Drafts - Hotkeys

You can use Drafts from any app by pressing a keyboard shortcut (hotkey) to open a Drafts window to write (or dictate) your text.

There are also menu options on the macOS Dock or Menu Bar to open either the Main window (“New Draft”) or a macOS Quick Capture window (“Capture”), as well as variations that create a new draft from clipboard contents.

Settings

Drafts general settings define a default hotkey that opens the main Drafts window as ⇧ ⌘ 2 (Shift–Command-2).

However, I changed it to ⇧ ⌘ 1 (Shift–Command-1) to avoid a conflict with the Arc browser hotkey that captures a screenshot, which I use frequently.

Tip: Hotkey – New Draft

I changed my Main window shortcut to ⇧ ⌘ 1 (Control-Command-1) to avoid a conflict when I’m using the Arc browser, since it uses ⇧ ⌘ 2 to Capture a screenshot image. Arc, Drafts, and Obsidian are the main apps in my macOS desktop.

I also assigned hotkeys for quick capture ⌃ ⌘ 1 (Control–Command-1).

Tip: Capture clipboard

At first, I also defined a hotkey for capture clipboard ⌃ ⇧ ⌘ 1 (Control-Shift-Command-1), but later I deleted it since I can just paste the clipboard already using ⌘ V into either the Drafts main or capture window. That’s one less keyboard shortcut to remember that just saves one extra step.

So these are my current hotkeys for Drafts under Settings > General.

I always launch the Drafts app at login, so it’s always running. I keep the app icon in the Dock, and assign Drafts to all macOS spaces.

I can always Control-click on the Drafts icon in the Dock to create a new draft. I have also checked the setting to show Drafts in the Menu Bar, so I can create a draft that way as well. You might choose to just use one of those; for example, some users choose to hide their Dock and/or Menu Bar, and you may prefer one location over the other.

With Drafts running, regardless of the current application you are using, the assigned hotkeys will open the Drafts capture or main window for a new draft.

New drafts

On macOS, my settings automatically create a new draft after 30 minutes, or when moved by a successful action.

For my iOS settings, I create a new draft after 60 seconds or after a successful action (like Add to Obsidian).