd+Space (may conflict with Spotlight) | Opens a context-aware autocomplete suggestion list for table names, column names, or SQL keywords based on cursor position; on Mac this can conflict with the system Spotlight shortcut unless reassigned or Spotlight's binding is changed. |
| Toggle SQL line comment | Ctrl+/ | Cmd+/ | Comments or uncomments the current line using standard SQL comment syntax (--), useful for quickly disabling part of a multi-statement script without deleting it. |
| Generate SQL from selected table (INSERT/SELECT) | Right-click table > Generate SQL | — | Auto-generates boilerplate SQL statements (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE templates) for a selected table directly from the navigator, saving the effort of typing out every column name manually for a routine query against a wide table. |
Query Execution
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Execute current SQL statement | Ctrl+Enter | Cmd+Return | Runs just the one statement your text cursor currently sits inside, with no need to highlight it by hand first — arguably the single most-pressed key combo during any active SQL editing session. |
| Execute entire script | Alt+X | Option+X | Runs every statement in the current SQL editor tab sequentially, top to bottom, rather than just the one statement under the cursor — useful for running a full migration or setup script in one action. |
| Explain execution plan | Ctrl+Shift+E | Cmd+Shift+E | Shows the database's query execution plan for the current statement without actually running it, useful for diagnosing why a query is slow before committing to executing it against potentially large tables. |
| Cancel running query | Ctrl+Alt+Esc (varies by version) | Cmd+Option+Esc | Stops a currently executing query that's taking too long or was triggered by mistake, sending a cancel request to the database connection rather than just closing the result tab. |
| Commit current transaction | Ctrl+Alt+X, Alt+X (varies) | Cmd+Option+X | Commits the active transaction when DBeaver's connection is in manual-commit mode rather than auto-commit, making changes permanent in the database — a distinct step from just executing a statement, which some connection configurations leave uncommitted by default. |
Navigation
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open table data view | Enter (with table selected in navigator) | Return | Opens the selected table's data grid view directly from the database navigator tree, letting you browse rows without writing a SELECT statement manually. |
| Refresh database navigator | F5 | F5 | Refreshes the schema tree in the navigator panel, picking up any new tables, views, or schema changes made outside DBeaver since the connection was last refreshed. |
| Open new SQL editor | Ctrl+] | Cmd+] | Opens a fresh SQL editor tab connected to the currently active database connection, ready for a new query without affecting any other open editor tabs. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Cmd+Space not trigger autocomplete on Mac?
Cmd+Space is reserved system-wide on macOS for Spotlight search, so DBeaver's autocomplete shortcut conflicts unless you either reassign DBeaver's autocomplete binding in its keymap preferences or change Spotlight's shortcut in macOS System Settings to free up the combination.
What's the real difference between Execute Statement and Execute Script?
Execute Statement (Ctrl+Enter) runs only the single SQL statement your cursor is currently inside, even if there are several semicolon-separated statements in the editor. Execute Script (Alt+X) runs every statement in the file sequentially, which matters for things like multi-step migrations where order and completeness across all statements is required.
Does Explain Plan actually run the query against the database?
No — it asks the database engine to return its planned execution strategy (which indexes it would use, in what join order, etc.) without actually executing the query and returning real result rows, making it safe to run on potentially expensive queries you're trying to optimize before committing to running them for real.
Why would a query appear to succeed but the data still isn't visible to other tools querying the same table?
This is usually a manual-commit-mode issue — if the connection isn't set to auto-commit, changes made by an executed statement stay in an open transaction until explicitly committed, invisible to other connections until that commit happens, which is exactly what the dedicated commit shortcut exists to resolve rather than assuming every execute automatically finalizes the change.
Is the auto-generated SQL from a table's context menu safe to run as-is, or does it need editing first?
Generated SELECT and INSERT templates are syntactically valid and safe to run, but an auto-generated INSERT template typically includes every column with placeholder values that need replacing before it does anything meaningful, so it's best treated as a time-saving starting scaffold rather than a finished, ready-to-execute statement.
Does DBeaver's free Community edition include all the shortcuts covered here, or are some Enterprise-only?
The core SQL editor, query execution, and navigation shortcuts covered above are all available in DBeaver's free Community edition; the paid Enterprise edition adds additional database driver support and some collaboration features, but doesn't gate the fundamental editing and execution shortcuts behind a paywall.
Can DBeaver connect to cloud-hosted databases like Amazon RDS or Google Cloud SQL, not just local instances?
Yes — DBeaver connects to any database it has a driver for regardless of where it is hosted, including managed cloud database services, as long as the network configuration (VPC access, firewall rules, SSL settings) allows a direct connection from wherever DBeaver is running, which makes the same shortcut set apply equally whether you are querying a local Postgres instance or a production cloud database.
Can I execute just the SQL statement my cursor is currently on with a shortcut in DBeaver?
Yes — Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Return on Mac) executes only the single SQL statement the cursor is currently positioned within, distinct from Alt+X which runs the entire script, useful when a query file has several statements and you only want to test one without re-running everything above it.