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Keyboard Shortcuts

Play Window​

When playing your game inside GB Studio use the following keyboard controls:

Up - Up Arrow / W
Down - Down Arrow / S
Left - Left Arrow / A
Right - Right Arrow / D
A - Alt / Z / J
B - Ctrl / K / X
Start - Enter
Select - Shift

These controls can be modified at any time by going to the Settings View under the Controls section.

You can also control the Play Window using a supported gamepad. If your web browser has gamepad support you can also use it when running a web build.

Much of the functionality of GB Studio is accessible through the menu bar and many of the menu items contain keyboard shortcut labels. Try clicking around on the menus to discover all of the shortcuts but the following are a few you should find useful:

Save Project - Ctrl/Cmd + S
Open Project - Ctrl/Cmd + O
Switch View Mode - Ctrl/Cmd + 1-8
Run Game - Ctrl/Cmd + B
Export ROM file - Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + B

Game World​

While editing the game world you can use the following keys to quickly manipulate your scenes.

Select Mode - V
Add Actor - A
Add Trigger - T
Add Scene - S
Eraser Mode - E
Collisions Mode - C
Set Player Start Position - P (while hovering over desired location)
Pan View - Hold Space (while clicking and dragging on Game World)
Zoom - Hold Ctrl/Cmd + Scroll wheel

Drawing Mode​

Drawing mode is automatically enabled in the Collision tool and the Colorize tool.

Draw - Click on scene
Draw line from last point - Click to set first point, hold Shift, click to set next point
Lock brush to axis - Hold Shift + Hold Click
8px Brush - 8
16px Brush - 9
Fill - 0
Hide Triggers/Actors - -

Collision Types​

These are only available when using the Collision tool.

Each tile can hold a maximum of 1 ladder and 3 collision sides. Ladders will not replace existing collision when placed on top of other colliders.

Select multiple collision types - Shift + Click
Erase collision tile - Click on a collision tile
Solid - 1
Collision Top - 2
Collision Bottom - 3
Collision Left - 4
Collision Right - 5
Ladder (Platformer only) - 6

Colorize Palettes​

These are only available when using the Colorize tool.

Change Brush Palette - 1-6
Change Palettes - Hold click on existing palette

Music Editor​

These are only available when using the Music Editor.

Save Song - Ctrl/Cmd + S
Play/Pause - Space
Play from position - Alt/Option + Space
Switch to Tracker/Piano Roll - `

Tracker​

Navigate grid - Arrow Keys
Next Column - Tab
Previous Column - Shift + Tab

Cell Selection - Shift + Arrow Keys or Click to set first cell, hold Shift, click to set next cell
Select Column - Ctrl/Cmd + A
Select Pattern - Ctrl/Cmd + A, Ctrl/Cmd + A
Copy Selection - Ctrl/Cmd + C
Paste Selection - Ctrl/Cmd + V
Delete Selection - Backspace/Delete

Transpose Selection (small step up) - Ctrl + = or Ctrl + Scroll wheel
Transpose Selection (small step down) - Ctrl + -
Transpose Selection (big step up) - Ctrl + Shift + = or Ctrl + Shift + Q
Transpose Selection (big step down) - Ctrl + Shift + - or Ctrl + Shift + A

Piano roll​

Change Instrument - 1-9
Quick Select - Shift + drag and drop mouse
Duplicate Selection - Alt/Option (while moving selected notes)

Select Channel - Ctrl/Cmd + A
Copy Selection - Ctrl/Cmd + C
Paste Selection - Ctrl/Cmd + V
Paste and Replace Channel - Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V
Delete Selection - Backspace/Delete