Inspiring

Question

Customizing keyboard shortcuts in Bridge?

Forum|Forum|1 day ago
June 13, 2026
3 replies
17 views

I am currently using Bridge Desktop version 16.0.3.21 (and I have two older versions installed as well). Periodically I attempt to customize the keyboard shortcuts to reassign keys to be more efficient to my review & cull process. I would like to be able to use my left hand to assign colored labels while my right hand flips though images using a mouse wheel, all from the Slideshow / Fullscreen window (panel). I notice that the default keyboard shortcuts assignments do vary from panel to panel - very confusing. I would like to bring the 5 or 6 label keyboard assignments to the extreme left of my keyboard so I don’t have to look down to find a key. I want to keep my eyes on the images.

I say “periodically” because over the years since this feature of customizable shortcuts was introduced I have not been successful in setting this up. I really can’t understand the dialog box found at Edit → Keyboard Shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Sihft+K. I have read the section of the Adobe Bridge Help (several times) and really I don’t understand - I must be stunned I guess. And so I leave it for some months, hoping that it improves with updates and time. Nope.

The documentation is miserable. Does anyone have better guidance of how to make this work? Or is it just broken and I am wasting my time?

Peter

peterb86513089Author

Inspiring

I am trying to set up a keyboard shortcut set like this for the Fullscreen window. for the below screenshot I have overlayed in yellow and read text the assignments I want to make.

Then I would have the labels red through purple on keys 1 through 5 and I would have the leftmost key, the “`” key as No Label. Then the row below would do the same for ratings, which I don’t really use (yet). But strangely enough, while I can assign to the “`” key, I cannot assign to the TAB key. the keyboard coloring sort of suggest that I should be able to. I don’t get any warning. I had to put “No Rating” on the ”y” key. Duh.

And I find it weird that some of my new key assignments show up with the keys green and assign listed on the key, while others do not. For example, in the above screenshot the ‘6’ key is assigned the “No Label” command as can be seen in the bottom half of the dialog box. Very strange indeed.

Comments and/or suggestions are always welcome.

Peter

peterb86513089Author

Inspiring

And while I can assign the “No Label” command to the ‘6’ it only show up (purple) on the Application level. At the Fullscreen level I can assign “No Label” to either the ‘6’ key or the ‘`’ key but it does nothing. I cannot make the No Label command work from assigning it to a key. I can only remove a color label but pressing the key for the same color label a second time.

This Keyboard Shortcut feature seems very broken to me.

Peter

peterb86513089Author

Inspiring

Here’s an example of how a key can be overloaded in Bridge.

This screenshot snippet is from the Keyboard Shortcut panel when I hover over the C key. When I use the Fullscreen panel I press C key to enable the caption to appear in the lower left corner of my screen. The caption will show the image filename as well as any rating or label for that image. But you can see from this screenshot that depending which panel you (I) are working in the C key will have different shortcut meanings. This is the default Adobe setting.

Peter

peterb86513089Author

Inspiring

And so, carrying on, here is more weirdness…

With Command: set as Application, I hover over the ‘1’ key and I see the hint.

and with the Command: now set as Slideshow/Fullscreen Window and I hover over the ‘1’ key.

But then if a switch away from Bridge and back again (without closing the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog window) then it changes again. The ‘1’ key is assigned as a shortcut but it does not appears so in this window.

Peter

gary_sc

Community Expert

Hi, @peterb86513089, this doesn’t specifically talk about your wish, but it does show how to set user keyboard actions. I hope it helps,

Good luck

peterb86513089Author

Inspiring

Thanks. That was a brief video and I watched it (twice). No surprises there. I did understand everything, but it really is just a trivial example.

My issues are a bit deeper, and I think they stem from the fact that there seem to be “global” keyboard assignment and “local” keyboard assignments, where by global I mean the assignments apply to the whole Bridge application and by local they apply only to when the focus is on a specific panel within Bridge, e.g. the Context panel, or the Metadata panel. I want to make keyboard assignments (different from the Adobe default) that come into effect when using the Fullscreen mode to review pictures.

I find there is really a lot of nuance to the Keyboard Shortcuts panel that is not explained, or at best briefly glossed over. Strange things happen that I can’t explain or even repeat.

For example there are numerous presets provided, but there is no explanation of there purpose - we are left to guess. And if I change a key assignment then the preset changes to (Custom), so I infer from that that the 21 language (or country?) presets cannot be changed. OK, but why not tell us that. I am less clear how the Command: field works. I am slugging through trial and error trying to figure that out.

I wish there was a PDF whitepaper that dug deeper into how all these features of the Keyboard Shortcut panel work.

Thanks,
Peter

gary_sc

Community Expert

Hi, @peterb86513089, Sorry I was brief on the first reply, I had to leave the house and wanted to get that in hoping that was all you needed.

Alas, you are correct: there are two kinds of key commands; those controlled by the application and locked in, and those that are variable.

One thing you might consider is one of the remote keyboard controllers. I have one from Xence Labs, their QuickKeys. https://www.xencelabs.com/products/xencelabs-quick-keys-remote

I also have one of their small tablets, which I do like better than the Wacom tablets.

The QuickKeys Remote has a number of buttons that let you run your keyboard from this device. Plus, you can customize it depending on which application you are in. I do suggest you check it out, it might very well do what you want from your standard keyboard.

This is not the only type of device that you can use, but it is the one I own and it does what I need it to do.

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