The article Shortcuts: Practical shortcuts for ChatGPT first appeared in the online magazine BASIC thinking. With our newsletter UPDATE you can start the day well informed every morning.

To use chatbots even more efficiently, shortcuts can be helpful. We’ll show you the most important shortcuts for ChatGPT.
Chatbots are part of everyday life for most people. From processing emails, generating codes or searching for recipes: language models like ChatGPT carry out countless tasks both privately and professionally.
Efficiency is particularly important in the work context. To work faster and optimize workflow, shortcuts can be an important tool.
The most important shortcuts for ChatGPT at a glance
Shortcuts allow users to navigate through applications without a mouse, execute commands more quickly and thus accelerate their workflow.
If you ask ChatGPT itself which shortcuts it recommends, the chatbot will give you a suitable one Overview out of here. We’ll show you the most important shortcuts.
Send Message
- Enter
As soon as you press “Enter”, your message will be sent and response generation will start. This shortcut is ideal if you want to interact quickly without using a mouse.
Create line break (without sending directly)
- Shift + Enter
With this shortcut you can insert a new line without sending. It is particularly suitable for longer prompts, lists, code or structured texts.
Jump between input field and chat history
- Esc
When you scroll through the chat history, “Esc” immediately returns the cursor to the input field. This is useful if you want to continue writing quickly without scrolling down.
When you type something and want to reuse older input
- ↑ (up arrow key): bring previous message into the input field
- ↓ (down arrow key): go back to the newer message
By pressing the Up arrow key Your previous prompt will appear again in the input field. This allows you to make small adjustments without rewriting the text.
With the Down arrow key You can jump back if you click through several older entries. This way you can call up different variants of prompts.
Search the current chat or your history
- Ctrl + F (Windows)
- Cmd + F (Mac)
This shortcut searches content in the chat history. This is important if you want to repeatedly find information, phrases, or sections of code.
Open new tab
- Ctrl + T (Windows)
- Cmd + T (Mac)
With this shortcut you can start a new chat or research resources in parallel. This is helpful for complex tasks or comparisons.
Duplicate tab (for parallel chats)
- Ctrl + L → Alt + Enter (or right-click “Duplicate”)
With this combination you duplicate the current tab with the same chat history. This allows you to test alternative answers without losing the original context.
Close tab
- Ctrl + W (Windows)
- Cmd + W (Mac)
The ChatGPT shortcut closes the current chat tab. This is handy for cleaning up when you have multiple chats open.
Restore tab last closed
- Ctrl + Shift + T (Windows)
- Cmd + Shift + T (Mac)
This is how you restore recently closed tabs. This will help you quickly if you accidentally close a chat.
Copy
- Ctrl + C (Windows)
- Command + C (Mac)
The well-known shortcut also works in ChatGPT. This allows you to copy selected text to the clipboard. This is useful for further processing answers or inserting them into other documents.
Acopy everything (very helpful for prompts)
- Ctrl + A (Windows)
- Cmd + A (Mac)
With this shortcut you select the entire visible text area. This allows you to copy entire answers or prompts with just one command.
Open new chat
- Ctrl + Shift + O (Windows)
- Cmd + Shift + O (Mac)
With this key combination you can start a new chat using the keyboard.
Copy last code block
- Ctrl + Shift + ; (Windows)
- Cmd + Shift + ; (Mac)
This shorcut copies the last generated code block. You can then paste it somewhere else.
Enter or change ChatGPT custom instructions
- Ctrl + Shift + I (Windows)
- Cmd + Shift + I (Mac)
This shortcut takes you to personalizing ChatGPT. Here you can provide custom instructions to better tailor ChatGPT to your speaking style.
Show and hide ChatGPT sidebar
- CRTL + Shift + S (Windows)
- Cmd + Shift + S (Mac)
Use this keyboard shortcut to show or hide the ChatGPT sidebar.
Delete ChatGPT chat
- Ctrl + Shift + Backspace (Windows)
- Cmd + Shift + Backspace (Mac)
With this shortcut you delete all current chat history on ChatGPT. You can then start again.
Shortcuts: You should know these slash commands
Slash Commands are short commands that you type directly into the ChatGPT input field. To make them work, you start each input with a “/”. In this way, you tell the AI to carry out certain functions quickly, without long prompts.
- /continue
Continues an interrupted or truncated answer. Perfect for long texts or lists when the output stops.
- /summarize
Compactly summarizes text content. Ideal for quick orientation for long articles, meetings, emails, reports.
- /rewrite
Rephrases existing text in terms of style, language or target group. Useful for stylistic optimization, tonality changes or variations.
- /edit
Revises a text (shortening, structuring, correcting) without completely rewriting it. Very valuable for fine-tuning and post-processing.
- /translate
Translates content into a desired language without extra prompt formulations.
- /expand
Expands an existing text with more detail and depth. Good for idea expansion, content expansion and explanatory context.
- /shorten
Shortens a text to a more compact version without losing meaning. Perfect for social posts, email communications, slides and abstracts.
- /brainstorm
Generates ideas, concepts or creative approaches. Helpful if you need inspiration or have blockages.
- /classify
Classifies content into categories, moods or labels. Useful for analytics, customer segmentation, keyword clusters.
- /dalle
Starts image generation immediately. Saves you the preamble “Create a picture of…” and immediately switches to visual mode.
- /web
Enables the web research function.
- /python
Opens a Python environment directly within the chat.
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The post Shortcuts: Practical shortcuts for ChatGPT appeared first on BASIC thinking. Follow us too Google News and Flipboard or subscribe to our newsletter UPDATE.
As a Tech Industry expert, I believe that shortcuts can be extremely useful in maximizing efficiency and productivity when using ChatGPT. By utilizing practical shortcuts, users can streamline their interactions with the AI, saving time and making the conversation more seamless.
Shortcuts can help users quickly access commonly used commands, perform repetitive tasks with ease, and navigate through the chat interface more effectively. They can also facilitate smoother communication with ChatGPT, allowing users to convey their queries and requests more efficiently.
Overall, incorporating practical shortcuts for ChatGPT can enhance the user experience, increase productivity, and make interactions with the AI more intuitive and user-friendly. I would highly recommend exploring and implementing shortcuts to optimize the use of ChatGPT and leverage its capabilities to the fullest extent.
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