Hotkeys & Gestures

Lertaro embraces a keyboard-first interaction philosophy while offering rich mouse gestures and quick cascading navigation. Except for non-configurable core keys, all global and in-app hotkeys can be customized under Settings → Hotkeys.

1. Global Hotkeys Cheat Sheet

Action	Default Hotkey	Description & Interaction Details
Toggle Quick Window	Double-tap Ctrl	Can be set to a double-tap mode or standard key combinations (e.g. Alt+Space, Win+Space). When Open full panel by default is enabled, this shortcut opens the Full Window instead: it is brought to the foreground once when first shown, refocused when visible but inactive, and closed when already active. It is not automatically kept topmost.
Quick Jump	Ctrl+G	Jumps file dialogs directly to the directory most recently browsed in a supported file manager or Quick Panel.
Quick Navigation Menu	No default	An optional global shortcut opens the cascading Quick Navigation menu. From the desktop or an ordinary app it uses desktop context; in File Explorer and native file dialogs it uses the active window context. File managers and file dialogs remain allowed even when ordinary foreground protections suppress global hotkeys.
Select Next Item	Ctrl+N or ↓	Moves highlight down. Navigates seamlessly across groups in the Quick Panel. In Quick Launch, the arrow keys follow the visible grid; ← and → cross row boundaries, while ↑ and ↓ seek the nearest item in the same column, including across groups. If that column has no item anywhere in the adjacent direction, selection stays where it is. When Quick Launch is visible with an empty query, Ctrl+N cycles to the next data source and wraps at the end.
Select Previous Item	Ctrl+P or ↑	Moves highlight up. Navigates seamlessly across groups in the Quick Panel. In Quick Launch, the arrow keys follow the visible grid; ← and → cross row boundaries, while ↑ and ↓ seek the nearest item in the same column, including across groups. If that column has no item anywhere in the adjacent direction, selection stays where it is. When Quick Launch is visible with an empty query, Ctrl+P cycles to the previous data source and wraps at the beginning.
Jump to Results 1–9	Ctrl + 1–9	Modifier is customizable. Number badges appear next to visible items for instant activation.
Open Action Menu	Ctrl+O or →	Expands the context action menu (copy path, properties, run as admin, file operations, etc.).
Autocomplete from Selection	Ctrl+Tab	Fills the search box with the selected item's name or full path for secondary refinement.
QuickLook Instant Preview	Alt+P	Opens or closes the side preview panel (images, documents, audio/video playback, folder trees).
Previous Search Term	Alt+Up	Steps backward through recent search query history.
Next Search Term	Alt+Down	Steps forward through recent search query history.
Delete Search History Term	Ctrl+Delete	Removes the currently displayed keyword from search history.
Open Full Window	Ctrl+F	Opens the full-sized main search window, carrying over the current query.
Open LocalSend Window	Ctrl+S	Opens the LocalSend wireless LAN transfer window to quickly send files or text to other devices.
Pin Window (Keep Visible)	Ctrl+T	Temporarily locks the window open when losing focus (ideal for pasting multi-part queries).
Toggle Quick Panel	Ctrl+F2	Docks the quick panel beside the current active window for recent files, favorites, and workspaces.

Empty Inline Search in File Dialogs

When an inline search box is embedded in a native file dialog and the query is empty, the list shows the Previous Directory group first. If Show Currently Open Folders in Inline Search is enabled, it also shows a Currently Open Folders group collected from supported file managers. The dialog's current folder is omitted, duplicate paths are removed, empty groups stay hidden, and group headers do not receive shortcut badges. The setting is enabled by default and can be changed under Settings → General → System. This behavior applies only to inline search in file dialogs; Quick and Full Windows are unchanged.

