Keyboard shortcuts

Most things you do in an Acira window have a keyboard shortcut. This page lists the default keys for Windows and Mac, and shows how to change, clear, reset and export them.

Change a shortcut

1. Open Settings with Ctrl+, (Cmd+, on a Mac), then choose Shortcuts in the sidebar.
2. Find the command. Type in Search commands or keys to narrow the list. You can search by name, or by keys such as ctrl+j or f6.
3. Click the keys on the command's row. The field reads Press keys, and the row says that Backspace clears and Esc cancels.
4. Press the new keys. The key caps show what you hold. Acira saves the shortcut as soon as you press a valid combination.

While you record, nothing else runs, so pressing Ctrl+W does not close the tab. Recording ends by itself if you press nothing for 30 seconds, if you click away from the row, or if the window loses focus.

Changing a command replaces all of its keys with the one you pressed. If the command had two keys, such as Reload with Ctrl+R and F5, the new key replaces both. A changed command shows Default: and its original keys under its name.

If another command uses the keys

The row says Already used by followed by the other command's name, and offers Replace and Cancel. Replace gives the keys to this command and takes them from the other one. Cancel, or Esc, leaves both as they were.

Keys you cannot use

Acira explains the reason in the row and keeps listening, so you can try another combination.

• Copy, paste, cut, select all, undo and redo, and the system keys that go with them.
• Esc. It closes dialogs and stops loading.
• On Windows, any combination with the Windows key.
• Keys Windows keeps for itself, such as Alt+Tab, Alt+F4, Alt+Space and Ctrl+Alt+Delete. On a Mac, Cmd+Q, Cmd+H, Cmd+M, Cmd+Tab and Cmd+Space.
• Any key without Ctrl, Alt or Cmd, such as a letter, a digit or Shift plus a letter, so typing in pages keeps working. Function keys such as F6 can be used on their own.
• Alt with a letter or digit, because it opens menus or types characters on some keyboards. Alt with a named key, such as Alt+Left or Alt+F6, is allowed.
• Ctrl+Alt with a character, because many keyboard layouts treat it as AltGr and type text with it.
• Tab, Enter, Space and Backspace on their own.

Clear a shortcut

1. Click the keys on the command's row.
2. Press Backspace. On a Mac, press the Delete key (shown as ⌫ in the row).

The command reads Not set and moves to the Unassigned group at the end of the list. A cleared command no longer answers to its old keys, and those keys are free for another command. You can also use this to give a command no key at all.

Reset a shortcut

• One command: click the reset button to the left of its keys. It appears once you have changed that command. Its tooltip reads Reset to followed by the default keys, or Reset to no shortcut when the command has no default.
• Every command: click Reset all at the top. It is unavailable until you change something.

A reset puts the command back on its default keys and takes those keys back from any command that borrowed them. The Changed chip, with a count, appears once you have changed something. Click it to list the commands that differ from their defaults.

Export your shortcuts

Click Export at the top of the list. Acira opens a save dialog in your Downloads folder with the name acira-shortcuts.json. The file records the commands you changed or cleared, and no others, as a list of commands and their keys.

Where the keys show

On Windows, the Acira menu, the tab and page menus and the toolbar tooltips show your current keys, so a key you change or clear updates there. On a Mac, they keep showing the standard Mac keys, even for a key you changed. The Settings list always shows your current keys.

Default shortcuts

The tables below are the defaults, one row per command, in the same groups as Settings › Shortcuts. The Windows keys are on the left. On a Mac, Ctrl becomes Cmd and Alt becomes Option, except where the Mac column shows something else. Settings shows Mac keys as symbols: ⌃ Ctrl, ⌥ Option, ⇧ Shift and ⌘ Cmd. A command can have more than one key. A command marked None has no default key, and you can give it one.

A key marked with an asterisk (*) in the Mac column is listed as a default in Settings, but on a Mac it does not do what Settings says until you assign it yourself. The section "Mac keys that differ" at the end of the tables explains each one.

