Sudoku Help - Keyboard
Our menu and toolbar page lists all the Sudoku playing commands that are available from the program menu and toolbar. All the most frequently available actions are also available at the touch of a button - from the keyboard.
Selecting a square
To select the Sudoku grid press TAB until one of the grid cells shows a circle. You can also select a square by clicking the mouse on a square.
Moving around the grid
The arrow keys (up, down, left and right) move by one Sudoku square in the corresponding direction. These only operate when a grid square is already selected. The page keys (Page up, Page down) move by one region up or down. If you use the control CTRL key at the same time it will move horizontally by a region rather than vertically. Home takes you to the top left square while End takes you to the bottom right.
Setting the contents of a square
To set the value for a Sudoku square you must first select the square and then just use the appropriate key ‘1’ to ‘9’. If you have Number lock (Num Lock) enabled you can assign a value with the number pad keys. You can also use the mouse wheel as an alternative way of allocating a value to a square.
Clearing the contents of a square
Use the Delete, Backspace or Space key to set the currently selected square as unallocated again. This also clears any tentative possibilities you may have set.
Setting Tentative Possibilities and Impossibilities
For more difficult puzzles, many Sudoku puzzlers will want to mark possibilities on squares. You can do this simply and easily by selecting an unallocated square and then pressing down control CTRL key at the same time select the appropriate key ‘1’ to ‘9’ for the impossibility you want to set. It will be displayed in the bottom left of a square with reversed colors. The possibilities are shown as small numbers (or letters) at the bottom of the square. To set a possibility use the CTRL key at the same time again and the number will be shown . To clear all the possibilities for a square press Delete or Space. You can set all possibilities to be the same as the automatic possibilities by pressing F8 or Edit | Set Auto Possibilities. The setting of possibilities is remembered so the program can selectively Undo and Redo them if you find you need to change your mind later.
*NOTE* You can select several squares at once by using CTRL+mouse click or CTRL+mouse drag and can then set contents/tentative possibilities for all of them in one go.
Analyzing Possibilities
The possibility bar lets you quickly see what is possible to assign and where. You can use it by clicking on the symbols in the toolbar or by using ALT key with a number ‘1’ to ‘9’ to select a possibility option. If the possibility is already chosen this will clear the possibility display. To switch on (or off) all possibilities use the F4 function key.
Keyboard Commands
Here are all the available keyboard commands :
Key | Command |
F1 | Display help information for current screen |
F3 | Hide the side panel |
F4 | Show/hide automatic possibilities for all the values 1..9 |
F5 | Show details for currently selected square |
F6 | Clear any tentative possibilities from the currently selected square(s) |
F7 | Show/hide automatic display of possibilities. |
F8 | Set your marked possibilities to match automatic possibilities for the current square |
F9 | Give a hint to help solve the puzzle |
F10 | Show the current status of the game |
F11 | Show possibility analysis for the current square |
F12 | Automatically allocate an 'easy' to solve square |
CTRL+Z | Undo the previous action (square allocation, possibility setting or color marking) |
CTRL+Y | Redo the previously undone action |
SHIFT+1..9 | Set or clear possibility for 1..9 (if using numbers) |
SHIFT+A..T | Set or clear possibility for A..T (if using letters) |
CTRL+1..9 | Set or clear impossibility for 1..9 (if using numbers) |
CTRL+A..T | Set or clear impossibility for A..T (if using letters) |
ALT+1..9 | Show/hide possibilities for 1..9 (if using numbers) |
CTRL+ALT+1..9 | Add/remove display of a particular possibility for 1..9 (if using numbers) |
ALT+SHIFT+A..T | Show/hide possibilities for A..T (if using letters) |
CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+A..T | Add/remove display of a particular possibility for A..T (if using letters) |
SHIFT+F1 | Set current square background to marker color 1 |
SHIFT+F2 | Set current square background to marker color 2 |
SHIFT+F3 | Set current square background to marker color 3 |
SHIFT+F4 | Set current square background to marker color 4 |
SHIFT+F5 | Set current square background to marker color 5 |
SHIFT+F6 | Set current square background to marker color 6 |
SHIFT+F7 | Clear square background marker color |
TAB | Toggle input focus to grid or the side panel (ignored if side panel not displayed) |
CTRL+TAB | Move to next page of display panel, activate display panel if not currently displayed |
1..9 | Change allocation of selected square (if using numbers) |
A..T | Change allocation of selected square (if using letters) |
Q,W,E,R,T,Y | Alternative for setting the color of the currently selected square(s). |
U | Alternative for clearing the color of the currently selected square(s). |
= | While this key is pressed highlight all the squares in the same groups that the selected square is in. |
Left arrow (and number pad if not number locked) | Move selection left one square or to last square if in first square of row |
Right arrow | Move selection right one square or to first square if in last square of row |
Up arrow | Move selection up one square or to last square if in first square of column |
Down arrow | Move selection down one square or to last square if in first square of column |
Page up | Move selection up by one region or to last region if in first region of column |
Page down | Move selection down by one region or to first region if in last region of column |
CTRL+Page up | Move selection left by one region or to last region if in first region of column |
CTRL+Page down | Move selection right by one region or to first region if in last region of row |
Home | Move selection to top leftmost square |
End | Move selection to bottom rightmost square |
Pause | Temporarily pause the game timer |
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