Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
What makes using a computer keyboard easy? The different shortcuts that helps one navigate between various commands. All you need to do is hit a few buttons on your keyboard and your work is done. Tasks such as saving files, open new folders, switch between tabs and even zoom in on a window, are made easy with a few strokes on the keyboard. Windows users tend to boast of many keyboard shortcuts that are available to them. Mac OS X users need not sulk, now. All they need to do is learn Mac keyboard shortcuts and make using of Apple computers a piece of cake.
What do Keys on Mac Keyboard Stand For
When using Mac keyboard shortcuts, you will have to use a combination of keys to carry out a specific function. In order to do so, one needs to recognize what functions do specific keys stands for. Before we have a look at the shortcuts, let's understand what do the symbols and hot keys mean.
| Symbol | Key on Mac Keyboard |
| Command | |
| Control | |
| Option key (Alt) | |
| Shift key | |
| Caps Lock | |
| fn | Function key |
Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac
There are a variety of key combinations that you can use to carry out functions in a jiffy. We shall have a look at almost all the Mac keyboard shortcuts in the following table.
| Keyboard Shortcuts at Startup | |
| Key or Keys Shortcut | Function |
| Command + A | Select all items in the front Finder window (or desktop if no window is open) |
| Command + C | Copy selected item/text to the Clipboard |
| Shift + Command + C | Open the Computer window |
| Command + D | Duplicate selected item |
| Shift + Command + D | Open desktop folder |
| Command + E | Eject |
| Option + Command + A | Deselect all items |
| Shift + Command + A | Open the Applications folder |
| Command + F | Find any matching Spotlight attribute |
| Shift + Command + F | Find Spotlight file name matches |
| Option + Command + F | Navigate to the search field in an already-open Spotlight window |
| Shift + Command + G | Go to Folder |
| Shift + Command + H | Open the Home folder of the currently logged-in user account |
| Command + I | Get Info |
| Option + Command + M | Minimize all windows |
| Command + N | New Finder window |
| Shift + Command + N | New folder |
| Option + Command + N | New Smart Folder |
| Option + Command + I | Show Inspector |
| Control + Command + I | Get Summary Info |
| Shift + Command + I | Open iDisk |
| Command + J | Show View Options |
| Command + K | Connect to Server |
| Shift + Command + K | Open Network window |
| Command + L | Make alias of the selected item |
| Command + M | Minimize window |
| Command + O | Open selected item |
| Shift + Command + Q | Log Out |
| Option + Shift + Command + Q | Log Out immediately |
| Command + R | Show original (of alias) |
| Command + T | Add to Sidebar |
| Shift + Command + T | Add to Favorites |
| Option + Command + T | Hide Toolbar / Show Toolbar in Finder windows |
| Command + X | Cut |
| Option + Command + Y | Slideshow (Mac OS X 10.5 or later) |
| Command + Z | Undo / Redo |
| Shift + Command + U | Open Utilities folder |
| Command + V | Paste |
| Command + W | Close window |
| Option + Command + W | Close all windows |
| Command + 1 | View as Icon |
| Command + 2 | View as List |
| Command + 3 | View as Columns |
| Command + 4 | View as Cover Flow (Mac OS X 10.5 or later) |
| Command + , (Command and the comma key) | Open Finder preferences |
| Command + | Cycle through open Finder windows |
| Command + Tab | Switch application-cycle forward |
| Shift + Command + Tab | Switch application-cycle backward |
| Command + Delete | Move to Trash |
| Command + Shift + ? | Open Mac Help |
| Option + Shift + Command + Esc (hold for three seconds) For Mac OS X v10.5, v10.6 or later only | Force Quit front-most application |
| Command + [ | Back |
| Command + | Forward |
| Command + Up Arrow | Open enclosed folder |
| Control + Command + Up Arrow | Open enclosed folder in a new window |
| Command + Down Arrow | Open highlighted item |
| Shift + Command + Delete | Empty Trash |
| Option + Shift + Command + Delete | Empty Trash without confirmation dialog |
| Spacebar (or Command + Y) | Quick Look (Mac OS X 10.5 or later) |
| Command key while dragging | Move dragged item to other volume/location (pointer icon changes while key is held) |
| Option key while dragging | Copy dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held) |
| Option + Command key combination while dragging | Make alias of dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held) |
| Keyboard Shortcuts for Applications and Other Commands | |
| Key or Keys Shortcut | Function |
| Control + B | Move one character backward |
| Control + D | Delete the character in front of the cursor |
| Control + E | Move to end of line/paragraph |
| Control + F | Move one character forward |
| Control + H | Delete the character behind the cursor |
| Control + O | Insert a new line after the cursor |
