Tally cloud shortcut keys for TallyPrime on Mac, iPad and Windows keyboards

Why shortcuts matter: TallyPrime is keyboard-first

TallyPrime is built to be driven from the keyboard. Menu items have a highlighted letter, the button bar on the right of each screen shows every action with its key, and an experienced accountant can post a sales invoice without touching the mouse: F8 for the voucher, type the party, Tab through the items and Ctrl+A to save. Tally publishes the full list in its official TallyPrime keyboard shortcuts page, last updated on 24 September 2026, and every key on this page comes from it.

With Tally on Cloud, TallyPrime runs on a Windows server and your device shows its screen over Remote Desktop. Each key press travels to the server as a key press, so TallyPrime can't tell your MacBook keyboard from the office PC it used to run on. That is also why voucher entry stays quick on an ordinary connection: only key presses go up and screen updates come back. Our guide to Tally RDP explains the plumbing.

What changes is the keyboard in front of you. A Mac has Control, Option and Command instead of Ctrl, Alt and Windows. A MacBook's top row adjusts brightness and volume until you tell it otherwise. An iPad keyboard may have no function row at all. And macOS and Windows both keep a few combinations for themselves. The sections below deal with each case.

Keyboard explorer: press a key, see what TallyPrime does

Pick your keyboard, then click a key. Click Ctrl, Alt or Shift first to hold them, and the keys that light up have a TallyPrime action with that combination. You can also click inside the keyboard and press keys on your own keyboard. Every answer is read from the shortcut tables further down this page.

Voucher keys: F4 to F9 and their Alt and Ctrl versions

These are the keys you'll press most. From Gateway of Tally or inside any voucher screen, the key opens that voucher type, and Alt or Ctrl with the same F-key opens the less common types. Inside a voucher you've just opened, another voucher key switches the type, so a Payment started by mistake becomes a Receipt with F6.

The Mac column assumes you've set the top row to standard function keys, as described in the Mac section. If you haven't, hold fn as well.

Tagged rows can be caught by macOS before Windows App sees them; the known clashes section shows the two-minute fix.

Alt, Ctrl and Ctrl+Alt combinations

A simple pattern runs through TallyPrime: Alt shortcuts open a menu, while Ctrl shortcuts act on what's on screen straight away. Alt+P opens the Print menu, but Ctrl+P prints the current voucher. The same holds for export (Alt+E, Ctrl+E) and sharing (Alt+M, Ctrl+M). Ctrl+Alt combinations are fewer and mostly for system details. On a Mac or iPad, Ctrl is the Control key and Alt is the left Option key.

Move around and manage companies

Alt+Y is the one to remember for backups: it opens the Data menu, where TallyPrime 7.0 and later keep Backup & Restore. Our TallyPrime backup guide covers where those backups should go on a cloud server.

Print, export and share

On a Mac or Windows PC, Ctrl+P sends the invoice to your own printer through Remote Desktop's printer redirection. Windows App on iPhone, iPad and Android doesn't redirect printers, so export a PDF with Ctrl+E and print or share it from the device. Our guide on how to print from Tally on Cloud walks through each device.

Voucher entry

Reports

Ctrl+Alt combinations

One Ctrl+Alt combination never reaches the server: Ctrl+Alt+Delete always goes to your own computer. Microsoft's Remote Desktop shortcut list gives Ctrl+Alt+End as the remote equivalent, which you'd only need to change your Windows password.

On a Mac: scancode mode, F-keys, Command and Option

Tally shortcut keys on a Mac work once four settings are right, and then a MacBook, iMac or Mac mini behaves like a Tally PC keyboard. They take about two minutes and you set them once. If you haven't installed Windows App yet, our Tally on Mac guide covers the setup first.

1. Switch Windows App to scancode mode. With your session open, choose Connections, then Keyboard Mode, then Scancode in the macOS menu bar, or press Control+Command+K. Microsoft's keyboard guide for Windows App recommends scancode for "characters that aren't printable, such as Arrow Up or shortcut combinations". Control+Command+U switches back to Unicode, which you need only for input methods such as an Indian-language keyboard.
2. Make the top row send F1 to F12. This is the step that makes Tally F-keys work on a MacBook. Following Apple's function-key instructions, open System Settings, click Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts, then Function Keys, and turn on "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys". F8 then sends F8, and you hold fn when you want brightness or volume. Prefer to leave it? Hold fn with every F-key instead. On a MacBook Pro with a Touch Bar, holding fn shows F1 to F12 on the Touch Bar.
3. Use Control for Ctrl and the left Option key for Alt. Microsoft notes that Command equals the Windows key in the session and that the Option key to the right of the space bar acts as Alt Gr, so keep Tally's Alt shortcuts on the left Option key.
4. Clear the macOS shortcuts that clash. Control with the arrow keys and Control+F2 to F8 belong to macOS by default. The known clashes table shows where to turn them off.

Your keyboard matters too. On an iMac or Mac mini, Apple's Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad adds real Home, End, Page Up and Page Down keys and a number pad, which suits long data-entry sessions. On a MacBook, fn with the arrow keys gives the same four keys, as listed in Apple's Mac keyboard shortcuts.

