diff --git a/central_widget.py b/central_widget.py
index 726c6b7..873503f 100644
--- a/central_widget.py
+++ b/central_widget.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import os
 from PyQt5 import QtWidgets
 from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QFrame, QGroupBox, QLabel, QListWidget, QListWidgetItem, QSplitter, QStackedLayout, QAbstractItemView, QVBoxLayout, QWidget, QGridLayout, QSpacerItem, QSizePolicy, QTreeView, QHeaderView
 from PyQt5.QtGui import QPixmap
-from PyQt5.QtCore import QItemSelectionModel, Qt, QSettings, QSize
+from PyQt5.QtCore import QItemSelectionModel, Qt, QSettings, QSize, pyqtSignal
 
 from file_handler import FileHandler
 from plot_screen import PlotScreen
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@ class FileView(QWidget):
         pass
 
 class SplashScreen(QWidget):
-    
+    keyPressed = pyqtSignal(int)
+
     def __init__(self, parent=None) -> None:
         super().__init__(parent=parent)
         layout = QGridLayout()
@@ -148,13 +149,18 @@ class SplashScreen(QWidget):
         self._file_list = QListWidget(self)
         self._file_list.setSelectionMode(QAbstractItemView.SingleSelection)
         self._file_list.itemClicked.connect(self._on_file_clicked)
-        self._file_list.itemSelectionChanged.connect(self._on_selection_changed)
+        self.keyPressed.connect(self._on_key_pressed)
         l.addWidget(self._file_list)
         frame.setLayout(l)
         layout.addWidget(frame, 3, 1)
         self._file_map = {}
         self._read_recent_files()
-        
+    
+    def keyPressEvent(self, event):
+        super(SplashScreen, self).keyPressEvent(event)
+        if event.key() == Qt.Key_Return:
+            self.keyPressed.emit(event.key())
+    
     def _create_short_filename(self, original, index, max_len=40):
         short = original
         parts = original.split(os.sep)
@@ -187,7 +193,9 @@ class SplashScreen(QWidget):
 
     def _on_file_clicked(self, item):
         comm.communicator.open_recent.emit(self._file_map[item.text()])
-        
-    def _on_selection_changed(self):
+
+    def _on_key_pressed(self, key):
         item = self._file_list.currentItem()
-        comm.communicator.open_recent.emit(self._file_map[item.text()])
+        print(item)
+        if item is not None and  key == Qt.Key_Return:
+            comm.communicator.open_recent.emit(self._file_map[item.text()])