kitty Shortcuts

567 2026-08-14 note ♑︎

kitty provides extensive keyboard shortcuts for terminal, tab, and window management.

Tab Management

Shortcut Action
ctrl + shift + t New tab
ctrl + shift + w Close tab
ctrl + shift + right Next tab
ctrl + shift + left Previous tab
ctrl + shift + , Move tab left
ctrl + shift + . Move tab right
ctrl + shift + alt + enter New window (split)

Window Management

Shortcut Action
ctrl + shift + enter New horizontal split
ctrl + shift + \ New vertical split
ctrl + shift + ] Next window
ctrl + shift + [ Previous window
ctrl + shift + alt + ] Move window right
ctrl + shift + alt + [ Move window left

Scrollback

Shortcut Action
ctrl + shift + up Scroll up
ctrl + shift + down Scroll down
ctrl + shift + home Scroll to top
ctrl + shift + end Scroll to bottom
ctrl + shift + page_up Scroll page up
ctrl + shift + page_down Scroll page down

Copy/Paste

Shortcut Action
ctrl + shift + c Copy to clipboard
ctrl + shift + v Paste from clipboard
ctrl + shift + s Copy from scrollback

Font Size

Shortcut Action
ctrl + shift + = Increase font size
ctrl + shift + - Decrease font size
ctrl + shift + 0 Reset font size

Session Management

Command Action
kitty -o font_size=16 Launch with specific config
kitty --session session.conf Launch with session file
ctrl + shift + f2 Open sample config file

Useful Features

Increase/Decrease Font Size

ctrl + shift + =    # Increase
ctrl + shift + -    # Decrease
ctrl + shift + 0    # Reset

Scrollback Navigation

ctrl + shift + up        # Scroll up
ctrl + shift + down      # Scroll down
ctrl + shift + home      # Scroll to top
ctrl + shift + end       # Scroll to bottom

Tab Operations

ctrl + shift + t         # New tab
ctrl + shift + w         # Close tab
ctrl + shift + ,         # Move tab left
ctrl + shift + .         # Move tab right

Custom Shortcuts

Define custom shortcuts in kitty Configuration:

map ctrl+p new_tab
map ctrl+n close_tab
map ctrl+shift+right next_tab

Keybinding Reference

All shortcuts can be customized in ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf. The default bindings are designed to avoid conflicts with common shell shortcuts while providing comprehensive terminal control.

For kitty overview and installation, see the main kitty note.

map ctrl+p new_tab
map ctrl+n close_tab
map ctrl+shift+right next_tab

Keybinding Reference

All shortcuts can be customized in ~/.config/kitty/kitty.conf. The default bindings are designed to avoid conflicts with common shell shortcuts while providing comprehensive terminal control.