diff --git a/apps/files/src/components/FilesListTableHeader.vue b/apps/files/src/components/FilesListTableHeader.vue
index c8334abda5e85..595b5b454b163 100644
--- a/apps/files/src/components/FilesListTableHeader.vue
+++ b/apps/files/src/components/FilesListTableHeader.vue
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ import { useFilesStore } from '../store/files.ts'
 import { useSelectionStore } from '../store/selection.ts'
 import filesSortingMixin from '../mixins/filesSorting.ts'
 import logger from '../logger.ts'
+import { isDialogOpen } from '../utils/dialogUtils.ts'
 
 export default defineComponent({
 	name: 'FilesListTableHeader',
@@ -155,6 +156,14 @@ export default defineComponent({
 		},
 	},
 
+	beforeMount() {
+		document.addEventListener('keydown', this.onKeyDown)
+	},
+
+	beforeDestroy() {
+		document.removeEventListener('keydown', this.onKeyDown)
+	},
+
 	methods: {
 		ariaSortForMode(mode: string): ARIAMixin['ariaSort'] {
 			if (this.sortingMode === mode) {
@@ -172,6 +181,28 @@ export default defineComponent({
 			}
 		},
 
+		onKeyDown(event: KeyboardEvent) {
+			// Don't react to the event if a dialog is open
+			if (isDialogOpen()) {
+				return
+			}
+
+			// Escape key cancels selection
+			if (event.key === 'Escape' && (this.isSomeSelected || this.isAllSelected)) {
+				this.resetSelection()
+				event.preventDefault()
+				event.stopPropagation()
+				return
+			}
+
+			// ctrl+a selects all
+			if (event.key === 'a' && event.ctrlKey) {
+				this.onToggleAll(true)
+				event.preventDefault()
+				event.stopPropagation()
+			}
+		},
+
 		onToggleAll(selected) {
 			if (selected) {
 				const selection = this.nodes.map(node => node.source).filter(Boolean) as FileSource[]
diff --git a/apps/files/src/utils/dialogUtils.ts b/apps/files/src/utils/dialogUtils.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..2384aa476cfb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/files/src/utils/dialogUtils.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/**
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2024 Nextcloud GmbH and Nextcloud contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+ */
+export function isDialogOpen() {
+	// Select all elements with role="dialog"
+	const dialogs = document.querySelectorAll('[role="dialog"]')
+
+	// Check if any dialog is visible
+	return Array.from(dialogs).some(dialog => {
+		const style = window.getComputedStyle(dialog)
+		return style.display !== 'none' && style.visibility !== 'hidden'
+	})
+}