# Keyboard shortcuts and the Search actions menu Section: Tidio Features Description: Open the Search actions menu with Cmd/Ctrl + K in any chat or ticket, and use the Inbox's keyboard shortcuts to reply, assign, solve and more without the mouse. Verified against Tidio panel 12.304.0 Last updated: 2026-10-30 Source: https://help.tidio.com/articles/keyboard-shortcuts/ Handling chat after chat, and ticket after ticket? Reaching for the mouse every time you want to assign, solve or add a note adds up quickly. With the **Search actions** menu and Tidio's keyboard shortcuts, you can do most of your Inbox work without taking your hands off the keyboard. Press **Cmd + K** (on a Mac) or **Ctrl + K** (on Windows) in any chat or ticket, type a few letters of what you want to do, and hit **Enter**. The menu also shows the shortcut for each action, so you'll pick them up as you go. **In this article, you'll learn:** - [How to open the Search actions menu]() - [How to find and run an action]() - [How to use every keyboard shortcut in the Inbox]() - [How to show and hide the folders and the details panel]() - [Where shortcuts don't work]() [Video]() Silent walkthrough. Work a chat and a ticket from the keyboard. Open the Inbox and the live conversation. Hover over the Actions button in the reply box to show the tooltip. Press Cmd + K, type "assign", press Enter and pick an agent with the arrows and Enter. Press Cmd + K again, press → to go through the tabs, then Esc. In the empty reply box, type / and pick a macro. Click outside the reply box and press \[ and \] to hide the folders and the details panel, then press them again. Open the email ticket, press Cmd + K, go to Ticket management and choose Change status, pick a status. Press Cmd + Shift + P to change the priority. ## Opening the Search actions menu Head over to the **Inbox** and open any live conversation. At the bottom of the reply box, next to **Macros** and **Flows**, you'll find the **Actions** button. Hover over it to see its shortcut: ![A live conversation in the Inbox, with the mouse over the Actions button at the bottom of the reply box (next to Macros and Flows) and its tooltip showing "Search actions" with the ⌘ K keys]() Click on **Actions**, or simply press **Cmd + K** (**Ctrl + K** on Windows), and the menu pops up: ![The Search actions menu open over a live conversation: the search field "Search conversation actions..." at the top, the All tab selected, two actions under Recents, and the list of actions with their key combinations on the right of each row]() The same shortcut works in tickets too. Open any ticket and press **Cmd + K** (**Ctrl + K**) - this time, you'll see the ticket actions, like **Forward**, **Merge into**, **Change priority** or **Mark as spam**. 💡 **Please note:** in tickets, there is no **Actions** button - the menu opens with the keyboard shortcut only. ## Finding and running an action The cursor is already in the search field when the menu opens, so you can start typing right away. Type a few letters (for example, "assign") and the list narrows down to the matching actions: ![The Search actions menu in a live conversation with "assign" typed in the search field and "Assign to" as the only highlighted result, with its keys on the right]() You can also browse the actions by tab: - **All** - every action available in this chat or ticket. The two actions you used most recently are shown on top, under **Recents**. - **AI Writing Tools** - AI-driven actions, like **Copilot answer**, **Rewrite** and **Shorten**. - **Input actions** - everything you do in the reply box: **Use Macro**, **Create internal note**, **Reply**, **Upload a file**, **Insert link**, **Insert emoji** and more. - **Conversation management** (in chats) or **Ticket management** (in tickets) - actions that handle the chat or ticket itself, such as **Mark as solved**, **Assign to**, **Add customer tag**, **Export transcript**, **Ban visitor**, **Change status** or **Merge into**. Use the arrow keys to move around: **↑** and **↓** go through the list, **←** and **→** switch between the tabs. Hit **Enter** to run the highlighted action, or **Esc** to close the menu. The footer of the menu reminds you of these keys: ![The Search actions menu open on a ticket with the Ticket management tab selected, and the footer at the bottom showing "↑ ↓ ← → navigate", "⏎ select" and "esc close"]() Some actions open a second step inside the menu - for example, **Change status** lists the statuses to choose from, and **Assign to** lists your agents. Pick an option with the arrows and **Enter**, or press **←** to go back to the main list: ![The Change status step of the Search actions menu on a ticket, with the back arrow next to the search field and the list of statuses, one of them highlighted]() 💡 **Please note:** the menu shows only what you can do in the current chat or ticket. For example, the reply box actions disappear once a conversation is solved, and **Merge into** is greyed out when there are no other unsolved tickets from the same email address to merge with. Actions that are part of a paid feature your project doesn't have yet (like **Copilot answer**, **Rewrite**, **Shorten** or **Translate**) show a small badge next to their name. ## Keyboard shortcuts in the Inbox Most actions also have their own shortcut, so once you know them, you don't even need to open the menu. Shortcuts with **Cmd** or **Ctrl** work even while you're typing in the reply box. On a Mac, the panel shows the keys as symbols: **⌘** is Cmd, **⇧** is Shift