A Hotkey is a key or combination of keys that performs a action, often bypassing icons and menus. In some cases, a hotkey is the only way to access an action.
Hotkeys are also referred to as keyboard shortcuts or shortcut keys.
Some hotkeys work in conjunction with mouse position or mouse movements. For example, Visibility Shortcuts don't have visible controls, and generally require mouse movements.
With some exceptions, the default hotkeys shown here can be customized using Configure Keyboard Shortcuts, which is found on the Controls tab of the General Options menu. Configure Keyboard Shortcuts can also assign hotkeys to actions listed as "unbound". Recipes and View Presets can also be assigned hotkeys.
Alphabetic hotkeys are specified as uppercase for legibility. Type the lowercase letter, so for the "Q" hotkey, type "q". Uppercase "Q" would be specified as "Shift + Q".
Some hotkeys involve the Shift, Ctrl (control), and Alt key in combination with another key. For example, "Ctrl + D" means "hold the control key, then press lowercase 'd'".
Hotkeys may also involve combinations of Shift, Ctrl, and Alt. For example, "Ctrl + Shift + C" means "hold the control key and the shift key, then press lowercase "c". The "Ctrl + Shift + C" combination selects the Stick protein view with CPK coloring.
Foldit itself uses a more compact format for combination hotkeys, for example "Ctrl+Shift+C". The "Ctrl + Shift + C" is used on the wiki for legibility.
In the action bar, the icon for a given tool or menu usually shows the shortcut. For example, the "wiggle" icon has a "W" in the upper left. Hovering over an icon or menu item may also reveal a Tooltip that includes a hotkey.
Updated for 2023, a single-page cheat sheet listing most hotkeys and mouse actions is available in these formats:
General
These hotkeys perform some of the most basic Foldit functions, but they don't have a clear category of their own. The Ctrl + A and space hotkeys can't be modified by Configure Keyboard Shortcuts.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Ctrl + A | Select all | hotkey can't be modified | none |
space | stops any ongoing action | hotkey can't be modified | none |
space | if no action is running, deselects all segments | hotkey can't be modified | none |
tab | show segment info | when hovering on segment | GENERAL_SHOW_RESIDUE_INFO |
left arrow | previous rotamer | one segment selected | GENERAL_CYCLE_SIDECHAIN_LEFT |
right arrow | next rotamer | one segment selected | GENERAL_CYCLE_SIDECHAIN_RIGHT |
Ctrl + S | Save solution | See Open/Share Solutions for related functions. | GENERAL_SAVE_SOLUTION |
Ctrl + X | Save and exit | ACTIONS_EXIT_GAME | |
Ctrl+L | Show/hide level hints | Campaign only | ACTIONS_RESET_HELP |
Select
Many Foldit tools work with a selection of one or more segments. Some tools apply to all segments if nothing is selected. Other tools aren't active unless something is selected. The Ctrl + A hotkey selects all. Otherwise, selecting and deselecting involves uses the mouse.
Key or mouse action | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Ctrl + A | select all | hotkey can't be modified | none |
Shift + click on segment | extend a selection | selects segment if nothing selected | none |
Ctrl + click on segment | deselect segment | can also select additional segments | none |
Ctrl + Shift + click and drag | select segments in a sphere | none | |
click on background | deselect all segments | also right-click on background | none |
space | deselect all segments | if no action is running | none |
Camera
Foldit looks at proteins and other molecules through an invisible camera. The camera controls don't appear as icons or menu options, so hotkeys or mouse actions are required to use them.
The camera controls move or adust the camera, while the protein remains in the same spot. The Move tool can move the protein or a ligand to a new position. Other tools, especially Wiggle can cause the protein to move. In some cases, wiggle can cause a protein or a ligand to disappear off the screen.
The mouse actions for adjusting the camera are:
- Click and drag on the background to rotate the camera around the protein
- Shift + click + drag to move the camera up, down, right, and left
- Ctrl + Shift + click to adjust the far distance cutoff
- Alt + Shift + click to adjust distance fog or haze
- Ctrl + Alt + click + drag to adjust near visibility cutoff
The "drag" mouse actions mean drag on the empty background, not on the protein or a ligand.
The remaining camera controls are available using these hotkeys:
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Q | recenter protein | does not reset zoom | GENERAL_RECENTER_PROTEIN |
Shift + Q | focus on hovered segment | changes far and near visibility | GENERAL_FOCUS_SEGMENT |
Page Up | zoom in | mouse wheel also zooms | GENERAL_ZOOM_IN |
Page Down | zoom out | mouse wheel also zooms | GENERAL_ZOOM_OUT |
Home | reset camera | resets zoom; default is Windows-only | MISC_RECENTER_CAMERA |
Alt + Home | spin camera | default is Windows-only | MISC_SPIN_CAMERA |
Shift + Home | rock camera | default is Windows-only | MISC_ROCK_CAMERA |
Ctrl + H | Save screenshot | Save to desktop or other directory | MISC_SAVE_SCREENSHOT |
The Home key may not be available on non-Windows systems. Use Configure Keyboard Shortcuts to configure the reset camera, spin camera, and rock camera controls on these systems.
