Sublime Text Keyboard Shortcuts
Sublime Text built its reputation on speed and keyboard fluency before VS Code existed, and several of its signature shortcuts — Goto Anything chief among them — were influential enough that other editors later adopted similar patterns under different names. Sublime's multi-cursor model is slightly different from VS Code's in subtle but real ways, particularly around how selecting matching words behaves, which is worth knowing if you've switched between the two editors and find a shortcut behaving slightly differently than muscle memory expects. Because Sublime Text has no built-in terminal, debugger, or extensive language server integration the way VS Code does out of the box, its philosophy leans toward staying minimal and fast rather than becoming a full IDE, with any deeper functionality typically added through its Python-based plugin API rather than shipping as a heavier default feature set. Distraction Free mode, which hides every UI element except the text itself, reflects the same speed-and-minimalism ethos that made Sublime popular among writers and coders alike well before 'distraction-free' became a marketing buzzword in other editors. Code folding and syntax-aware commenting round out the everyday editing shortcuts that make Sublime feel closer to a lightweight IDE than a plain text editor despite its minimal default feature set, both relying on the same underlying syntax-definition system that also powers its language-aware multi-cursor and search behavior.
Navigation
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Goto Anything | Ctrl+P | Cmd+P | Opens a unified fuzzy search across files, and by typing additional prefixes (@ for symbols, : for line number, # for text search) within the same box, narrows to different search modes without a separate shortcut for each. |
| Open Command Palette | Ctrl+Shift+P | Cmd+Shift+P | Opens a searchable list of editor commands and installed package functions, mirroring the same pattern VS Code later adopted under an identical name. |
| Go to specific line number | Ctrl+G | Cmd+G | Prompts for a line number and jumps directly to it in the current file, a faster dedicated shortcut than typing a colon-prefixed line number into Goto Anything. |
| Switch between open tabs | Ctrl+Tab | Cmd+Shift+Tab (varies) | Cycles through open file tabs in most-recently-used order rather than strict left-to-right order, which matters when you're frequently bouncing between two specific files rather than moving sequentially through a long tab bar. |
| Toggle Distraction Free mode | Shift+F11 | Cmd+Shift+Ctrl+F | Strips away every panel, sidebar, and tab bar so nothing remains onscreen but the open document itself, reflecting Sublime's long-standing speed-and-minimalism ethos predating similar features in other editors. |
| Toggle file sidebar | Ctrl+K Ctrl+B | Cmd+K Cmd+B | Shows or hides the project file tree sidebar, freeing horizontal space for the editing area when not actively navigating between files. |
| Save all open files | Ctrl+K Ctrl+S | Cmd+Option+S | Saves every currently open, unsaved file across all tabs in one action, faster than saving each modified tab individually with repeated Ctrl+S presses. |
| Toggle line comment | Ctrl+/ | Cmd+/ | Comments or uncomments the current line (or each line in a multi-line selection) using the appropriate comment syntax for the file's detected language. |
| Indent selected lines | Ctrl+] | Cmd+] | Indents the selected line or lines by one tab stop, with Shift+the same shortcut reversing the indent, standard across most code editors. |
| Fold current code block | Ctrl+Shift+[ | Cmd+Option+[ | Collapses the current foldable code block (function, class, or bracketed region) based on Sublime's syntax-aware folding, hiding its contents behind a single collapsed line until unfolded again. |
Multi Cursor
| Action | Windows | Mac | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select all occurrences of current word/selection | Ctrl+Shift+L (technically Alt+F3 in many configs) | Cmd+Ctrl+G | Jumps straight to selecting every match of the current selection in the file at once, planting a live cursor at each location — the all-at-once alternative to building the selection incrementally one occurrence at a time. |
| Add cursor on line below | Ctrl+Alt+Down | Cmd+Option+Down | Drops a second cursor onto the line right below the current one, lined up at the same column, part of Sublime's original multi-cursor implementation that most other editors later borrowed the same basic idea from. |
| Split selection into lines | Ctrl+Shift+L | Cmd+Shift+L | Converts a multi-line selection into one cursor per line at the end of each selected line, useful for pasting the same suffix onto several lines at once or for line-by-line editing of a selected block. |
| Select word and find next occurrence | Ctrl+D | Cmd+D | Grabs the word the cursor is sitting on, and repeating the press keeps folding in the next matching occurrence one at a time — the original version of a workflow so influential that VS Code's own Ctrl+D was modeled directly on it. |
| Expand selection to word | Ctrl+Shift+W (varies) or double-click | Cmd+Shift+W | Expands the current cursor position outward to select the full word it sits within, a common starting point before invoking Quick Add Next to select further matching occurrences. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Goto Anything sometimes show files instead of symbols when I expect symbol search?
Goto Anything's mode depends entirely on the prefix character you type first — a bare search with no prefix searches filenames, while prepending @ switches to symbol search within the current file, and # searches file content. If you forget the prefix, you'll get file results by default rather than the symbol or content search you intended.
Is Ctrl+D in Sublime the same as Ctrl+D in VS Code?
Functionally yes — both select the word under the cursor and add the next matching occurrence on each subsequent press. This isn't a coincidence: VS Code's multi-cursor editing model was explicitly inspired by Sublime Text's, which is why so many of the multi-cursor shortcuts translate directly between the two editors with identical behavior.
Why did Split Selection into Lines only create cursors at line ends instead of selecting the whole lines?
This is the intended behavior — Split Selection into Lines places a cursor at the end of each line within your original selection, not a full-line selection at each line. This is specifically useful for appending the same text (like a semicolon or comma) to the end of several lines simultaneously, which is a different goal than selecting entire line contents.
Does Sublime Text have a built-in terminal like VS Code?
Correct — Sublime intentionally ships without any of those, keeping the core app lightweight and fast to launch even on a large project. If you want a terminal, linting, or a language server hooked up, Package Control has plugins that add each of them individually, so you build up exactly the IDE-like features you personally want rather than carrying the weight of a full IDE's default feature set whether you use it or not.
Is Distraction Free mode the same as just maximizing the window?
No, Distraction Free mode goes further by hiding every UI element including the tab bar, sidebar, and status bar, leaving only the text itself visible, which is a more thorough minimization than simply maximizing a normal window that still shows all the usual interface chrome.
Can I save every open file at once instead of tab by tab?
Yes, Save All commits every currently unsaved change across all open tabs in a single action, which is faster than switching to and saving each modified tab individually, especially useful when you've been editing several related files together.
Does Sublime Text ever force a purchase, or can it be used unlicensed indefinitely?
Sublime Text offers an unlimited free evaluation period with occasional save reminders, while continued professional use technically requires purchasing a license, though the free evaluation has no hard feature restrictions or time limit enforced.
Does line commenting use the right syntax automatically for different languages?
Yes, Sublime Text's comment toggle detects the current file's syntax definition and applies the appropriate comment style automatically — // for JavaScript or C-family languages, # for Python or Ruby, <!-- --> for HTML — so the same shortcut behaves correctly regardless of which language you're actively editing.