Delete Character, Word Shortcuts

Somewhere I remember seeing a list of shortcuts (if it wasn’t Scrivener, I apologize) for editing.
I’m looking for something like this:
Delete forward character = short cut
Delete forward word = shortcut
Delete forward word = shortcut
Delete backward character = Delete key
Delete backward word = Cmd+Del

Et cetera In addition to finding these, I’d like to if possible simplify the short cuts to be two key combinations. Thanks in advance.

Using Karabiner, I remapped caps lock to delete forward. It saves me a lot of time.

(I would never lock caps on purpose, and the key is in a spot where it’s easy to touch it accidentally.)

At my machine, ⌘Del deletes back to the beginning of the line, not just the previous word.

Hmm … maybe I could create macros in Keyboard Maestro to do that.

(KM is an essential in my opinion, highly recommended.)

now that you mention it, I think i dimly remember using macros to do this.

Delete forward character = fn
Delete forward word = fn

Delete backward character =
Delete backward word =

More: Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support

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With my keyboard, fn+del deletes the backward character. Not sure why … I’ve noticed that quite a few documented shortcuts either don’t work or do different things

Weird. Apple keyboard or third party?

Nice … but this isn’t accurate here:

Control-D : Delete the character to the right of the insertion point.

It deletes backward, not forward. I didn’t test everything, just that one.

Works for me as advertised (macOS latest version). E.g. caret is in front of the word “ASDF”. D repeatedly it becomes “SDF”, “DF”, “F” and so on.

The page is accurate for Fn+del but inaccurate for Ctrl-del at my machine.

This is my keyboard (I love it):
Azio Keyboard

We’re going to have so much fun here.

I have no idea what’s going on with @drmajorbob’s shortcut, but I know that certain Logitech keyboards don’t play nice with some fn key combos (specifically fn ).

It’s a beauty, btw.

Yes. It’s lit, the number keypad and extra Fn keys are awesome (Keyboard Maestro triggers), and I like the sound and feel.

Anyway, the only shortcut I care about in the list is delete forward, and Karabiner takes care of that.

You can never have too many keys. :+1:

My problem with anything larger than TKL (and that’s literally a stretch already) is that I like my mouse on the right side and as close as possible to the actual typing keys.

I wonder why numpads on the left side didn’t become a thing when mice started to inhabit every desk. Even for “symmetry reasons”, numpad left, alphanumerics center, nav cluster right. Or in a perfect world: “Hot swappable” like lego bricks. :thinking:

So I settled for the plain old Magic Keyboard (the small one), my beloved Keychron K2(V2) with Gateron Browns and RGB lighting (yeah, don’t say it) and – currently not in use – my custom designed WASD (TKL), with Scratchy Cherry MX Browns and no backlight at all.

Why are we talking about our keyboards now? :joy:

Nothing better to do, I suppose.

My hands are too big for compact keyboards, and I use a magic trackpad. Putting a mouse next to the keyboard wouldn’t appeal to me.

The keys on my K2 are pretty much the same size and are spaced as on your Azio. (Minor differences aside, e.g. no physically grouped F-keys, same goes for the “cramped” nav cluster, etc. This can be irritating, but they also have TKL and larger variants.)

So in a way it’s compact and compatible with your hands at the same time. Sounds weird. I’m not affiliated with Keychron. :upside_down_face: Or maybe I don’t understand what you mean by your “hands are too big”. For what exactly?

Regarding the trackpad. I’m too clumsy for precise control. Used mice for too long before trackpads became halfways useable at all. Maybe it’s just me. Anything remotely graphics related is a trackpad nightmare for me.

Is “too clumsy” anything like “too big”?

It took a while to get used to trackpads, but now I’d never go back to a mouse. The status quo is always easier, or so it seems until you get a new status quo.

Good question. Yes and no. Yes in the sense of one works for me (!) way better than the other one. Could be me (“too big fingers”, not enough practice). No in the sense that it’s a different technology, which requires different motor skills. Apples and oranges.

Unlike using a different keyboard with a standard layout, same keycap dimensions, same key spacing, same keycap profile (Cherry style), even the same switch mechanism – it’s like swinging the same sword of different color.

Now, if you throw something like the Magic keyboard into this mix. That’s a significantly different sword. I get that.

This thread, which I started to talk about keyboard shortcuts for fine text editing has diverted into a discussion of keyboards. I appreciate this but it doesn’t illuminate my question.

One thing that occurs to me is that nowhere in the Scrivener Menu do we see “Delete Forward Word” or “Delete Forward Character.” Since most shortcut assignments refer to menu commands, isn’t this one root of the problem? Or am I off base?

In the Apple “Mac Keyboard Shortcuts” Page, located at:

I find this:

  • Option-Delete: Delete the word to the left of the insertion point.
  • Control-H: Delete the character to the left of the insertion point. Or use Delete.
  • Control-D: Delete the character to the right of the insertion point. Or use Fn-Delete.
  • Fn-Delete: Forward delete on keyboards that don’t have a Forward Delete key. Or use Control-D.
  • Control-K: Delete the text between the insertion point and the end of the line or paragraph.

Problem is, some just don’t work!

I’m sorry, we got carried away a little bit in your absence. :sunglasses: You didn’t answer (or I missed it):

What keyboard do you use? An Apple keyboard or a third party product?

These shortcuts are not specific to Scrivener, they’re baked into macOS. They should (!) work in any text editing context. Ideally.

Which ones don’t work? I just tried every single one of those in Scrivener and all of them work for me.

To November_Sierra -
You mention that all work for you. Did Control-D delete the character to the right? And did Fn-Delete do the same?

If so I’d like to know if you are on a Mac.