Keyboard Shortcuts

Overview

Glow’s TUI (Terminal User Interface) supports extensive keyboard navigation, inspired by Vim and popular pagers like less. This guide covers all available keyboard shortcuts for both the file browser (stash) and the document viewer (pager).

File Browser Shortcuts

The file browser (stash) is the main interface when you launch Glow without arguments or with a directory.

Shortcut	Action	Description
`j`, `↓`, `ctrl+j`	Move down	Move cursor down one item
`k`, `↑`, `ctrl+k`	Move up	Move cursor up one item
`g`, `home`	Go to top	Jump to first document
`G`, `end`	Go to bottom	Jump to last document
`h`, `←`	Previous page	Go to previous page
`l`, `→`	Next page	Go to next page
`b`, `u`	Page up	Scroll up one page
`f`, `d`	Page down	Scroll down one page

The stash uses pagination when there are more documents than fit on screen. Use arrow keys or vim-style navigation to move between pages.

File Operations

Shortcut	Action	Description
`enter`	Open file	Open selected markdown file in pager
`e`	Edit file	Open file in `$EDITOR`
`r`	Refresh	Reload file list from disk
`F`	Force refresh	Re-scan directory for files

Filtering and Search

Shortcut	Action	Description
`/`	Start filter	Enter filtering mode
`esc`	Clear filter	Cancel filter or return to normal mode
`enter`	Confirm filter	Apply filter and show results
`ctrl+j`, `ctrl+k`	Navigate results	Move through filtered results

Filtering uses fuzzy search, so you don’t need to type the exact filename. Type partial matches to quickly find files.

Filter Mode Behavior

When in filter mode:

Type to search through file names and paths
Results update in real-time as you type
Press enter with one result to open it immediately
Press enter with multiple results to browse the filtered list
Press esc to cancel and return to the full file list

Sections and Tabs

Shortcut	Action	Description
`tab`, `L`	Next section	Switch to next section/tab
`shift+tab`, `H`	Previous section	Switch to previous section/tab

Sections appear when you have both regular documents and filtered results. Use tabs to switch between them.

General

Shortcut	Action	Description
`?`	Toggle help	Show/hide full help menu
`!`	Show errors	Display error messages (if any)
`q`	Quit	Exit Glow

Document Viewer Shortcuts

The pager view appears when you open a markdown document from the file browser or directly from the command line.

Shortcut	Action	Description
`k`, `↑`	Up	Scroll up one line
`j`, `↓`	Down	Scroll down one line
`b`, `pgup`	Page up	Scroll up one page
`f`, `pgdn`	Page down	Scroll down one page
`u`	Half page up	Scroll up half a page
`d`	Half page down	Scroll down half a page
`g`, `home`	Go to top	Jump to beginning of document
`G`, `end`	Go to bottom	Jump to end of document

ui/pager.go

case "home", "g":
    m.viewport.GotoTop()
case "end", "G":
    m.viewport.GotoBottom()
case "d":
    m.viewport.HalfViewDown()
case "u":
    m.viewport.HalfViewUp()

Document Operations

Shortcut	Action	Description
`c`	Copy contents	Copy entire document to clipboard
`r`	Reload	Reload document from disk
`e`	Edit	Open current document in `$EDITOR`

The copy command (c) uses both OSC 52 terminal sequences and the native system clipboard for maximum compatibility.

Edit Behavior

When you press e:

Glow opens the file at the current scroll position
Your editor’s line number is set to match your reading position
After editing and exiting, Glow automatically reloads the document

ui/pager.go

case "e":
    lineno := int(math.RoundToEven(float64(m.viewport.TotalLineCount()) * m.viewport.ScrollPercent()))
    if m.viewport.AtTop() {
        lineno = 0
    }
    return m, openEditor(m.currentDocument.localPath, lineno)

View Controls

Shortcut	Action	Description
`?`	Toggle help	Show/hide keyboard shortcuts
`esc`	Back	Return to file browser
`q`	Back	Return to file browser (same as esc)

Mouse Support

When enabled with --mouse or mouse: true in your config:

Scroll wheel - Scroll through documents and file lists
Click - Select items in file browser (limited support)

Mouse support is experimental and may not work in all terminal emulators. It’s disabled by default.

Enable mouse support:

glow --mouse

Or in your config:

glow.yml

mouse: true

Context-Specific Shortcuts

Status Message Active

When a status message is displayed:

Shortcut	Action
`q`, `esc`	Dismiss message and return to normal mode

Error View

When viewing errors (press ! in stash):

Shortcut	Action
Any key	Return to file browser

Help View Shortcuts

Both the stash and pager have built-in help accessible with ?:

Stash Help (Mini)

Shows common shortcuts in a single line at the bottom:

enter - open
j/k ↑/↓ - choose
/ - find
r - refresh
e - edit
q - quit
? - more

Stash Help (Full)

Press ? to expand the help menu showing all available shortcuts in a multi-column layout. In the pager, press ? to see navigation shortcuts:

ui/pager.go

col1 := []string{
    "g/home  go to top",
    "G/end   go to bottom",
    "c       copy contents",
    "e       edit this document",
    "r       reload this document",
    "esc     back to files",
    "q       quit",
}

The help appears at the bottom of the screen, overlaying the document content.

