Jupyter Notebook Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows and Linux

TIL_20250305_JupyterNotebook.md

Jupyter Notebook Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows and Linux

General Shortcuts

• Enter: Enter edit mode
• Esc: Enter command mode
• Shift + Enter: Run cell, select below
• Ctrl + Enter: Run cell
• Alt + Enter: Run cell, insert below
• Ctrl + S: Save and checkpoint

Command Mode Shortcuts (press Esc to enable)

• Up: Select cell above
• Down: Select cell below
• A: Insert cell above
• B: Insert cell below
• X: Cut selected cell
• C: Copy selected cell
• Shift + V: Paste cell above
• V: Paste cell below
• Z: Undo cell deletion
• D, D: Delete selected cell
• Shift + M: Merge selected cells
• Y: Change cell to code
• M: Change cell to markdown
• R: Change cell to raw
• 1: Change cell to heading 1
• 2: Change cell to heading 2
• 3: Change cell to heading 3
• 4: Change cell to heading 4
• 5: Change cell to heading 5
• 6: Change cell to heading 6
• 0, 0: Restart the kernel (with dialog)
• I, I: Interrupt the kernel
• Q: Close the pager
• H: Show keyboard shortcuts
• P: Open the command palette

Edit Mode Shortcuts (press Enter to enable)

• Tab: Code completion or indent
• Shift + Tab: Tooltip
• Ctrl + ]: Indent
• Ctrl + [: Dedent
• Ctrl + A: Select all
• Ctrl + Z: Undo
• Ctrl + Shift + Z: Redo
• Ctrl + Y: Redo
• Ctrl + Home: Go to cell start
• Ctrl + End: Go to cell end
• Ctrl + Left: Move cursor left one word
• Ctrl + Right: Move cursor right one word
• Ctrl + Shift + P: Open the command palette
• Esc: Command mode
• Ctrl + M: Command mode
• Shift + Enter: Run cell, select below
• Ctrl + Enter: Run cell
• Alt + Enter: Run cell, insert below

Markdown Cells

• Ctrl + 1: Convert to heading 1
• Ctrl + 2: Convert to heading 2
• Ctrl + 3: Convert to heading 3
• Ctrl + 4: Convert to heading 4
• Ctrl + 5: Convert to heading 5
• Ctrl + 6: Convert to heading 6
• Ctrl + M, M: Convert to markdown
• Ctrl + M, Y: Convert to code

Navigation

• Ctrl + Shift + -: Split cell at cursor
• Ctrl + Up: Move cursor to cell start
• Ctrl + Down: Move cursor to cell end
• Ctrl + Shift + Up: Select to cell start
• Ctrl + Shift + Down: Select to cell end

Kernel

• Ctrl + .: Restart kernel
• Ctrl + Alt + .: Interrupt kernel
• Ctrl + Shift + .: Restart kernel and clear output

Run Jupyter lab or notebook in detach mode

jupyter lab &

jupyter notebook &

Using the command:

jupyter lab &

will run Jupyter Lab in the background of your current shell session. However, this has a key limitation:

• ✅ The process runs in the background
• ❌ It will still terminate if you close the terminal or exit the shell

This happens because the background job is tied to the lifetime of the shell session. If you close the terminal or log out, the process may receive a HUP (hangup) signal and stop running.

To Keep It Running After Closing the Terminal

To ensure Jupyter Lab continues running even after you close the terminal, you should combine & with nohup or use a session manager like tmux or screen.

✅ Recommended Alternatives

1. Using nohup:

   nohup jupyter lab --no-browser &

   • nohup ignores the hangup signal
   • The output is saved to nohup.out unless redirected
   • The process continues even after terminal closure

2. Using tmux (terminal multiplexer):

   tmux new -s jupyter
   jupyter lab

   Then press Ctrl+B, then D to detach. You can reattach later with:

   tmux attach -t jupyter

3. Using screen (another terminal multiplexer):

   screen -S jupyter
   jupyter lab

   Then press Ctrl+A, then D to detach. Reattach with:

   screen -r jupyter

Summary

Method	Background	Survives Terminal Close	Notes
jupyter lab &	✅	❌	Simple, but not persistent
nohup jupyter lab &	✅	✅	Good for headless servers
tmux / screen	✅	✅	Interactive and flexible

For persistent background execution, prefer nohup, tmux, or screen over just &.

Using R with Jupter lab or notebook

The steps to use R with Jupyter Notebook are largely the same as for Jupyter Lab. Both Jupyter Notebook and Jupyter Lab rely on Jupyter kernels to support different programming languages, and for R, you use the IRkernel.

Summary:

To use R in Jupyter Notebook, follow these main steps:

1. Install R on your system (if not already installed).
2. Install the required R packages:

   install.packages(c('repr', 'IRdisplay', 'evaluate', 'crayon', 'pbdZMQ', 'devtools', 'uuid', 'digest'))
   devtools::install_github('IRkernel/IRkernel')

OR using renv package manager:

• Initialize renv project: renv::init()
• Install packages with renv:

   renv::install(c('repr', 'IRdisplay', 'evaluate', 'crayon', 'pbdZMQ', 'devtools', 'uuid', 'digest'))

• Install IRkernel via renv: renv::install("IRkernel")

3. Install the R kernel for Jupyter:

   IRkernel::installspec()
   # or for all users (requires admin rights):
   IRkernel::installspec(user = FALSE)

   If using renv: Snapshot dependencies -> renv::snapshot()

4. Launch Jupyter Notebook:

   • In your terminal or command prompt, run:

     jupyter notebook

5. In the Jupyter Notebook interface, select New > R to start a new R notebook.

Differences (minor):

Feature	Jupyter Notebook	Jupyter Lab
Interface	Classic notebook interface	More modern, modular interface
New R Notebook Location	File > New Notebook > R	Launcher or File > New > R Notebook
Extensions	Limited	Rich extension support

So, the core setup (installing IRkernel) is identical. The only difference is in how you interact with the interface once the kernel is installed.

For both environments, ensure that your jupyter command is aware of the R kernel, which the IRkernel::installspec() command handles.