ZestSSH’s desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) provides extensive keyboard shortcuts for efficient server management. On macOS, Ctrl is replaced by Cmd for most shortcuts.
| Shortcut (Win/Linux) | Shortcut (macOS) | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+Shift+K | Cmd+Shift+K | Open Command Palette |
| Ctrl+T | Cmd+T | Quick Connect |
| Ctrl+Shift+N | Cmd+Shift+N | New Connection |
| Ctrl+, | Cmd+, | Open Settings |
| F11 | F11 | Toggle Fullscreen |
| Ctrl+B | Cmd+B | Toggle Sidebar Collapse |
| Shortcut (Win/Linux) | Shortcut (macOS) | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+W | Cmd+W | Close Current Tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+T | Cmd+Shift+T | Reopen Last Closed Tab |
| Ctrl+Tab | Cmd+Tab | Next Tab |
| Ctrl+Shift+Tab | Cmd+Shift+Tab | Previous Tab |
| Ctrl+1 | Cmd+1 | Jump to Tab 1 |
| Ctrl+2 | Cmd+2 | Jump to Tab 2 |
| Ctrl+3 | Cmd+3 | Jump to Tab 3 |
| Ctrl+4 | Cmd+4 | Jump to Tab 4 |
| Ctrl+5 | Cmd+5 | Jump to Tab 5 |
| Ctrl+6 | Cmd+6 | Jump to Tab 6 |
| Ctrl+7 | Cmd+7 | Jump to Tab 7 |
| Ctrl+8 | Cmd+8 | Jump to Tab 8 |
| Ctrl+9 | Cmd+9 | Jump to Tab 9 |
| Shortcut (Win/Linux) | Shortcut (macOS) | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+Shift+F | Cmd+Shift+F | Find in Terminal |
| Ctrl+Shift+C | Cmd+Shift+C | Copy Selection |
| Ctrl+Shift+V | Cmd+Shift+V | Paste |
| Ctrl++ (Ctrl+Equal) | Cmd++ | Zoom In (Increase Font Size) |
| Ctrl+- (Ctrl+Minus) | Cmd+- | Zoom Out (Decrease Font Size) |
| Ctrl+0 | Cmd+0 | Reset Zoom (14px default) |
| Ctrl+Scroll Up | Cmd+Scroll Up | Increase Font Size |
| Ctrl+Scroll Down | Cmd+Scroll Down | Decrease Font Size |
| Escape | Escape | Close Search Bar |
Paste, by any method, uses bracketed paste whenever the remote program has requested it (vim, bash, zsh, fish and tmux do by default), so a multi-line paste arrives as one block and nothing runs until you press Enter. There is no toggle for this. See Pasting into the terminal (bracketed paste) on the Keyboard Customization page.
| Shortcut (Win/Linux) | Shortcut (macOS) | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+Shift+D | Cmd+Shift+D | Split Right (Horizontal) |
| Ctrl+Shift+E | Cmd+Shift+E | Split Down (Vertical) |
| Ctrl+\ | Cmd+\ | Close Current Split |
| Ctrl+Shift+M | Cmd+Shift+M | Maximize / Restore Focused Pane |
| Alt+Left Arrow | Alt+Left Arrow | Focus Pane to the Left |
| Alt+Right Arrow | Alt+Right Arrow | Focus Pane to the Right |
| Alt+Up Arrow | Alt+Up Arrow | Focus Pane Above |
| Alt+Down Arrow | Alt+Down Arrow | Focus Pane Below |
| Ctrl+Shift+B | Cmd+Shift+B | Toggle Broadcast Mode |
| Ctrl+Shift+R | Cmd+Shift+R | Toggle Recording Mode (mask host names and addresses for screenshots) |
| Ctrl+Shift+S | Cmd+Shift+S | Toggle SFTP Panel |
| Shortcut (Win/Linux) | Shortcut (macOS) | Action |
|---|
| Ctrl+Alt+1 | Cmd+Alt+1 | Side-by-Side (2 Columns) |
| Ctrl+Alt+2 | Cmd+Alt+2 | Stacked (2 Rows) |
| Ctrl+Alt+3 | Cmd+Alt+3 | Three Columns |
| Ctrl+Alt+4 | Cmd+Alt+4 | 2x2 Grid |
| Ctrl+Alt+5 | Cmd+Alt+5 | Reset to Single Pane |
| Ctrl+Alt+6 | Cmd+Alt+6 | 1 + 2 (Large Left, Two Right) |
| Ctrl+Alt+7 | Cmd+Alt+7 | 2 + 1 (Two Left, Large Right) |
| Ctrl+Alt+8 | Cmd+Alt+8 | Three Rows |
On macOS, ZestSSH provides a native menu bar with the following additional items accessible via menu:
| Menu | Item |
|---|
| File | Import SSH Config |
| Edit | Find in Terminal (Cmd+Shift+F) |
| View | Toggle Always on Top |
| Terminal | Toggle Broadcast Mode |
| Misc | Toggle Recording Mode |
| Help | Keyboard Shortcuts |