Cheat Sheet

Quick Reference: File Browser

┌─ Navigation ──────────────┐  ┌─ Actions ────────────────┐
│ j/k, ↑/↓    move          │  │ enter      open          │
│ g/G          top/bottom   │  │ e          edit          │
│ h/l, ←/→     page         │  │ /          filter        │
│ b/f, u/d     scroll       │  │ esc        clear/back    │
└───────────────────────────┘  └──────────────────────────┘

┌─ General ─────────────────┐
│ tab          next section │
│ ?            help         │
│ r            refresh      │
│ q            quit         │
└───────────────────────────┘

Quick Reference: Document Viewer

┌─ Navigation ──────────────┐  ┌─ Actions ────────────────┐
│ j/k, ↑/↓    line          │  │ c          copy          │
│ g/G          top/bottom   │  │ e          edit          │
│ u/d          half page    │  │ r          reload        │
│ b/f          page         │  │ esc/q      back          │
└───────────────────────────┘  └──────────────────────────┘

┌─ View ────────────────────┐
│ ?            toggle help  │
└───────────────────────────┘

Terminal Compatibility

Most shortcuts work in all terminal emulators, but some have specific requirements:

Universal Shortcuts

Arrow keys (↑, ↓, ←, →)
Enter, Escape
Letters (j, k, g, G, etc.)
Function keys

Control Sequences

ctrl+j, ctrl+k - Work in most terminals
shift+tab - May require terminal configuration

Special Keys

home, end, pgup, pgdn - Usually work but may vary by terminal

If special keys don’t work in your terminal, use the alternative shortcuts (g/G instead of home/end, b/f instead of pgup/pgdn).

Customization

Currently, keyboard shortcuts are not customizable. They are hard-coded in the TUI implementation to maintain consistency with standard Unix tools.

Keyboard shortcuts follow established conventions from:

Vim - hjkl, gg, G navigation
less - b, f, d, u paging
Standard TUI - Arrow keys, enter, esc, tab

Learning Path

Start with arrow keys - Familiar and intuitive
Add vim keys - j/k for up/down, g/G for top/bottom
Master paging - d/u for half-page, f/b for full-page
Use filtering - / to quickly find files

Pro Tips

Combine shortcuts: Press g then ? to see help from the top
Use filtering over scrolling: / + fuzzy search is faster than scrolling through long lists
Edit at position: Press e in the pager to open your editor at the current line
Quick refresh: After editing files externally, press r or F to reload

File Watching

Glow automatically watches files for changes when viewing them:

Files are monitored using fsnotify
Changes automatically trigger a reload
No manual refresh needed (but r still works)

ui/pager.go

case event, ok := <-m.watcher.Events:
    if !ok || event.Name != m.currentDocument.localPath {
        continue
    }
    if !event.Has(fsnotify.Write) && !event.Has(fsnotify.Create) {
        continue
    }
    return reloadMsg{}

This is especially useful when editing files in another window.

Get Started

Usage

Features

Advanced

Keyboard Shortcuts

Overview

File Browser Shortcuts

Navigation

File Operations

Filtering and Search

Filter Mode Behavior

Sections and Tabs

General

Document Viewer Shortcuts

Navigation

Document Operations

Edit Behavior

View Controls

Mouse Support

Context-Specific Shortcuts

Status Message Active

Error View

Help View Shortcuts

Stash Help (Mini)

Stash Help (Full)

Cheat Sheet

Quick Reference: File Browser

Quick Reference: Document Viewer

Terminal Compatibility

Universal Shortcuts

Control Sequences

Special Keys

Customization

Tips for Efficient Navigation

Learning Path

Pro Tips

File Watching

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Usage

Features

Advanced

​Overview

​File Browser Shortcuts

​Navigation

​File Operations

​Filtering and Search

​Filter Mode Behavior

​Sections and Tabs

​General

​Document Viewer Shortcuts

​Navigation

​Document Operations

​Edit Behavior

​View Controls

​Mouse Support

​Context-Specific Shortcuts

​Status Message Active

​Error View

​Help View Shortcuts

​Stash Help (Mini)

​Stash Help (Full)

​Pager Help

​Cheat Sheet

​Quick Reference: File Browser

​Quick Reference: Document Viewer

​Terminal Compatibility

​Universal Shortcuts

​Control Sequences

​Special Keys

​Customization

​Tips for Efficient Navigation

​Learning Path

​Pro Tips

​File Watching

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

File Browser Shortcuts

Navigation

File Operations

Filtering and Search

Filter Mode Behavior

Sections and Tabs

General

Document Viewer Shortcuts

Navigation

Document Operations

Edit Behavior

View Controls

Mouse Support

Context-Specific Shortcuts

Status Message Active

Error View

Help View Shortcuts

Stash Help (Mini)

Stash Help (Full)

Pager Help

Cheat Sheet

Quick Reference: File Browser

Quick Reference: Document Viewer

Terminal Compatibility

Universal Shortcuts

Control Sequences

Special Keys

Customization

Tips for Efficient Navigation

Learning Path

Pro Tips

File Watching