When using the Rich Text Editor, you can enter a trigger character or press a keyboard shortcut to call up a list of suggested links or documents to add to your page. This feature is called 'autocomplete'. Autocomplete provides you with a fast editing solution if you prefer to use key strokes rather than pointing and clicking with the mouse.

Quick guide to autocomplete in the Rich Text Editor

  • Inserting a link:
    • Enter '[' and start typing to see the suggested links that match your text.
    • Or press Ctrl+Shift+K to convert text to a link.
  • Embedding an image or document:
    • Enter '!' and start typing, to see a matching list of images and documents.
    • Or press Ctrl+Shift+M immediately after a word or highlighted phrase.

(info) Autocomplete is available in the Rich Text Editor only, not in the Wiki Markup editor.

On this page:

Summary of Autocomplete

What You Want to Do

Trigger Character

Keyboard Shortcut

Description

Add a link on your page

[

Ctrl+Shift+K

Enter a left-hand square bracket or press Ctrl+Shift+K to call up a list of suggested pages or other locations to link to from your page. More...

Display an image or document on your page

!

Ctrl+Shift+M

Enter an exclamation mark or press Ctrl+Shift+M to call up a list of suggested images and documents to embed in your page. More...

Enter a left-hand square bracket or press Ctrl+Shift+K to call up a list of suggested pages or other locations to link to from your page. You can link to pages, user profiles, images, documents and other file attachments.

To autocomplete a link using '[',

  1. Edit the page in the Rich Text Editor.
  2. Place your cursor where you want to insert a link and enter a left-hand square bracket like this: [
  3. If you want to find a specific page or file, type the first few characters of the page title, user's name, image name or file name.
  4. The list of suggestions will appear as a dropdown menu when you pause in your typing.
    • Select the relevant link using the mouse, or the arrow keys plus 'Enter'. The hyperlink will appear on your page, with the name of the destination page or file as the hyperlinked text.
    • If the item you need is not in the list, select 'Search for "xxx"' to continue looking for the page within Confluence, or 'Insert Web Link' to insert a link to an external web page. The link browser will open on the relevant tab. If you need help with the link browser, see the full instructions on adding links. Insert the link via the link browser.
  5. Click 'Save' to save the updated page.



To autocomplete a link using Ctrl+Shift+K,

  1. Edit the page in the Rich Text Editor.
  2. Enter text or just position your cursor:
    • If you want to find a specific page or file, type the first few characters of the page title, user's name, image name or file name.
    • If you want to search for and link more than one word, select the relevant text.
    • If you want to select a link from the pages you have visited recently, position your cursor after a space or at the beginning of a line.
  3. Press Ctrl+Shift+K on your keyboard.
    (info) Press Ctrl+Shift+K again to select another word to the left of your current selection. You can press it repeatedly to select multiple words. The repeated selection will stop if there is a change in formatting, such as moving from normal to italic text.
  4. The list of suggestions will appear as a dropdown menu.
    • Select the relevant link using the mouse, or the arrow keys plus 'Enter'. The hyperlink will appear on your page, with the name of the destination page or file as the hyperlinked text.
    • If the item you need is not in the list, select 'Search for "xxx"' to continue looking for the page within Confluence, or 'Insert Web Link' to insert a link to an external web page. The link browser will open on the relevant tab. If you need help with the link browser, see the full instructions on adding links. Insert the link via the link browser.
  5. Click 'Save' to save the updated page.

Screenshot: Autocomplete for a Link

Using Autocomplete for Images and Documents

You can use the autocomplete as a fast way of embedding images and documents into your page. Enter an exclamation mark or press Ctrl+Shift+M to call up a list of suggested images and documents to display on your page. You can use autocomplete to embed the following file types:

(info) Autocomplete works most efficiently for files that are already attached to a Confluence page. See Attaching Files to a Page.

