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The Command Bar

Last updated on 31 Mar 2025
2 min read

The Command Bar gives you quick keyboard access to almost any action you’d find in the menu bar, including those from plugins. Over time, the Command Bar will learn your preferences and bring the actions you use regularly to the top of the results.

Accessing the Command Bar

Press K in a document to open the Command Bar. You’ll see a list of the default actions and their shortcuts. You can navigate items in the Command Bar using arrow keys and hit Enter to action them. You can also click on any action or use its shortcut.

If you see actions grayed out as you type it means the action is not available with the current selection or conditions. For instance, if you have no layers selected, actions that need layer selection like grouping, will appear grayed out.

Press ⌘K to launch the Command Bar and type to search for commands.

Using Shortcuts

The Command Bar is designed to work with keyboard shortcuts. You can use the default ones that come with Sketch or create your own in your Mac’s System Settings. To change the default shortcut that triggers the Command Bar, head to Sketch > Settings > General and add your preferred one in the Command Bar section.

Use shortcuts to quickly access commands or jump straight to inserting or replacing a specific Component type.

These are the default Command Bar shortcuts:

K Open the Command Bar
Y Insert Symbols
T Insert Text Styles
A Insert Artboards
R Replace Component selection
F Navigate to a different Library or group when inserting or replacing
Navigate to the current Library root when inserting or replacing
Go up one level in the Components hierarchy grouping when inserting or replacing
Open the current group in the Components hierarchy when inserting or replacing
Remove any Library or group filter
P Preserve current Symbol dimensions when replacing
H Hide nested Component when replacing

Replacing Components (Beta)

To replace a Component via the Command Bar, select it and press R. Then, select the Component you want to replace it with and press , double-click or click the Replace button in the top-right side of the window. If you’re replacing Symbols, you can also keep the current Symbol dimensions when replacing it by clicking the Alignment button.

Replace Components right from the Command Bar.

If you’re replacing Components via the Inspector, you’ll find a popover that works similarly to the Command Bar. To use the Command Bar as the default way to replace Components, head to Sketch > Settings > General, and enable the option Use the Command Bar for replacing Components.

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