Can't use Ctrl + Enter as hotkey on macos

Bug reports
,
1

Cant’t assign CTRL+RETURN to “Show context menu under cursor”

Steps to reproduce

Attempt to assign CTRL+RETURN to “Show context context under cursor” hotkey item

Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y]

Please, follow the Troubleshooting Guide before answering Yes.

Expected result

Hotkey will be assigned.

Actual result

Not detected.

Environment

macOS running latest OS and Obsidian version.

Additional information

Already attempted to disable the system keyboard shortcut for showing the contextual menu (same hotkey). Still did not work.

1 Like
2

You didn’t include the out of “show debug info” as requested by the BR report template.

3

Apologies as this is my first time reporting a bug. I think the community would also appreciate it if you used ‘please’. Thank you.

SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: 1.12.4
Installer version: 1.12.4
Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 25.3.0: Wed Jan 28 20:53:01 PST 2026; root:xnu-12377.81.4~5/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 25.3.0
Login status: logged in
Language: en
Catalyst license: insider
Insider build toggle: on
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: Cupertino 3.2.6
Snippets enabled: 1
Restricted mode: off
Plugins installed: 7
Plugins enabled: 7
1: BRAT v2.0.2
2: Periodic Notes v0.0.17
3: Notebook Navigator v2.4.3
4: Style Settings v1.0.9
5: Better Properties v1.0.0
6: Hider v1.6.1
7: Linter v1.31.2

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Custom theme and snippets: for cosmetic issues, please first try updating your theme and disabling your snippets. If still not fixed, please try to make the issue happen in the Sandbox Vault or disable community theme and snippets.
Community plugins: for bugs, please first try updating all your plugins to latest. If still not fixed, please try to make the issue happen in the Sandbox Vault or disable community plugins.

4

Sorry, I apologize from my previous message.

5

we have been unable to reproduce your problem.

What does this mean exactly?

6

Hi WhiteNoise, no worries.

When I say undetected I mean it does not want to assign the hotkey regardless of how many times I press the key combination CTRL+RETURN. I have tried assigning it to multiple other actions, however Obsidian macOS does not seem to accept the key combination CTRL+RETURN.

Every other key combination works like OPT+RETURN and CMD+RETURN.

7

I wonder if ctrl+enter is captured globally by some other apps or the OS.

8

I used Supercharge to detect which applications might be capturing the key combination. However, even after quitting the applications it had flagged, Obsidian macOS still does not accept the key combination.

Has someone on your team been able to add CTRL+RETURN as a hotkey for Obsidian macOS actions?

9

yes we tried.

10

Tried and succeeded in using it as a hotkey?

11

That might not mean the hotkey isn’t being captured. You might still have to unassign it in the app and/or Keyboard preferences.

Do you have any other app where you could try setting that hotkey and see if it also blocked/captured?

12

Hi Rigmarole,

I am able to assign it in Raycast, Typinator, and Cleanshot X. However, it was also blocked in Electron-based apps like Claude.

This is what Opus said:

On macOS, Ctrl+Enter cannot be assigned as a hotkey in Electron-based apps because Chromium reserves several Ctrl+key combinations to emulate readline/terminal shortcuts (a legacy Unix input behavior). This means Ctrl+Enter is consumed at the Chromium engine level before Obsidian’s hotkey system ever sees it — which is why Cmd+Enter and Opt+Enter work fine, as those modifiers don’t carry the same reserved bindings. A fix would require Obsidian to intercept it explicitly via Electron’s webContents.on('before-input-event', ...) API, which fires before Chromium’s default handling. Reference: https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/tutorial/keyboard-shortcuts

Maybe an easier fix would be to just allow the native contextual menu of macOS to work inside Obsidian by default? Not sure if that’s possible. I am not really a programmer. Let me know how I can help.

13

vivaldi_MbnvcI0vDm

14

Hi WhiteNoise, what am I looking at? Is this macOS Obsidian? If so, any other recommendations on how this can be fixed?

15

Yes that is ctrl-enter being mapped in MacOS. I’m on a phone and it’s late, but I don’t see any mention of what “Opus” told you in that link. Maybe an overly specific prompt led it to hallucinate.

But I see a mention of a MacOS bug with certain keyboard layouts other than qwerty. But that is talking about some global command. I’m not sure it’s relevant.

But just in case: What keyboard layout/region are you using?

16

The image is a screenshot to answer your question

Unfortunately, I don’t have any other ideas to help you. Sorry.

17

Seems fine on my end.

Using the latest installer from the insider channel and macOS 15.7.4.

CleanShot 2026-03-06 at 21.57.47

SYSTEM INFO:
	Obsidian version: 1.12.5
	Installer version: 1.12.5
	Operating system: Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Mon Jan 19 22:00:55 PST 2026; root:xnu-11417.140.69.708.3~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 24.6.0

@johnzamora When you get a chance, try in another user/test account on the mac.

The issue may be specific to your main account.

1 Like
19

I, too, cannot use Ctrl+Enter on macOS to bring up the context menu, even if I bind it in Obsidian settings. Ctrl+Enter doesn’t seem to work in any Electron app — the issue must be upstream.

20

It works for ariehen, and it works for me. So it must be some other factor.

I asked above and no one answered. What keyboard layout/region are you using? And did you try ariehen’s suggestion to try on another user account?