Finding & Navigating

Zed provides several ways to move around your codebase quickly. Here's an overview of the main navigation tools.

Command Palette

The Command Palette (cmd-shift-p|ctrl-shift-p) is your gateway to almost everything in Zed. Type a few characters to filter commands, then press Enter to execute.

Learn more about the Command Palette →

File Finder

Open any file in your project with cmd-p|ctrl-p. Type part of the filename or path to narrow results.

Project Search

Search across all files with cmd-shift-h|ctrl-shift-h. Start typing in the search field to begin searching—results appear as you type.

Results appear in a multibuffer, letting you edit matches in place.

To disable automatic search and require pressing Enter instead, open the Settings Editor (cmd-,|ctrl-,), search for "search on input", and toggle the setting off. Or add this to your settings.json:

{
  "search_on_input": false
}

Go to Definition

Jump to where a symbol is defined with f12|f12 (or Cmd+Click / Ctrl+Click). If there are multiple definitions, they open in a multibuffer.

Go to Symbol

• Current file: cmd-shift-o|ctrl-shift-o opens an outline of symbols in the active file
• Entire project: cmd-t|ctrl-t searches symbols across all files

Outline Panel

The Outline Panel (cmd-shift-b|ctrl-shift-b) shows a persistent tree view of symbols in the current file. It's especially useful with multibuffers for navigating search results or diagnostics.

Learn more about the Outline Panel →

Tab Switcher

Quickly switch between open tabs with ctrl-tab|ctrl-tab. Tabs are sorted by recent use—keep holding Ctrl and press Tab to cycle through them.

Learn more about the Tab Switcher →

Quick Reference