Keyboard Shortcuts

Rostrum has two kinds of shortcuts: global shortcuts (hotkeys), which work from any app while Rostrum runs, and in-app keys for driving the window from the keyboard. To control Rostrum from a Stream Deck or a script instead, see Command Line and D-Bus.

Global shortcuts

These have a shortcut out of the box:

Action	Default
Mute mic	Meta+Alt+M
Mute all playback to stream	Meta+Alt+S
Previous scene	Meta+Alt+PgUp
Next scene	Meta+Alt+PgDown
Load scene 1	Meta+Alt+1
Load scene 2	Meta+Alt+2
Load scene 3	Meta+Alt+3
Load scene 4	Meta+Alt+4

Meta is the Super or Windows key.

More actions are ready to bind in Settings → Hotkeys, with no shortcut until you set one. The page groups every action like this:

Group	Action	What it does
Mic	Mute mic	Mutes or unmutes the mic, the same as the header button and the tray menu.
Mic	Push to talk	Hold to talk while the mic is muted. Letting go mutes it again.
Mic	Push to mute	Hold to mute the mic, for a cough or a sip. Letting go brings it back.
Mic	Panic mute	Mutes the mic and everything going to stream at once. Press again to bring both back as they were.
Mic	Sidetone on or off	Turns hearing your own mic in the headphones on or off.
Stream and Headphones	Mute all playback to stream	Mutes or unmutes the Stream master. Your headphones are not affected, and your mic stays on stream.
Stream and Headphones	Mute headphones	Mutes or unmutes the Headphones master. The stream is not affected.
Stream and Headphones	Stream volume up / Stream volume down	Raises or lowers the Stream master by 5 %. Repeats while held.
Scenes	Previous scene / Next scene	Steps through the scene list, wrapping around at the ends.
Scenes	Load scene 1 … Load scene 8	Loads the scene at that position in the Scenes page list. If there is no such scene, Rostrum says so.
Buses	Mute Game bus (one per bus)	Mutes or unmutes that playback bus in the live scene, where it has one.

Global shortcuts only work while Rostrum is running (it can run hidden in the tray).

Push to talk, push to mute and panic

• Push to talk and push to mute act while the keys are held. On desktops that do not report the keys going up, and inside Rostrum's window, each press turns them on or off instead.
• Panic mute stays on through scene switches until you press it again. Then the mic and the stream come back to what the scene says.
• None of the three is ever saved. They do not change the scene or mark it as changed, and after a restart nothing is held.
• Muting or unmuting the mic or the stream directly (button, tray, hotkey, command line) ends a hold that says the opposite.

Scene slots follow the Scenes page

Load scene 1 to Load scene 8 count scenes in the order of the Scenes page, and the badge next to each scene there shows its number. To change which scene a slot loads, use Move Up and Move Down on the Scenes page instead of rebinding keys. See Scenes and Presets.

On-screen messages

When Rostrum's window is not in front, a hotkey that mutes or unmutes the mic or the stream, turns panic mute on or off, or switches scenes shows a short message, for example "Mic muted", "Stream unmuted", "Panic mute: mic and stream muted" or "Scene: Gaming". On Plasma this uses the desktop's on-screen display; elsewhere it is a brief notification. Push to talk and push to mute show nothing. The same messages appear for changes from the command line or D-Bus.

Turn them off with Settings → General → Show hotkey changes on screen.

Changing them

Open Settings → Hotkeys. Click a shortcut, then press the new keys. A shortcut needs at least one modifier key, such as Ctrl, Alt or Meta. Backspace or the clear button removes a shortcut, and the reset button next to it restores the default.

On KDE Plasma, Rostrum's shortcuts also appear in System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts, and you can rebind them there too.

On other desktops, Rostrum registers them through the desktop's global shortcuts portal. The desktop may ask you to confirm them. This path has not been tested yet; reports are welcome.

When a shortcut does not work globally

If another app or the desktop already uses a key combination, the Hotkeys row says so, for example "Also used by “…”", or explains why the desktop refused it. That shortcut still works while Rostrum's window is focused. Pick a different combination to make it global again.

In-app keys

Where	Key	Action
Any page	F6 / Shift+F6	Move focus between the header, the sidebar and the page
Any page	Ctrl+S	Save the scene
Any page	Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z	Undo / redo a level or bus change in the live scene
Any page	Ctrl+M	Mute or unmute the mic
Any page	Ctrl+Q	Quit
Bus fader	Up / Down (or Right / Left)	Level up or down 1 %
Bus fader	Page Up / Page Down	Level up or down 10 %
Bus fader	M / S	Mute / solo
Bus fader	1 / 2 / 3	Send to Headphones / Stream / Both
Bus fader	F2	Rename the bus
Bus fader	Menu key	Open the bus's menu
Balance slider	Left / Right	Balance 5 % left or right
Balance slider	Menu key	Open the bus's menu
Master fader	Right / Left	Level up or down 1 %
Master fader	Page Up / Page Down, M	Level up or down 10 %, mute
Compact View fader	M	Mute
Sidebar	Arrow keys, then Enter or Space	Choose and open a page
Scene switcher, header menu	Enter or Space	Open the menu
Scenes page	Enter	Load the selected scene
Scenes page	Alt+Up / Alt+Down	Move the selected scene up or down the list
Renaming	Escape	Cancel
Settings → Hotkeys	Backspace	Clear the focused shortcut

A focused fader shows its keys in a tooltip. Hotkeys you bound in Settings also work inside the window when the desktop did not accept them as global shortcuts.

Double-click to reset

With the mouse, double-click a control to reset it:

Control	Resets to
Bus fader, master fader, Compact View fader	0 dB
Mic gain (on the Mic strip or in the mic button's menu)	100 %
Balance slider	Centre

Keyboard-only workflow

Every Mixer task can be done without a mouse. For example, to set Game to −6 dB, mute it and send it to the stream only: press F6 until focus reaches the page, Tab to the Game fader, press Page Down twice, then M, then 2, then Ctrl+S to save.

Dragging app chips is mouse-only, but each chip has an options button with Move to and Unassign, and every app on the Apps page has an Assign or Move button.

Accessibility

Rostrum aims to be fully usable with a keyboard and a screen reader (Orca). What works today and the known limitations are in ACCESSIBILITY.md. To report a barrier, use the accessibility issue form.