| Command + Space | Show or hide the Spotlight search field (if multiple languages are installed, may rotate through enabled script systems) |
| Control + A | Move to beginning of line/paragraph |
| Control + K | Delete from the character in front of the cursor to the end of the line/paragraph |
| Control + L | Center the cursor/selection in the visible area |
| Control + N | Move down one line |
| Control + P | Move up one line |
| Control + T | Transpose the character behind the cursor and the character in front of the cursor |
| Control + V | Move down one page |
| Option + Delete | Delete the word that is left of the cursor, as well as any spaces or punctuation after the word |
| Option + Command + Space | Show the Spotlight search results window (if multiple languages are installed, may rotate through keyboard layouts and input methods within a script) |
| Command + Tab | Move forward to the next most recently used application in a list of open applications |
| Shift + Command + Tab | Move backward through a list of open applications (sorted by recent use) |
| Shift + Tab | Navigate through controls in a reverse direction |
| Control + Tab | Move focus to the next grouping of controls in a dialog or the next table (when Tab moves to the next cell) |
| Shift + Control + Tab | Move focus to the previous grouping of controls |
| Command + Esc | Open Front Row (if installed) |
| Option + Eject | Eject from secondary optical media drive (if one is installed) |
| Control + Eject | Show shutdown dialog |
| Option + Command + Eject | Put the computer to sleep |
| Control + F1 | Toggle full keyboard access on or off |
| Control + F2 | Move focus to the menu bar |
| Control + Command + Eject | Quit all applications (after giving you a chance to save changes to open documents), then restart the computer |
| Control Option + Command + Eject | Quit all applications (after giving you a chance to save changes to open documents), then shut down the computer |
| fn + Delete | Forward Delete (on portable Macs' built-in keyboard) |
| Control + F3 | Move focus to the Dock |
| Control + F4 | Move focus to the active (or next) window |
| Shift + Control + F4 | Move focus to the previously active window |
| Control + F5 | Move focus to the toolbar. |
| Control + F6 | Move focus to the first (or next) panel |
| Shift + Control + F6 | Move focus to the previous panel |
| Control + F7 | Temporarily override the current keyboard access mode in windows and dialogs |
| Command + | Left-align a selection |
| Command + | Right-align a selection |
| F9 | Tile or untile all open windows |
| F10 | Tile or untile all open windows in the currently active application |
| F11 | Hide or show all open windows |
| F12 | Hide or display Dashboard |
| Command + | Activate the next open window in the frontmost application |
| Shift + Command + | Activate the previous open window in the frontmost application |
| Option + Command + | Move focus to the window drawer |
| Command + - (minus) | Decrease the size of the selected item |
| Command + | Center-align a selection |
| Command + : | Display the Spelling window |
| Command + ; | Find misspelled words in the document |
| Command + , | Open the front application's preferences window (if it supports this keyboard shortcut) |
| Option + Control + Command + , | Decrease screen contrast |
| Option + Control + Command + . | Increase screen contrast |
| Command + ? | Open the application's help in Help Viewer |
| Option + Command + / | Turn font smoothing on or off |
| Shift + Command + = | Increase the size of the selected item |
| Shift + Command + 3 | Capture the screen to a file |
| Shift + Control + Command + 3 | Capture the screen to the Clipboard |
| Shift + Command + 4 | Capture a selection to a file |
| Shift + Control + Command + 4 | Capture a selection to the Clipboard |
| Command + A | Highlight every item in a document or window, or all characters in a text field |
| Control + Command + C | Copy the formatting settings of the selected item and store on the Clipboard |
| Command + B | Boldface the selected text or toggle boldfaced text on and off |
| Command + C | Copy the selected data to the Clipboard |
| Shift + Command + C | Display the Colors window |
| Option + Command + C | Copy the style of the selected text |
| Option + Command + D | Show or hide the Dock |
| Command + Control D | Display the definition of the selected word in the Dictionary application |
| Command + E | Use the selection for find |
| Command + F | Open a Find window |
| Option + Command + F | Move to the search field control |
| Command + G | Find the next occurrence of the selection |
| Shift + Command + G | Find the previous occurrence of the selection |
| Command + H | Hide the windows of the currently running application |
| Option + Command + H | Hide the windows of all other running applications |
| Command + I | Italicize the selected text or toggle italic text on or off |
