# Keyboard shortcuts for the autocomplete search results
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075
**Category:** UX
**Tags:** keyboard-shortcuts
**Created:** [16 ביוני, 2015, 9:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075 "2015-06-16T09:48:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dandv](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dandv)
#### Post date: [16 ביוני, 2015, 9:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075/1 "2015-06-16T09:48:51Z")
Continuing the discussion from [Keyboard shortcuts wish list](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-wish-list/15952):
The search box can be activated with `/` and the autocomplete is really nice. I wish there was a way to navigate through the autocomplete results, e.g. with the up/down arrows.
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [16 ביוני, 2015, 10:14am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075/2 "2015-06-16T10:14:33Z")
Use Tab. They are links. I think this is a duplicate (as I know it was mentioned elsewhere too)
Up/Down was replaced with tab to provide better accessibility, as without tab support you couldn’t access the “Search this Topic/Category/User” checkbox, the help, or Show More. You also couldn’t get to a user who was returned as a search result.
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### Author:  [@dandv](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dandv)
#### Post date: [16 ביוני, 2015, 10:15am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075/3 "2015-06-16T10:15:40Z")
I know, `Tab` is a browser-level shortcut that will also go through the “help” link, which defeats the purpose of shortcuts 🙂
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### Author:  [@dandv](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dandv)
#### Post date: [16 ביוני, 2015, 10:16am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075/4 "2015-06-16T10:16:32Z")
I’m not suggesting disabling Tab support.
But up/down right now do exactly what Home/End do. Far from useful.
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [16 ביוני, 2015, 10:16am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075/5 "2015-06-16T10:16:32Z")
> [@dandv](#):
>
> Tab is a browser-level shortcut that will also go through the “help” link, which defeats the purpose of shortcuts
I updated my post, no, that doesn’t defeat the purpose of shortcuts, it ensures it is accessible, which is super important for keyboard users. You can’t utilize most of the results without using Tab.
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### Author:  [@dandv](https://meta.discourse.org/u/dandv)
#### Post date: [16 ביוני, 2015, 10:17am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075/6 "2015-06-16T10:17:42Z")
Again, I’m not suggesting removing Tab, but _adding_ up/down arrow shortcuts to go through the autocompletion suggestions, as the vast majority of autocomplete UXes behave (Google search, Bootstrap typeahead, Select2 etc.)
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### Author:  [@cpradio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/cpradio)
#### Post date: [16 ביוני, 2015, 10:21am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/keyboard-shortcuts-for-the-autocomplete-search-results/30075/7 "2015-06-16T10:21:48Z")
You can’t have both. We tried that and it didn’t work well. It uses mousetrap for keyboard shortcuts, so if you can get both to work properly, go for it. I gave it a shot months ago, and removing up/down was the better solution.
Just keep in mind, when you do that, you’ll likely lose the ability to access show more (without also making it access the help text, you can skip it initially, but when you go back up, it would likely select it, but you’d skip the checkbox too). So consider the tradeoffs as you get far less control of your search.