FAQ
What Keyboard Shortcuts Does ReadMonkey Pro Support?
ReadMonkey Pro supports a set of keyboard shortcuts for navigating articles and the reader interface without touching the mouse. The shortcuts follow Vi-style conventions familiar to developers and power users, making it fast to move through long-form content. All shortcuts work in the distraction-free reader and are available to both free and Pro users with no configuration required.
Last updated: March 5, 2026
Article Scrolling — j and k
The j and k keys scroll the article down and up respectively, following the Vi editor convention used in tools like Vim, less, and many web readers including Gmail and Feedly. These shortcuts let you scroll through long articles with small, controlled movements — useful for reading dense material where you want to advance a few lines at a time rather than jumping a full page. ReadMonkey Pro maps these keys to smooth incremental scrolling rather than fixed pixel jumps, so the scroll speed adapts to the current zoom level and font size setting.
- j — Scroll down through the article (small, controlled movement)
- k — Scroll up through the article (small, controlled movement)
- Available in — The distraction-free reader view, both free and Pro
- Convention — Vi-style, widely used in developer tools, email clients, and feed readers
Page Navigation — Space and Shift+Space
For moving through longer articles more quickly, Space scrolls down by one full viewport height and Shift+Space scrolls back up by one full viewport height. This is the standard browser reading pattern extended into ReadMonkey Pro's reader, matching the behavior most readers expect from the Space bar when reading a document. Using Space to advance through an article is faster than j/k for skimming and suitable for any article where you want to move at a reading pace rather than a line-by-line pace.
- Space — Scroll down by one full page (viewport height)
- Shift+Space — Scroll up by one full page (viewport height)
- Tip — Combine Space for fast skimming with j/k for slowing down at important passages
Navigation and Interface — Escape, Home, End
Beyond scrolling, ReadMonkey Pro supports shortcuts for managing the reader interface and jumping to document extremes quickly.
- Escape — If the formatting toolbar or highlight color picker is open, Escape dismisses it. If no overlay is active, Escape closes the reader and returns to your library in the side panel.
- Home — Jump to the very top of the current article instantly, regardless of how far down you have scrolled
- End — Jump to the very bottom of the current article, useful for checking article length or jumping to footnotes and references
Accessibility and Power Reader Workflows
Keyboard navigation is not only a power-user convenience — it is also an accessibility benefit. Users who navigate primarily by keyboard, or who use assistive technologies that rely on keyboard events, can move through ReadMonkey Pro without depending on pointer input. The Vi-style shortcuts align with screen reader mental models and reduce cognitive switching cost for users who spend most of their computer time in keyboard-driven environments. For researchers doing back-to-back article sessions, keyboard navigation means fewer interruptions: save an article, open the reader with a click, advance with Space and j/k, annotate with the mouse when needed, then Escape back to the library to open the next one. This workflow is significantly faster than reaching for scroll bars or using trackpad gestures for every navigation action. See the Save and Organize Articles with ReadMonkey Pro guide for a complete workflow walkthrough. For questions about highlighting during reading, see How to Highlight and Annotate Articles in Chrome.
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