Discord is where anyone can connect and talk while playing their favorite games, or just doin’ whatever. We’re always doing our best to make the app easy to navigate, no matter what platform you use Discord on or how you like to breeze through your conversations. 

One of those methods for navigating through Discord doesn’t involve a mouse or trackpad: Keyboard Navigation! Keyboard Navigation lets you get to wherever you want on Discord without using another device.

Interested in using your keyboard as your primary input method? Just wanna learn a few tricks to accessing different features without using a mouse, stick around for a bit as we give the lowdown on how Keyboard Navigation works. 

How to Use Buttons on Discord with Only a Keyboard

First, open Discord (duh). Then, press the Tab button on your keyboard. 

Look: a box appeared on your screen! This box is your gateway to navigating Discord with just your keyboard. 

Think of this box as your “cursor” as you navigate with your keyboard — press Tab to move through interactive elements in the app, such as buttons and icons. 

Once you’ve highlighted the button you’d like to press, press Enter/Return to “click” on it, just like you would a mouse. If your “cursor” is on a list, such as your DMs or a server’s channel list, you can use the Arrow Keys to move up and down lists. 

When you highlight a message, you can interact with it directly! What sorts of things can you do?...

How to Interact with Messages using Keyboard Navigation on Discord

Many of the actions you would normally right-click on a message for can be accessed via Keyboard Navigation! No need to use your mouse or trackpad, and you won’t have to scroll down the whole list of items using the Tab button.  

Some of these shortcuts below were referenced in our Keyboard Shortcuts blog post. In this article, you’ll find an expanded list of shortcuts and how to use ‘em! 

While using Keyboard Navigation, highlight a message, then press… 

• E or Up: Edit Last Message.
• +: Add Reaction.
• Backspace: Delete the message.
• R: Reply to the message.
• P: Pin the message.
• F: Forward the selected message.
• ESC: Move your cursor to the chat input. If there’s a menu or modal open, it will close that first.
• Alt/Option + Enter/Return: Mark the message as unread.

How to Interact with Servers & DMs using Keyboard Navigation on Discord

Trying to get to a specific place in one of your Discord servers? Or maybe you don’t really know what you’re looking for, you just wanna walk around virtually and see what @everyone is talking about. Understandable — the best stuff happens on a whim, ya’know? 

You can use the following shortcuts to navigate through your servers and DMs, see what’s up, or jump straight to a particular message that may be important to you. 

At any time, use the following shortcuts to navigate through your conversations: 

• CTRL/CMD + Opt + ⬆/⬇: Scroll through your server list. 
• Opt + ⬆/⬇: Scroll through your channel or DM list. 
• Opt + Shift + ⬆/⬇: Scroll through unread channels or DMs. See the newest stuff fast!  
• CTRL/CMD + Shift + Opt + ⬆/⬇: Scroll through unread channels or DMs where you have been mentioned. 
• CTRL/CMD + Opt + ➡: Swap between the last server you viewed and your DM tab.
• Shift + Page Up: Jump straight to the oldest unread in a text channel. (Instead of scrolling up for ages until you find it.)

How to Interact with Voice & Video Calls using Keyboard Navigation on Discord

Mice? Clicky. Keyboards? Well…. also clicky. Sometimes clickier. But your keyboard can help you control your voice calls better, removing one clicky item from the auditory equation. 

The following shortcuts are here to help make your voice and video calls easier! 

Before or during a voice call, use the following shortcuts to access specific call functions: 

• Before the call: some text
  • CTRL + ‘: Start a call in the DM you’re looking at. Works in personal and group DMs! 
  • CTRL/CMD + Enter/Return: Answer a direct call that’s actively ringing you.  
  • ESC: Decline a direct call. You might’ve instinctively pressed this by accident you’ve been jumpscared by calls before.   
• During a call: some text
  • CTRL/CMD + Shift + M: Mute your voice call. 
  • CTRL/CMD + Shift + D: Deafen your voice call, which both mutes your mic and the call itself. 
  • CTRL/CMD + Shift + Alt/Opt + V: Move to view the call you’re currently in, in case you got lost! 

At the time of writing, there isn’t a built-in keyboard shortcut for “Disconnecting from a Voice Channel”, but you can make one yourself by creating a Keybind! 

How to Drag & Drop using a Keyboard on Discord

If your primary input method is a keyboard and you like to join a lot of Discord communities, the number of servers you’re in might start piling up. While you know Server Folders are a thing, you might’ve only seen it in the context of dragging a server icon over another with a mouse to make a server. 

But that’s not the only way you can make a server folder! You can Drag & Drop certain items on Discord using just your keyboard! This includes servers in your sidebar, and channels in servers that you either own or have permission to move them. 

The example above demonstrates someone dragging a server icon and dropping it using just a keyboard! Wanna try it yourself? Follow the steps below on your own servers to learn how Drag & Drop works: 

• Use Keyboard Navigation to highlight the server you want to move. 
• Press CTRL/CMD + D to “pick it up.”
• Use the Arrow Keys to move the server you’ve picked up to where you want it to be.
• Press Enter/Return to “drop” it down! Now things look ✨perfect✨.

When using your keyboard, dragging a server on top of another server and hitting Enter/Return will make a server folder! If you want to move a server into an existing folder, use the Arrow Keys to move the server over the folder, hit Enter/Return, and the server will open up! You can continue to Drag the server into the perfect spot in your folder and Drop it. 

How to Navigate Discord Using a Keyboard EVEN FASTER

As you’re pressing Tab and the Arrow Keys to move through Discord, you might be thinking to yourself: “wow this is a lot of Tab pressing, and my pinky finger hurts… can’t I speed things up a bit?

YES, you can! While in Keyboard Navigation, you can press F6 to move from left to right in the app instead of being restricted to only going up and down! If you’re on a Mac, you’ll also need to hold down the Globe button while pressing F6. 

Pressing F6 will move between four distinct sections of the app, from left to right: 

• Your server list and the Direct Messages button. 
• Your conversation list (either DMs or server channels)
• The text conversation itself. 
• The members of that conversation. 

You’ll loop back to the server list if you press F6 while highlighting your member list. If you need to scroll down a particular list fast, you can hold down Tab to SPEED through menu items. Wanna see me do it again? 

Once you’ve got a handle on using a mix of Tab, the Arrow Keys, and F6, you’ll be able to reach for whatever you need without moving away from your keyboard. Just be sure to take a break from your computer once in a while!

Continued Reading: Keyboard Shortcuts & Keybinds 

Love using your keyboard for literally everything and anything? We recently released a blog post dedicated to Keyboard Shortcuts & Custom Keybinds! Check it out if you’re interested in learning how to create your own custom shortcuts, mastering the Quick Switcher, or learning where to easily see all the built-in keyboard shortcuts. 

Accessibility matters. Everyone should be able to connect with their friends while enjoying their favorite games, no matter how they use Discord or what they use to play. Check out all the other ways we’re making Discord a great experience for all over at discord.com/accessibility.

If you think of any ways that you believe would make using Discord with a keyboard even better, let us know by posting your idea in the Accessibility section of our Feedback Forums. 

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