The most underused feature on every SAP screen

That small white box in the top-left corner of every SAP GUI screen is called the command field, and it is where experienced consultants move at a speed that looks like magic to newcomers. Once you internalise these shortcuts you will never use the SAP menu tree again.

/n and /o — navigate and split

Typing a transaction code and pressing Enter opens that transaction — but only if you are already on an initial screen or a neutral one. If you are in the middle of a posting, SAP might warn you or refuse. The slash prefixes solve this:

• /n followed by a T-code closes your current transaction cleanly and opens the new one. Example: /nME23N from inside a posting screen. Think of /n as "new transaction, close this one first."
• /o followed by a T-code opens the T-code in a new SAP session — a completely separate window running in parallel. Example: /oSE16N to peek at a table while keeping your current work open. SAP allows up to six parallel sessions per user; opening a seventh gives you a polite refusal.

/nEND, /nEX, /i — exiting cleanly

• /nEND — log off SAP entirely, with a confirmation prompt.
• /nEX — exit SAP immediately without saving anything, no prompt. Use with care.
• /i — delete (close) the current session only without logging off. Useful when you have opened too many sessions and want to tidy up.

Transaction history — the up arrow

Click in the command field and press the up arrow key. SAP cycles through every transaction you have run in this session, most recent first. Press up a few times to get back to a transaction you used ten minutes ago. This is faster than remembering the T-code again, especially for less-common ones.

The * prefix — open in display mode

Prefix a T-code with * to attempt to open it in display (read-only) mode automatically. For example, *FB03 opens the document display transaction directly. Not every T-code supports this, but the core FI/MM/SD posting transactions generally do. It is a way to protect yourself from accidentally changing something when you just need to look.

The /n difference — why it matters

Typing a new T-code directly into the command field without a prefix is equivalent to using /n in most cases — but only from a main or neutral screen. From inside a subscreen or a popup, SAP may route you differently. Using /n explicitly is always unambiguous. Senior consultants type /n out of habit; it means you never get a "Transaction X cannot be started here" surprise.

%PC — download shortcut in list output

In some older list-based (non-ALV) reports, you can type %PC in the command field while the output is displayed to trigger a local file download dialog. This predates the Excel export buttons you see on modern ALV reports. If you are stuck in a legacy transaction with no export button, try %PC — it often still works.