[MacOS]Please fix keyboard shortcut to CursorDown for Ctrl-N in composer

Bug Report
1

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Describe the Bug

Why does Ctrl + N open a new composer instead of doing cursorDown?
Seriously, I’ve disabled every other Ctrl + N shortcut except cursorDown.

Yet it still stubbornly ignores the expected behavior. WHY?

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Open Keyboard Shortcuts with Ctrl + Shift + P.
  2. Disable every single Ctrl + N shortcut except cursorDown.
  3. Open composer using Command + I, type something, and then press Ctrl + N.
  4. Watch in frustration as it defiantly opens a new composer instead of moving the cursor down.

Expected Behavior

Ctrl + N should just perform the cursorDown action. Simple. No new composers, no surprises.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Xnip2025-01-08_17-52-06.png
Xnip2025-01-08_17-52-06.png2644×648 31.8 KB

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

cursor --version --verbose
0.44.11
fe574d0820377383143b2ea26aa6ae28b3425220
arm64

Additional Information

PLEASE FIX<
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT<
FOR ANYONE WHO USES MACOS<
YOU SHOULD NOT OVERRIDE Ctrl-N OTHER THAN MOVE CURSOR DOWN<

Contact: catkins.hexes0p@icloud.com
Thank You (if you read)

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

2

You can ask Cursor for all of its keybinds, and have it give you and walk you through the settings.

As such:

Here’s a suggested response:

Hi there! I understand you want to set up Ctrl+N for cursor movement (similar to Emacs-style navigation). Here’s how you can customize this in Cursor:

  • Open Cursor’s Keyboard Shortcuts settings:

  • On macOS: Cmd + K, Cmd + S

  • Or go to Code → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Search for “cursorDown” in the shortcuts search bar

  • To add the Ctrl+N binding:

  • Click the + icon next to the “cursorDown” command

  • Press Ctrl+N

  • This will add it as an alternative binding

You can add this to your keybindings.json file directly:

keybindings.json

Apply

{

“key”: “ctrl+n”,

“command”: “cursorDown”,

“when”: “textInputFocus”

}

Note: If you’re getting conflicts with other shortcuts, you may need to:

  • Remove any conflicting bindings first
  1. Ensure the “when” clause is specific enough to only trigger in text editing contexts

For other Emacs-style bindings, you might also want to add:

  • Ctrl+P for cursor up

  • Ctrl+F for cursor right

  • Ctrl+B for cursor left

1 Like
3

I’ve tried for Ctrl + N, which still refuses to work:

// Remove existing ctrl+n bindings that could conflict
[
    // Add new bindings for composer/chat panels
    {
        "key": "ctrl+n",
        "command": "cursorDown",
        "when": "textInputFocus && (focusedView == 'workbench.panel.composerViewPane2.view' || focusedView == 'workbench.panel.aichat.view')"
    }
]

// Modified bindings for chat/composer input
{
    "key": "ctrl+n",
    "command": "cursorDown",
    "when": "inChatInput || composerInput || chatInputFocus"
}

// General input focus bindings
{
    "key": "ctrl+n",
    "command": "cursorDown",
    "when": "inputFocus && !editorTextFocus && !suggestWidgetVisible && !inQuickOpen"
}

Ctrl + P works perfectly. It’s just Ctrl + N that’s being unreasonably stubborn. Any ideas? Or, better yet, a fix?

4

im on windows, so I cant test this, but does this help:

Here are the Mac-specific instructions for managing Cursor’s keybindings:

  1. View All Keybindings:

    • Press ⌘ + K, ⌘ + S (Command + K, Command + S)
    • Or navigate through: Cursor → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts

  2. To Export Current Keybindings:

    • Open the Keyboard Shortcuts editor
    • Click the “…” (three dots) in the top-right corner
    • Select “Show Current Keybindings”

For the Emacs-style navigation, here’s a macOS-compatible keybindings.json configuration:

[
    {
        "key": "ctrl+n",
        "command": "cursorDown",
        "when": "textInputFocus && !suggestWidgetVisible"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+p",
        "command": "cursorUp",
        "when": "textInputFocus && !suggestWidgetVisible"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+f",
        "command": "cursorRight",
        "when": "textInputFocus"
    },
    {
        "key": "ctrl+b",
        "command": "cursorLeft",
        "when": "textInputFocus"
    }
]

To modify your keybindings:

  1. Open Command Palette (⌘ + Shift + P)
  2. Type “Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON)”
  3. Add the above configurations

Note: If you want to see all default keybindings in Cursor:

  1. Open Command Palette
  2. Type “Open Default Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON)”
  3. This will show you all built-in keybindings

For the Composer panel specifically, you might want to add:

{
    "key": "ctrl+n",
    "command": "cursorDown",
    "when": "textInputFocus && (focusedView == 'workbench.panel.composerViewPane2.view' || focusedView == 'workbench.panel.aichat.view')"
}

Mac-Specific Notes:

  • Remember that on Mac, ⌘ (Command) is different from ^ (Control)
  • The keybindings use ctrl instead of cmd to maintain Emacs-style consistency
  • If you’re having issues with system shortcuts, you might need to check System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts to ensure there are no conflicts
  • The file location for keybindings on Mac is typically: ~/Library/Application Support/Cursor/User/keybindings.json
1 Like
5

not working for me

6

Drat.

I think there is a huge vacuum of opportunity in the Forging of the UX within Cursor through its Agentic YOLObility to have the bot update Cursor IDE settings and such…

–

It just is a little too sycophantic/eager_to_claim_success that it often bullshits one into a corner…

1 Like
7

good idea ! @cursorteam