Skip to content

Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts

The most important shortcuts are always shown in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. These shortcut hints depend on the active tool and also change when modifiers are pressed to allow easy exploration of available functionality.

A complete listing of all available keyboard & mouse shortcuts for WEBKNOSSOS can be found below.

General

Key Binding Operation
Ctrl / Cmd + Z Undo
Ctrl / Cmd + Y Redo
Ctrl / Cmd + S Save
I or Ctrl / Cmd + Mousewheel Zoom In
O or Ctrl / Cmd + Mousewheel Zoom Out
P Select Previous Comment
N Select Next Comment
3 Toggle Segmentation Opacity
H Increase the Move Value
G Decrease the Move Value
Q Download Screenshot(s) of Viewport(s)
. Toggle Viewport Maximization
K , L Toggle left/right Sidebars

Skeleton Annotation Mode

Key Binding Operation
M Toggle Mode (Orthogonal, Flight, Oblique)
1 Toggle Visibility of all Trees
2 Toggle Visibility of Inactive Trees
Shift + Mousewheel Change Node Radius
Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + F Open Tree Search (if Tree List is visible)
F or Mousewheel Move Forward by a Single Slice
D or Mousewheel Move Backward by a Single Slice

Orthogonal Mode

Note that skeleton-specific mouse actions are usually only available when the skeleton tool is active.

Key Binding Operation
Left Mouse Drag or Arrow Keys Move In-Plane
Alt + Mouse Move Move In-Plane
Space Move Forward
Scroll Mousewheel (3D View) Zoom In And Out
Right-Click Drag (3D View) Rotate 3D View
Left Click Create New Node
Left Click Select Node (Mark as Active Node) under cursor
Left Drag Move node under cursor
Right Click (on node) Bring up the context-menu with further actions
Shift + Alt + Left Click Merge Two Nodes and Combine Trees
Shift + Ctrl / Cmd + Left Click Delete Edge / Split Trees
C Create New Tree
Ctrl / Cmd + . Navigate to the next Node (Mark as Active)
Ctrl / Cmd + , Navigate to previous Node (Mark as Active)
Ctrl / Cmd + Left Click or Ctrl / Cmd + Arrow Keys Move the Active Node
Del Delete Node / Split Trees
B Mark Node as New Branchpoint
J Jump To Last Branchpoint
S Center Camera on Active Node

Note that you can enable Classic Controls which will behave slightly different and more explicit for the mouse actions:

Key Binding Operation
Right Click Create New Node
Shift + Left Click Select Node (Mark as Active Node)

Flight / Oblique Mode

Key Binding Operation
Left Click Select Node (Mark as Active Node) under cursor
Left Mouse Drag or Arrow Keys Rotation
Space Move Forward
Ctrl / Cmd + Space Move Backward
I / O Zoom In And Out
Shift + Arrow Rotation Around Axis
R Invert Direction
B Mark Node as New Branchpoint
J Jump To Last Branchpoint
S Center Active Node
F Forward Without Recording Waypoints
D Backward Without Recording Waypoints
Del Delete Node / Split Trees
Shift + Space Delete Active Node, Recenter Previous Node
Shift + Alt + Left Click Merge Two Nodes and Combine Trees
Shift + Ctrl / Cmd + Left Click Delete Edge / Split Trees

Volume Mode

Key Binding Operation
Left Mouse Drag or Arrow Keys Move (Move Mode) / Add To Current Segment (Trace / Brush Mode)
Right Click Bring up context-menu with further actions
Shift + Left Click Select Active Segment
Ctrl / Cmd + Left Mouse Drag Add Voxels To Current Segment while inverting the overwrite-mode (see toolbar for overwrite-mode)
Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + Left Mouse Drag Remove Voxels From Segment
Alt + Mouse Move Move
C Create New Segment
Shift + Mousewheel or Shift + I / O Change Brush Size (Brush Mode)
V Interpolate current segment between last labeled and current slice

Note that you can enable Classic Controls which won't open a context menu on right-click, but instead erases when the brush/trace tool is activated.

Key Binding Operation
Right Mouse Drag Remove Voxels
Ctrl / Cmd + Right Mouse Drag Remove Voxels while inverting the overwrite-mode (see toolbar for overwrite-mode)

Tool Switching Shortcuts

Note that you need to first press Ctrl / Cmd + K, release these keys and then press the letter that was assigned to a specific tool in order to switch to it.
Ctrl / Cmd + K is not needed for cyclic tool switching via W / Shift+W.

Key Binding Operation
W Cycle Through Tools (Move / Skeleton / Trace / Brush / ...)
Shift + W Cycle Backwards Through Tools (Move / Proofread / Bounding Box / Pick Cell / ...)
Ctrl / Cmd + K , M Move Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , S Skeleton Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , B Brush Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , E Brush Erase Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , L Lasso Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , R Lasso Erase Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , P Segment Picker Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , Q Quick Select Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , X Bounding Box Tool
Ctrl / Cmd + K , O Proofreading Tool

Note that you need to first press Ctrl / Cmd + K, release these keys and press the suitable number.

Key Binding Operation
Ctrl / Cmd + K , 1 Switch to small brush
Ctrl / Cmd + K , 2 Switch to medium sized brush
Ctrl / Cmd + K , 3 Switch to large brush
Key Binding Operation
Shift + Click on a mesh in the 3D viewport Move the camera to the clicked position
Ctrl / Cmd + Click on a mesh in the 3D viewport Select the mesh and its segment ID

Agglomerate File Mapping Skeleton

The following binding only works in skeleton/hybrid annotations and if an agglomerate file mapping is activated.

Key Binding Operation
Shift + Middle Click Import Skeleton for Selected Segment

This video demonstrates an annotation workflow using some keyboard shortcuts:

Classic Controls

Note that you can enable Classic Controls in the left sidebar. Classic controls are provided for backward compatibility for long-time users and are not recommended for new user accounts. Hence, Classic controls are disabled by default, and WEBKNOSSOS uses a more intuitive behavior which assigns the most important functionality to the left mouse button (e.g., moving around, selecting/creating/moving nodes). The right mouse button always opens a context-sensitive menu for more complex actions, such as merging two trees. With classic controls, several mouse controls are modifier-driven and may also use the right-click for actions, such as erasing volume data.