Angular ListBox Keyboard Navigation

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Updated on Nov 6, 2025

The ListBox supports comprehensive keyboard navigation for accessibility and efficiency. The keyboard shortcuts are organized into four categories: navigation and focus, selection, item management, and ToolBar operations.

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Focus and Tab Sequence

The ListBox is a single-tab-stop component. When the optional ToolBar is enabled, it is included in the page tab-sequence. The ToolBar position in the tab order respects its visual position on the screen based on the LTR/RTL configuration.

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to navigate through ListBox items:

SHORTCUT	DESCRIPTION
`Up Arrow`	Moves focus to and selects the previous item.
`Down Arrow`	Moves focus to and selects the next item.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Up Arrow`	Moves focus to the previous item without changing selection.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Down Arrow`	Moves focus to the next item without changing selection.
`Home`	Moves focus to the first item.
`End`	Moves focus to the last item.

Selection Shortcuts

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to select items in single or multiple selection mode:

Single Item Selection

SHORTCUT	DESCRIPTION
`Space`	Selects the current item.
`Ctrl + Space` / `Cmd + Space (MacOS)`	Toggles selection of the current item in multiple selection mode.
`Ctrl + Click` / `Cmd + Click (MacOS)`	Toggles selection of the clicked item in multiple selection mode.

Range Selection

SHORTCUT	DESCRIPTION
`Shift + Click`	Selects all items between the anchor item and the clicked item.
`Shift + Up Arrow`	Extends selection from the anchor item to the previous item.
`Shift + Down Arrow`	Extends selection from the anchor item to the next item.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Shift + Home`	Selects all items from the anchor item to the first item.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Shift + End`	Selects all items from the anchor item to the last item.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + A`	Selects all items. If all items are already selected, clears the selection.

Selection Anchor

The ListBox uses an anchor item as a reference point for range selection operations. The anchor item is set when you:

Click an item to select it
Press Space to select the focused item
Press Ctrl + Space or Cmd + Space (MacOS) to toggle selection
Use Ctrl + Click or Cmd + Click (MacOS) to toggle selection

When a range selection operation requires an anchor but none is set, the first item in the list is used as the reference point.

Item Management Shortcuts

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to manipulate items within the ListBox or transfer them between connected ListBoxes:

Reordering Items

SHORTCUT	DESCRIPTION
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Shift + Up Arrow`	Moves the selected items up one position.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Shift + Down Arrow`	Moves the selected items down one position.
`Delete`	Removes the selected items from the ListBox.

Transferring Items

SHORTCUT	DESCRIPTION
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Right Arrow`	Transfers the selected items to the connected ListBox.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Left Arrow`	Transfers the selected items from the connected ListBox to the current ListBox.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Shift + Right Arrow`	Transfers all items to the connected ListBox.
`Ctrl / Cmd (MacOS) + Shift + Left Arrow`	Transfers all items from the connected ListBox to the current ListBox.

When the ToolBar is enabled, use the following keyboard shortcuts to interact with ToolBar buttons:

SHORTCUT	DESCRIPTION
`F10`	Moves focus to the ToolBar. Focuses the last focused button, or the first button if none was previously focused.
`Right Arrow / Down Arrow`	Moves focus to the next button in the ToolBar.
`Left Arrow / Up Arrow`	Moves focus to the previous button in the ToolBar.
`Enter` / `Space`	Activates the focused button.
`Escape`	Returns focus from the ToolBar to the ListBox.

Keyboard Navigation