Keyboard Shortcuts
Optional keyboard shortcuts for power users — the command palette, save, print, and close-anything keys.
These are completely optional — everything here can also be done with the mouse, the slower-but-perfectly-good way. If keyboard shortcuts aren't your thing, you can safely skip this page.
A quick note on the symbols: ⌘ is the Command key on a Mac (next to the spacebar). On Windows or Linux, use Ctrl instead. So wherever you see ⌘K below, Windows users press Ctrl+K.
The big one — the command palette (⌘K / Ctrl+K)
This is the shortcut worth learning first. The command palette is a single search box that lets you jump anywhere, do common actions, and find any patient or client — all without touching the mouse.
Quick version — Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows), start typing, press Enter.
Step by step
- Press ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux) from anywhere in the app.
- A search box appears in the centre of the screen.
- Start typing — a feature name, an action, or a patient or client name.
- Use the ↑ and ↓ arrow keys to move up and down the list.
- Press Enter to choose the highlighted item.
- Press Esc at any time to close the box without doing anything.
You can also open it with the mouse: click the Search & Command button in the top header bar.
What you can do in the command palette
Jump to a feature. Type a feature name like patients, schedule, or billing and press Enter to go there.
Run a quick action. Type things like New Patient, New Client, New Appointment, or New Invoice. These appear under the Quick Actions group. New Patient, New Client and New Invoice open the relevant create form; New Appointment takes you to the Schedule, where you add the appointment.
Search for a patient or client. Type a name (or for patients, a species or breed; for clients, an email or phone number). Results appear live as you type. Press Enter to open the record.
See inactive records too. There's a toggle at the bottom of the palette to include inactive patients (for example, deceased or archived records). Turn it on if the patient you're after doesn't appear.
If something looks wrong
- Nothing shows up when you type a single letter → The live search needs at least two characters before it starts looking for patients and clients. Type one more letter. Feature names and quick actions (like "Go to Patients") appear straight away, though.
- You can't find a patient you know exists → Search results show only the first few matches. For the full list, open the Patients or Clients page from the sidebar and use the search there. Also try turning on include inactive.
Everyday shortcuts
These work the way they do in most other programs, so they may already be in your fingers.
| Shortcut (Mac) | Shortcut (Windows) | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ⌘K | Ctrl+K | Open the command palette (search & jump anywhere) |
| ⌘S | Ctrl+S | Save what you're working on (for example, consult notes) |
| ⌘P | Ctrl+P | Print the current page, or save it as a PDF (this is your browser's own shortcut, not a Wattle one) |
| Esc | Esc | Close a pop-up window, side panel, or the command palette |
| ↑ / ↓ | ↑ / ↓ | Move up and down a list (in the command palette) |
| Enter | Enter | Choose the highlighted item (in the command palette) |
Save with ⌘S / Ctrl+S
When you're typing into something like consult notes, pressing ⌘S (or Ctrl+S) saves your work. You don't have to reach for the Save button. See The consult for where this comes in handy.
Print with ⌘P / Ctrl+P
⌘P (or Ctrl+P) is your browser's built-in shortcut — Wattle doesn't do anything special with it. It opens your browser's print window for the page you're on. From there you can send it to a printer or choose "Save as PDF". For invoices, estimates and statements specifically, the on-screen Print button gives you a tidier, business-ready layout — so prefer that where it's offered. More on this in Printing & PDFs.
Close anything with Esc
Pop-up windows (we call them dialogs) and side-sliding panels (sheets) can all be closed by pressing Esc. You can also click the X in the corner, or click the dimmed area outside the window. Nothing is saved or sent just by closing — it's a safe way to back out.
A few more keyboard niceties
These aren't special Wattle shortcuts — they're built into your web browser — but they're handy to know.
- Back and forward — Your browser's back and forward buttons move you through the pages you've visited, the same as the ← and → buttons in Wattle's top header.
- Tab key — Press Tab to move from one field to the next when filling in a form, and Shift+Tab to go back a field.
Do I have to use any of this?
No. Every single thing on this page has a mouse-friendly equivalent:
- The command palette → the sidebar on the left and the Search & Command button in the header.
- Save → the Save button on the screen.
- Print → the Print button (or your browser's menu).
- Close a window → the X button in its corner.
Keyboard shortcuts just make the same jobs a little quicker once they become habit. Use as many or as few as you like.
Related pages
- The lay of the land — your screen explained, including the header and sidebar
- How the app talks to you — dialogs, sheets, toasts and badges
- Printing & PDFs — getting clean printouts
- Buttons & symbols cheat sheet — a printable icon reference
- Glossary — plain-English definitions