Editor Commands
This page is a complete reference to Crimson Editor’s menu commands, with their keyboard shortcuts. Every menu has a quick-reference table; the powerful features get a few extra notes and tips below their tables.
Most commands are also available on the toolbar and in the right-click context menu, and you can reassign almost any keyboard shortcut from Tools → Preferences.
Command Line Parameters
You can tell Crimson Editor which files to open right from the command line — handy for shortcuts, batch files, or wiring it up as the editor for another tool.
- Open one or more files — separate names with spaces:
cedt.exe test.c test.h - Names with spaces — wrap them in quotes:
cedt.exe "long file name.txt" - Wildcards — open everything that matches:
cedt.exe *.c - Jump to a line — use the
/Lswitch:cedt.exe /L:5 test.copens the file with the caret on line 5.
File Menu
Creating, opening, saving, printing, and working with files — locally or over FTP.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| New | Ctrl+N | Start a new, empty document. |
| Open… | Ctrl+O | Open one or more existing files. You can also drag files from Explorer and drop them in. |
| Open Template… | Alt+Shift+O | Start from one of your document templates (see the tip below). |
| Close | Ctrl+F4 | Close the active document, offering to save first. |
| Close All | Close every open document. | |
| Reload | Re-read the active file from disk, discarding unsaved changes. | |
| Reload As… | Re-read the file using a chosen encoding. | |
| Save | Ctrl+S | Save the active document. First save prompts for a name. |
| Save As… | Alt+Shift+S | Save a copy under a new name. |
| Save All | Save every modified document at once. | |
| Print… | Ctrl+P | Print, with options for printer, range, and syntax-colored output. |
| Print Preview | See exactly how the printed pages will look. | |
| Print Setup… | Choose the printer and page options. | |
| FTP → Open Remote… | Ctrl+Shift+O | Browse and open a file directly on an FTP server. |
| FTP → Save As Remote… | Ctrl+Shift+S | Upload the current document to an FTP server. |
| FTP → FTP Settings… | Manage your saved FTP accounts. | |
| Recent Files → … | Reopen a file you closed recently. | |
| Exit | Alt+F4 | Quit, prompting to save any unsaved work. |
Templates live in the
templatesub-folder of the install directory. Drop any plain-text file there — a license header, an HTML skeleton, a script boilerplate — and it shows up under Open Template.
Editing remote files feels just like editing local ones: open a file over FTP, edit, and Save writes your changes straight back to the server.
Edit Menu
The everyday editing commands, plus some power tools under Advanced.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Undo | Ctrl+Z | Step backward through your edits — unlimited, all the way to when the file was opened. |
| Redo | Ctrl+Y | Re-apply an undone edit. |
| Cut / Copy / Paste | Ctrl+X / Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V | The usual clipboard commands. |
| Delete | Del | Remove the selection. |
| Append → Cut Append | Ctrl+Shift+X | Cut and add to the clipboard instead of replacing it. |
| Append → Copy Append | Ctrl+Shift+C | Copy and add to the clipboard. |
| Select → Select All | Ctrl+A | Select the whole document. |
| Select → Select Line | Ctrl+E | Select the current line. |
| Select → Select Word | Ctrl+D | Select the word under the caret. |
| Select → Select Block | Ctrl+B | Select the block enclosed by the nearest brackets. |
| Change Case → Upper / Lower | Ctrl+U / Ctrl+L | Uppercase or lowercase the selection. |
| Change Case → Capitalize | Ctrl+Shift+U | Capitalize Each Word. |
| Change Case → Invert Case | Ctrl+Shift+L | Swap the case of every letter. |
| Insert → Insert Date / Time | Alt+Shift+D / Alt+Shift+T | Drop in the current date or time. |
| Insert → Insert File… | Alt+Shift+F | Paste the contents of another file at the caret. |
| Advanced → Increase / Decrease Indent | Ctrl+. / Ctrl+, | Indent or outdent the line or selected block. |
| Advanced → Delete Line | Alt+Del | Delete the whole current line. |
| Advanced → Duplicate Line | Alt+Ins | Copy the current line just below itself. |
| Advanced → Delete Word | Ctrl+Del | Delete from the caret to the end of the word. |
| Advanced → Delete Prev Word | Ctrl+Backspace | Delete the word before the caret. |
| Advanced → Delete to End of Line | Ctrl+Shift+Del | Delete from the caret to the line’s end. |
| Advanced → Delete to Begin of Line | Ctrl+Shift+Backspace | Delete from the caret to the line’s start. |
| Advanced → Join Lines | Alt+J | Merge this line and the next into one. |
| Advanced → Split Line | Alt+K | Break the line at the caret. |
| Advanced → Make / Release Comment | Ctrl+M / Ctrl+Shift+M | Add or remove the line-comment marker for the current language. |
| Column Mode | Alt+C | Toggle rectangular (column) selection — see the tip. |
Column mode lets you select and edit a rectangular block instead of whole lines. Turn it on with
Alt+C, drag a tall, narrow selection, and your typing, cut, copy, and paste all apply to that column — perfect for aligning code or editing tabular data.
