Navigating the user interface using the keyboard

The user interface is navigable using the keyboard. The Tab key is used to iterate through the controls in a particular scope (for example, a dialog or a view and its related icons). To navigate to the main controls for the Workbench window or to tab out of views that use the Tab key (such as editors) use Ctrl+Tab.

Menus

Most menus are assigned mnemonics for each entry which allow you to select them by typing the underlined letter instead of the mouse. You can also select an item by moving through the menus and sub-menus with the arrow keys.

The various menus available can be accessed using the keyboard in the following ways:

Controls

Mnemonics are assigned to most control labels (e.g., buttons, checkboxes, radio buttons, etc.) in dialog boxes, preference pages, and property pages. To access the control associated with a label, use the Alt key along with the letter that is underlined in the label.

Navigation Context

Navigation context is saved for the packages, navigator views, Workbench preferences and properties dialogs. The selected page for the preferences and properties dialog is saved between invocations of the dialog but are not saved between workbench invocations.

Cycling Editors, Views and Perspectives

To switch between editors, views and perspectives, the workbench provides a cycling function that is invoked by Ctrl and a function key. All of these cycling functions recall the last thing selected to allow for rapid cycling back and forth between two items. The cycling functions are

Also, Ctrl+E can be used to activate the editor drop-down, and Ctrl+PageUp and Ctrl+PageDown can be used for switching between the open editors.

Accelerators

Many of the actions in Eclipse have an accelerator assigned to them. For additional information on accelerators, see Keys.

Quick Access

To quickly access UI elements such as views, commands, preference pages, and others, you can use the Quick Access dialog, available under Window > Navigation > Quick Access and bound to Ctrl+3 by default. Start typing in the filter field to see matches. For example, to open the help view, type Ctrl+3 followed by "help". One of the first matches will be to open the help view; other matches show commands and preference pages related to help. You can use the arrow keys to select a different match for a given filter string. Press Enter to select the highlighted entry. This will execute the command, or open the view, perspective, or wizard etc.

Help system

You can navigate the help system by keyboard using the following key combinations:

Most labels of controls on help system pop-up dialogs have mnemonics are assigned to them. To access the control associated with a label, use the Alt key along with the letter that is underlined.

Related concepts
Accessibility features in Eclipse
Changing the key bindings
Keys
Help

Related references
Font and color settings in Eclipse