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Menu Bar and Keyboard Shortcuts
Open Wallpaper Engine lives in the menu bar, so you can pause, mute or switch wallpapers without opening its window. This page lists the menu bar menu, the app menus and every keyboard shortcut.
Click the OWE icon in the menu bar. The icon follows the menu bar's appearance (light or dark).
| Item | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Show Open Wallpaper Engine | ⇧⌘1 | Opens the main window |
| Recent Wallpapers › | – | The wallpapers you used recently, with their type; rebuilt each time the menu opens |
| Set Up Assets… | – | Shown only while the Wallpaper Engine assets are missing; opens Settings › Assets |
| Browse Workshop | ⌘2 | Opens the Workshop tab |
| Send Android Exports over Wi-Fi… | – | Shares your Android exports on the local network, with a QR code to scan on the device |
| Settings | ⌘, | Opens Settings |
| Check for Updates… | ⌥⌘U | Checks for a new version |
| Support & FAQ | – | Opens the Troubleshooting page of this wiki |
| Mute / Unmute | ⇧⌘M | Silences wallpapers |
| Pause / Resume Wallpapers | ⌥⌘P | Pauses playback |
| Stop Wallpapers / Resume Wallpapers | – | Stops the wallpapers and frees their resources |
| Next Wallpaper / Previous Wallpaper | ⌥⌘→ / ⌥⌘← | Steps through the playlist, or picks from the library when no playlist plays |
| Take Screenshot | – | Saves a PNG of the wallpaper alone |
| Quit | ⌘Q | Quits OWE |
The shortcuts are the app's menu shortcuts; the menu shows them for reference. While the video memory is full and wallpapers are paused for it, the menu says so. The Dock menu offers the same items without Quit.
| Menu | Item | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Open Wallpaper Engine | About Open Wallpaper Engine | – |
| Check for Updates… | ⌥⌘U | |
| Settings… | ⌘, | |
| Hide / Hide Others | ⌘H / ⌥⌘H | |
| Quit | ⌘Q | |
| File | Import Wallpaper from Folder… | ⌘I |
| Send Android Exports over Wi-Fi… | – | |
| Close Window | ⌘W | |
| Edit | Undo / Redo | ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z |
| Cut / Copy / Paste | ⌘X / ⌘C / ⌘V | |
| Select All | ⌘A | |
| Find… | ⌘F | |
| View | Installed / Workshop / Downloads / Playlists | ⌘1 / ⌘2 / ⌘3 / ⌘4 |
| Show Filter Results | ⌃⌘S | |
| Enter Full Screen | ⌃⌘F | |
| Playback | Pause or Resume Wallpapers | ⌥⌘P |
| Stop Wallpapers | – | |
| Mute or Unmute | ⇧⌘M | |
| Next / Previous Wallpaper (in Playlist) | ⌥⌘→ / ⌥⌘← | |
| Window | Minimize | ⌘M |
| Wallpaper Explorer (main window) | ⇧⌘1 | |
| Scene Editor (Live) | ⌥⌘I | |
| Wallpaper Editor | ⌥⌘E | |
| Help | Open Wallpaper Engine Help (this wiki) | ⌘? |
| Support & FAQ, Keyboard Shortcuts, Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Report a Security Issue | – | |
| Help › Debug | Reset First Launch, Toggle Desktop Wallpaper Window (Debug), Reset All Trusted Wallpapers | – |
You can change these in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › App Shortcuts. Help › Keyboard Shortcuts shows them in Settings › General.
Settings › General › Hotkeys sets system-wide hotkeys that work in every app and need no permission (each needs ⌘, ⌥ or ⌃): pause, stop, mute, next and previous wallpaper, screenshot, start the screen saver, and opening the main window, Settings or the editor, among others. Each playlist can have its own hotkey, set in the playlist's header on the Playlists tab.
| Where | Key | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Installed and Workshop grids | ⌘-click / ⌃-click | Add to or remove from the selection |
| ⇧-click | Select a range | |
| Double-click | Open the preview window | |
| Scene Editor (Live) | ⌘K | Focus the search field |
| Arrow keys | Move the selected object 10 px (⇧ 50 px, ⌃ 1 px) | |
| Sheets (Display Settings, Create Playlist, Add URL) | Return / Esc | Confirm / cancel |
| Workshop preview window | Esc | Close it and stop playback |
Read more (for developers): UI, localization and settings storage