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Usage

This page explains the main window layout and the most common tasks you will perform after installation.

quardCRT is organized around saved sessions and tab-based terminal workflows. Most users start by opening a quick connection, saving it as a session, and then tuning the global appearance and terminal settings.

Main window overview

The main window is composed of these primary areas:

• Menu bar: complete access to commands and settings.

• Toolbar: quick access to commonly used actions.

• Sidebar: session manager and plugin area.

• Tab pages: one or more live sessions.

• Terminal area: the active terminal or remote desktop content.

• Status bar: state and prompt information.

First things to try

Quick connect

Use File > Quick Connect when you want to open a one-off connection without creating a fully prepared saved session first. Select a protocol, fill in the required connection fields, and open it in the current window or a new tab.

Saved sessions

Use the session manager in the left sidebar to browse saved sessions, reconnect to recent targets, and organize entries into folders. Saved sessions are the recommended way to manage frequently used SSH, serial, raw socket, or VNC targets.

Local shell

If you only need a local terminal, use File > Connect Local Terminal. This creates a terminal tab on the current machine without setting up a remote connection.

Appearance and language

Use the Theme and Language menus for fast UI changes. For deeper adjustments such as fonts, background images, cursor style, and transfer directories, open Options > Global Options.

Menu Bar

The menu bar contains the full command surface of quardCRT: File, Edit, View, Options, Transfer, Script, Bookmark, Tools, Window, Language, Theme, and Help.

File

• New Window

  New a new QuardCRT window. Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + N

• Connect

  Open the session manager, select the existing connection information, and establish a session. Shortcut: Alt + C

• Quick Connect

  Pop up the quick connect dialog, add new connection information, and establish a session. Shortcut: Alt + Q

• Connect in Tab/Tile…

  Open the session manager, select the existing connection information, and establish a session. Shortcut: Alt + B

• Connect Local Terminal

  Quickly open the local terminal. Shortcut: Alt + T

• Reconnect

  Reconnect the current session.

• Reconnect All

  Reconnect all sessions. Shortcut: Alt + A

• Disconnect

  Disconnect the current session.

• Disconnect All

  Disconnect all sessions.

• Clone Session

  Clone the current session. Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + T

• Lock Session

  Lock/Unlock the current session. After the session is locked, no input operation can be performed.

• Log

  Turn on/off the log recording of the current session. Record all input and output in the session in the form of a text file.

• Raw Log

  Turn on/off the raw log recording of the current session. Record all input and output in the session, including control characters, in the form of a binary file.

• Hex View

  Pop up the hexadecimal view to display the HEX value of the session output data synchronously.

• Exit

  Exit QuardCRT.

Edit

• Copy

  Copy the selected content to the clipboard. Shortcut: Ctrl + Insert

• Paste

  Paste the content from the clipboard. Shortcut: Shift + Insert

• Copy and Paste

  Copy the selected content and paste it to the cursor.

• Select All

  Select all content. Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + A

• Find

  Display the search bar. Shortcut: Ctrl + F

• Print Screen

  Print the current session content.

• Screen Capture

  Capture a high-resolution screenshot of the current terminal area.

• Session Export

  Export the current session content. Support text and HTML formats.

• Clear Scrollback

  Clear the scrollback. After this operation, the content that is not displayed in the session will be cleared, leaving only the currently displayed content.

• Clear Screen

  Clear the screen. After this operation, the currently displayed content in the session will be cleared.

• Clear Screen and Scrollback

  Clear the screen and scrollback. After this operation, all content in the session will be cleared.

• Reset

  Reset the session. After this operation, all content in the session will be cleared, and the session status will be reset.

View

• Zoom In

  Zoom in the terminal content. Shortcut: Ctrl + =

• Zoom Out

  Zoom out the terminal content. Shortcut: Ctrl + -

• Reset Zoom

  Reset the terminal content zoom.

• Menu Bar

  Show/hide the menu bar. Shortcut: Alt + U

• Toolbar

  Show/hide the toolbar.

• Status Bar

  Show/hide the status bar.

• Command Window

  Show/hide the command window.

• Connect Bar

  Show/hide the connect bar in the toolbar.

• Sidebar

  Show/hide the sidebar.

