SQLPro Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted by Kyle Hankinson July 27, 2026

Most of the time you spend in a database client is spent in three places: the query editor, the results grid, and the connection sidebar. Moving between them with the mouse works, but it is the slowest way to do it. This article lists every keyboard shortcut ships with, notes which actions deliberately arrive unassigned, and shows how to rebind any of them.

Where the shortcuts live

On macOS, open Preferences (Cmd + ,) and choose Keyboard in the sidebar. Every shortcut listed below has its own row. Click the field beside an action, press the combination you want, and it is saved immediately. There is no Apply button.

To remove a binding, click the field and press the delete button that appears at its right edge. To restore an individual shortcut, clear it and reopen the window.

On Windows, open Preferences and choose Keyboard. The Windows build currently exposes a smaller set of rebindable actions than the macOS build; the table further down lists what is configurable today.

macOS defaults

Running queries

Action	Default
Query execution	`Shift` + `Cmd` + `E`
Query execution (secondary)	not assigned
Format query	`Shift` + `Cmd` + `K`
Comment/uncomment	`Cmd` + `-`

Query execution (secondary) exists so you can bind a second key to the same action. A common setup is to leave the primary at Shift + Cmd + E and add Cmd + Return as the secondary, which matches the muscle memory from a lot of other tools.

Comment/uncomment works on the current line, or on every line touched by the selection. It uses -- followed by a space, which matters for MySQL, where a comment marker without trailing whitespace is not treated as a comment.

Connections and navigation

Action	Default
Connect	`Shift` + `Cmd` + `C`
Focus database tree	`Ctrl` + `D`
Focus database tree search	`Ctrl` + `F`
Previous tab	`Shift` + `Cmd` + `[`
Next tab	`Shift` + `Cmd` + `]`

Ctrl + F jumps straight to the sidebar filter, which is usually faster than scrolling a large schema. Note that these two use Ctrl rather than Cmd, so they do not collide with the standard macOS find and duplicate shortcuts in the editor.

Alongside the tab shortcuts above, Cmd + 1 through Cmd + 9 switch directly to a tab by position. That behaviour is on by default and can be turned off with the checkbox in the same Keyboard preferences pane, which is worth doing if you would rather those keys stay free.

Results

Action	Default
Hide/show query results	`Cmd` + `K`
Find column	`Cmd` + `B`
Toggle results/messages	not assigned
Copy selected with headers as CSV	not assigned
Export full result set as CSV	not assigned
Export full result set as JSON	not assigned
Export full result set as XML	not assigned

Find column is the one people tend to miss. On a result set that is a hundred columns wide, Cmd + B beats horizontal scrolling.

The five unassigned actions here are the ones worth setting up first, because they have no default and are easy to reach for repeatedly. If you export the same result set shape every day, giving CSV export a binding removes several clicks each time.

Text editing

Action	Default
Make uppercase	not assigned
Make lowercase	not assigned

Both are unassigned by default. They apply to the current selection in the editor.

Multiple cursors

Multi-cursor editing has its own set of keys, and they are not configurable:

Hold Option and drag the mouse up or down between lines
Cmd + Option + ↑/↓ to add cursors above or below
Shift + Option + I turns a multi-line selection into one cursor per line

Once several cursors are active, the usual text-movement keys apply to all of them at once: ←/→ by character, Option + ←/→ by word, adding Shift to any of those to select rather than move. Cmd + Delete deletes to the end of the next word from every cursor, and Option + Delete deletes to the end of the line.

Windows defaults

Action	Default
Query execution	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `E`
Format query	`Ctrl` + `K`
Hide/show query results	`Ctrl` + `R`
Query history	`Ctrl` + `Shift` + `H`

The first three are rebindable from Preferences > Keyboard. Query history has a working default but no row in the preferences pane yet, so it cannot currently be changed.

If you are coming from SQL Server Management Studio, the layout will feel close but not identical. Ctrl + K is format-query here rather than the first half of a chord, so the SSMS comment pair Ctrl + K, C and Ctrl + K, U do not carry over.

Picking bindings that stick

Two things are worth knowing before you rebind much.

Shortcuts are validated as you set them. If you choose a combination the system has already claimed, or one already used by another action in , the field will reject it rather than silently create a conflict. Reassigning an action to the combination it already has is allowed, so you can safely re-enter the same keys.

Your choices are stored per application rather than per connection, so a binding you set while working against Postgres applies just as well when you open a SQL Server connection later.

If a shortcut you want is missing

The list above is what exists today. If there is an action you reach for constantly and it has no row in the Keyboard pane, that is worth telling us about, because the pane is straightforward to extend and requests genuinely drive what gets added. The same goes for defaults that feel wrong for your platform.

Tags: Feature Support

License Details and Terms

Posted by Kyle Hankinson May 13, 2025

License Details

SQLPro offers three types of licenses:

Subscription License Keys (Monthly and Yearly)
These licenses are valid across iOS, macOS, and Windows. A single subscription covers all platforms and devices for a single user when purchased through the SQLPro website.
App Store Subscriptions
Subscriptions purchased via the Mac App Store or iOS App Store are only valid on the platform where the purchase was made.
Although Apple introduced cross-platform subscription support, it only applied to new apps. Because SQLPro was already available on the App Store before this change, cross-platform sharing does not apply. For this reason, purchasing directly from the SQLPro website is recommended.
Lifetime Licenses
Lifetime licenses are valid for a single platform only (macOS, iOS, or Windows). If you need SQLPro on more than one platform, a separate lifetime license is required for each.

License Terms

A single SQLPro license is defined as either of the following:

A single user may use the license on multiple devices they own.
Multiple users may share the license on a single device.

Example:
You can use one license on both your desktop and laptop if you're the only user. Alternatively, if multiple users share the same machine, they may all use the same license on that device.

Tags: Support License

App store subscription not activating

Posted by Kyle Hankinson Febuary 2, 2021

TLDR;

Uninstall the app and reinstall it from the App Store. (No data will be lost).

Details

The App Store uses 'Receipts' generated by macOS to let SQLPro know that a subscription is valid. Normally users never need to know about these receipts, as its all taken care of in the background. In some cases, receipts may not be downloaded and even though you have paid for the app it may not recognize this. If this happens, a steps can be taken:

First, try the 'Restore purchase' button on the subscription dialog. Unfortunately, this does not always seem to work.

The second method which has yet to fail, is to Uninstall the app then re-install from the App Store. SQLPro stores your connections securely in the iCloud keychain so no data is lost doing so.

Notes

This may continue to occur. Sadly, developers using the Mac App Store have no control over this. If you find this problem persists, I suggest purchasing via the SQLPro website (and use the promo code MAS10 to save 10%). Purchasing through the SQLPro website does not require Apples Receipts and is a much smoother experience for those running into this issue.