The "focus on hovered segment" hotkey, Shift + Q, zooms in on the segment under the mouse pointer, and adjusts the near and far visibility. . If an electron density cloud is visible, only the density in the same plane as the selected segment is displayed. The "recenter protein" (Q) and "reset camera" (Home) hotkeys change the focus and reset the visibility.
There are three different visibility controls that don't move the camera, but instead adjust how far the camera sees. These controls are most useful on puzzles with large proteins, ligands, or electron density. These controls are confusing, since they involve holding combinations of Shift, Ctrl, and Alt while dragging on the background.
Holding ctrl + shift and dragging the mouse downward adjusts the far distance cutoff, causing the more distant parts of the protein to disappear. Dragging the pointer upward brings the distant parts of the protein into view.
Holding alt + shift and dragging the mouse downward adds fog, reducing far visibility. Dragging the pointer upward clears the fog, restoring full visibility.
Holding ctrl + alt and dragging adjust near visibility cutoff. Dragging upward causes the nearer parts of the protein disappear. Dragging downward brings the nearer parts of the protein into view. Note that the direction of dragging is the opposite of far visibility controls.
Menus
Foldit has several menus that can be opened or closed using hotkeys. Many items on these menus have their own hotkeys.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Esc | Main menu | Toggles menu. | MAIN_MENU |
F1 | Help menu | Toggle. | GENERAL_OPEN_HELP |
Alt + H | Help menu | Toggle; alternative hotkey. | GENERAL_OPEN_HELP_ALT |
Alt + U | Undo menu | Toggle. | GENERAL_OPEN_UNDO |
Alt + V | View Options | Toggle. | GENERAL_OPEN_VIEW_OPTIONS |
Alt + B | Behavior menu | Toggle. | GENERAL_OPEN_BEHAVIOR |
Alt + C | Cookbook | Toggle. | GENERAL_OPEN_COOKBOOK |
Ctrl + P | Open Puzzle menu | Not a toggle, click "X" to close menu. | GENERAL_PUZZLE_MENU |
Ctrl + O | Open Open/Share Solutions menu | Not a toggle, click "X" to close menu. | GENERAL_OPEN_SOLUTION |
Ctrl + T | Open General Options menu | Not a toggle, click checkmark to close menu. | GENERAL_OPEN_OPTIONS |
Action bar
Most Foldit Tools are available on the action bar located at the bottom edge of the Foldit window. Action bar items can be activated by clicking on an icon or by using the associated hotkey. Action bar tools may be inactive unless a specific condition is met. Many tools require a selections.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
F | Freeze or unfreeze | Freeze all or selected segments. | ACTIONS_FREEZE_PROTEIN |
W | Global wiggle backbone and sidechains | Wiggle all or selected segments. | ACTIONS_WIGGLE_ALL |
E | Wiggle sidechains only | Wiggle all or selected segments. | ACTIONS_WIGGLE_SIDECHAINS |
T | Wiggle backbone only | Wiggle all or selected segments. | ACTIONS_WIGGLE_BACKBONE |
S | Shake sidechains | Shake all or selected segments. | ACTIONS_SHAKE |
A | Pick Sidechains | Wiggle all or selected segments. | ACTION_ROTAMER_PICKER |
1 | show/hide segment notes | Requires at least one note. | ACTION_TOGGLE_NOTES |
R | Remove all bands | Requires at least one band. | ACTIONS_REMOVE_BANDS |
D | Disable/enable bands | Requires at least one band. | ACTIONS_DISABLE_BANDS |
L | modify secondary structure | Requires a selection. | ACTION_SET_SECONDARY_STRUCTURE |
5 | idealize secondary structure | Requires a selection. | ACTION_IDEALIZE_SS |
3 | Show/hide move tool | Requires a selection. | ACTION_MOVE_TOOL |
2 | idealize peptide bonds | Requires a selection. | ACTION_IDEALIZE |
4 | Remix | Requires continuous selection, 3-9 segments. | ACTION_REMIX |
O | Rebuild | Requires a selection. | ACTION_REBUILD |
U | Trim or untrim | Trim | |
P | Show/hide Rama Map | GENERAL_SHOW_RAMA_MAP | |
K | Toggle electron density panel | Only on electron density puzzles | GENERAL_SHOW_ELECTRON_DENSITY |
C | Cutpoint | Requires two adjacent segments selected. | ACTION_CUT |
The following additional action bar tools are available on small molecule design puzzles.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
L | Open the ligand design tool | Requires selecting ligand. | ACTION_LIGAND_DESIGN |
V | Display Ligand Properties | Opens two separate panels. | ACTION_LIGAND_VIEW |
M | Perform MMFF wiggle | Requires selecting ligand. | ACTION_MMFF_WIGGLE |
K | Starts Tweak Ligand tool. | Requires selecting ligand. | ACTION_LIGAND_TWEAK |
H | Toggle the Compound Library panel. | Requires selecting ligand. | GENERAL_SHOW_COMPOUND_LIBRARY |
The following additional tools are available on protein design puzzles.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Y | Mutate sidechains | ACTIONS_MUTATE | |
J | Neural net mutate | ACTIONS_MPNN_MUTATE | |
M | Mutate by hand | Opens dialog | ACTION_MANUAL_MUTATE |
I | Insert segments | ACTION_INSERT_RESIDUE | |
X | Delete segments | Requires a selection. | ACTION_DELETE_RESIDUE |
H | Show AlphaFold panel | Opens dialog | GENERAL_SHOW_ALPHAFOLD |
Bands
bands require mouse actions for the most part, but there are hotkeys to delete or disable/enable all bands.