Make Comment uses the comment marker defined by the document’s syntax type, so the same shortcut comments out C++, Python, or HTML correctly.
Search Menu
Find, replace, navigate, and drop bookmarks.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Find… | Ctrl+F | Search the current document, with optional regular expressions. |
| Replace… | Ctrl+R | Find and replace, one match at a time or all at once. |
| Find Next / Prev | F3 / Shift+F3 | Repeat the search forward or backward. |
| Find in Files… | Ctrl+Shift+F | Search across a whole folder tree and list every match. |
| Go To… | Ctrl+G | Jump straight to a line number. |
| Toggle Bookmark | Ctrl+F2 | Set or clear a bookmark on the current line. |
| Next / Prev Bookmark | F2 / Shift+F2 | Jump between your bookmarks. |
| Advanced → Prev Editing Position | Ctrl+\ | Jump back to where you were last editing. |
| Advanced → Pairs Begin / End Position | Ctrl+[ / Ctrl+] | Jump to the matching opening or closing bracket. |
Find in Files is great for codebases: give it a folder, a file filter (e.g.
*.c;*.h), and a search term, and it collects every hit into the Output Window — double-click a result to jump there.
View Menu
Control what’s on screen — panels, fonts, spacing, colors, and whitespace.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Toolbars/Views → Toolbar / MDI File Tabs / Status Bar | Show or hide each interface element. | |
| Toolbars/Views → Directory Window | Alt+Shift+1 | The file-tree panel. |
| Toolbars/Views → Remote Window | Alt+Shift+2 | The FTP browser panel. |
| Toolbars/Views → Project Window | Alt+Shift+3 | The project workspace panel. |
| Toolbars/Views → Output Window | Alt+Shift+0 | Output from user tools and Find in Files. |
| Word Wrap | Alt+Shift+W | Wrap long lines to the window width (without breaking syntax coloring). |
| Spell Check | Alt+Shift+K | Underline misspelled words with a red zigzag. |
| Line Numbers | Alt+Shift+L | Show or hide line numbers in the margin. |
| Column Markers… | Draw vertical guide lines at chosen columns. | |
| Screen Fonts / Printer Fonts | Switch between your registered fonts, or set new ones. | |
| Line Spacing | Choose 100–200% line spacing, or a custom value. | |
| Tab Size | Set the tab width (2, 4, 8, 16, or custom). | |
| Color Schemes | Apply a built-in scheme (Default, Simplified, Reversed, Light Gray, Dark Blue), load a saved one, or fine-tune colors with Set Colors. | |
| Others → Embolden Keywords / Italicize Comment | Alt+Shift+B / Alt+Shift+I | Style keywords bold and comments italic. |
| Others → Show Spaces / Tab Characters / Line Break | Ctrl+Shift+E / Ctrl+Shift+T / Ctrl+Shift+B | Reveal individual whitespace characters. |
| Others → Show All White Spaces | Ctrl+Shift+W | Reveal every whitespace character at once. |
You can register up to five custom screen fonts and switch between them instantly — useful for jumping between a coding font and a larger presentation font.
