Quick Create and keyboard shortcuts on Mac
On a Mac, press ⌘N for a new record in the area you are in, or pick any record type from File → New. Return saves, Escape cancels in the customer and address windows, and in the Customers list, Return or a double-click opens a customer in its own window.
Data entry is where a business app earns or loses your patience. A few keys, learned once, save many trips to the mouse. This guide lists the shortcuts Swiftly Workspace has on the Mac and how Quick Create decides what ⌘N makes.
Quick Create: one menu for every new record
The File menu's New group lists every record type you are allowed to create:
- New Customer, New Vendor, New Project and New Item
- New Customer Document and New Vendor Document
- New Customer Payment and New Vendor Payment
The list follows your role and your company's modules. If your role can't create vendors, or the Vendor Management module is off, New Vendor isn't there.
Each choice opens a new window with a short form: the fields your company uses for that record, in one pane, with the checkmark to save. Which fields appear is up to your company's form settings, covered in how to hide the fields you never use.
What ⌘N creates
⌘N follows the area in the main window:
| Area in front | ⌘N opens |
|---|---|
| CRM | New Customer |
| Vendor Management | New Vendor |
| Projects | New Project |
| Finance | New Customer Document |
| Anywhere else, or a record window | The record type at the top of the File → New list |
So with CRM open, ⌘N, a name and Return can add a customer without touching the mouse, when your form needs nothing more. How to add a customer on Mac walks through the form that opens.
The keyboard shortcuts
| Keys | Where | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| ⌘N | Anywhere | A new record for the area in front (see above) |
| Return | A one-line field in a form with the checkmark | The same as clicking the checkmark |
| Escape | The customer and address windows | Cancel |
| Return or double-click | The Customers list | Opens the selected customer in its own window |
| Control-click a row | Customers, Customer Addresses, Customer Contacts, the customer documents list | View Profile, View Address, View Contact, View Customer or View Details |
| ⌘R | Home | Refreshes the dashboard figures |
You don't have to memorize the table. Like any Mac app, Swiftly Workspace shows a shortcut next to its menu item: open File → New and the record ⌘N will make carries ⌘N beside it, which changes as you move between CRM, Vendor Management, Projects and Finance. Glance at it once or twice and the key sticks. The right-click menus work the same way: Control-click a row in a customer, address, contact or document list, and the actions you can take on that row are listed together, so you never have to hunt for the button that opens the record.
When the checkmark turns into a warning triangle because something required is missing, Return in a one-line field does what a click does: it shows you what is missing instead of saving.
Windows, side by side
Every record you open from the keyboard gets its own window, so a customer, an invoice and the list can sit next to each other. Working in multiple windows on Mac covers that way of working, and large customer lists explains how to find the right row to open in a list of thousands.
Quick Create from the Shortcuts app
The same eight actions, from New Customer to New Vendor Payment, appear in Apple's Shortcuts app on the Mac. Running one brings Swiftly Workspace forward with that create window open, so you can put a favorite in a shortcut of your own. If you are signed out, or your role can't create that record, the action tells you so instead of opening a form.
A few habits that pay off
- Keep the main window on the area you work in most. ⌘N then always makes the record you want.
- Trim the forms. The fewer fields a form shows, the faster a keyboard-driven entry goes.
- Invoice from the keyboard too. With Finance in front, ⌘N starts a customer document. How to create and finalize an invoice on Mac continues from there.
Menus, shortcuts and real windows are part of what separates a native Mac app from a browser tab; native app or web app looks at the difference.
Frequently asked questions
Why does ⌘N open a different form in each area?
It depends on the area in the main window: a customer in CRM, a vendor in Vendor Management, a project in Projects and a customer document in Finance. Anywhere else it opens the record type at the top of the File → New list.
Why is a record type missing from File → New?
The menu lists what your role may create in modules your company has turned on. Ask an admin to check your role, or the company's modules, if you expect to see it.
Can I add my own keyboard shortcut for a menu item?
Yes, macOS lets you assign a shortcut to any app's menu item by its exact name. In System Settings, open Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts, then App Shortcuts, and add one for an item such as New Vendor Document.
Is there a shortcut to save a form?
Press Return while you are in a one-line field. It does what clicking the checkmark does, and when something required is missing it shows you what to fill in.
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