--- title: A shortcut does nothing | Relic Help description: You press the keys and Relic does not open. Check that Relic is running, that no other app has claimed the chord, and the platform rules that catch people out. canonical: https://relic.space/help/hotkey-not-working source: https://relic.space/llms.txt --- Troubleshooting # A shortcut does nothing You press the keys and Relic does not open. Check that Relic is running, that no other app has claimed the chord, and the platform rules that catch people out. Updated 10 September 2026 · Windows, Mac, Linux Every Relic shortcut is a global one: the system hands the keys to Relic no matter which app you are typing in. That means a few things outside Relic can stop it working. Work down this page in order. ## [Is Relic running?](#is-relic-running) A global shortcut does nothing while the app is closed. Look for the Relic icon in the tray, or in the menu bar on a Mac. If it is not there, start Relic and press Ctrl \+ Shift \+ Q again. The first time Relic hides itself it says where it went: Relic is still running It lives in your tray. Press Ctrl + Shift + Q to open it anytime. Quitting from the tray menu stops capture and the shortcuts until you open Relic again. If you would rather it always came back on its own, turn on [Settings › General › Launch Relic at login](https://relic.space/help/settings-general#launch-at-login). You can hide the tray icon and still keep the shortcut. On a Linux desktop that shows no tray at all (stock GNOME is the common one) the shortcut is the only way in, and the Settings row says so. ## [Another app owns the keys](#another-app-owns-it) The system gives a chord to one app at a time. If something else asked first, Relic never sees the keys. Relic does not pretend otherwise: the row in Settings›General turns red and says so. Open history shortcut This shortcut could not register. Another app may already use it; pick a different one. Settings › General › Shortcuts › Open history shortcut: shortcut, default Ctrl + Shift + Q. Mac: Ctrl + Shift + Q. Linux: Ctrl + Shift + Q The apps that most often take a chord first: * Screen recorders and screenshot tools. * Launchers and window managers. * Keyboard remappers and macro tools. * The desktop shell itself. Linux desktops claim a lot of Ctrl+Shift chords. * Meeting and chat apps with a global mute or push-to-talk key. If a shortcut that used to work stops, something you installed recently has probably claimed it. Give Relic different keys: 1. Open Settings Click the gear in the Relic window, then pick **General**. The Shortcuts group lists every one. 2. Find the red row The row with the red line is the one the system refused. More than one row can be red at a time. 3. Press Change The Change button at the right of the row starts recording. Press Esc to keep what was there. 4. Press your new keys The row takes the first chord you press that has at least one modifier (Ctrl, Alt, Shift or the Windows key). Two rows cannot share a chord. There is more on recording keys, and on putting one back to its default, in [Change a shortcut](https://relic.space/help/change-a-shortcut). ## [On a Mac and on Linux](#mac-and-linux) **On a Mac,** Ctrl means the physical Control key. Command will not do it. The chords are the same on every desktop on purpose, and Command+Shift+Q is already Log Out, so Relic never uses it. If you have been pressing Command, press Control instead. **On Linux,** global shortcuts work on an Xorg session and do not work on Wayland. The compositor does not hand any app a global key, so Relic reports the shortcut as unavailable rather than failing quietly. Check which session you are in: Terminal echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE If that prints _wayland_, log in with the "Ubuntu on Xorg" session (or your desktop's X11 option) at the login screen. If you want to stay on Wayland, bind a key to Relic in your desktop's own keyboard settings. Relic still captures everything you copy and still syncs on Wayland; it is the global keys and pasting back for you that are missing. ## [A few more causes](#more-causes) * **The paste stack keys are not there yet.** Add to paste stack and Paste next from stack only exist while [Sequential paste stack](https://relic.space/help/settings-general#paste-stack) is on. Turn it on and the two rows appear in Settings. * **Your keyboard layout uses the chord to type a character.** On several layouts Ctrl+Alt is a way to type characters, so the system will not give Ctrl+Alt+D or Ctrl+Alt+B to an app. Change those two rows to something else. * **You changed the keys and forgot.** The Shortcuts group in Settings always shows the keys that are live now. The defaults are listed on the [shortcuts page](https://relic.space/help/shortcuts). * **The window is open but you cannot see it.** Press the keys again to close it, then once more. On Linux, a window that will not take focus is usually a compositor rule about focus stealing. Old installs Relic moved its defaults once. An install that never changed its keys was moved along with them, so Ctrl \+ Shift \+ V became Ctrl \+ Shift \+ Q, and the two stack keys moved from Ctrl+Shift to Ctrl+Alt. ## [Still stuck](#still-stuck) Open Settings›About and press **Copy diagnostics**. It puts a short report about this install on your clipboard and never contains anything from your vault. Send it to [support@relic.space](https://relic.space/support) with the chord you pressed and what else was running. Related [Keyboard shortcutsShortcuts](https://relic.space/help/shortcuts)[Change a shortcutShortcuts](https://relic.space/help/change-a-shortcut)[Settings: GeneralSettings reference](https://relic.space/help/settings-general)[The Relic windowGet started](https://relic.space/help/the-popup)