Key or mouse action | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
right-click + drag on segment | draw a new band | none | |
D | Disable or enable all bands | ACTIONS_DISABLE_BANDS | |
R | Remove all bands | ACTIONS_REMOVE_BANDS | |
click mid-band | Delete band | none | |
click band end | Center band end at clicked point | none | |
left-click + drag band end | Move band end to a new location, snapping to any nearby part of the protein. | none | |
Alt + click + drag band end | Move band end to a new location without snapping to the protein. | none | |
right-click mid-band | Adjust band properties | opens dialog | none |
Freezing
Freezing has a hotkey which freezes all or selected elements, or unfreezes anything previously frozen. Right-clicking or right-double-clicking can also freeze or unfreeze.
Key or mouse action | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
F | Freeze all or selected / unfreeze all frozen elements | ACTIONS_FREEZE_PROTEIN | |
right-click | Freeze element (segment or sidechain) | hover on backbone or sidechain | none |
right-double-click | Freeze entire structure (backbone only) | none |
Undo
Most items on the Undo menu have their own hotkeys.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Z | Undo | affected by Graph Properties | UNDO_UNDO |
Ctrl + Z | Undo | affected by Graph Properties | UNDO_UNDO_ALT |
Shift + Z | Redo | affected by Graph Properties | UNDO_REDO |
Ctrl + Y | Redo | affected by Graph Properties | UNDO_REDO_ALT |
Ctrl + B | Restore Very Best | UNDO_RESTORE_BEST | |
Ctrl + C | Restore Credit Best | UNDO_RESTORE_BEST_CREDIT | |
Ctrl + N | Restore Recent Best | UNDO_RESTORE_BEST_SINCE_RECENT | |
Ctrl + Shift + N | Set Recent Best | UNDO_SET_RECENT_BEST | |
Ctrl + R | Reset Puzzle | opens dialog | ACTIONS_RESET_PUZZLE |
Ctrl + E | Reset Structures | reset structures to starting pose | ACTIONS_RESET_STRUCTURES |
unbound | Open Tracks panel. | GENERAL_TRACK |
Quicksave and Save Structures
As the name implies, Quicksave is a quick way to save the current protein to a numbered slot. Quickload restores from a numbered slot. i There are eight available using hotkeys, numbered 1 to 8.
There are 99 quicksave slots in all, numbered 1-99. . Recipes can use all 99 slots. Recipes and hotkeys use the same slots. Recipes often save the starting pose in a specific slot (usually 1 or 3) so it can be restored easily using a hotkey.
The Quickload and Quicksave options don't appear on a menu or have an icon.
The Save Structures and Load Structures controls don't involve quicksave slots, but are listed here because they also lack a menu spot or an icon. They are used to save and restore the secondary structure of the protein.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Ctrl + 1 | Quickload from slot 1 | slots 1-8 available, n = 1-8 | UNDO_QUICKLOAD_n |
Ctrl + Shift + 1 | Quicksave to slot 1 | slots 1-8 available, n = 1-8 | UNDO_QUICKSAVE_n |
Ctrl + Shift + 9 | Save Structures | UNDO_SECSTRUCT_SAVE | |
Ctrl + 9 | Load Structures | UNDO_SECSTRUCT_LOAD |
View
There are many hotkeys for items from the View Options menu. A number of the hotkeys affect change multiple settings, such as the Color and View Style. Options marked as unbound don't have a hotkey assigned by default. Use Configure Keyboard Shortcuts under General Options to assign hotkeys to unbound options. Some view hotkeys do not appear on the view options menu, and some view options items don't allow a hotkey to be assigned to them.
