# Shift + U
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984
**Category:** UX
**Tags:** keyboard-shortcuts
**Created:** [December 23, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984 "2024-12-23T05:38:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@nobrowser](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nobrowser)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 5:38am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/1 "2024-12-23T05:38:32Z")
The Shift + U key is advertised on the Keyboard Shortcuts pop-up to “mark topic as unread”, but how is it supposed to work? I tried it in three situations:
- while actually reading a topic
- on the home screen (“New” for me) while scrolling up / down with j / k
- on the home screen in selection mode (after hitting Shift + B and making selections with x)
it doesn’t do what it says in any of these. It seems to do _something_ in the first case but that looks more like a bug.
My questions:
- what is the correct way to use this key
- maybe I can achieve my goal in a different way? my goal is to pick a few topics from either New or Latest to read in a later session, without having to go through the whole list again
- is there a more detailed doc for the shortcuts? in particular, explaining the _context_ in which each shortcut is to be used?
Btw, same behavior on Meta and 2 other sites, so I don’t think it’s an upgrade issue.
Thanx,
–
Ian
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### Author:  [@Canapin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Canapin)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 11:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/2 "2024-12-23T11:49:19Z")
> [@nobrowser](#):
>
> - while actually reading a topic
> [@nobrowser](#):
>
> it doesn’t do what it says in any of these.
Any time you have a topic open on your screen, its status is set to “read”. If you want it to have the status “unread”, the topic needs to be _not_ displayed on your screen.
What happens when you press Shift+u on a topic is that it sets the topic as “unread” and redirects you on the home page.
If you scroll the topic list to the topic you just unread, you’ll see it doesn’t have the lighter color of the “read” status.
Before
After
But I agree that the behavior feels strange. A quick popup mentioning we have unread a topic could be a good addition.
> [@nobrowser](#):
>
> - on the home screen (“New” for me) while scrolling up / down with j / k
If they’re new, they’re unread. :thinking:
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### Author:  [@nobrowser](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nobrowser)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 1:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/3 "2024-12-23T13:51:16Z")
I quote from my original post:
> my goal is to pick a few topics from either New or Latest to read in a later session, without having to go through the whole list again
I guess the Unread concept doesn’t really apply to this situation. But then, how to do it?
Also, sometimes I enter (ie. start reading) a topic, but then I have to stop reading and start working :frowning: I want to come back to the topic later, _even if there are no more posts in it_. I don’t know how to do this, now that I understand Unread better: the topic won’t show on my home screen (New) even if I do make it Unread.
–
Ian
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 2:13pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/4 "2024-12-23T14:13:29Z")
> [@nobrowser](#):
>
> I want to come back to the topic later, _even if there are no more posts in it_.
You can bookmark the topic. Also, if you are tracking the topic and use the “mark unread” feature, the topic will appear in your “unread” list, like a topic where you haven’t read the last post.
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### Author:  [@nobrowser](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nobrowser)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 3:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/5 "2024-12-23T15:33:46Z")
I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.
I assume you mean the Unread list reachable from the home page, with the key sequence `G U`. But for me, that list only ever shows topics with new posts since I’ve visited them.
That is why I put the “even if” in my previous post into emphasis. When I do `Shift + U` on a topic, which throws me somewhat abruptly back to the home page (I thought this was a bug but now I understand it is by design), firstly the Unread button isn’t shown unless there have been other topic qualifying as such, and secondly even if I try `G U` anyway, I get a page saying there are no unread posts.
–
Ian
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### Author:  [@Canapin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Canapin)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/6 "2024-12-23T19:45:37Z")
I think (I hope :sweat_smile: ) I’m starting to understand.
When you unread a topic, you’re redirected to the home page **but** the now unread topic doesn’t go into the Unread tab unless you force a page reload.
Is that the issue?
I would also expect the topic to appear without reloading the page.
I believe the `timing` request with the `last=1` query string sets the unread state. The home page is loaded immediately after and should put the topic in the Unread tab, however, for some reason, it doesn’t.
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### Author:  [@nobrowser](https://meta.discourse.org/u/nobrowser)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/7 "2024-12-23T20:48:13Z")
> [@Canapin](#):
>
> When you unread a topic, you’re redirected to the home page **but** the now unread topic doesn’t go into the Unread tab unless you force a page reload.
Right.
It may have seemed obtuse of me not to try reloading. But for some reason I thought I had in fact tried it without success. But now I see that the topic (and the Unread button) indeed reappears after reload.
So it seems there is a bug hiding there, but one much more subtle than the one I started with. Thanks for looking into it.
–
Ian
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/shift-u/343984/8 "2024-12-23T21:56:59Z")
> [@nobrowser](#):
>
> I want to come back to the topic later, _even if there are no more posts in it_.
You can make a bookmark with a time. You can also watch the topic so that if there are more posts you’ll get a notification.