Use keyboard Shortcuts in Microsoft PowerApps

By Tejas Patel | Tuesday, February 8, 2022 04:51 PM | 5 min read | 2072

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Keyboard shortcuts give you an alternate way to do common tasks instead of using your mouse or tapping with your finger. They help in seamless navigation of the interface. The following keyboard shortcuts apply across Microsoft Power apps.

Microsoft PowerApps lets you create custom business applications that run on any device, even those without an app store. With this update, you can use keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflow.

Form(8 Shortcuts)

⤶ Enter	Complete the command for the active option or button
Esc	Cancel a command, or close a selected list or dialog box
Ctrl + S	Save
Esc	Cancel edits and close (Close)
↓	Open the lookup menu with the most recently used items in alphabetical order
⤶ Enter	Open a lookup drop-down list
Esc	Close a lookup drop-down list
⤶ Enter	Open a row found in lookup with forms in edit mode

Form Navigation (4 shortcuts)

Tab	Move to the next option, option group, or column
↑ Shift + Tab	Move to the previous option, option group, or column
← ↑ → ↓	Move between options in an open list, or between options in a group of options
Ctrl + [	Go to the landmark section of a page

Email(accessibility) (12 shortcuts)

The following table outlines a list of accessibility shortcuts available when using email. You can access this list while composing an email by pressing Alt+0.

Alt + F11	Toggle full-screen view
Alt + Ctrl + 0	Go to the menu bar
Alt + 1	Go to the rich-text editor
Alt + 2	Go to the HTML editor
Alt + 3	Go to the preview view
Ctrl + Z	Undo command
↑ Shift + Ctrl + Z	Redo command
Ctrl + B	Bold command
Ctrl + I	Italic command
Ctrl + U	Underline command
Alt + 0	Accessibility help
Esc	Cancel operation

If editable grids are enabled by your administrator, data can be edited directly in a grid (view).

Spacebar to drop-down list and then down arrow to select an action, followed by Enter: When the focus is on a column header, sort by column

Spacebar to drop-down list and then down arrow to select the Filter by option, followed by Enter: When the focus is on a column header, open filter dialog

→	When the focus is on the cells, move to the next column
←	When the focus is on the cells, move to the previous column
Tab	When the focus is on the column header, move to the next column header
↑ Shift + Tab	When the focus is on the column header, move to the previous column header
↑	Move to the cell above
⤶ Enter	(when a cell is not in edit mode) Move to the cell below
⤶ Enter	Move to the cell below

Type the value directly to overwrite the existing value Or Spacebar to continue modifying the existing value Or F2 to select the existing value: Go to edit mode for Text, Number, and Simple columns when the focus is on a column

Type the value directly Or F4 or Alt+↓ to display the date/time picker: Go to edit mode for Date and Time columns

Space

Go to edit mode for drop-down (Lookup, Option Set) columns

Spacebar to switch between the two options Or F4 Or Alt+↓ to open the list: Go to edit mode for Two Options columns

↑ ↓	Move between entries in an open drop-down list
⤶ Enter	Select an option in an open drop-down list
Esc	Close an open drop-down list
Esc	Cancel your edits
⤶ Enter	(when the focus is on (→) icon) Navigate to and open the lookup row
Page Down	Move to the next page (if any)
Page Up	Move to the previous page (if any)
↑ Shift + Tab	Move to the column header when the focus is in the grid
Tab	Move to the Save button when the focus is on the column header (if any unsaved data)
Tab	Move to the Refresh button when the focus is on the column header

Interactive dashboards (12 shortcuts)

Interactive dashobards allow the use of new functionality such as sorting, filtering, and quick actions

⤶ Enter or Space	Activate a dashboard element (simulate left-click)
Tab	Move to the next element
↑ Shift + Tab	Move to the previous element
↓	Move to the next item within a dashboard element
↑	Move to the previous item within a dashboard element
Esc	Close a menu
Space	Select a check box or radio button
Ctrl + Alt + D	Modify the date range filter
Ctrl + Alt + V	Show the visual filter pane
Ctrl + Alt + A	Move to the global command bar

Global Filter (15 Shourtctus)

⤶ Enter or Space or ↓	Open a menu
⤶ Enter or Space	Activate a button
Tab	Move to the next element
↑ Shift + Tab	Move to the previous element
→	Open a tree view control
←	Close a tree view control
↑	Move to the next tree view node
↓	Move to the previous tree view node
Home	Move to the first tree view node
End	Move to the last tree view node
⤶ Enter	Perform the default action for the tree view node
Del	Remove a filter

Dashboard Stream Control (15 shortcuts)

Ctrl + Alt + Q	Move to the first command on the active dashboard stream’s command bar
Tab	Move to the next element
↑ Shift + Tab	Move to the previous element
⤶ Enter or Space	Activate a button
⤶ Enter or ↓	Activate the Sort by column button and open the flyout
↓	Move to the next item
↑	Move to the previous item
Home	Move to the first item
End	Move to the last item
Ctrl + F6	Move to the next stream
Ctrl + ↑ Shift + F6	Move to the previous stream
Esc	Close a menu
Space	Change the state of a check box

Common Controls: Chart (9 Shortcuts)

Tab	Move to the first element in a chart
→or ↓	Move to the next data point
← or ↑	Move to the previous data point
Tab	Move to the See More button in a Tag chart
↑ Shift + Tab	Move back from the See More button to the tags in a Tag chart
⤶ Enter	Filter the dashboard when the focus is on a data point in an interactive dashboard

Common Controls: Date-Time Control (16 Shortcuts)

Enter or Space or ↓	Open the date picker flyout
⤶ Enter or Space	Activate the option and close the flyout
↓	Move to the next item
↑	Move to the previous item
Home	Move to the first item
End	Move to the last item
Esc	Close the date picker flyout
Tab	Move to the next element
↑ Shift + Tab	Move to the previous element
⤶ Enter or Space	Select the calendar
⤶ Enter or Space	Activate a button

Common Controls: Search Results (6 Shortcuts)

↑	Move to the next search result
↓	Move to the previous search result
→	Move to the list of available views
←	Move from the list of available views to search results
Tab	Navigate between buttons

Navigating submenus

If you use a screen reader, follow these steps to access any of the submenus that are displayed when you hover the mouse over a navigation link.

Navigate between the menu options using standard link navigation.
Activate the link by selecting Enter or the space key as you usually would. A list of submenus will be displayed.
To access these submenu options, use the assistive technology (AT) shortcut key to navigate to the next button. For example, if you use the NVDA screen reader, you would use the “b” shortcut key (NVDA+b). To navigate through all the options, select the key repeatedly.

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Tejas Patel

Tejas Patel is a Co-Founder of Concetto Labs and he have 18+ years of technical experience in building high quality and scalable Web & Mobile Applications.