Arranging Text

Edit > Arrange moves and indents text with the keyboard. In a Markdown document it understands structure: it can move a list item with its nested items or a heading with its section, and numbered lists stay in order.

Keys	Moves
Control-Command with an arrow	a whole block, or indents and outdents
Option-Command-Up or Option-Command-Down	one line, through the structure
Shift-Option-Command with an arrow	plain lines, ignoring Markdown

Move Up and Move Down

• Edit > Arrange > Move Up (Control-Command-Up)
• Edit > Arrange > Move Down (Control-Command-Down)

These move the block the caret is in past the block beside it. A block is a paragraph, a code block, a list item with everything nested in it, or a heading with its section.

With the caret (|) on Hardware, Move Up:

- Groceries                       - Hardware|
  - Milk                            - Nails
  - Eggs              →           - Groceries
- Hardware|                         - Milk
  - Nails                           - Eggs

Numbers stay in order. With the caret on the last step, Move Up:

1. Preheat the oven               1. Preheat the oven
2. Mix the batter         →       2. Pour into the pan|
3. Pour into the pan|             3. Mix the batter

At the top of its list, an item moves out of the list: above its parent, or above the block before the list. A heading moves past the next heading at its own level, and stops at the edge of the section it's in.

Indent and Outdent

• Edit > Arrange > Indent (Control-Command-Right or Command-])
• Edit > Arrange > Outdent (Control-Command-Left or Command-[)

In a list, Indent tucks an item under the one above it. Outdent moves it out a level, and the items that followed it come along as its children:

- Fruit                           - Fruit
  - Apples|      Outdent →        - Apples|
  - Pears                           - Pears

On a heading, Indent and Outdent change the level of the heading and every heading in its section. Select All first to change every heading in the document.

## Soil|                          ### Soil|
                 Indent →
### Compost                       #### Compost

In a list, Tab and Shift-Tab indent and outdent too.

Move Line Up and Move Line Down

• Edit > Arrange > Move Line Up (Option-Command-Up)
• Edit > Arrange > Move Line Down (Option-Command-Down)

These move the selected lines one step at a time, into and out of lists, quotes, and paragraphs. A line takes on the marks of where it lands. Press again to keep going.

With the caret on Bread, Move Line Up twice:

- Milk                - Milk                - Milk
- Eggs        →       - Eggs        →       - Bread|
                      - Bread|              - Eggs
Bread|

And the other way, a line leaves a list as a paragraph of its own. With the caret on Eggs, Move Line Down:

- Milk                            - Milk
- Eggs|                   →
                                  Eggs|
That's all.
                                  That's all.

Plain Lines

Add Shift to the Option-Command keys to move or indent whole lines as plain text, with no Markdown rules. Plain text documents always work this way.

Folds and Tables

A folded section moves as one piece, and lines pass over a fold without going into it. In a table, Move Line moves rows and Indent and Outdent move columns. See Markdown Tables.

See also

• Text Editing
• Headings & Folding
• Markdown Tables
• Keyboard Shortcuts