if one types in 1,2,3,4 is there is a way to select these and have {} automatically put around them to make a list {1,2,3,4} using escape key shortcut?
Answer by Chris Degnen who wrote this
FrontEndExecute[FrontEnd`AddMenuCommands["DuplicatePreviousOutput", {Delimiter, MenuItem["Make List", FrontEnd`KernelExecute[nb = SelectedNotebook[]; sel = NotebookRead[nb]; NotebookWrite[nb, Cell[BoxData[RowBox[{"{", sel, "}"}]]]]], MenuKey["u", Modifiers -> {"Control"}], MenuEvaluator -> Automatic]}]]
put it in the init file to load at start-up. See wrap-text-selection-in-brackets-in-mathematica