Key or key combo | Action | Notes | Keyword (hotkeys.txt) |
Shift + C | Show clashes | spiky red balls highlight Clashes | VIEW_SHOW_CLASHES |
Shift + X | Show exposed | blotchy yellow spheres highlight Exposeds | VIEW_SHOW_EXPOSED |
Shift + B | Show voids | translucent red spheres highlight Voids | VIEW_SHOW_VOIDS |
Shift + B | Show bonds (sheet) | VIEW_SHOW_BONDS_SHEET | |
Shift + H | Show bonds (helix) | VIEW_SHOW_BONDS_HELIX | |
Ctrl + W | Show bondable atoms | VIEW_SHOW_BONDABLE | |
Ctrl + Shift + E | Show constraints | VIEW_SHOW_CONSTRAINTS | |
Ctrl + M | Color mutated segments | VIEW_COLOR_MUTATED | |
Ctrl + D | X-ray tunnel for ligand | VIEW_LIGAND_XRAY | |
Ctrl + I | Show isosurface | VIEW_SHOW_ISOSURFACE | |
Shift + R | Show Use relative color scoring | VIEW_COLORS_WORST | |
Ctrl + F | Color relative to guide | only when a Guide is present | VIEW_COLORS_RED_GREEN |
Ctrl + S | Show guide | only when a Guide is present | VIEW_SHOW_GUIDE |
Shift + G | Hide GUI | hides many features, does not close menus | VIEW_HIDE_GUI |
Shift + D | Don't Show (Fast) | hides sidechains for performance | VIEW_SIDECHAINS_NONE |
Shift + T | Show Stubs | shows a one-atom stub for each sidechain | VIEW_SIDECHAINS_STUB |
Shift + A | Show All (Slow) | shows complete sidechains | VIEW_SIDECHAINS_ALL |
Shift + O | Show outlines | VIEW_SHOW_OUTLINES | |
Ctrl + Shift + P | show next View Protein option | VIEW_NEXT | |
Ctrl + Shift + O | show previous View Protein option | VIEW_PREV | |
Ctrl + Shift + I | show next color option | VIEW_NEXT_COLOR | |
Ctrl + Shift + U | show previous color option | VIEW_PREV_COLOR | |
Ctrl + Shift + C | set CPK color and Stick view | not on View Options menu | VIEW_STICK_CPK |
Ctrl + Shift + D | set CPK color and Line view | not on View Options menu | VIEW_LINE_CPK |
Ctrl + Shift + L | set Score Hydro color and Trace Line view | not on View Options menu | VIEW_LINE |
Ctrl + Shift + M | set Score Hydro color and Cartoon view | not on View Options menu | VIEW_CARTOON |
Ctrl + Shift + S | set Score Hydro color and Trace Tube view | not on View Options menu; "standard style" in help | VIEW_STANDARD |
Ctrl + Shift + X | set EnzDes color and Cartoon Thin view | not on View Options menuu | VIEW_CARTOON_THIN |
unbound | Light background | VIEW_LIGHT_BG | |
unbound | Pulse when working | VIEW_PULSE | |
unbound | Show backbone issues | VIEW_SHOW_BACKBONE_ISSUES | |
unbound | Show backbone pins | VIEW_SHOW_BACKBONE_PINS | |
unbound | Show bonds | not on menu; helix, sheet, and loop bonds | VIEW_SHOW_BONDS |
unbound | Show bonds (loop) | VIEW_SHOW_BONDS_LOOP | |
unbound | Show bonds (non-protein) | VIEW_SHOW_BONDS_NON_PROTEIN | |
unbound | Show bonds (sidechain) | VIEW_SHOW_BONDS_SIDECHAIN | |
unbound | Show expected residue burials | VIEW_SHOW_RESIDUE_BURIALS | |
unbound | Show Symmetric Chains | VIEW_SHOW_SYM_CHAINS | |
unbound | Symmetric Chain Colors | VIEW_SHOW_SYM_COLORS | |
unbound | Show buried bondable atoms | may not work; not on View Options menu | VIEW_SHOW_BONDABLE_BURIED |
unbound | View preset | any view preset can have a hotkey | VIEW_PRESET_preset_name |
Technical details
Use Configure Keyboard Shortcuts under General Options to change hotkeys. Hotkey settings are stored in the configuration file hotkeys.txt. Only non-default hotkeys are saved to hotkeys.txt. Entries in hotkeys.txt consists of keyword-value pairs. The keywords used are listed in the "Keyword (hotkeys.txt)" column of the tables above.
Foldit reads the non-default settings from hotkeys.txt at startup, and then overwrites the file at normal shutdown. Any changes made in Configure Keyboard Shortcuts are saved when the General Options window is closed.