Tabs

• Switch tabs goes to the next tab by default. Choose what Ctrl+Tab does in Settings › Tabs › Ctrl+Tab switches to: Next tab (the default), Recently used tab or Show tab viewer. On a Mac, the key is Ctrl+Tab too. See Tabs.
• New Tor identity asks before it does anything. It acts in a Tor tab or window and does nothing elsewhere. See Tor tabs and windows.
• In a Tor tab or window, Ctrl+Shift+L runs New Tor circuit for this site instead of Seamless view, unless you give that command a key of its own.
• Private tabs: see Private tabs and windows.
• With tabs in a sidebar, hold Ctrl alone (Cmd on a Mac) for about a quarter of a second to see each tab's number. Go to tab 1 to 8 and Go to last tab use those numbers. Tabs 10 to 99 take two digits typed while you hold the key. See Tabs.

Windows

• Close Acira asks you to confirm when several tabs are open. Turn that off with Ask before closing the browser in Settings › Tabs. Pages with unsaved changes are always checked.
• Focus view, Seamless view, Full view and Compact view are the window views. See Window views.
• With vertical tabs and the Ctrl+S toggles the sidebar switch on (the default), Ctrl+S (Cmd+S on a Mac) shows or hides the sidebar instead of saving the page. Turn the switch off in Settings › Tabs › Ctrl+S toggles the sidebar to make Ctrl+S save the page again. See Sidebar.
• On a Mac, Option with a digit types characters, so workspaces use Ctrl with the digit. See Workspaces.

Split view

Outside a split, the next and previous pane keys move focus to the page, as they do in Chrome. See Split view.

Navigation

See Command search and all tabs.

On a Mac, a two-finger swipe on the trackpad also goes back or forward, in the same direction as in Safari and Chrome. It works when Swipe between pages is on in your Mac's trackpad settings. An arrow appears at the page's edge and follows your fingers. Past the point where the arrow is full, letting go goes back or forward. Hold the swipe there for about half a second and a list of earlier pages opens. Move your fingers up or down to choose a row and let go to go there. A page that can still scroll sideways, or that handles the swipe itself, keeps it.

Page

The zoom keys use the = key, which is also the + key on most layouts. See Reader mode, find, zoom and print, AI-free mode and Developer tools.

Library

See Bookmarks and Favorites, History, Rewind and closed tabs and Downloads.

Browser

Open a file… opens a page, PDF, picture, text file, sound or video from your computer in a tab. See Localhost and certificates.

Mac keys that differ

On a Mac, the key handler follows macOS conventions, which differ from the Windows defaults in a few places. These keys work on a Mac in addition to the defaults in the tables:

The Mac keys marked * in the tables behave like this today:

• Option+Left, Option+Right and Option+Home do nothing until you assign them. Use Cmd+[ and Cmd+] for Back and Forward. Home has no working key until you give it one.
• Cmd+E and Option+D do nothing for Focus address bar. Cmd+L, Cmd+K and F6 work.
• Cmd+Shift+J opens Downloads, not Developer tools. Use F12, Cmd+Shift+I or Cmd+Option+I.
• Cmd+H hides the app, because macOS keeps it. Use Cmd+Y for History. Cmd+Shift+H does nothing for Rewind until you assign a key.
• Option+F and Option+E do nothing for Open menu.
• Option+Shift+T opens the tab switcher rather than Focus the toolbar. F10 works for the toolbar.
• Option+Shift+N does nothing for New Tor window. Use the New Tor window row in the Acira menu.

Shortcuts for tab sets and extensions

Two more groups appear in Settings › Shortcuts when they apply:

• Tab sets: each saved tab set adds a command called Open tab set: followed by its name. You can give it a key in the list, or in the tab set's own editor.
• Extensions: each shortcut that an extension declares in its manifest becomes a command here. The extension's suggested key is used unless Acira or another extension already uses it. You can change or clear it like any other. Global (system-wide) extension shortcuts are not offered. See Extensions.

Last updated November 7, 2026