• Window Opacity

  Set the window to allow transparent display. (Only valid on supported platforms)

• Vertical Scrollbar

  Show/hide the vertical scrollbar.

• Always On Top

  Set the window to always be on top.

• Full Screen

  Switch to full screen mode. Shortcut: Alt + Enter

Options

• Session Options

  Open the current session options settings window.

• Global Options

  Open the global options settings window.

• Real-time Save Options

  Real-time save the changes to the options to the configuration file. (Generally, there is no need to open this option. The program will automatically save at regular intervals, and automatically save the configuration file at the appropriate time, such as when exiting the program)

• Save Settings Now

  Manually save the changes to the options to the configuration file.

Transfer

• Send ASCII…

  Send ASCII text to the session.

• Receive ASCII…

  Receive ASCII text from the session.

• Send Binary…

  Send binary data to the session.

• Send Kermit…

  Send files using the Kermit protocol.

• Receive Kermit…

  Receive files using the Kermit protocol.

• Send Xmodem…

  Send a file using the Xmodem protocol.

• Receive Xmodem…

  Receive a file using the Xmodem protocol.

• Send Ymodem…

  Send files using the Ymodem protocol.

• Receive Ymodem…

  Receive files using the Ymodem protocol.

• Zmodem Upload List…

  Pop up the Zmodem upload list window.

• Start Zmodem Upload

  Start Zmodem upload.

• Start TFTP Server

  Pop up the TFTP server settings window and start the TFTP server.

Script

Scripting support is documented in the scripts guide. In releases that include scripting support, this menu is used to run and manage scripts. In older builds, some script-related actions may be unavailable.

Bookmark

• Add Bookmark

  Add a bookmark. Select a directory and save it as a bookmark. Click the bookmark to quickly open the local terminal in that directory.

• Remove Bookmark

  Remove the bookmark.

• Clear All Bookmarks

  Clear all bookmarks.

Tools

• Keymap Manager

  Open the keyboard mapping settings window.

• Create Public Key…

  Create a public key.

• Publickey Manager

  Open the public key manager.

Window

• Tab

  Sessions will be displayed in tab pages.

• Tile

  Sessions will be displayed in tile form.

• Cascade

  Sessions will be displayed in cascade form.

Language

• Simplified Chinese

  Instantly switch to Simplified Chinese language.

• Traditional Chinese

  Instantly switch to Traditional Chinese language.

• Russian

  Instantly switch to Russian language.

• Portuguese (Brazil)

  Instantly switch to Portuguese (Brazil) language.

• Korean

  Instantly switch to Korean language.

• Japanese

  Instantly switch to Japanese language.

• French

  Instantly switch to French language.

• Spanish

  Instantly switch to Spanish language.

• English

  Instantly switch to English language.

• German

  Instantly switch to German language.

• Czech

  Instantly switch to Czech language.

• Arabic

  Instantly switch to Arabic language.

Theme

• Light

  Switch to the light theme.

• Dark

  Switch to the dark theme.

Help

• Help

  Open the help document. That is, open this document through the browser.

• Keyboard Shortcuts Reference

  Open the keyboard shortcuts reference prompt window.

• Check for Updates

  Check if QuardCRT has a new version. (The current version does not have an automatic update function, and will open the QuardCRT official website through the browser to guide users to download the latest version)

• About

  Display the version information of QuardCRT.

• About Qt

  Display the version information of Qt.

Toolbar

The toolbar exposes a subset of frequently used menu actions as icons, which is useful when you need to reconnect, copy or paste, search, print, open settings, or trigger connection-related commands quickly.

Sidebar

The sidebar contains the session manager and plugin-provided panels. In daily use, this is the fastest place to browse saved sessions, filter by name, and reopen existing connections.

Tab Pages

Tabs are one of quardCRT’s core workflows. You can open multiple sessions at once, clone tabs, rearrange them, or move them into split and floating layouts depending on your workflow.

Status Bar

The status bar shows prompt information, connection state, and contextual session details.

Suggested next reading

• Read configuration to tune fonts, themes, scrollback, transfer paths, and advanced options.

• Read scripts if you want automation.

• Read plugins if you want to extend quardCRT with Qt plugins.