Keyboard Shortcuts

by Jon (Updated on 2015-10-10)


Stencyl supports a variety shortcuts to speed up your workflow. The shortcuts below are organized by the section/editor they are used in. Most of these actions are available via buttons or menus as well.

Note: Mac users - Use Command instead of Ctrl, and Option instead of Alt.

Welcome Center

Shortcut Purpose
CTRL+SHIFT+N Create a New Game/Kit (depending on which you select)
ENTER Open the Selected Item (same as double click)

Common Shortcuts Usually Accessible

Shortcut Purpose
ALT+F Open File Menu
ALT+E Open Edit Menu
ALT+H Open Help Menu
CTRL+P Go to Stencyl API Page on the Wiki
CTRL+M Show / Hide StencylTalk
CTRL+L Show / Hide Help Center
ALT+LEFT/RIGHT ARROWS Toggle Tabs (except when in the Scene Editor)
CTRL+R Reload Document
CTRL+N Create New... (Actor/Background/Font/Scene/Behavior/Sound/Tileset/Pack)
CTRL+G Open Miniature Game Center Window
CTRL+ENTER Preview / Test Game
CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER Test Game in Browser
CTRL+S Save Game
ENTER Open the Selected Item (same as double click)
CTRL+SHIFT+F Open StencylForge

Note: Right-click a tab, and you'll be able to split the screen in the app. This can help you easily compare two documents side by side. Also, this can be useful for tasks such as comparing two Behaviors.

Actor / Background / Tileset Editors

Shortcut Purpose
ARROWS Select a Single Frame
CTRL+A or CTRL+/ Select All Frames
CTRL+\ Select No Frames
SHIFT+ARROWS Select All Frames From First Selected to Last Selected
DELETE Delete Selected Frame(s)

Scene Designer

Shortcut Purpose
SPACE Toggle Select and Pencil Tools
BACKSPACE Delete the Selected Tile / Actor (alt: CTRL+BACKSPACE, SHIFT+BACKSPACE)
CTRL+Y Redo
CTRL+Z Undo
CTRL+SHIFT+K Send Selected Tile / Actor to Back Layer
CTRL+K Send Selected Tile / Actor Back One Layer
CTRL+SHIFT+L Bring Selected Tile / Actor to Front Layer
CTRL+L Bring Selected Tile / Actor Up One Layer
CTRL+E Customize the Behavior of the Selected Actor
+ KEY Scroll Up Through List of Layers
- KEY Scroll Down Through List of Layers

Note: Holding SHIFT while moving or placing a Actor will snap it to the Scene's Grid. You can toggle to show / hide the grid with a button in the top right corner of the Scene Editor.

Design Mode

Shortcut Purpose
CTRL+D Show / Hide Sidebar
CTRL+E Arrange All Blocks
CTRL+K Delete Loose Blocks
CTRL+T Take Screenshot
CTRL+Y Redo
CTRL+Z Undo
ALT+DRAG Duplicate Blocks
SHIFT + DRAG Drag a Single Block Out of a Stack of Blocks

Note: Right-click a block in the workspace for options to Undo/Redo, View Help, Find In Palette, Copy/Paste, Duplicate/Remove, Activate/Deactivate, and Add to Favorites.

Sound Editor

Shortcut Purpose
CTRL+C Choose File
CTRL+M Edit Sound