Keyboard Support in ASP.NET CORE Rich Text Editor Control

21 Mar 202516 minutes to read

The editor has full keyboard accessibility that includes shortcuts to open and other actions with toolbar items, drop-down lists, and dialogs.

HTML editor shortcut keys

You can use the following keyboard shortcuts when the Rich Text Editor is set to editorMode as HTML.

The toolbar shortcuts allow quick navigation and interaction with the toolbar elements, including focusing, moving between tools, and executing actions like closing menus and dialogs.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Focus on toolbar	`Alt` + `F10`	`⌥` + `F10`
Move to the next tool	`→`	`→`, `⌘` + `F`
Move to the previous tool	`←`	`←`, `⌘` + `F`
Close dropdowns/menu and dialogs	`Esc`	`Esc`
Execute the currently focused tool action	`Enter`, `Space`	`Enter`, `Space`

Content editing and formatting

These keyboard shortcuts allow for quick access to content editing features like bold, italic, and text selection.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Select all content	`Ctrl` + `A`	`⌘` + `A`
Insert a hard line break (a new paragraph)	`Enter`	`Enter`
Insert a soft line break (without starting a new paragraph)	`Shift` + `Enter`	`⇧` + `Enter`
Make text bold	`Ctrl` + `B`	`⌘` + `B`
Italicize text	`Ctrl` + `I`	`⌘` + `I`
Apply strikethrough	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `S`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `S`
Insert inline code	`Ctrl` + `	`⌘` + `
Create link	`Ctrl` + `K`	`⌘` + `K`
Copy format painter	`Alt` + `Shift` + `C`	`⌥` + `⌘` + `C`
Paste format painter	`Alt` + `Shift` + `V`	`⌥` + `⌘` + `V`
Clear the copy format painter	`Esc`	`Esc`
Tab space (when enableTabKey is enabled)	`Tab`	`Tab`

Inserting

These shortcuts enable you to quickly insert tables, images, audio, and videos into your content.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Open the insert table dialog	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `E`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `E`
Open the insert image dialog	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `I`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `I`
Open the insert audio dialog	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `A`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `A`
Open the insert video dialog	`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `V`	`⌘` + `⌥` + `V`

Table cell

These shortcuts assist in navigating between table cells and managing table rows easily.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Move the selection to the next cell	`Tab`	`Tab`
Move the selection to the previous cell	`Shift` + `Tab`	`⇧` + `Tab`
Insert a new table row (when in the last cell)	`Tab`	`Tab`
Navigate through the table (using arrow keys)	`↑` , `→` , `↓` , `←`	`↑` , `→` , `↓` , `←`

Text manipulation

These shortcuts allow you to manipulate text, such as changing case or applying superscript/subscript formatting.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Convert text to uppercase	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `U`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `U`
Convert text to lowercase	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `L`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `L`
Apply superscript	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `=`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `=`
Apply subscript	`Ctrl` + `=`	`⌘` + `=`

Alignment and formatting

These shortcuts help you quickly adjust text alignment and formatting, such as left, center, or right justification.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Align text to the center	`Ctrl` + `E`	`⌘` + `E`
Justify text	`Ctrl` + `J`	`⌘` + `J`
Align text to the left	`Ctrl` + `L`	`⌘` + `L`
Align text to the right	`Ctrl` + `R`	`⌘` + `R`

List and indentation

These shortcuts help with creating and adjusting ordered and unordered lists, and modifying indentations.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Increase indent	`Ctrl` + `]`	`⌘` + `]`
Decrease indent	`Ctrl` + `[`	`⌘` + `[`
Create an ordered list	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `O`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `O`
Create an unordered list	`Ctrl` + `Alt` + `O`	`⌘` + `⌥` + `O`

Clipboard operations

These shortcuts streamline copying, cutting, pasting, and pasting content as plain text.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Copy the selected content	`Ctrl` + `C`	`⌘` + `C`
Cut the selected content	`Ctrl` + `X`	`⌘` + `X`
Paste the copied or cut content	`Ctrl` + `V`	`⌘` + `V`
Paste content as plain text	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `V`	`⌘` + `⌥` + `⇧` + `V`

Undo & redo

These shortcuts allow you to quickly undo and redo changes to your content.

Actions	Windows	Mac
Undo	`Ctrl` + `Z`	`⌘` + `Z`
Redo	`Ctrl` + `Y`	`⌘` + `Y`

Other actions

These miscellaneous shortcuts help with actions like toggling fullscreen, clearing formatting, and accessing the HTML source.

