How to change keyboard shortcuts in Evernote (and what to do when you can't)

If you've landed here, you're probably experiencing a specific frustration: Evernote has claimed a keyboard shortcut that you need in another app, and it won't let you change it. You press a key combination in Figma, or Photoshop, or your code editor, and Evernote intercepts it. The shortcut does something in Evernote that you didn't ask for, and the thing you wanted to happen in the app you're actually using doesn't happen.

This has been a documented pain point for years. Evernote's forums have threads going back to 2020 with users reporting that global shortcuts hijack system-level key combinations, that certain shortcuts can't be disabled, and that multilingual users can't type normally because Evernote has grabbed key combinations they need for language input.

Here's what you can change, what you can't, and what your options are when Evernote won't cooperate.

What you can change

Evernote added a shortcut drawer in version 10.8 that lets you view and edit some keyboard shortcuts.

To open it: press Ctrl + / on Windows or ⌘ + / on Mac. This opens a panel showing all available shortcuts. You can search for a specific shortcut, click it, and either edit the key combination or disable it entirely.

Global shortcuts (the ones that work even when Evernote isn't in focus, which are the ones most likely to cause conflicts with other apps) can be edited or disabled through this drawer. If Evernote is grabbing a shortcut you need in Figma or another app, look for it here first.

Application-wide shortcuts (the ones that work within Evernote's interface) can also be customised, though on Windows this is limited to paid plans (Personal, Professional, or Teams). Free users can only customise global shortcuts.

What you can't change

This is where the frustration lives.

Editor shortcuts like copy (Ctrl/⌘ + C), paste (Ctrl/⌘ + V), bold (Ctrl/⌘ + B), italic (Ctrl/⌘ + I), and underline (Ctrl/⌘ + U) cannot be edited. Evernote considers these system-wide conventions, which is fair enough for the basics, but it means you can't remap them even when they conflict with another app's use of the same combination.

Certain formatting shortcuts are locked. If Evernote uses a key combination for a specific formatting action and you'd prefer that combination to do something else, or do nothing at all, you may be out of luck depending on which shortcut it is.

The shortcut drawer doesn't always work as expected. Forum reports describe situations where clearing a shortcut (clicking the "x" to remove it) appears to work but the shortcut reasserts itself after restarting the app. Others report that the drawer doesn't list all active shortcuts, which means some conflicts are caused by shortcuts you can't even see in the customisation interface.

Autoformatting behaviour (like asterisks automatically becoming bullet points, or dashes becoming em-dashes) is often tied to the same shortcut system and can't always be controlled independently.

Workarounds

If the shortcut drawer doesn't solve your conflict, there are a few other approaches.

On macOS: System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts lets you override app-specific shortcuts at the OS level. You can create a custom shortcut for an Evernote menu command that reassigns it to a different key combination, freeing up the one you need for your other app. This works for menu-based shortcuts but not for all global hotkeys.

Quit Evernote when you're not using it. If the conflict only matters when you're working in another app (Figma, a code editor, a design tool), closing Evernote entirely releases its global shortcuts. This is a blunt solution, but it works.

Use the Evernote web app instead. The web version doesn't register global shortcuts, so it can't conflict with your desktop apps. If you primarily use Evernote for reference and note-taking rather than capture shortcuts, the web app avoids the conflict entirely.

Remap at the OS level. Tools like Karabiner-Elements (Mac) or AutoHotkey (Windows) can intercept shortcuts before they reach Evernote and redirect them to the app you intended. This is a power-user solution that requires some setup but gives you full control.

The broader problem

The keyboard shortcut conflict is a symptom of a design philosophy that assumes Evernote is the centre of your workflow rather than one tool among many. When an app claims global shortcuts by default and makes some of them impossible to change, it's prioritising its own convenience over yours.

Your tools should adapt to how you work rather than forcing you to adapt to them. A note-taking app that conflicts with your design tool, your code editor, or your operating system's own shortcuts is a tool that's creating friction in the workflow it's supposed to support.

If you're hitting this wall regularly and the workarounds above aren't solving it, it may be worth looking at alternatives that treat customisation as a core feature rather than an afterthought. Fabric is built around the idea that your workspace should fit your workflow: fully customisable keyboard shortcuts, no global shortcut hijacking, and a desktop app that plays nicely with whatever else you're running.

You can also bring your existing notes with you. Fabric supports importing from Evernote, so switching doesn't mean starting over.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Evernote grab global shortcuts? Global shortcuts let you capture notes quickly from any app (for example, pressing a key combination to clip content or create a new note without switching to Evernote). The problem is that Evernote registers these shortcuts by default, and some of them conflict with shortcuts used by other apps or the operating system itself.

I disabled a shortcut but it came back after restarting. What happened? This is a known issue reported on the Evernote forums. Some shortcut changes don't persist across app restarts in certain versions. Try updating to the latest version, as this has been addressed in some updates. If it persists, the OS-level remap approach is more reliable.

Can I disable all Evernote global shortcuts at once? Users have been requesting a global toggle to disable all shortcuts since at least 2021. As of the current version, there's no single switch. You have to disable them individually through the shortcut drawer.

Which Evernote alternatives let you fully customise shortcuts? Fabric offers fully customisable keyboard shortcuts with no global shortcut conflicts. Other alternatives with good shortcut customisation include Obsidian and VS Code (for code-adjacent note-taking).

Related pages: Fabric vs Evernote, Best Evernote alternative, Importing to Fabric, Keyboard shortcuts, Desktop app.