To embed an image or document using '!',

  1. If the image or document is not already attached to a Confluence page, attach it in the usual way. See Attaching Files to a Page.
  2. Go to the page where you want to display the image or document, and edit the page in the Rich Text Editor.
  3. Place your cursor where you want to insert the image or document, and enter an exclamation mark like this: !
  4. If you want to find a specific image or document, type the first few characters of the image or document name.
  5. The list of suggestions will appear as a dropdown menu when you pause in your typing.
    • Select the relevant item using the mouse, or the arrow keys plus 'Enter'.
    • If the item you need is not in the list, select 'Open Image Browser' to continue looking for the image or file. If you need help with the image browser, see the full instructions on inserting images. Insert the image via the image browser.
  6. The image or document appears on your page.
    • If it is an image, you will see a preview of the image.
    • If it is a document, you will see the wiki markup for the macro used to display the file. It will look something like this, where the example is a PowerPoint file: 
      {viewppt:page=My page of meetings|name=Timeline.ppt}
  7. Click 'Save' to save the updated page.



To embed an image or document using Ctrl+Shift+M,

  1. If the image or document is not already attached to a Confluence page, attach it in the usual way. See Attaching Files to a Page.
  2. Go to the page where you want to display the image or document, and edit the page in the Rich Text Editor.
  3. Enter text or just position your cursor:
    • If you want to find a specific image or document, type the first few characters of the page or document name.
    • If you want to search for more than one word, select the relevant text.
    • If you want to select an page or document from the current page, position your cursor after a space or at the beginning of a line.
  4. Press Ctrl+Shift+M on your keyboard.
  5. The list of suggestions will appear as a dropdown menu.
    • Select the relevant item using the mouse, or the arrow keys plus 'Enter'.
    • If the item you need is not in the list, select 'Open Image Browser' to continue looking for the image or file. If you need help with the image browser, see the full instructions on inserting images. Insert the image via the image browser.
  6. The image or document appears on your page.
    • If it is an image, you will see a preview of the image.
    • If it is a document, you will see the wiki markup for the macro used to display the file. It will look something like this, where the example is a PowerPoint file: 
      {viewppt:page=My page of meetings|name=Timeline.ppt}
  7. Click 'Save' to save the updated page.
  8. The image or document is displayed on the page.

Screenshot: Autocomplete for an Image or Document

Cancelling Autocomplete

The autocomplete starts automatically when you press the trigger characters. You may want to close the autocomplete menu or escape from autocomplete once it has started.

There are a few different ways to stop the autocomplete once it has started:

  • Press the escape key, 'Esc', on your keyboard.
  • Click somewhere else in the editor panel.
  • Press an arrow key to move out of the autocomplete area.
  • For the link autocomplete only: Enter a right-hand square bracket, like this: ]

Enabling and Disabling Autocomplete

You can turn off the triggering of autocomplete via the '[' and '!' characters. This will prevent the autocomplete from starting automatically when you press one of the trigger characters. You can also turn it back on again.

Autocomplete is enabled by default.

Notes:

  • This setting does not affect the keyboard shortcuts for autocomplete (Ctrl+Shift+K and Ctrl+Shift+M). Even if the trigger characters are disabled, you can still use the keyboard shortcuts for autocomplete.
  • This setting affects only you. Other people using Confluence can enable or disable the setting on their user profiles independently.

To enable or disable the autocomplete trigger characters,

  1. Go to the 'Settings' view for your user profile. To do this:

    • Log in to Confluence, if you have not already done so.
    • Go to your name at the top of the page. (This is the 'User' menu. A dropdown list will appear when your cursor hovers over the 'User' menu.)
    • Select 'Settings' from the dropdown list. The 'Settings' view will open.
  2. Click 'Editor' under 'Your Settings' in the left-hand panel.
  3. Click the 'Edit' button.
  4. Enable or disable autocomplete as follows:
    • Put a tick in the 'Disable Autocomplete' check box to prevent the autocomplete from starting automatically when you press one of the trigger characters.
    • Remove the tick from the 'Disable Autocomplete' check box to enable autocomplete.
  5. Click the 'Submit' button.

Screenshot: User Settings for the Editor

RELATED TOPICS

Adding and Removing Links in the Rich Text Editor
Inserting Images in the Rich Text Editor
Rich Text Editor Overview
User Profile Overview

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