2. Search Box Icon & Mouse Gestures

The small logo inside the search box is not just an indicator — it provides several quick mouse gestures:

Quick Window Icon Gestures

• Left-click: Pops up the main context menu at the cursor (Show Full Window, Toggle Hotkey, Settings, About, Clean Exit, Exit). "Show Full Window" carries over your active query.
• Left-click & Drag: Drags the search bar to reposition it. Holding Ctrl while dragging locks movement strictly to the vertical axis, keeping horizontal alignment intact.
• Right-click: Instantly resets the Quick Window back to its default centered screen position without altering configured dimensions.
• Middle-click: Toggles the "Pin Window" state. The logo illuminates while pinned.

NOTE

Coordinates remembered for the Quick Window are proportional relative coordinates on that specific display. When invoked on another monitor with different resolutions or DPI scalings, Lertaro scales position automatically without escaping visible bounds.

Inline and Full Window Icons

• Inline Window: When embedded in native file dialogs (Open/Save/Browse), left-clicking the logo triggers the Quick Navigation cascading menu; disabled in ordinary Explorer windows.
• Full Window: Left-clicking the logo opens the context menu; Open Full Window is hidden there because the window is already open. Middle-clicking toggles the window's pinned state.

3. Quick Navigation (Mouse Triggers)

Quick Navigation lets you access frequently used directories and recent files with mouse clicks alone without typing.

You can also assign an optional global keyboard shortcut under Settings → Hotkeys. From the desktop or an ordinary app it opens the menu in desktop context; in File Explorer and native file dialogs it uses the active window context.

Triggering Environments

• Desktop Blank Area: Middle-click (or optional double-left-click) to open the menu. Clicking a folder or file opens it directly.
• File Explorer: Middle-click empty areas in File Explorer; clicking an item navigates the current window directly to that folder.
• Third-party File Managers: Middle-click file list areas in Directory Opus, Total Commander, XYplorer, Files, and One Commander (see Supported File Managers).
• File Dialogs: Middle-click or click the embedded logo inside Open/Save/Browse dialogs to jump instantly to the target folder without accidentally triggering confirmation.

Cascading Menu Structure

Powered by the Folder Cascader plugin:

1. Currently Open Folders: Aggregates and deduplicates active folders from all open file managers.
2. Favorites & History: Lists starred folders, files, and recent visit histories.
3. Custom Categories: Configure nested submenus under Settings → Plugins → Folder Cascader (e.g. Work/ProjectA).
4. Quick Add Folder (+ Button): Every submenu header features a small + button to save the currently browsed directory directly into that category.

4. Hardcoded Core Keys (Non-configurable)

To ensure consistent and deterministic interaction, the following keys behave identically across all configurations:

Key	Context	Standard Behavior
Enter	Result List	Opens the selected item (file, folder, app, or action).
Ctrl+Enter	Result List	Reveals and selects the item in Windows File Explorer.
Ctrl+Shift+Enter	Result List	Launches the selected item with administrative privileges.
Escape	Any Context	Clears the query if text exists; closes the window or exits the menu if already empty.
Backspace	Action Menu	Exits the action menu back to the search list when filter text is empty.
← / → Arrow Keys	Action Menu	Left arrow navigates back to parent menu; right arrow enters submenus.
Alt+Space	All Lertaro Windows	Suppressed to prevent triggering system titlebar menus on borderless windows.
Alt+F4	Full / Settings Windows	Closes window normally; suppressed on Quick, Inline, and Preview floating windows.

5. Plugin Action Hotkeys & Process Blacklist

Plugin Action Hotkeys

Plugins can register specific action shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl+Shift+C for copying paths, or file operations: Cut Ctrl+X, Copy Ctrl+C, Paste Ctrl+V, Delete Delete, Permanent Delete Shift+Delete). Manage and rebind them under Settings → Hotkeys → Plugin Actions.

Process Blacklist & Fullscreen Bypass

• Automatic Fullscreen Bypass: When a focused foreground application runs in exclusive fullscreen mode (e.g. 3D games or video players), Lertaro automatically bypasses all global hotkeys to avoid interrupting gameplay.
• Custom Process Blacklist: Add executable names under Settings → Hotkeys (e.g. game.exe) to silence hotkeys and mouse triggers while that process is focused.