Keyboard navigation

MeowMenu can be driven entirely from the keyboard: open it, start typing, or use the keys below. These shortcuts work on every preset and on both X11 and Wayland.

Quick reference

Key	Effect
Type any letter	Starts or extends a search — focus jumps to the search box.
Enter	Launches the highlighted item (the first match on the search box).
Backspace	Deletes the last character of the query.
Tab / Shift+Tab	Switches between Applications and Places (when Places is on).
Ctrl+Tab / Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Moves focus through the areas: Search → Results → Sidebar → Session buttons (and back).
↑ / ↓	Moves the selection inside the current list.
Page Up / Page Down	Moves the selection one screenful at a time.
Home / End	Jumps to the first / last item.
← / →	Crosses between the sidebar and the results (only while not searching).
Esc	Steps back one level (see below).
Shift+F10 or Menu	Opens the context menu for the highlighted item.

Switching Applications and Places

Tab and Shift+Tab switch between Applications and Places from anywhere in the menu. The new view opens on its default content (Applications → your default category, Places → Home) with focus on the results, ready to arrow. When Places is disabled, Tab does nothing.

Moving between areas

Ctrl+Tab moves focus through the areas in order — Search → Results → Sidebar → Session buttons — wrapping around at the end, and Ctrl+Shift+Tab goes back. Any area that is currently hidden, empty, or otherwise cannot take focus is skipped, so a press always lands on a usable area; the sidebar is skipped while you are searching. When only one area can take focus, Ctrl+Tab simply stays put.

Some desktops bind Ctrl+Tab globally; where they do, the menu never receives it and area cycling is unavailable.

Moving within an area

• Results — ↑ / ↓ move the selection; Home / End jump to the ends. Exactly one item is highlighted at a time, whether you move by keyboard or by mouse — the highlight follows you and never leaves a trail.
• Sidebar — the arrow keys along the sidebar move through the categories one per press and keep focus in the sidebar the whole time, wrapping around at the ends; Home / End jump to the first / last category. The along-axis keys are ↑ / ↓ for a vertical sidebar and ← / → for a horizontal one. Selecting a category with the mouse instead hands focus to the search box so you can start typing right away.
• Sidebar ↔ Results — the arrow pointing toward the results leaves the sidebar, and the opposite arrow returns (only while not searching).
• Session buttons — ← / → move between buttons; Enter activates.

How arrowing through categories affects the results depends on the “Switch categories by hovering” sidebar setting. With it on, the highlighted category opens live as you arrow, so the results preview each one. With it off, arrowing only moves the highlight and the results stay put until you press Enter (or Space) to confirm the highlighted category.

The Esc ladder

One press undoes one thing, in this order: close an open context menu → cancel a resize → clear the search text → close the menu.

Type to search

Start typing at any time. Letters, digits, punctuation, and emoji all go to the search box, wherever focus is; non-text keys are left untouched. In-progress input-method (CJK) composition is preserved.

Notes

• The area order is identical in right-to-left locales; only the sidebar-exit arrow is mirrored visually.
• On Wayland (layer-shell preset) the menu stays open if focus briefly leaves it — close it with Esc or your global shortcut.