Keyboard shortcuts
Keys for going to a page, adding a transaction, editing the ledger, undo and redo, acting on selected rows and entering budget amounts.
Updated November 10, 2026
Keyboard shortcuts move you between pages, open the Add row and speed up work in the ledger. Press ? on any page to see a short list.
Anywhere in the app
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| ? | Opens the Keyboard shortcuts list. On a US keyboard, this is Shift + /. |
| Esc | Closes the Keyboard shortcuts list. |
| n | Opens the Add row. In a browser window narrower than 768 pixels, it opens the Add transaction form instead. On the Transactions page it opens the row of the list you are viewing. On any other page it opens Transactions on All accounts with the row open. |
| / | Moves to the search box on the Transactions page and selects its text. Does nothing on other pages. |
| [ | Changes the menu width: Automatic, Always open, Always collapsed, then back to Automatic. Works on a wide screen only. See Find your way around. |
Go to a page
Press g, then one of these keys within 1.2 seconds.
| Keys | Opens |
|---|---|
| g then h | Home |
| g then b | Budget |
| g then t | Transactions |
| g then r | Reports |
| g then a | Accounts |
| g then g | Goals |
| g then p | Annual Budget Plan |
| g then c | Categories |
| g then s | Settings |
The other pages in the sidebar have no shortcut.
When these keys do nothing
The keys in the two tables above, except Esc, do not run when:
- Focus is in a text box, a drop-down or a date box.
- Focus is anywhere inside a dialog, including on its buttons. The rule editor that opens over the ledger counts as a dialog.
- A checkbox has focus. A row checkbox in the ledger keeps focus after you select it, until you select somewhere else on the page.
- A cell in the ledger table has focus. Only ? and [ still run there.
- A button in the Add row has focus, such as Cancel, Add, the cleared mark or Distribute. Only ? and [ still run there.
- Ctrl, Alt or Cmd is held down.
- Caps Lock is on. g and n need the lowercase letter.
The shortcuts do not run on the sign-in page or the setup pages.
Any key skips the short Good Steward Money intro that covers the screen after you sign in or create an account, and when the installed app opens. That key only skips the intro. It does not go into a box on the page or run a shortcut. Other keys you press while you hold it down do nothing either. Keys you press after you let go of it work as usual.
Ledger table
On a computer, the ledger table on the Transactions page works like a spreadsheet. One cell has focus at a time. On a phone, the ledger is a list of cards and these keys do not apply.
Moving to a Date, Payee, Category, Notes or Amount cell with Tab or Enter opens it with its text selected. Enter new text to replace it, or press Esc to leave it as it was. Selecting a value with the mouse does the same.
Move between cells
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tab | From above the table, it first stops on other controls, such as the select-all checkbox, the Add row when it is open, the Scheduled section's heading and its Post and Skip buttons, and the section headings. Then it moves onto the cell you used last or the Date of the first row. Among the rows, it moves to the next cell and opens it. After the last cell, focus leaves the table. |
| Shift + Tab | Moves to the previous cell. Before the first cell, focus goes back to the controls above the rows. |
| Arrow keys | Move one cell left, right, up or down without opening it. They stop at the edge of the table. |
| Home, End | Move to the first or last editable cell in the row. |
- Tab visits a row in this order: the row checkbox, Date, Payee, Category, Notes, Amount, the Details button, the reviewed button and, when the row has one, the cleared button (on a reconciled row, the lock). Then it moves to the checkbox of the next row, or to the first line of a split. A row with no category picker skips Category. Shift + Tab goes the other way.
- The checkbox and the buttons are only focused, not opened. Enter or Space on one is the same as selecting it.
- The Tags cell is not part of the keyboard movement. Neither is the Account cell, which shows when the list covers more than one account. To move a transaction to another account from the keyboard, open Details.
- Lines under a split transaction are rows in the table while they show. They have Payee, Category, Notes and Amount cells, then the line's own reviewed button. A line with no category picker skips Category. After the last line, Tab moves through the line's × and the buttons under the lines (Distribute, + Add line and Remove split) before it reaches the next transaction. A dimmed button is skipped.
- On a reconciled transaction, Tab stops on Date, Amount and Payee but does not open them. Press Enter, Space or F2 to open one. That asks you to confirm first. On a reconciled transfer, Payee can't be changed until you select the lock on its row.
Edit a cell
When a cell has focus and is not open (after an arrow key or Esc, or on a reconciled transaction):
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Enter, Space or F2 | Opens the cell with its text selected. |
| Any letter, number or symbol | Opens the cell with that character as the first character. ? and [ keep their shortcuts. |
While a Date, Notes or Amount box is open:
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Enter | Saves and moves down one row, into the same cell. Shift + Enter saves and moves up. |
| ↓ or ↑ | Same as Enter and Shift + Enter. |
| Tab | Saves and moves to the next cell. Shift + Tab saves and moves to the previous cell. |
| ← and → | Move the cursor inside the box. |
| Esc | Cancels the edit and leaves the cell highlighted. The arrow keys then move around the table. |
If the value is not valid, the box stays open with a message and focus does not move. A box where you changed nothing closes without saving. See Edit a transaction for what each cell accepts.
The Date box shows the date in the format you chose in Settings. Enter a date in that format, with /, ., - or a space between the parts. A two-digit year means 20 and those digits. A day and month with no year keep the year the box held. A day alone keeps the month and year the box held. A date such as 2026-10-12 works in any format. If the box cannot read the entry, it shows "Enter a date like 10/12/2026", with today's date in your format. The calendar button next to the box opens a date picker for the mouse.
