Keyboard shortcuts not working inside the Confluence editor

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.

Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.

*Except Fisheye and Crucible

Summary

One user or just a few of them reports the following shortcuts inside the editor are not working:

  • // to create a date macro

  • { to open the macro list dropdown

  • @ to mention a user

For other users, those features work as expected.

Diagnosis

The problem can be reproduced in the following scenarios:

  • Different browsers

  • Incognito mode

  • Logging in with the same account on different computers

This means it is something specific to the user profile settings.

Cause

Such behavior can be seen when the following settings are enabled under User Profile > Settings > Editor.

Here is the impact of each item:

  1. Disable Autocomplete - disables macros and mentions shortcuts

  2. Disable Autoformatting - disables date shortcut

Solution

Edit the settings under User Profile > Settings > Editor and uncheck those checkboxes to re-enable the editor shortcuts.

Updated on February 27, 2025

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