Blocks keyboard controls

You don’t need a mouse to use the Blocks editor. Every block can be selected, moved, edited, inserted and deleted from the keyboard. This helps anyone who finds dragging hard, and it is often quicker once you know the keys. Screen readers announce each block by name.

Dragging still works exactly as before. You can mix the two however you like.

Getting into the workspace

Press Tab until the Blocks workspace is focused. The workspace is a single stop in the Tab order, so one more Tab takes you on to the next part of the page. A white-and-black ring shows which block is selected.

Clicking a block selects it too, so you can click once and carry on with the keyboard.

Moving around

Key	What it does
Up / Down	Go to the previous or next block. On procedure headers (hats), this moves between stacks.
Right	Go into the body of a block that holds other blocks, such as `repeat` or a procedure.
Left	Leave the body and go back to the block that holds it.
Escape	Put focus back on the workspace.

Changing blocks

Key	What it does
Alt+Up / Alt+Down	Move the selected block up or down within its body.
Enter	Insert a new block after the selected one. A picker opens so you can choose the command.
F2	Edit the block’s first input. Enter or Escape finishes and returns focus to the block. Inside the selected block, Tab also reaches each of its inputs; press Enter, Space or F2 on one to edit it.
Delete or Backspace	Delete the selected block. Selection moves to the next block.
Shift+Delete	Delete the selected block and every block after it on the same line.
Shift+F10 or the Menu key	Open the block menu: Insert after, Move up, Move down, Duplicate and Delete. Right-clicking a block opens the same menu.
Ctrl+Z	Undo. Focus goes back to the block you were working on.
Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z	Redo.

On a Mac, use ⌘ in place of Ctrl.

Inserting from the palette

Every block in the palette on the left is a button. Tab to one, or search for it, and press Enter or Space to place it without dragging:

With a block that holds others selected (like repeat), the new block goes at the top of its body.
With an ordinary block selected, the new block goes on the line after it.
A procedure header (hat) starts a new stack.
A reporter, a block that gives back a value, goes into the selected block’s first input.

The new block is selected straight away, so you can keep going: press F2 to fill in its inputs, or Alt+Up/Down to nudge it into place. Inserting works with undo, just like a drop.

Keys that stay in the editor

While a block in the workspace is focused, arrow keys, Enter and Delete only affect your blocks. They don’t reach the console or your running program. Click the 3D view or the console when you want the keys to go to Logo again.

For more about the Blocks editor, see About the webIDE.