Customize settings, shortcuts, and Commander

Make Pathem fit your workflow while keeping global defaults, saved folder views, and F-key bindings separate.

Change one preference at a time

Open Preferences from Command Palette. Use the settings sidebar or search to find the relevant control.
Use Appearance for skin, accent, density, fonts, and icon size. Use Layout for path-bar position, date format, and related presentation controls.
Use General for drag behavior, existing-file policy, copy verification, and Trash confirmation. Read the wording before changing a safety-related preference.
Return to a practice folder and verify the effect. If it looks unchanged, check whether a folder-specific saved view is overriding a global default.
Keep optional behaviors such as automatic Trash cleanup or extra gesture actions off until you understand their scope. They are not required for ordinary browsing.

Open Preferences > Shortcuts and identify the named command you want to change. Use the command palette to verify what that command actually does first.
Assign a shortcut that does not conflict with a text-editing shortcut you rely on. Test it with a harmless selection and with a text field focused.
Keep a note of changed bindings. These guides and the website shortcut overview show defaults, not your customized map.
If you edit keymap.json directly, back up the file first and use valid JSON with canonical chord names. An empty command value removes a default binding; it is not a request to execute an empty command.

Run Commander Mode to show the Commander-style command bar.
Open the Commander customization control in Preferences and inspect the six F3–F8 assignments.
Choose commands by name, save the dialog, and test each button against disposable files. Cancel leaves the existing assignments unchanged.
If a Mac keyboard treats F-keys as brightness or media keys, use Fn/Globe as appropriate or adjust the Mac's keyboard behavior. Changing Commander assignments does not change the operating system's media-key mode.