Quick Reference Guide for the Confluence Editor

This page is a quick-reference guide to using the Confluence editor. The aim is to give you enough information about the editor's features for you to experiment yourself, rather than describing every possible shortcut key, autocomplete feature or toolbar option.

This guide is for people who want to use the autocomplete, autoformatting and keyboard shortcuts provided by the editor. If you prefer to use the toolbar options, the editor itself should be mostly self-explanatory.

On this page:

Introductory Tips

1. Use the editor toolbar to get started. The new editor toolbar contains the most important buttons you'll need for creating and editing content.

2. Use the keyboard shortcuts. For example:

Type [ (angle bracket) to insert a link.
Type ! (exclamation point) to insert an image or other media.
Type { (curly bracket) to insert a macro.
Confluence will prompt you with a list of suggestions to finish the entry. For more, click the help icon on the editor toolbar to see a list of keyboard shortcuts.

3. Discover the undo action for autocomplete and autoformatting. To undo something that autocomplete or autoformatting has done, press Backspace on your keyboard. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac).

A How-To Video

Here's a short video showing off the basic editor improvements.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pd02l91V7cg

Using the Most Commonly Used Formats and Features

Below is a list of the most commonly used editor features, and the related keyboard shortcuts.

Formatting Text

Formatting Text	What to Do	Windows Keyboard Shortcuts (For Mac OS X, replace "Ctrl" with "Cmd".)
Heading levels	Type the heading level and a full stop. Autoformat will convert the line to the appropriate heading immediately. You can continue typing your heading text immediately. Example: `h2.`	Ctrl + 1 to 6
Bold text	Type an asterisk '', your text, then another asterisk. Confluence autoformat will convert the text to bold immediately. Example: `Surf's Up*`	Ctrl + b
Italic text	Type an underscore '_', your text, then another underscore. Confluence autoformatting will convert the text to italics immediately. Example: `_Surf's Up_`	Ctrl + i
Underlined text	Type a plus sign '+', your text, then another plus sign '+'. Confluence autoformatting will convert the text to underlined immediately. Example: `+Surf's Up+`	Ctrl + u
`Monospace text`	Type two curly braces {{, your text, then another two curly braces }}. Confluence autoformat will convert the text to monospace immediately. Example: `{{Surf's Up}}`	{{
Left, centre and right alignment	Click the left, centre and right alignment buttons on the editor toolbar: This can also be used to align images independently of text.	None
Indentation	Click the left and right indentation buttons on the editor toolbar:	Tab (right), Shift + Tab (left)
Quotation	Use the Quote style – select 'Quote' from the style dropdown menu or use the keyboard shortcut. Example:	Ctrl + 8
Colour	Click the colour options on the editor toolbar. Example:	None

Using Symbols

Adding Symbols and Emoticons	What to Type	Keyboard Shortcut (Windows)
Tick or check mark	Type a forward slash in round brackets. Autocomplete will convert it as you type. Example: `(/)`	( + / + )
Smiley	Type the globally-recognised markup for a smiley face (colon and round bracket), a wink (semicolon and round bracket), and so on. Autocomplete will convert it as you type. Example: `:)`	: + )

Linking Text

Linking text	What to Type	Keyboard Shortcut (Windows)
Linking to a Confluence page	Type a square bracket '[' and start typing the page name to see the suggested pages to link to. Press the arrow keys to select the page you want. Example:	[
Linking text to a web page	Type a square bracket '[' and select 'Insert Web Link', then paste the URL into the link dialog. Example:	[
Linking to a page that does not yet exist	Type a square bracket '[' and the name of the non-existent page, then select 'Insert Link to Create Page'. Example:	[
Linking to an attachment	Type a square bracket '[' and start typing the attachment name to see the suggested attachments to link to. Press the arrow keys to select the item you want. Example:	[

Using Lists

Using lists	What to Type	Keyboard Shortcut (Windows)
Adding a bullet list	Type an asterisk '*' followed by a space. Autoformat will convert the line to a bulleted list. You can continue typing your text immediately. Example: To add another line of text to an entry without creating a new list item, press Shift + Enter at the end of the line.	Ctrl + Shift + b
Adding a numbered list	Type a hash or pound '#' followed by a space. Autoformat will convert the line to a numbered list. You can continue typing your text immediately. Example: To add another line of text to an entry without creating a new list item, press Shift + Enter at the end of the line.	Ctrl + Shift + n

Using Tables

Using tables	What to Type	Keyboard Shortcut (Windows)
Adding a table	Type a series of pipe characters '\|' then press Enter. Autoformat will convert the pipes to a table. Example – to create a table with three columns: `\| \| \| \|`	None

Using Macros

Adding Macros	What to Type	Keyboard Shortcut (Windows)
Adding a macro to your page.	Type '{' and start typing the macro name to see a list of macros that match your text. Press the arrow keys to select the macro you want. Example:	{

Displaying Images and Multimedia

Displaying images	What to Type	Keyboard Shortcut (Windows)
Display an image attached to the page	Type an exclamation mark '!' and start typing the image name to see the suggested images to insert onto the page. Press the arrow keys to select the item you want. Example:	!
Displaying an image attached to another page	Exactly the same as when the image is attached to the same page.	!
Embedding multimedia files	What to Type	Keyboard Shortcut (Windows)
Embedding a video, movie or audio file into a page	Type an exclamation mark '!' and select 'Insert Other Media'. Example: Or type '{' and start typing the macro name 'Multimedia'. Example:	!

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