| Help | Discord Community |
| Help | About ZestSSH |
| Action | Effect |
|---|
| Select text | Copies to clipboard automatically (Copy on Select, default on) |
| Right-click | Paste from clipboard (default on, configurable) |
| Middle-click | Paste from clipboard (default on, configurable) |
| Ctrl+Scroll | Zoom in/out |
| Drag tab | Reorder tabs |
While not keyboard shortcuts, these touch gestures complement the desktop experience on mobile:
| Gesture | Action |
|---|
| Two-finger tap | Send Ctrl+C |
| Three-finger tap | Paste from clipboard |
| Two-finger horizontal swipe | Switch between sessions |
The tables above are the desktop app’s shortcuts. A physical or Bluetooth keyboard paired with an Android phone or tablet, an iPhone or an iPad types into the terminal much as it does on desktop, but the desktop shell’s app-level shortcuts are not part of the mobile app. The three parts below cover what works, what stays on the touch controls, and the copy, paste and select-all keys on each platform.
Inside a connected terminal, a hardware keyboard on Android, iPhone or iPad sends:
| Keys | Result |
|---|
| Letters, digits, Enter, Backspace, Tab, Esc | Sent to the shell as typed |
| Ctrl + letter (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+L, Ctrl+R and so on) | Sent as the terminal control character, the same as on desktop |
| Alt + key | Sent with the Alt (meta) modifier |
| Arrow keys, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Insert, Delete | Sent as the matching terminal escape sequences, so they work in vim, less, htop and tmux |
| F1 to F12 | Sent as function-key sequences |
Arrow and navigation keys are routed to the shell only while the terminal is the focused surface; when a text field such as the search bar or a password prompt has focus, the keys go to that field. To reclaim the space taken by the on-screen key rows while a physical keyboard is attached, turn off Settings > Terminal Behaviour > Extra Keyboard Row.
The mobile app (Android phones and tablets, iPhone and iPad) does not run the desktop shell, so the app-level shortcuts for tabs, split panes, layout presets, Quick Connect, the command palette, Find in Terminal, broadcast mode and recording mode are not available on a physical keyboard connected to a phone or tablet, and they cannot be rebound there. Those actions stay on the touch controls: the terminal toolbar, the long-press menu and, on qualifying tablets and foldables, the split button.
| Platform | Copy the selection | Paste the clipboard | Select all terminal text |
|---|
| Android | Ctrl+Shift+C | Ctrl+V | Ctrl+A |
| iPad and iPhone | Cmd+C | Cmd+V | Cmd+A |
- Ctrl+A and Ctrl+V on Android (Cmd+A and Cmd+V on iPad) are taken by the terminal’s own select-all and paste actions, so they do not reach the shell. Use the on-screen CTRL key with A if you need readline’s beginning-of-line.
- Paste from a hardware keyboard uses bracketed paste when the remote program requests it.
Desktop mouse behaviors can be configured in Settings:
- Copy on Select: Automatically copy selected text to clipboard (default: on)
- Right-click Paste: Paste on right-click (default: on)
- Middle-click Paste: Paste on middle-click (default: on)
- Remote copy to clipboard (OSC 52), from 2.1.0: let tmux, Vim and Neovim on the remote host put text on this device’s clipboard (default: off, because with it on the host decides what your next paste contains). Reading your clipboard is refused whether it is on or off. Works inside tmux panes. On mobile it is under Settings > Terminal.