Document Menu
Settings that belong to the file itself — its language, encoding, and line endings.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Syntax Type → Auto Detect / Plain Text / Customize… | Pick the highlighting language, or let Crimson Editor detect it from the extension. |
| Properties… | Show details about the current file. |
| Reload Document | Re-read the file from disk. |
| Lock Document | Make the document read-only to prevent accidental edits. |
| Encoding Type → ASCII / Unicode (LE) / Unicode (BE) / UTF-8 (with BOM) / UTF-8 (w/o BOM) | Read and save the file in the chosen text encoding. |
| File Format → DOS (CR/LF) / Unix (LF) / Mac (CR) | Set the line-ending style. |
| Tabs & Spaces → Convert Tabs↔Spaces / Leading Spaces to Tabs / Remove Trailing Spaces | Clean up indentation and trailing whitespace. |
| Summary… | Show document statistics. |
Crimson Editor opens and saves UTF-8 and Unicode files — set or change the encoding here, and use File Format to keep Unix (
LF) line endings when you work with cross-platform projects.
Project Menu
Group related files and folders into a workspace you can reopen anytime. The
project tree appears in the Project Window (Alt+Shift+3).
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| New Project… | Create a new project workspace. |
| Open Project… | Open an existing project. |
| Close Project | Close the current project. |
| New Category… | Add a category (folder) to organize files within the project. |
| Add to Project… | Add chosen files to the project. |
| Add Active File | Add the file you’re currently editing. |
| Add All Open Files | Add every open document at once. |
Tools Menu
Run external programs, evaluate expressions, and launch your own custom tools.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Preferences… | Open the settings dialog. See the Preferences page. | |
| Evaluate Line | Ctrl+Enter | Calculate the math expression on the current line. See the Calculator page. |
| MS-DOS Shell | F10 | Open a command prompt in the file’s folder. |
| View in Browser | Alt+B | Open the current document in your default web browser. |
| Conf. User Tools… | Define your own tools (compilers, formatters, scripts). | |
| User Tools 1–0 | Ctrl+1 … Ctrl+0 | Run one of your ten configured user tools. |
User tools turn Crimson Editor into a lightweight IDE: wire up a compiler or script with arguments like
$(FileName)and$(FileDir), assign it aCtrl+number key, and capture its output in the Output Window. The How-Tos page has ready-made examples for C/C++, Java, Perl, and LaTeX.
Macros Menu
Record a sequence of keystrokes once, then replay it with a single key.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Begin Recording… | Start capturing your keystrokes. | |
| End Recording | Stop capturing. | |
| Replay Macro | Alt+Enter | Play back the most recent recording. |
| Conf. User Macros… | Name, reorder, and manage saved macros. | |
| User Macros 1–0 | Alt+1 … Alt+0 | Replay one of your ten saved macros. |
Macros are perfect for repetitive edits — record yourself reformatting one line, then replay it down a whole file.
Window Menu
Arrange and move between open documents.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| New Window | Open a second view of the active document. | |
| Split | Split the current window to see two parts of one file. | |
| Close | Ctrl+W | Close the active window. |
| Last Visited | Ctrl+Tab | Jump back to the document you were just in. |
| Next / Prev Window | Ctrl+F6 / Ctrl+F5 | Cycle through open documents. |
| Cascade / Tile Horizontal / Tile Vertical | Arrange the document windows. |
Help Menu
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Help Topics… | Open the help contents. |
| Visit Homepage… | Open https://www.crimsoneditor.com/. |
| Sponsoring… | Learn how to support Crimson Editor’s development. |
| About Crimson Editor… | Show the version number and copyright. |