Can't reach Menu Bar from keyboard

I can’t reach the Menu Bar from the keyboard. I have to use the mouse, which is really a pain.
If we have corresponding key commands that let us access the menu bar items, we can assign a shortcut key for each menu and be happy.
(Alt+F for the File menu, Alt+E for the Edit menu, and so on).


As being discussed in the other thread, the speed of operations is one of the keys for a modern DAW, and the keyboard UI is so important in this regard.
“…if you don’t work fast, you get fired” Steinberg Forums
Every time a DAW forces a user to reach out for the mouse, it reduces the productivity, right? :slight_smile:
However, there’s a huge area that’s missing in Cubase. The menu bar. I can’t reach the menu bar from the keyboard alone.
Reaching the menu bar by the keyboard is one of the “musts” a professional DAW should be capable of - as the menu bar represents all the features a DAW presents to us.

On older Cubase (IIRC up to 7.5), the feature was just there, it was so natural to reach the File menu by the keyboard alone.
It was dropped in the Cubase UI, don’t know why it’ was dropped. Maybe they were just overlooked during the UI facelift?
Today, on Cubase 10.0, I can’t do this no matter what I try without a mouse.

I could understand that the new UI demanded whole rearchitecturing, however it looks as if the new UI was designed by someone who didn’t really appreciate the keyboard operations, sad to say.
A cool new UI should not be an excuse to reduce the productivity. if it drops the keyboard support.

Maybe too late to add the functionality to the UI code?
Maybe we could have lower impact workaround.
Perhaps a possible solution would be to allow keyboard shortcuts to reach out each menu bar menu.
Give us the key commands to access the each menu item, and we’ll take care of the rest by ourselves. :slight_smile:

Thanks!

Strongly supports.
I installed Cubase5 and Cubase10 in one PC (win7 64).
In C5, the menu bar can be accessed via keystroke(Alt).
In C10, only the mouse-click can access the menu bar…

Those FREQUENTLY used operation, like Normalize, Gain, PitchShift, Inport, Export, can be quickly finished by keystroke in C5.(Alt-a-o, Alt-a-p-g, Alt-a-p-i).
But in C10, the only way to do them is mouse-click, which is REALLYYYYYYYY painful…
I guess nobody would like to do operations frequntly only depend on mouse-click.

Thank you shanglw, I’m totally with you…

Today I saw 10.0.40 just came out. Installed it, with little hope the keyboard can reach the menu bar…
nope, we still have to use the mouse click to access the menu bar.

Please bring it back!

I just posted this question in the 9 forum as I don’t usually use Cubase but need to create some scripts for other users.
I was looking everywhere to find a way to access the menu bar, all other app either show the underscore or you hold alt to show them, someone said alt+h will access Help menu but that don’t work. It seems to be an issue going back years n years and seems to be ignored, doing further searches it is in other request features. I wonder if it has been made know in the native language German forum, if not maybe that might help more for understanding purposes ?
The only way I can see is use AutoHotKey to move the mouse pointer to to the top left of the screen like to the xy of the File then send a left click. Does that menu bar stay at the top all the time as it seem to spring back when I move it ?
Unless someone has a way to access at least one menu this will give access to the rest with the arrow cursor keys.

Here I just made this up you can try it, just install AutoHotKey
save this in notepad as Cubase LE AI Elements 9 Menu.ahk
run it and it will sit in the System tray as a green icon with a white H
It is set to use alt+home key will bring the file menu up you can change that to what you like.
The “ahk_class SmtgMain Cubase LE AI Elements 9” is the menu bar, you can change the name to your version of Cubase, or download the AHK Window ID app WindowAHK-ID x64.zip WindowAHK-ID x86.zip run it then click on the Menu Bar to get the win id.
If you don’t want to install AutoHotKey run the Window AHK ID and give me the Menu Bar ID and I will compile a standalone app that will send the mouse to the File Menu and click, let me know the hotkey you want.

If you let me know your version ID I will be able to make a complied app for each version.
AHK will also allow a GUI to be created that can be “Always On Top” this can have any number of functions and macros with the click of a button.
Here’s one made for band in a Box AHK-GUI-Fuctions-Macros.gif

; Only one instance running at a time
#SingleInstance force

; Cubase Menu
~Alt & Home::
Macro1:
WinActivate, ahk_class SmtgMain Cubase LE AI Elements 9
MouseClick, left, 50, 10, 1, 0
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