| Option + Command + I | Display an inspector window |
| Command + J | Scroll to a selection |
| Command + M | Minimize the active window to the Dock |
| Option + Command + M | Minimize all windows of the active application to the Dock |
| Command + N | Create a new document in the frontmost application |
| Command + O | Display a dialog for choosing a document to open in the frontmost application |
| Command + P | Display the Print dialog |
| Shift + Command + P | Display a dialog for specifying printing parameters (Page Setup) |
| Command + Q | Quit the frontmost application |
| Command + S | Save the active document |
| Shift + Command + S | Display the Save As dialog |
| Command + V | Paste the Clipboard contents at the insertion point |
| Option + Command + V | Apply the style of one object to the selected object (Paste Style) |
| Command + T | Display the Fonts window |
| Option + Command + T | Show or hide a toolbar |
| Command + U | Underline the selected text or turn underlining on or off |
| Option + Shift + Command + V | Apply the style of the surrounding text to the inserted object (Paste and Match Style) |
| Control + Command + V | Apply formatting settings to the selected object (Paste Ruler Command) |
| Command + W | Close the frontmost window |
| Shift + Command + W | Close a file and its associated windows |
| Option + Command + W | Close all windows in the application without quitting it |
| Command + X | Remove the selection and store in the Clipboard |
| Command + Z | Undo previous command (some applications allow for multiple Undos) |
| Control + Up Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Command + Right Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the current line |
| Shift + Command + Z | Redo previous command (some applications allow for multiple Redos) |
| Control + Right Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Control + Left Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Control + Down Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Command + Left Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the current line |
| Command + Down Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the document |
| Command + Up Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the document |
| Shift + Command + Right Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the end of the current line |
| Shift + Command + Up Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document |
| Shift + Command + Left Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line |
| Shift + Right Arrow | Extend text selection one character to the right |
| Shift + Left Arrow | Extend text selection one character to the left |
| Shift + Command + Down Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the end of the document |
| Shift + Option + Right Arrow | Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again |
| Shift + Up Arrow | Extend text selection to the line above, to the nearest character boundary at the same horizontal location |
| Shift + Down Arrow | Extend text selection to the line below, to the nearest character boundary at the same horizontal location |
| Shift + Option + Left Arrow | Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again |
| Shift + Option + Down Arrow | Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again |
| Option + Control + Space | Toggle through all enabled input sources |
| Option + Command + Esc | Force Quit |
| Shift + Option + Up Arrow | Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again |
| Control + Space | Toggle between the current and previous input sources |
| Keyboard Shortcuts for VoiceOver | |
| Key or Keys Shortcut | Function |
| Control Option + F8 or fn Control Option + F8 | Open VoiceOver Utility |
| Command + F5 or fn Command + F5 | Turn VoiceOver on or off |
| Control Option + F7 or fn Control Option + F7 | Display VoiceOver menu |
| Control Option + ; or fn Control Option + ; | Enable/disable VoiceOver Control Option-lock |
| Option + Command + (+) | Zoom In |
| Option + Command + Minus sign (-) | Zoom Out |
| Option + Command + 8 or fn Command + F11 | Turn on Zoom |
| Option + Control + Command + 8 | Invert/revert the screen colors |
| Control Option + Command + , | Reduce contrast |
| Control Option + Command + . | Increase contrast |
| Keyboard Shortcuts for Mouse Keys | |
| Key or Keys Shortcut | Function |
| 0 | Hold Mouse Button |
| 1 | Move Diagonally Bottom Left |
| 2 | Move Down |
| 3 | Move Diagonally Bottom Right |
| 4 | Move Left |
| 9 | Move Diagonally Top Right |
| . (period on number pad) | Release Hold Mouse Button |
| 5 | Press Mouse Button |
| 6 | Move Right |
| 7 | Move Diagonally Top Left |
| 8 | Move Up |
These were all the Mac keyboard shortcuts that you can use on a daily basis . These shortcuts make it simpler to access various functions, folders and carry out commands. Just make sure you remember the above keyboard lesson and have a field day typing on your computer.
