Shortcuts
What are Shortcuts?
Shortcuts build upon our plugin system to supercharge your workflow. They transform complex actions into simple keyboard commands, allowing you to work at the speed of thought rather than the speed of your mouse.
Pro Tip: The most efficient shortcuts are the ones you create yourself, tailored to your specific needs.
Creating Your First Shortcut
Open the shortcut editor from Create shortcut in the sidebar (or from any plugin’s page), then:
- Pick a plugin: only plugins you’ve installed that support custom commands appear here
- Choose a keyword: it’s labeled “What keys do you want to type?”, so make it quick and memorable
- Configure the action: fill in the plugin-specific fields, such as the target and a message template (use
$1as a placeholder for the text you’ll type) - Optionally tick “Show me how to use it” so UL demonstrates the shortcut right after you save
- Save and start using your shortcut immediately
Admins: You’ll also see an Organization wide option that makes the shortcut available to everyone in your org.
For a practical example, try our Slack shortcut tutorial.
Why Use Shortcuts?
- Speed: Execute complex actions in milliseconds
- Consistency: Perform tasks the same way every time
- Focus: Stay in your workflow without context switching
- Efficiency: Reduce repetitive actions to a single command