# Ctrl-k Hijacking in Editor
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [January 30, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636 "2015-01-30T23:54:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@febuiles](https://meta.discourse.org/u/febuiles)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636/1 "2015-01-30T23:54:49Z")
`Ctrl-k` is a combination commonly used in UNIX systems (including OS X) for killing text (basically delete + cut). You can learn more about it [here](https://books.google.com/books?id=o9K8KEQic5sC&pg=PA218&lpg=PA218&dq=kill+yank+os+x&source=bl&ots=lXOU271dlG&sig=RPtIMUBV4_fpmnzWx5BFzgEjceY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2xTMVNXLHcuIsQTBxIHQDA&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=kill%20yank%20os%20x&f=false) or just do a search for “kill yank unix”. Right now the text editor hijacks this combination to insert pre-formattted text, breaking OS level key bindings.
I’d like to submit a PR to rebind pre-formatted text to `Ctrl-j`, but I want to know if you are interested in this change before I get started (if you are not interested I think I’ll just release something in the form of a browser plugin and paste a link here for the three other nerds like me 😄 ).
PS: The same case could be made for Ctrl-b, Ctrl-l on Windows and maybe Ctrl-r. Is this editor the same one used in StackOverflow? Same issues apply there.
---
### Author:  [@strager](https://meta.discourse.org/u/strager)
#### Post date: [January 30, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636/2 "2015-01-30T23:57:44Z")
Shouldn’t Ctrl-K set a hyperlink like in almost every other program I’ve ever used? Having it delete cut would be VERY confusing the vast majority of users imho.
---
### Author:  [@febuiles](https://meta.discourse.org/u/febuiles)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2015, 12:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636/3 "2015-01-31T00:17:35Z")
Sorry for not being clearer: In Unix systems `Ctrl-k` already does a delete+cut (a.k.a. kill). I’m not proposing Discourse to adopt this, I’m just asking not to overwrite it with the “pre-formatted text” shortcut. If your system does not kill with Ctrl-k already, you won’t notice anything besides the `k` → `j` thing.
---
### Author:  [@gerhard](https://meta.discourse.org/u/gerhard)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2015, 9:59am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636/4 "2015-01-31T09:59:38Z")
I think it would be better to use the Ctrl + Shift modifier for all editor shortcuts…
> [@Keyboard shortcuts wish list](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-wish-list/15952/44):
>
> I suggest we change most of the Markdown shortcuts to use Ctrl + Shift as modifier keys. I just looked at [outlook.com](http://outlook.com) which does the same thing in their format toolbar. E.g. the shortcut for the emoji selector is Ctrl + Shift + Y
---
### Author:  [@febuiles](https://meta.discourse.org/u/febuiles)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2015, 11:11am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636/5 "2015-01-31T11:11:09Z")
@gerhard’s suggestion makes much more sense than applying the `Ctrl-j` band-aid. Is the team interesting in seeing this implemented?
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2015, 5:05am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636/6 "2015-02-01T05:05:00Z")
Sure, as long as it is tested in most common browsers!
---
### Author:  [@chapoi](https://meta.discourse.org/u/chapoi)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2025, 11:33am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/ctrl-k-hijacking-in-editor/24636/7 "2025-12-04T11:33:31Z")