As a developer, we should always follow the rule:

If you start doing some action with the mouse, stop and think if there is a shortcut. If there is one - use it.

In this document, I will list down several shortcut that I find useful in navigating Jupyter Notebook.

Note: These shortcut can be applied to both Jupyter Notebook and Jupyter Lab, except for the customized shortcut, which is only available in Jupyter Lab as far as I understand.

1. Convert cell to md

As a data analysts, I used both code and markdown very frequently in my notebook. By default, all the cells in Jupyter notebook is code. To convert it to a markdown cell, we can use the UI (dropdown) to select markdown. Alternatively, use a shortcut: Shortcut: Esc + m

2. Run target cell

Shortcut: Ctrl + Enter Alternatively, you can click the Execute cell icon and select Run Cell.

3. Run all code

Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + Alt + Enter

4. Run cell, move to next cell

Shortcut: Shift + Enter This allows us the run several cells faster, and create a new cell if it has reached the end.

More customized shortcut keys…

5. Run all below / Run all above

To do this, open your JupyterLab window. Go to the Setting > Advanced Settings Editor.

Next, click on Keyboard Shortcuts. You will see two pane side by side: System Default and User Preference.

Finally, paste the following code into the User Preference Pane.

{
       "shortcuts": [
        {
            "command": "notebook:run-all-below",
            "keys": [
                "Ctrl Shift ArrowDown"
            ],
            "selector": "[data-jp-code-runner]"
        },
        {
            "command": "notebook:run-all-above",
            "keys": [
                "Ctrl Shift ArrowUp"
            ],
            "selector": "[data-jp-code-runner]"
        }
    ]
}

6. Add cell below/ above

{
    "shortcuts":[
        {
            ...
        },
        {
            "command": "notebook:insert-cell-below",
            "keys": [
                "Ctrl ArrowDown"
            ],
            "selector": ".jp-Notebook:focus"
        },
        {
            "command": "notebook:insert-cell-above",
            "keys": [
                "Ctrl ArrowUp"
            ],
            "selector": ".jp-Notebook:focus"
        }
    ]
}
        

To learn more about Jupyter shortcut, refer to this article

To learn how to add keyboard shortcut for R pipe operator %>%, refer to my another blog post.