and **⌥** is Option (Alt). On Windows, simply use **Ctrl** wherever a Mac uses Cmd, and **Alt** instead of Option. ### Chats and tickets Action | Mac | Windows | Works in **Search actions** | Cmd + K | Ctrl + K | Chats and tickets **Assign to** | Cmd + Shift + A | Ctrl + Shift + A | Chats and tickets **Reply** | Cmd + Shift + R | Ctrl + Shift + R | Chats and tickets (switches the reply box back to a reply) **Create internal note** | Cmd + Shift + X (tickets), Cmd + Option + X (chats) | Ctrl + Shift + X (tickets), Ctrl + Alt + X (chats) | Chats and tickets **Upload a file** | Cmd + Shift + L | Ctrl + Shift + L | Chats and tickets **Insert link** | Cmd + Shift + U | Ctrl + Shift + U | Chats and tickets **Rewrite** | Cmd + / | Ctrl + / | Chats and tickets, with text in the reply box **Elaborate** | Cmd + Shift + E | Ctrl + Shift + E | Chats and tickets, with text in the reply box **Shorten** | Cmd + Shift + K | Ctrl + Shift + K | Chats and tickets, with text in the reply box **Create ticket** | Cmd + Option + T | Ctrl + Alt + T | Anywhere in the Inbox **Delete** | Cmd + Option + Backspace | Ctrl + Alt + Backspace | Chats and tickets (if you're allowed to delete them) ### Chats only Action | Mac | Windows **Mark as solved** | Cmd + Shift + S | Ctrl + Shift + S **Create a ticket from this conversation** | Cmd + Shift + T | Ctrl + Shift + T **Start Flow** | Cmd + Option + / | Ctrl + Alt + / **Join conversation** | Enter | Enter **Enter** joins the conversation when the reply box shows the **Join conversation** button (for example, when the chat is unassigned or another agent is handling it). ### Tickets only Action | Mac | Windows **Change status** | Cmd + Shift + S | Ctrl + Shift + S **Change priority** | Cmd + Shift + P | Ctrl + Shift + P **Forward** | Cmd + Shift + F | Ctrl + Shift + F **Merge into** | Cmd + Shift + M | Ctrl + Shift + M **Upload an image** (inline, in the reply text) | Cmd + Shift + I | Ctrl + Shift + I ### Single keys in the reply box Two shortcuts don't need any modifier keys at all - the reply box placeholder reminds you of them: ![An empty reply box in a live conversation, with the placeholder "Write a message or press spacebar for Copilot, / for Macros, ⌘K for actions"]() - **Spacebar** (in an empty reply box) asks Copilot for a suggested answer - the same as **Copilot answer**. - **/** (at the start of your message, or after a space) opens your Macros. Keep typing to filter them by name. In the Macros list of the Search actions menu (**Use Macro**), you can also type **\#** to search by tags. ### Text formatting Where the reply box has formatting buttons (for example, in ticket replies), you can also format your text with **Cmd + B** for **Bold**, **Cmd + I** for **Italic**, **Cmd + U** for **Underline**, **Cmd + Shift + 8** for a **Bulleted List** and **Cmd + Shift + 7** for an **Ordered List** (**Ctrl** instead of Cmd on Windows). Hover over any button in the reply box toolbar to see its shortcut: ![The reply box of a ticket with the + (Add to message) menu open, listing Insert link, Upload a file and Upload an image, each with its key combination on the right]() 💡 **Please note:** **Use Macro** needs Macros, available on the **Growth** plan and above. **Copilot answer**, **Rewrite**, **Elaborate** and **Shorten** work only if your project has access to those AI features - otherwise, you'll see a small badge next to the action's name. ## Showing and hiding the folders and the details panel Need more room for the conversation? Two keys let you hide the side panels of the Inbox: - **\[** hides (or shows again) the folders on the left - the same as the **Hide folders** / **Show folders** button at the top of the folders list. - **\]** hides (or shows again) the details panel on the right, with your customer's information - the same as the **Show details** / **Hide details** button. ![The Inbox with a live conversation open, the folders list hidden and the details panel hidden, so the conversation takes the full width, and the Show details button visible in the top-right of the conversation]() These keys work when you're not typing - click anywhere outside the reply box first, and then press **\[** or **\]**. ## Where shortcuts don't work A few things to keep in mind: - **Cmd + K** (**Ctrl + K**) opens the menu only when a chat or a ticket is open in the Inbox - not in the conversations list on its own, and not in other sections of the panel. - The single keys **\[** and **\]** don't do anything while your cursor is in a text field (the reply box, a search field, a form). The spacebar asks Copilot only when the reply box is empty. - While you're creating a new ticket, **\[** and **Create ticket** (**Cmd + Option + T**) are switched off. - In a solved conversation, the reply box actions are hidden from the menu, and the **Reply** and **Create internal note** shortcuts don't switch the reply box. On WhatsApp, once you can no longer reply to the customer, most reply box actions are hidden from the menu too. - In tickets from Messenger or Instagram, the actions for files, images, links and emoji aren't available. - The Tidio mobile app doesn't have keyboard shortcuts. - Shortcuts can't be turned off or changed, and there's no separate list of them in the panel - the Search actions menu (and the tooltips) are where you'll find the keys. ## Further reading - [Live chat conversations: Using the 'Search actions' menu]() - [Macros]() - [Copilot]() - [AI Tools (the reply assistant)]() - [The Inbox - a powerful interface for managing your conversations]()