Mastodon Keyboard Shortcuts
Mastodon's web interface, particularly its multi-column advanced view, actually offers a more extensive shortcut set than many comparable social platforms, reflecting its userbase's historical overlap with technically inclined early adopters who value keyboard-driven efficiency. Because Mastodon is federated (running across many independently operated servers/instances rather than one central platform), the actual web client interface can vary slightly depending on which specific instance and client software you're using, though the shortcuts below reflect the official Mastodon web client's default behavior, which most instances run largely unmodified. Custom emoji, which individual instances can upload and make available specifically to their own community, are inserted through the standard emoji picker but reflect Mastodon's federated, per-instance customization in a way a centralized platform's fixed emoji set doesn't allow. Lists, a feature for grouping specific accounts you follow into curated subsets viewable as their own separate timeline, function similarly to Twitter/X's own Lists feature, letting you follow a themed subset of accounts without that content mixing into your main Home timeline. Media handling and the Federated timeline both matter specifically because of Mastodon's underlying architecture — expanding a Content-Warning-hidden post or a media attachment via keyboard keeps a keyboard-driven session from breaking flow to reach for the mouse, while understanding the difference between Local and Federated timelines is genuinely necessary context for anyone new to a federated network where 'your timeline' isn't a single fixed concept the way it is on a centralized platform.
Timeline Navigation
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move to next post (status) | J | J | Moves focus down to the next post (called a 'status' in Mastodon's own terminology) in the current timeline column. |
| Move to previous post (status) | K | K | Moves focus up to the previous status, the reverse companion to J. |
| Go to Home timeline | G then H | G then H | Jumps to the Home timeline column, using the chorded G-then-letter navigation pattern shared across several similar social platforms. |
| Go to Notifications | G then N | G then N | Jumps to the Notifications column showing mentions, boosts, favorites, and new followers. |
| Go to Local timeline | G then L | G then L | Jumps to the Local timeline, showing public posts specifically from users on your same server/instance — a Mastodon-distinctive concept without a direct equivalent on centralized platforms, reflecting its federated architecture where each instance has its own local community alongside the broader federated network. |
| Open a curated List timeline | G then click List from sidebar | — | Opens a curated List timeline showing only posts from a specific grouped subset of accounts you follow, keeping themed content separate from the main Home timeline's mixed feed. |
| Expand/collapse focused post | X | X | Toggles whether the focused status shows fully or is collapsed, particularly relevant for posts behind a Content Warning where this expands the hidden content without needing to click the reveal button with the mouse. |
| Go to Federated timeline | G then T | G then T | Switches to the Federated timeline, a much wider and noisier stream that pulls in public posts from every outside instance your server has ever federated with, well beyond the tighter Local view scoped to just your own community. |
Post Interaction
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Favorite (like) focused post | F | F | Favorites whichever status currently has keyboard focus, Mastodon's terminology for what most platforms call a 'like.' |
| Boost (repost) focused post | B | B | Boosts the focused status, Mastodon's term for a repost, sharing it to your own followers' timelines. |
| Reply to focused post | R | R | Pulls up the reply composer addressed to whichever status currently has keyboard focus. |
| Mute an account | Account menu > Mute | — | Hides an account's posts from your timelines without unfollowing or blocking them, useful for quieting someone's content temporarily without the more permanent and visible signal a block sends. |
| Bookmark focused post | Shift+B (varies) | Shift+B | Saves the focused status to your own private saved-items list that nobody else, including the original poster, can see, functionally separate from favoriting, which other users are able to notice. |
| Open media attachment in focused post | Enter (with media focused) | Return | Opens an attached image, video, or audio file from the focused post in a larger lightbox view, letting you view media in detail without leaving the current timeline scroll position. |
Composing
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compose new post (status) | N | N | Brings up the compose box no matter where you are in the app, ready to draft a brand-new status. |
| Send composed post (status) | Ctrl+Enter | Cmd+Return | Submits the currently composed status or reply. |
| Toggle Content Warning field | Ctrl+Shift+X (in compose box) | Cmd+Shift+X | Toggles the Content Warning input field in the compose box, a Mastodon-distinctive convention letting posters add an optional warning label that hides the post's main content behind a click-to-reveal prompt, commonly used for sensitive topics or spoilers. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the actual difference between the Home and Local timelines?
Home shows posts from accounts you follow, similar to a typical social media timeline regardless of which server those accounts happen to be hosted on. Local instead shows every public post from users specifically on your own server/instance, a concept unique to Mastodon's federated structure where each instance functions somewhat like its own community — Local gives visibility into your instance's specific community activity beyond just the people you've deliberately chosen to follow.
Why does Mastodon use different terminology (status, boost, favorite) instead of post/repost/like?
Mastodon predates and is built on ActivityPub, a broader federated social networking protocol with its own established vocabulary, and its interface has largely retained that protocol-level terminology rather than adopting the specific terms popularized later by centralized platforms like Twitter/X — this is largely a naming/vocabulary difference rather than reflecting meaningfully different underlying functionality for these particular actions.
Do keyboard shortcuts work the same on every Mastodon instance?
Since Mastodon is open-source software that different servers self-host and can technically customize, there's some possibility of variation between instances running modified clients or custom themes, though the vast majority of instances run the official Mastodon web client largely unmodified, meaning the shortcuts documented here apply consistently across the overwhelming majority of instances a typical user would encounter.
Can different Mastodon instances have their own unique emoji?
Yes — each instance's admins can add their own custom emoji set, often themed around that community's culture or in-jokes, and they show up in the normal emoji picker alongside the standard Unicode set. A quirk worth knowing: custom emoji only render for people whose instance has actually fetched them, so a post using an obscure instance's custom emoji may show up as plain text or a missing-image icon for someone on a different server that hasn't cached it.
How are Lists different from just following an account normally?
Lists let you group a curated subset of accounts you already follow into their own separate timeline, similar to X's own Lists feature, letting you view a themed slice of content (like just industry news accounts) without that mixing into your main Home timeline's broader, unsorted feed.
Is bookmarking a post visible to anyone else, including the post's author?
No, bookmarks are entirely private to your own account, unlike favoriting (Mastodon's equivalent of a like), which is a semi-public signal that other users, including the post's author, can typically see in the post's favorite count or notifications.
Can I follow accounts on other Mastodon instances, not just my own?
Yes, following across different instances is core to how Mastodon's federated network functions — you can follow and interact with accounts hosted on any other instance running compatible ActivityPub software, not just accounts on your own home instance.
Can I migrate my account and followers to a different Mastodon instance later?
Yes, Mastodon supports an account migration feature that redirects followers to a new instance and preserves your follow list, though posts themselves generally don't transfer, reflecting the federated architecture's approach to portability between independently operated servers.
What is the difference between the Local and Federated timelines?
Local shows public posts only from accounts on your own instance, functioning as a view into your specific server's community, while Federated shows public posts from across every other instance your home server has encountered through federation, which is typically a much larger and noisier stream reflecting the broader network rather than just your home community.