SallyKeyboard Shortcuts
There are many hotkeys defined in File Comparator that can speed up your work. You can find all the functions in the menu along with their associated hotkeys, so you can learn the hotkeys as you use them. Use this list as an overview of all hotkeys, not as something you must memorize to use File Comparator efficiently.
General Shortcuts
| Press | To |
|---|---|
| F2 | Turn on/off caret in text mode |
| F4 | Turn on/off detailed differences view in text mode |
| F11 | Toggle fullscreen |
| M | Toggle fullscreen |
| O | Compare files |
| Ctrl+O | Compare files |
| R | Recompare currently opened files |
| Ctrl+R | Recompare currently opened files |
| C | Copy selection to clipboard |
| Ctrl+C | Copy selection to clipboard |
| D | Turn on/off view mode in which only differences are displayed |
| Ctrl+D | Turn on/off view mode in which only differences are displayed |
| W | Show white space |
| Ctrl+W | Show white space |
| Ctrl+H | Split horizontally to top and bottom views |
| , | Maximize left (top) file view |
| Ctrl+, | Maximize left (top) file view |
| . | Maximize right (bottom) file view |
| Ctrl+. | Maximize right (bottom) file view |
| E | Size left and right (top and bottom) views equally |
| Ctrl+E | Size left and right (top and bottom) views equally |
| H | Works like Left Arrow key |
| J | Works like Down Arrow key |
| K | Works like Up Arrow key |
| L | Works like Right Arrow key |
| B | Works like Page Up key |
| F | Works like Page Down key |
| G | Scroll to beginning of file |
| Shift+G | Scroll to end of file |
| Alt+D | Activates differences combo box |
| Escape | Close File Comparator or cancel current operation |
| Page Up | Scroll to previous page |
| Page Down | Scroll to next page |
| Ctrl+Up | Scroll to previous line |
| Ctrl+Down | Scroll to next line |
| Ctrl+Home | Scroll to beginning of file |
| Ctrl+End | Scroll to end of file |
| Ctrl+Page Up | Scroll to beginning of file |
| Ctrl+Page Down | Scroll to end of file |
| Ctrl+Insert | Copy selection to clipboard |
| Alt+Up | Focus previous difference |
| Alt+Left | Focus previous difference |
| Alt+K | Focus previous difference |
| P | Focus previous difference |
| Alt+Down | Focus next difference |
| Alt+Right | Focus next difference |
| Alt+J | Focus next difference |
| N | Focus next difference |
| Alt+Home | Focus first difference |
| Alt+End | Focus last difference |
| Tab | Toggle active file view (for caret mode) |
| Ctrl+Tab | Cycle between maximized left (top) view, right (bottom) view, and both views |
| Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Cycle between maximized right (bottom) view, left (top) view, and both views |
Following shortcuts apply only when the caret is hidden
| Press | To |
|---|---|
| Up | Scroll to previous line |
| Down | Scroll to next line |
| Left | Scroll to previous column |
| Right | Scroll to next column |
| Ctrl+Left | Fast scroll to previous column |
| Ctrl+Right | Fast scroll to next column |
| Home | Scroll to beginning of file |
| End | Scroll to end of file |
Following shortcuts apply only when the caret is shown
| Press | To |
|---|---|
| Up | Move caret to previous line |
| Down | Move caret to next line |
| Left | Move caret one character left |
| Right | Move caret one character right |
| Ctrl+Left | Move caret to previous word begin/end |
| Ctrl+Right | Move caret to next word begin/end |
| Home | Move caret to line begin |
| End | Move caret to line end |
| Space | Focus difference under caret (if any) |
| Shift+Space | Focus and select difference under caret (if any) |
To select text, hold down the Shift key while moving the caret.
See Also
From the Sally manual (GPL-2.0-or-later), © 1997-2023 Open Salamander Authors; © 2025-2026 Elias Bachaalany. Source: manual source (zip) · original page in the Sally repository