Next Experience keyboard shortcuts

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Next Experience keyboard shortcuts

    Next Experience keyboard shortcuts allow ServiceNow users to quickly perform common actions within the user interface, enhancing productivity and ease of navigation. These shortcuts are specific to the current screen, browser, and operating system (with Linux currently unsupported). To enable or customize these shortcuts in your instance, you can configure accessibility preferences or customize them according to your organizational needs.

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    Key Features

    • Context-Specific Shortcuts: The keyboard shortcut modal shows shortcuts relevant to the screen you are on, grouped by categories such as Page Action, Page Navigation, Global Navigation, and General.
    • Common Actions: Key combinations are provided for frequent tasks like showing the shortcuts modal, composing emails, creating new records, favoriting pages, impersonating users, and refreshing lists.
    • Menu Access: Shortcuts enable quick opening of various menus including All menu, Admin, Favorites, Help, History, Workspaces, Notifications, Now Assist (with voice and text modes), and the User Profile menu.
    • Focus Management: Users can apply keyboard focus to important UI elements such as global search, main content, breadcrumb navigation, side navigation, tabs, contextual sidebars, activity streams, and form fields using dedicated shortcuts.
    • Additional Shortcuts: Other useful shortcuts include opening Agent inbox, sidebar chat, list search and filters, OpenFrame window, cycling through page layouts, expanding/collapsing panes, and replying to recent emails.

    Key Outcomes

    By leveraging Next Experience keyboard shortcuts, ServiceNow users can:

    • Navigate the platform more efficiently without relying on mouse input.
    • Access menus and perform frequent tasks swiftly, reducing time spent on routine operations.
    • Customize shortcuts to fit specific workflows and accessibility needs.
    • Improve overall user experience and productivity within the ServiceNow Next Experience interface.

    You can use keyboard shortcuts to quickly perform common actions in the user interface.

    The keyboard shortcuts that display in the modal are specific to the screen you’re viewing. Keyboard shortcuts depend on the browser and operating system that you’re using. The Linux operating system is not currently supported.

    To enable keyboard shortcuts for your instance, see Configure Next Experience accessibility preferences.

    To customize the Next Experience keyboard shortcuts for your instance, see Customize Next Experience keyboard shortcuts.

    Learn more about Next Experience keyboard shortcuts from the following tutorial:

    The keyboard shortcut modal contains a search field which searches available keyboard shortcuts specific to the screen you're viewing. The available shortcuts are grouped by category: Page Action, Page Navigation, Global Navigation, and General.
    Figure 1. Keyboard shortcut modal
    Keyboard shortcut modal.

    Common Next Experience keyboard shortcuts

    The most common key combinations for Microsoft Windows and macOS keyboards are listed in the following table.

    Table 1. Common Next Experience keyboard shortcuts
    Action Windows keyboard shortcut macOS keyboard shortcut
    Show the shortcuts for the page that you’re viewing in a modal Control+/ Command+/
    Compose an email Control+Alt+e Command+Option+e
    Create a new record Shift+Alt+n Shift+Option+n
    Favorite or unfavorite the current page Control+Shift+f Command+Shift+f
    Impersonate a user Control+Shift+i Command+Shift+i
    Open the instance landing page Control+Alt+z Command+Option+z
    Open the instance toolbar to change domains Control+Alt+t Command+Option+t
    Refresh the list Shift+Alt+r Shift+Option+r
    Save the record Control+s Command+s

    Next Experience keyboard shortcuts for showing menus

    The keyboard shortcuts for showing menus for Microsoft Windows and macOS are listed in the following table.

    Table 2. Next Experience keyboard shortcuts for showing menus
    Open this menu Windows keyboard shortcut macOS keyboard shortcut
    All menu Control+Alt+a Command+Option+a
    Admin menu Control+Shift+a Command+Shift+a
    Favorites menu Control+Alt+f Command+Option+f
    Help menu Control+Shift+/ Command+Shift+/
    History menu Control+Alt+h Command+Option+h
    Workspaces menu Control+Alt+w Command+Option+w
    Notifications menu Control+Shift+k Command+Shift+k
    Now Assist menu (text entry mode) Alt+Shift+a Option+Shift+a
    Now Assist menu (voice input mode)
    Note:
    Availability of voice input mode in the Now Assist menu is controlled by a user preference. For more information, see Configure Next Experience accessibility preferences.
    		 Alt+Shift+v Option+Shift+v
    User profile menu Control+Shift+u Command+Shift+u

    Next Experience keyboard shortcuts for applying focus

    The keyboard shortcuts for applying focus for Microsoft Windows and macOS are listed in the following table.

    Table 3. Next Experience keyboard shortcuts for applying focus
    Apply focus Windows keyboard shortcut macOS keyboard shortcut
    Global search Control+Alt+g Command+Option+g
    Main content of a page Control+Alt+p Command+Option+p
    Breadcrumb navigation Control+Shift+c Command+Shift+c
    Side navigation page Control+Alt+1 Command+Option+1
    Workspace tab Control+Alt+2 Command+Option+2
    Page tab Control+Alt+3 Command+Option+3
    Record tab Control+Alt+4 Command+Option+4
    Contextual sidebar Shift+Alt+x Shift+Option+x
    Activity Stream Compose text field Shift+Alt+c Shift+Option+c
    First action button Shift+Alt+t Shift+Option+t
    First field in the form Shift+Alt+f Shift+Option+f
    First tile in the Activity Stream Control+Alt+x Command+Option+x
    Move focus forward through major elements of the page Control+j Command+j
    Move focus backward through major elements of the page Control+Shift+j Command+Shift+j
    Move focus through the headings of the form Shift+Alt+h Shift+Option+h

    Additional Next Experience keyboard shortcuts

    Additional keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Windows and macOS are listed in the following table.

    Table 4. Additional Next Experience keyboard shortcuts
    Action Windows keyboard shortcut macOS keyboard shortcut
    Open the instance toolbar to change domains Control+Alt+t Command+Option+t
    Open the Agent inbox Shift+Alt+i Shift+Option+i
    Open the sidebar discussions chat Shift+Alt+d Shift+Option+d
    Open the list search Shift+Alt+s Shift+Option+s
    Open the list filter Shift+Alt+b Shift+Option+b
    Open the OpenFrame window Shift+Alt+z Shift+Option+z
    Cycle through the page layouts Shift+Alt+l Shift+Option+l
    Expand/collapse the resizable pane Shift+Alt+p Shift+Option+p
    Reply to the most recent email correspondence Shift+Alt+e Shift+Option+e