Keyboard Shortcuts

DBX shortcuts come from one configurable action registry. Settings → Shortcuts shows the effective binding for the installed version and current platform, making it authoritative after defaults change or the user customizes a key.

Mod means Cmd on macOS and Ctrl on Windows/Linux.

Common Defaults

SQL Editor

The current registry has no default “execute all SQL” action. Select a range or use the editor's multi-statement execution entry point instead of relying on the old Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Enter documentation.

Grid and Data

Standard copy and paste still follow platform conventions. Copy Current Row, Delete Current Row, and Toggle Transpose are DBX-configurable actions.

Focus WHERE condition has no default shortcut. Assign your preferred binding in Settings → Shortcuts → Data grid to focus the WHERE input in the active table data tab. It keeps the current condition and does not execute a query. It does nothing when the WHERE input is unavailable.

The grid also has two fixed gestures that are not rebindable: pressing ↓ while the cursor is on the last displayed row appends a row at the end of the result (unlike Add Row, which follows the toolbar insert position), and Esc inside a cell editor only cancels the current input — with the grid focused, Esc removes a new row that was never filled in, otherwise it reverts the selected cell to its original value. See Data grid.

Global and Navigation

The sidebar also has configurable actions for copy, paste, edit connection, and modifier-based opening in a new tab.

Quick Open

Press Mod+P to search connections, databases, schemas, tables, views, and saved SQL in the current workspace. Results come from loaded and searchable objects. For a large connection whose metadata is not loaded yet, expand or refresh the relevant node first.

Customization and Conflicts

1. Open Settings → Shortcuts
2. Choose an action and enter recording mode
3. Press a new key combination, or clear an unwanted binding
4. Resolve conflicts and save

DBX detects conflicts within a scope. Editor, grid, search, sidebar, and global actions have separate scopes, but the browser, operating system, input method, or accessibility software may still reserve a key first.

The Shortcuts-tab search box also supports key recording: click the keyboard icon next to it and press a combination to filter down to the actions bound to it. Actions that share the same chord in another scope are listed as well, so you can hunt conflicts without knowing how the combination is spelled. Keys pressed while recording never run their command; Esc exits recording and Backspace clears the recorded combination. You can also type the combination as text — both Ctrl+T and Ctrl + T match.

Combinations the system claims cannot be recorded: keys such as Alt+F4, Win, Ctrl+Alt+Del, or macOS ⌘Tab are handled by the operating system or window manager before DBX sees them, so recording yields nothing — that is not a recording failure. Such a combination also never fires even if it is configured by hand; use the text search instead when you need to inspect it.

The web build has one more layer: keys the browser reserves (Ctrl+W / Ctrl+Shift+W / Ctrl+T / Ctrl+N, or ⌘W on macOS) are handled by the browser itself and never reach the page. The desktop build has no such restriction — Ctrl+Shift+W is the default for Close Window and Ctrl+W for Close Tab, and both can be recorded normally.

On Windows/Linux, Ctrl+Alt may represent AltGr, so DBX matches those combinations conservatively. On macOS, Option+letter can produce transformed characters, and DBX uses physical-key fallback only where safe.

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