Combos to avoid when assigning custom hotkeys, grouped by platform and interceptor.
"Mod" = Ctrl on Windows/Linux, Cmd on macOS.
All platforms — Obsidian built-ins Already bound by Obsidian; reassigning causes conflicts or silent collisions.
Combo
Action
Mod+P
Command palette
Mod+N
New note
Mod+O
Quick switcher
Mod+Shift+F
Search all files
Mod+E
Toggle edit/reading view
Mod+,
Settings
Mod+W
Close tab
Mod+T
New tab
Mod+Tab / Mod+Shift+Tab
Cycle tabs
Mod+F
Find in file
Mod+H
Find & replace
Mod+B
Bold
Mod+I
Italic
Mod+K
Insert link
Mod+Z / Mod+Shift+Z
Undo / Redo
Mod+X / C / V
Cut / Copy / Paste
Mod+A
Select all
Mod+D
Delete line
Mod+G
Open graph view
All platforms — Electron internals Electron intercepts these regardless of what Obsidian's hotkeys.json says.
Combo
Action
Ctrl+Shift+I (Win/Linux) / Cmd+Option+I (Mac)
DevTools
Ctrl+R / Ctrl+Shift+R
Reload window
Ctrl+Shift+J
DevTools console
Ctrl++ / Ctrl+- / Ctrl+0
Zoom in / out / reset
F11 (Win/Linux)
Fullscreen toggle
IBus / Fcitx (input method — intercepted before Obsidian)
Combo
Action
Ctrl+Shift+U Unicode code point entry — reliably breaks hotkeys
Ctrl+Shift+E
Emoji input (IBus on some distros)
Ctrl+Space
Toggle input method (near-universal)
Shift+Space
Half/full-width toggle (CJK setups)
GNOME Shell / desktop environment
Combo
Action
Super+* (any)
Almost all owned by GNOME Shell
Ctrl+Alt+T
Terminal
Ctrl+Alt+L
Lock screen
Ctrl+Alt+Delete
Session dialog
Ctrl+Alt+↑ ↓ ← →
Workspace switching
Alt+F2
Run dialog
Alt+F4
Close window
Alt+Tab / Alt+Shift+Tab
Window switcher
Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
Kill X server (if ZapNotKeyboard enabled)
Combo
Action
Ctrl+Alt+F1–F12
Switch virtual terminals
Ctrl+Shift+Y/H/M/G/D · Alt+Shift+* (mostly unclaimed) · Ctrl+Alt+Y/H/M (avoid F-keys and arrows)
System / Spotlight / Mission Control
Combo
Action
Cmd+Space
Spotlight
Cmd+Tab
App switcher
Cmd+`
Window switcher within app
Cmd+Q
Quit app
Cmd+W
Close window
Cmd+M
Minimize
Cmd+H
Hide app
Cmd+Option+H
Hide other apps
Cmd+Option+Esc
Force quit dialog
Cmd+Option+D
Show/hide Dock
Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down
Mission Control / App Exposé
Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right
Switch Spaces
Cmd+Shift+3 / 4 / 5
Screenshots / screen recording
Ctrl+Cmd+Space
Character viewer / emoji
Ctrl+Space
Switch input source
F-keys on Mac default to hardware controls (brightness, volume, etc.) and are unreliable as bare hotkeys without Fn. Prefer Cmd/Ctrl combinations.
Cmd+Shift+Y/G/D · Ctrl+Shift+* (most are free on Mac, unlike Linux) · Cmd+Option+* (check Mission Control settings first)
Win key (nearly all taken)
Combo
Action
Win+L
Lock screen
Win+D
Show desktop
Win+E
File Explorer
Win+R
Run dialog
Win+S / Win+Q
Search
Win+Tab
Task View
Win+Space
Switch input language
Win+↑ ↓ ← →
Window snapping
Win+Shift+S
Snipping tool
Win+. / Win+;
Emoji picker
Combo
Action
Ctrl+Alt+Delete
Security screen
Ctrl+Shift+Esc
Task Manager
Ctrl+Esc
Start menu
Alt+Tab / Alt+Shift+Tab
Window switcher
Alt+F4
Close window
Alt+Shift
Switch keyboard layout (if multiple languages installed)
Ctrl+Space
Toggle IME (CJK input methods)
Ctrl+Shift+Y/H/M/G · Ctrl+Alt+Y/H/M (avoid Delete and F-keys) · avoid all Win+* combos
Quick reference — reliable safe combos across all platforms
Combo
Notes
Mod+Shift+Y
Free on all three platforms
Mod+Shift+H
Free (Mac: avoid if using Hide-app muscle memory)
Mod+Shift+M
Free on all three
Mod+Shift+G
Free (Obsidian uses Mod+G for graph, not Mod+Shift+G)
Alt+Shift+*
Mostly free on Linux and Windows; check macOS Spaces