F1 help window overrides custom Switch note type hotkey - how to disable?

Hi, everyone!

I’ve run into an issue with hotkey behavior in Anki. I’m using the “Switch note type hotkey” add-on, where I’ve personally set F1 as my hotkey for switching to Basic cards. However, when creating cards, pressing F1 now triggers the browser’s help window instead of the note type switch (F2 for Cloze still works perfectly).

I’d appreciate any guidance on how to disable or rebind the help window shortcut while keeping my F1 binding for the add-on. I know F1 is traditionally a help key, but I’d really like to maintain my current note type switching setup since it’s become part of my workflow.

Has anyone else encountered this? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I can’t reproduce the issue with the add-on on Windows. I assume this is similar to the macOS-specific issue reported here: Wrong window closes on command-w

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(Original poster appears to be using Windows)

Ah, my bad for not mentioning it earlier—thanks for pointing it out! I mostly use Anki on my Mac, and that’s indeed the OS where this issue occurred. I didn’t think it was a bug, just assumed maybe a recent update made F1 force-bound to the help key. Let me know if there’s any more info I can provide to help figure out if this is indeed a bug.

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I just gave this a try with 24.11/Qt6 on a Mac, and F1 doesn’t do anything on my machine. Odd.

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Did you try with the add-on? The add-on simply uses editor_did_init_shortcuts so I’m struggling to see how that can make a difference, but maybe…

Thank you for trying to help! I’ve discovered something peculiar about this behavior that might explain why some couldn’t replicate it:

The F1 key behaves differently depending on your actions:

  1. On Anki’s main deck screen, F1 opens the Anki manual in browser (normal behavior)
  2. In a new card creation/editing window, F1 initially doesn’t do anything
  3. However, if you:
  • Open a card creation/editing window
  • Go to the main deck screen and press F1 (opening manual)
  • Return to your card creation window
  • THEN press F1, it will trigger the help window

The behavior resets if you close and reopen the card creation window - F1 won’t trigger the help window again until you repeat the above sequence.

What’s particularly strange is that I don’t recall pressing F1 in the main menu when I first reported this issue. It seems like a bug that pressing F1 in the main menu would somehow affect how F1 behaves in the card creation window later - these should be independent actions, right?

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This happens because Anki has different menubars for different screens, and some screens like the add window inherit the current menubar. Overriding the F1 shortcut in Help>Guide menu item in the main screen should prevent any conflicts from happening when you switch back to the add window afterwards.

I’ve logged this related issue: Inconsistent active menu in add screen on macOS · Issue #3739 · ankitects/anki · GitHub

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