On an iPad with a hardware keyboard

An iPad with a keyboard and trackpad is a capable Tally machine. Microsoft's Windows App supports Apple keyboards and third-party hardware keyboards, though not third-party on-screen keyboards. The keys map as they do on a Mac: Control is Ctrl, the left Option key is Alt, Command is the Windows key and the right Option key is Alt Gr. Setting up the app itself is covered in our Tally on mobile guide.

• Function keys depend on the keyboard. Apple's Magic Keyboards for the M4 iPad Pro and the M3 iPad Air have a 14-key function row; older Magic Keyboards and the Smart Keyboard Folio have none. Whether a function row reaches TallyPrime as F1 to F12 varies, so press F8 in the first minute of your free trial. Without F-keys, tap the matching button on TallyPrime's right-hand bar with the trackpad or your finger.
• No esc key? In iPadOS Settings, open General, Keyboard, Hardware Keyboard, then Modifier Keys, and set Caps Lock or the globe key to act as Escape. TallyPrime uses Esc constantly to step back.
• Option types symbols on some layouts. On some European Magic Keyboard layouts, Option combinations type characters such as @ or €. Microsoft says Option+Command+9 switches between Windows and iPadOS behaviour.
• iPhone is for quick checks. Without a keyboard there is no practical way to press F-keys, so use the on-screen buttons for lookups and approvals, and do real entry on an iPad or laptop.

Android tablets and Chromebooks

Windows App for Android and ChromeOS has a setting that matters for Tally. Open the settings pane from your profile icon, tap General and turn on Use scancode input when available, as Microsoft describes. A Bluetooth or Chromebook keyboard then sends Ctrl, Alt and arrow keys as key presses. ChromeOS also has a keyboard setting to treat the top row as function keys. Our page on Tally on Linux and Chromebook covers Remmina and other clients.

On Windows: Remote Desktop Connection and Windows App

From a Windows PC or laptop, TallyPrime shortcut keys over Remote Desktop need almost no setup. While the Remote Desktop Connection window has focus, F-keys and Alt, Ctrl and Ctrl+Alt combinations go to TallyPrime on the server. Three things can still trip you up.

The "Apply Windows key combinations" setting

In Remote Desktop Connection, click Show Options, open the Local Resources tab and look under Keyboard. Microsoft's shortcut reference explains the three choices. On this computer keeps Windows shortcuts such as Alt+Tab on your PC. On the remote computer sends them to the server. Only when using the full screen, the default, sends them to the server only in full screen. The setting covers Windows-wide shortcuts and the Windows key, not TallyPrime's own Alt and Ctrl keys, which work in every mode.

Microsoft's newer Windows App for Windows uses the same alternatives, with Ctrl+Alt+Pause to switch between full screen and a window. Microsoft also notes that keyboard shortcuts don't work in nested sessions, so open TallyPrime directly rather than through a Remote Desktop session inside another one.

Laptop F-keys and Fn Lock

Many laptops ship with the top row set to volume, brightness and media, so F8 turns the volume up instead of opening a Sales voucher. Microsoft points out that key replacements on compact keyboards are set by the keyboard's maker. Look for an Fn Lock key or combination, often printed with a padlock, or a setting in the maker's keyboard utility, and F-keys then work without holding Fn.

Hotkeys claimed by your own PC

Programs on your own computer, such as screen recorders, graphics utilities or chat apps, can register global hotkeys that are caught before Remote Desktop sees them. If a Ctrl+Alt shortcut does nothing in TallyPrime, close those programs one at a time or change their hotkeys.

Calculator shortcut over the cloud

The Tally cloud calculator shortcut key is Ctrl+N. It opens or hides TallyPrime's calculator panel, exactly as Tally's shortcut list describes for a desktop install. On a Mac or iPad, press Control+N. In an Amount field during voucher entry, Alt+C (Option+C on a Mac) also opens the calculator panel.

1. Open the panel. Press Ctrl+N from any screen.
2. Type the sum. For example, 12500*18/100 for the GST on ₹12,500 at 18%, then press Enter for the result.
3. Hide it again. Press Ctrl+N once more and carry on with your voucher.

Some older guides say Ctrl+M closes the calculator. In TallyPrime's current list, Ctrl+M e-mails the current voucher or report, so use Ctrl+N to toggle the panel. Prefer your device's own calculator? Microsoft lists clipboard sharing for Windows App on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android, so you can work out a figure in the Mac Calculator, copy it, and paste it into a Tally field with Ctrl+V.

Known clashes and fixes

Almost every "my shortcut doesn't work" problem comes down to one of these. Apple's Mac keyboard shortcut reference (published 14 September 2026) lists the Control+F2 to F8 focus keys and the Control+↑ and ↓ Mission Control keys, and you can turn these, along with the Control+← and → Spaces shortcuts, off under System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts.

Still stuck? Our support team can look at your Windows App or Remote Desktop settings with you during a screen share.

Printable TallyPrime shortcut cheat sheet

Here are the keys you'll use every day on one page, plus the Mac and iPad rules. There's no sign-up: print it, or choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialog to keep a copy.

This page was checked against the sources below on 2026-10-06. If a key behaves differently on your device, tell us and we'll correct the page, as our editorial policy describes.

• TallyPrime 7.1
• Tally shortcut list · 24 Sep 2026
• Windows App keyboard guide · Microsoft
• Mac keyboard shortcuts · Apple, 14 Sep 2026

Frequently asked questions