Actions	PC	Mac
View HTML source	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `H`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `H`
Toggle fullscreen mode	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `F`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `F`
Exit Fullscreen	`Esc`	`Esc`
Clear all formatting	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `R`	`⌘` + `⇧` + `R`

CSHTML
Controller.cs
<ejs-richtexteditor id="keyboard" created="created" height="500" value="@ViewBag.value">
    <e-richtexteditor-toolbarsettings items="@ViewBag.items"></e-richtexteditor-toolbarsettings>
</ejs-richtexteditor>

<script type="text/javascript">
    var rteObj;
    function created() {
        rteObj = this;
    }
    document.addEventListener('keyup', function (e) {
        if (e.altKey && e.keyCode === 84) { /* t */
            // press alt+t to focus the control.
            rteObj.focusIn();
        }
    });
</script>
public class HomeController : Controller
{

    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        ViewBag.value = @"<p>The Syncfudion Rich Text Editor, a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor, is a user interface that allows you to create, edit, and format rich text content. You can try out a demo of this editor here.</p><p><b>Key features:</b></p><ul><li><p>Provides &lt;IFRAME&gt; and &lt;DIV&gt; modes.</p></li><li><p>Bulleted and numbered lists.</p></li><li><p>Handles images, hyperlinks, videos, hyperlinks, uploads, etc.</p></li><li><p>Contains undo/redo manager. </p></li></ul><div style='display: inline-block; width: 60%; vertical-align: top; cursor: auto;'><img alt='Sky with sun' src='https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/richtexteditor-resources/RTE-Overview.png' width='309' style='min-width: 10px; min-height: 10px; width: 309px; height: 174px;' class='e-rte-image e-imginline e-rte-drag-image' height='174' /></div>";
        ViewBag.items = new[] { "Bold", "Italic", "Underline", "StrikeThrough",
        "FontName", "FontSize", "FontColor", "BackgroundColor",
        "LowerCase", "UpperCase", "|",
        "Formats", "Alignments", "OrderedList", "UnorderedList",
        "Outdent", "Indent", "|",
        "CreateLink", "Image", "CreateTable", "|", "FormatPainter" , "ClearFormat", "Print",
        "SourceCode", "FullScreen", "|", "Undo", "Redo"
    };
        return View();
    }
}

Custom Key Config

You can able to customize the key config for the keyboard interaction of Rich Text Editor, using keyConfig property.

In the following sample, customize the bold, italic, underline toolbar action with `ctrl` + `alt` + `b`, `ctrl` + `alt` + `i` and `ctrl` + `alt` + `u` respectively.

CSHTML
Controller.cs
<ejs-richtexteditor id="customKey" keyConfig="@ViewBag.keyConfig" value="@ViewBag.value">
    <e-richtexteditor-toolbarsettings items="@ViewBag.items"></e-richtexteditor-toolbarsettings>
</ejs-richtexteditor>
public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public KeyModel KeyConfigData = new KeyModel();

    public class KeyModel
    {
        public string bold { get; set; }
        public string italic { get; set; }
        public string underline { get; set; }
    }
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        ViewBag.value = @"<p>The Syncfudion Rich Text Editor, a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor, is a user interface that allows you to create, edit, and format rich text content. You can try out a demo of this editor here.</p><p><b>Key features:</b></p><ul><li><p>Provides &lt;IFRAME&gt; and &lt;DIV&gt; modes.</p></li><li><p>Bulleted and numbered lists.</p></li><li><p>Handles images, hyperlinks, videos, hyperlinks, uploads, etc.</p></li><li><p>Contains undo/redo manager. </p></li></ul><div style='display: inline-block; width: 60%; vertical-align: top; cursor: auto;'><img alt='Sky with sun' src='https://cdn.syncfusion.com/ej2/richtexteditor-resources/RTE-Overview.png' width='309' style='min-width: 10px; min-height: 10px; width: 309px; height: 174px;' class='e-rte-image e-imginline e-rte-drag-image' height='174' /></div>";
        
        KeyConfigData.bold = "ctrl+alt+b";
        KeyConfigData.italic = "ctrl+alt+i";
        KeyConfigData.underline = "ctrl+alt+u";

        ViewBag.keyConfig = KeyConfigData;

        ViewBag.items = new[] { "Bold", "Italic", "Underline", "StrikeThrough",
        "FontName", "FontSize", "FontColor", "BackgroundColor",
        "LowerCase", "UpperCase", "|",
        "Formats", "Alignments", "OrderedList", "UnorderedList",
        "Outdent", "Indent", "|",
        "CreateLink", "Image", "CreateTable", "|", "ClearFormat", "Print",
        "SourceCode", "FullScreen", "|", "Undo", "Redo" };

        return View();
    }

}