Postman Keyboard Shortcuts & Hotkeys (List)
Postman is a powerful tool that provides developers with the ability to streamline their API testing and development process.
One of the key features of Postman is its extensive set of keyboard shortcuts, which can greatly enhance productivity and efficiency.
In this article, we will explore the most popular keyboard shortcuts in Postman, offering a comprehensive list that is designed to help users navigate the platform with ease and speed up their workflow.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced Postman user, mastering these shortcuts can help you become more proficient in utilizing this essential tool for API testing and development.
What Is Postman
Postman is a popular API development tool that allows users to create, capture, and send requests.
It provides a user-friendly interface for making API requests, testing the responses, and organizing and sharing APIs within a team.
Postman is used by developers, testers, and API providers to streamline the API development and testing process.
Benefits of Using Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts in Postman can significantly enhance your productivity and efficiency:
- Enhanced efficiency: Shortcuts allow you to perform actions much faster than navigating through menus with a mouse. For example, using CMD/CTRL + Enter to send a request is quicker than clicking the “Send” button.
- Reduced context switching: By keeping your hands on the keyboard, you minimize the need to switch between keyboard and mouse, maintaining focus and flow.
- Streamlined workflows: Shortcuts enable you to execute common tasks rapidly, such as creating new requests (CMD/CTRL + T) or switching between tabs (CMD/CTRL + number keys).
- Improved navigation: Shortcuts like CMD/CTRL + ALT + 1 to focus on the sidebar allow for quick navigation between different parts of the Postman interface.
- Customization: Postman allows you to customize shortcuts, making your experience more consistent with other tools you use and tailoring the interface to your specific needs.
- Faster repetitive tasks: For actions you perform frequently, such as duplicating tabs or saving responses, shortcuts can save significant time over the long run.
Postman Keyboard Shortcuts & Hotkeys
Here are the popular keyboard shortcuts for Postman:
1. Send request: Ctrl + Enter
2. Save request: Ctrl + S
3. Toggle sidebar: Ctrl + B
4. Duplicate request: Ctrl + D
5. Add new tab: Ctrl + T
6. Focus search bar: Ctrl + F
7. Clear request: Ctrl + R
8. Select next request: Ctrl + ↓
9. Select previous request: Ctrl + ↑
10. Focus URL bar: Ctrl + L
Advanced Postman Keyboard Shortcuts
Postman allows users to customize keyboard shortcuts to better suit their workflow:
- Open Postman and click on the wrench icon in the top right corner to access Settings.
- Select the “Shortcuts” tab.
- Locate the action you want to customize.
- Click on the shortcut field and press your desired key combination.
- The new shortcut will be saved automatically.
Tips for Efficient Use
Practical Tips for Using ShortcutsTo maximize productivity with Postman keyboard shortcuts:
- Start with essential shortcuts: Focus on learning frequently used shortcuts like sending requests (CMD/CTRL + Enter) and creating new tabs (CMD/CTRL + T).
- Use navigation shortcuts: Quickly switch between tabs using CMD/CTRL + number keys (e.g., CMD/CTRL + 2 for the second tab).
- Utilize sidebar focus: Use CMD/CTRL + ALT + 1 to focus on the sidebar, then navigate with arrow keys to select requests quickly.
- Customize shortcuts: Tailor shortcuts to your workflow in Settings > Shortcuts. This allows you to create a more personalized and efficient experience.
- Practice regularly: Incorporate shortcuts into your daily work to build muscle memory.
- Use global shortcuts: Take advantage of shortcuts that work anywhere in the interface for quick access to common functions.
- Combine keyboard and mouse shortcuts: For some tasks, right-click shortcuts can be just as efficient as keyboard shortcuts.
- Group similar actions: Learn shortcuts for related tasks together, such as tab management or request manipulation.
Learning More About Postman
To further enhance your Postman skills and knowledge, consider exploring these valuable resources:
- Official Postman Documentation: The comprehensive Postman Learning Center (learning.postman.com) offers in-depth guides on all Postman features.
- Postman Tutorials: For beginners, Postman provides a series of tutorials covering the basics of API testing and usage.
- Video Courses: Postman offers video tutorials on their YouTube channel, including an “Intro to Postman” course for newcomers.
- Postman Blog: Regular blog posts cover new features, best practices, and case studies from Postman users.
- Postman Community: Join the Postman community forum to ask questions and share knowledge with other users.
- API Network: Explore the Postman API Network to discover and learn from public APIs and collections.
- Postman Answers: Find code samples and solutions for commonly asked questions.
- Webinars and Events: Attend Postman Intergalactic webinars for live training sessions with Q&A opportunities.
FAQs:
Ques 1: How can I view all available keyboard shortcuts in Postman?
Ans: Go to Settings (gear icon) and click on the “Shortcuts” tab to see a full list of available shortcuts.
Ques 2: What is the shortcut to send a request in Postman?
Ans: The default shortcut to send a request is Ctrl + Enter (Cmd + Enter on Mac).
Ques 3: Can I customize keyboard shortcuts in Postman?
Ans: Yes, Postman now allows customization of keyboard shortcuts. Go to Settings > Shortcuts to modify existing shortcuts or create new ones.
Ques 4: How do I quickly create a new request in Postman?
Ans: Use Ctrl + T (Cmd + T on Mac) to create a new request in a new tab.
Ques 5: What’s the shortcut for switching between tabs in Postman?
Ans: Use Ctrl + number keys (Cmd + number keys on Mac) to switch to a specific tab, or Ctrl + Tab to cycle through tabs.
Ques 6: How can I quickly save a request in Postman?
Ans: The default shortcut to save a request is Ctrl + S (Cmd + S on Mac).
Ques 7: Is there a shortcut to focus on the URL bar in Postman?
Ans: Yes, use Ctrl + L (Cmd + L on Mac) to quickly focus on the URL bar.
Ques 8: How do I reset customized shortcuts to their default values?
Ans: In the Shortcuts settings, you can click “Restore Defaults” to reset all shortcuts, or reset individual shortcuts one by one.
Conclusion
In conclusion, understanding the keyword shortcuts of Postman can greatly improve your productivity and efficiency when working with APIs.
By utilizing these shortcuts, you can save time and streamline your workflow, ultimately enabling you to focus more on the task at hand rather than the process of navigating through the application.
With continued practice and familiarity with these shortcuts, you can become a more proficient Postman user and enhance your overall development and testing experience.
Embracing these keyboard shortcuts is a worthwhile investment that can pay dividends in the long run.