Does Cmd+B make text bold in Confluence on Mac?

No. Confluence uses Option+B for bold, Option+I for italic, and Option+U for underline on Mac, not the Cmd combination most Mac apps use. This is the one group of shortcuts where Confluence departs from the usual Mac convention.

How do I comment on a Confluence page using the keyboard on Mac?

Press Cmd+Option+C to open the comment box on the current page or live doc. Cmd+Shift+U jumps to your next unread comment if you want to work through a thread.

Why does Confluence use Ctrl instead of Cmd for some shortcuts on Mac?

A handful of navigation shortcuts, like toggling the sidebar (Ctrl+BracketLeft) or the comments panel, use Ctrl even on Mac. Those key combinations are already claimed by Safari and macOS for back/forward navigation, so Confluence avoids the clash by keeping them on Ctrl.

Confluence Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac

Keyboard shortcuts for Confluence on Mac. Covers navigation, page and comment actions, text formatting, tables, and markdown autocomplete on macOS.

Open notifications: Cmd+Opt+O
Quick search: Ctrl+Opt+Z
Go Home: Cmd+Opt+H
Open recent: Cmd+Opt+G
Open starred: Cmd+Opt+8
Go to space overview: Cmd+Opt+V

Open shortcut help: Ctrl+Shift+/
Toggle sidebar: Ctrl+[
Open Rovo chat: Cmd+.
Undo: Cmd+Z
Redo: Cmd+Y
or
Cmd+Shift+Z

Create page: Ctrl+Opt+C
Create live doc: Ctrl+Shift+D
Create blog post: Cmd+Opt+Shift+B
Edit: E
Quick insert: /
Comment: Cmd+Opt+C
Next comment: Ctrl+.
Previous comment: Ctrl+,
Next unread comment: Cmd+Shift+U
Toggle inline comments: Ctrl+]
Watch: Cmd+Opt+W

Share: Cmd+Opt+S
Edit labels: Ctrl+Opt+A
View attachments: Ctrl+Opt+T
Favorite content: Ctrl+Opt+F
Enter presenter mode: Cmd+Opt+R
Publish: Cmd+Return
Find & replace: Cmd+F
Publish with note: Cmd+Shift+Return
Open details panel: Ctrl+Shift+I
Open comments panel: Ctrl+]
Select comment: Cmd+Opt+E

Paragraph: Cmd+Opt+0
Heading 1: Cmd+Opt+1
Heading 2: Cmd+Opt+2
Heading 3: Cmd+Opt+3
Heading 4: Cmd+Opt+4
Heading 5: Cmd+Opt+5
Heading 6: Cmd+Opt+6

Numbered list: Cmd+Shift+7
Bullet list: Cmd+Shift+8
Quote: Cmd+Shift+9
Code: Cmd+Shift+M
Align left: Cmd+Shift+L
Align center: Cmd+Opt+E
Align right: Cmd+Opt+T

Highlight selection in yellow: Cmd+Opt+Y
Files and images: Cmd+M
Link: Cmd+K
Insert markup: Cmd+Shift+D
Macro: Cmd+Shift+A

Table: Cmd+Shift+I
Add row above: Cmd+Opt+Up
Add row below: Cmd+Opt+Down
Add column after: Cmd+Opt+Right
Add column before: Cmd+Opt+Left

These apply inside a text field, such as a page, live doc, or comment.

Bold: Opt+B
Italic: Opt+I
Underline: Opt+U
Strikethrough: Opt+Shift+S

Code: Opt+Shift+M
Subscript: Opt+Shift+,
Superscript: Opt+Shift+.

Focus table resize handle: Cmd+Opt+Shift+R
Open cell options: Shift+F10
Select table row: Cmd+Opt+Shift+LeftRight

Select table column: Cmd+Opt+Shift+UpDown
Insert table column: Cmd+Opt+=-
Insert table row: Cmd+Opt+][

These key combinations quickly change formatting, create lists, and add tables.

Emoji: ":"
Mention: "@"
Image or media: "!"

Link: "[Link](http://a.com)"
Macro: "{"

You can use markdown syntax to quickly format text in the Confluence Cloud editor.

Bold: "**text**"
Italic: "*text*"
Strikethrough: "~~text~~"
Code: "`text`"
Heading 1: "# "
Heading 2: "## "
Heading 3: "### "
Heading 4: "#### "
Heading 5: "##### "

Heading 6: "###### "
Numbered list: "1. "
Bulleted list: "* "
Quote: "> "
Code snippet: "``` "
Divider: "--- "
Link: "[link text](url)"
Action item: "[] "
Decision: "<> "

Sticky tool: S
Text box tool: T
Ellipse tool: E

Line tool: L
Add a link: Cmd+K

Copy: Cmd+C
Cut: Cmd+X
Paste: Cmd+V
Duplicate: Cmd+Opt+D
Delete: Fwd Del

Select all: Cmd+A
Lock/Unlock: Cmd+Shift+L
Nudge element: UpDownLeftRight
Big nudge element: Shift+UpDownLeftRight

Zoom in/out: Cmd+=-
Zoom to 100%: Cmd+0
Zoom to fit: Cmd+Shift+1
Zoom to selection: Cmd+Shift+2
Move whiteboard: UpDownLeftRight

Hand tool: H
Select tool: V
Fullscreen mode: Cmd+F
Exit fullscreen mode: Esc

Create Jira work item: Cmd+J
Bring to front: Cmd+]
Send to back: Cmd+[

Show/hide user interface: Cmd+.
Toggle comments: Shift+M

Intro

Confluence on Mac swaps Ctrl for Cmd on most shortcuts, but several (panel toggles, and all of text formatting) don't follow that pattern, so it's worth checking the exact key rather than assuming Cmd everywhere.

Mac-specific shortcut notes

Not everything is Cmd. Toggling the sidebar (Ctrl+BracketLeft), the comments panel, and a few other navigation shortcuts use Ctrl on Mac too, likely to avoid clashing with Safari and macOS shortcuts that already claim Cmd+BracketLeft/BracketRight for back/forward. Bold, italic, and underline use Option instead of Cmd.

Enter presenter mode and Quick search are true outliers. Presenter mode is Cmd+Option+R on Mac against Ctrl+Alt+P on Windows, and Quick search is Ctrl+Option+Z against Alt+Shift+Z, different keys entirely rather than a simple Cmd/Ctrl swap.

Markdown while typing. Start a line with "# " through "###### " for headings, "* " for a bullet, or "1. " for a numbered list. These work the same regardless of platform, since they're typed characters, not key combinations.

Printable PDF

A printable PDF of Confluence shortcuts for Mac is available. The comment and publish chords, plus the markdown-typing shortcuts, are the ones worth learning first.

FAQ

Need more than shortcuts?
Visit the Confluence app page for an overview and helpful links.

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Confluence Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac

Global action shortcuts

Content action shortcuts

Block formatting shortcuts

Content formatting shortcuts

Text formatting shortcuts

Table shortcuts

Autocomplete shortcuts

Use markdown syntax as formatting shortcuts

Whiteboard tool shortcuts

Whiteboard edit shortcuts

Whiteboard navigation shortcuts

Whiteboard advanced shortcuts

Intro

Mac-specific shortcut notes

Printable PDF

FAQ