Top 15 Cursor IDE Shortcuts to Speed Up Development

Using Cursor IDE efficiently requires mastering its keyboard shortcuts. Here are the top 15 shortcuts to help you navigate, edit, and leverage AI-assisted coding faster.

Navigation and Selection

• CMD + P (Mac) / CTRL + P (Windows/Linux): Quickly open files by name.
• CMD + L (Mac) / CTRL + L (Windows/Linux): Open the AI Pane to ask questions about your codebase.
• CMD + SHIFT + L (Mac) / CTRL + SHIFT + L (Windows/Linux): Open AI Pane with selected text as context.
• CMD + K (Mac) / CTRL + K (Windows/Linux): Highlight code and use this shortcut for inline AI editing.

AI-Assisted Coding

• CMD + I (Mac) / CTRL + I (Windows/Linux): Open Cursor Composer in a floating window.
• CMD + SHIFT + I (Mac) / CTRL + SHIFT + I (Windows/Linux): Open full-screen Composer.
• @filename: Mention specific files in Composer or AI Pane.
• #filename: Add files to Composer.

Terminal and Commands

• CMD + K (Mac) / CTRL + K (Windows/Linux): Generate command-line commands in the terminal.

Version Control

• CMD + SHIFT + G (Mac) / CTRL + SHIFT + G (Windows/Linux): Access Git version control.

Settings and Customization

• CMD + SHIFT + J (Mac) / CTRL + SHIFT + J (Windows/Linux): Open Cursor Settings.

Codebase Interaction

• @codebase: Help Cursor identify relevant files in context.
• CMD + Enter (Mac) / CTRL + Enter (Windows/Linux): Attach the entire codebase when sending a message in AI Pane.

Editing and Autocomplete

• TAB: Accept AI-suggested autocomplete.
• ESC: Close inline editing mode.

These shortcuts will significantly enhance your productivity when using Cursor IDE. Remember to practice using them regularly to build muscle memory and speed up your development workflow!

If you want to see the whole list of the shortcuts, check out the official page of Cursor here.