In the Payee and Category cells, the cell holds a text box with the current value selected and a list below it. When the list doesn't fit below the cell, it opens above it.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Letters | Filter the list and highlight the first match. |
| ↓ and ↑ | Move the highlight through the list. |
| Enter | Chooses the highlighted item and stays in the cell with the list closed. A second Enter moves down. In Payee, if nothing matches, it uses the text you entered as the payee. In Category, if nothing matches, the list asks "Add “name” to which group?" Choose a group with the mouse to create the category. If you changed nothing and did not move the highlight, Enter changes nothing and moves down. |
| Tab | Chooses the highlighted item if you changed the text or moved the highlight, then moves to the next cell. Shift + Tab does the same and moves to the previous cell. |
| Esc | Closes the cell with no change and leaves it highlighted. |
- Clear the text and press Enter or Tab to remove the payee, or to set the category to Uncategorized.
- To make a transfer from the keyboard, enter the other account's name in Payee. When no payee matches, the list offers the account under Accounts (make this a transfer). Tab does not stop on the Make a transfer button. Select that button with the mouse.
Undo and redo
On the Transactions page, these keys do the same as the Undo and Redo buttons in the toolbar above the ledger.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Z (Mac: Cmd + Z) | Undo. |
| Ctrl + Shift + Z (Mac: Cmd + Shift + Z) or Ctrl + Y | Redo. |
They do nothing when there is nothing to undo or redo. They do not run while focus is in a text box or drop-down, where the browser undoes your typing instead. They also do not run while a dialog, menu or list is open, or while focus is on a button in the Add row, which changes only the transaction you are entering. A focused row checkbox does not stop them.
Search box
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Enter | Searches at once. Without it, results update shortly after you stop typing. |
| Esc | Clears the search. |
Add row
On a computer, n or Add transaction opens the Add row with the cursor in Date and its text selected. A box you move into with Tab is ready for typing. See Add a transaction.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tab | Moves to the next control: Date, Account (when shown), Payee, Category, Notes, Amount, the cleared mark, Cancel and Add. It skips Tags, the calendar button, the − / + button, the × on split lines and dimmed buttons. In Payee, it first chooses the highlighted entry, or the text you entered as a new payee. In Category, it chooses the highlighted category; text that matches no category goes back to what the box held. |
| Shift + Tab | Moves to the previous control. From Date, focus leaves the row. |
| Enter | In Date, Account, Notes and Amount, saves the transaction. In Payee, it first chooses the highlighted entry, or the text you entered as a new payee. In Category, it first chooses the highlighted category. In both, it saves when you press it again, or at once when nothing in the box has changed. In Category, text that matches no category makes the list ask "Add “name” to which group?" instead. Choose the group with the mouse. If Add is dimmed, it moves the cursor to the field that needs attention. |
| Esc | Closes an open list. With no list open, it closes the row. In Date, text that can't be read is replaced with the last date that could be read, and the row stays open. |
| ↓ and ↑ in Category | Move the highlight through the list, including ⑂ Split this transaction. Enter on it starts a split. |
| Enter in a split line's amount | Saves when the lines add up. If the date can't be read or Amount is empty, it moves there first. If the lines don't add up, it adds a line from the last line, or moves to the next line's category from any other line. |
| Enter or Space on the cleared mark | Switches between uncleared and cleared. |
- When Category shows Transfer, Split (N) or — instead of a box, Tab passes it.
- In a split, the lines come after the cleared mark: each line's category, then its amount. Then come Distribute (while the lines don't add up), + Add line and Remove split, then Cancel and Add.
In a browser window narrower than 768 pixels, the full-screen Add transaction form takes the place of the row, as on a phone. There, Enter in Amount, Account, Date, Notes or a split line's amount saves, or moves the cursor to the field that needs attention. Tab stays inside the form. Esc closes an open list, then the form.
Selected rows
Select rows with their checkboxes. While at least one row is selected, these keys act on the selection. Each key matches a button in the selection bar under the toolbar. Hold the pointer over a button to see its key.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| c | Categorize: opens a category list. Choose a category to set it on every selected row. |
| p | Payee: opens a box to set the payee on every selected row. |
| r | Mark reviewed if any selected row is not reviewed yet, otherwise To review. A split counts as not reviewed while any of its lines is not reviewed. The key sets every line of a selected split. |
| l | Clear if any selected row can still be cleared, otherwise Unclear. Rows your bank controls, reconciled rows and rows in a Balance-only account stay as they are. |
| t | Make transfer. Works only when you select exactly two rows from different accounts with equal and opposite amounts, and neither is a transfer or a split. |
| d | Delete. |
| x or Esc | Clears the selection. |
- These keys do not run while focus is in a text box, a drop-down or a dialog, or while Ctrl, Alt or Cmd is held down. A focused checkbox does not stop them.
- If a Date, Payee, Category, Notes or Amount cell has focus, a letter key starts editing that cell instead.
- While the cursor is in the Add row, including on its buttons, these keys do not act on the selected rows, and Esc closes the Add row without clearing the selection.
- They do not run after you choose Select all 412 matching this filter (in Grouped view with no search, view chip or filter, Select all 412 cleared matching this filter). Use the buttons in the bar instead. Each one asks you to confirm.
For the full list of bulk actions, see Change many transactions at once.
Budget amounts
In a category's Budgeted box on the Budget page:
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| Enter | Saves the amount and leaves the box. |
| Esc | Puts back the last saved amount and leaves the box. |
The box also saves when you pause typing, so an amount you stopped on is already saved.
In Group view, a group total that covers several categories works differently. Enter opens a panel that asks which category takes the difference, and Esc puts back the old total. See Set your monthly amounts.