Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

I like to figure out the fastest way to do things. I hope the shortcuts on this page will help you become the power user that lies within. These keystrokes have been tested on Mac OS 10.5 Leopard (and many work on 10.4 Tiger and prior). I add new shortcuts as I find them, so check back!

Please note that Cmd is short for the Command key (otherwise called the Apple key).

Guide to the Mac’s Menu Symbols

Symbol	Key on Keyboard	Symbol	Key on Keyboard
	Command/Apple key (like Control on a PC)		Delete
	Option (like Alt on a PC)		Escape
	Shift		Page Up
	Control (Control-click = Right-click)		Page Down
	Tab		Home
	Return		End
	Enter (on Number Pad)		Arrow Keys

Finder Shortcuts

Action	Keystroke
Open Sidebar item in a new window	Cmd-Click it
Switch Finder views (Icon, List, Column, Cover Flow)	Cmd-1, Cmd-2, Cmd-3, Cmd-4
In List view, expand a folder	Right Arrow
In List view, collapse a folder	Left Arrow
Rename the selected file/folder	Press Return (or Enter)
Go into selected folder	Cmd-Down Arrow
Go to parent folder	Cmd-Up Arrow
Go Back	Cmd-[  (that’s left square bracket)
Go Forward	Cmd-]  (that’s right square bracket)
Select the next icon in Icon and List views	Tab (Shift-Tab reverses direction)
Alternate columns in Column View	Tab (Shift-Tab reverses direction)
Instantly show long file name (for names condensed with a “...”)	Hold Option while mousing over long filenames
Resize current column to fit the longest file name	Double-Click column resize widget
Resize all columns to fit their longest file names	Option Double-Click resize widget
Copy and Paste files	Cmd-C, then Cmd-V
Move a file instead of copying. (Copies the file to the destination and removes it from the original disk.)	Cmd-Drag file to disk
Move selected files to the Trash	Cmd-Delete
Empty the Trash (with warning)	Cmd-Shift-Delete
Empty the Trash (without warning)	Cmd-Opt-Shift-Delete
Cancel a drag-n-drop action while in the midst of dragging	Esc
Show Inspector (a single, live refreshing Info window)	Cmd-Opt-I
Undo the last action (such as rename file, copy file, etc.)	Cmd-Z
Hide/Show Sidebar (on the left)	Cmd-Opt-T
Move or Remove item in toolbar (at the top of the window). This works in most programs.	Cmd-drag
Open Quick Look (Mac OS 10.5)	With file selected, tap Spacebar (or Cmd-Y)
Zoom In/Out on a Quick Look Preview	Cmd-Plus(+) or Cmd-Minus(-)
Find by File Name (Mac OS 10.5)	Cmd-Shift-F

Application Switcher

Action	Keystroke
Quickly switch between 2 programs (ie: InDesign & Photoshop)	Press Cmd-Tab to switch to the last used program. Press Cmd-Tab again to switch back. NOTE: Press keys quickly and do NOT hold them down.
Switch between programs (but you choose which program to switch to)	Press Cmd-Tab and continue holding Cmd. While holding Cmd, to choose which program you want to switch to you can: • press Tab (several times if needed) to scroll right • press Shift-Tab or tilde(~) to scroll left • use the left/right arrow keys • aim with the mouse • use end/home keys to just to first/last item
Quit a program using the application switcher	When in the app switcher you’re already holding Cmd. Once the program is selected hit Q to quit.
Hide a program using the application switcher	When in the app switcher you’re already holding Cmd. Once the program is selected hit H to hide.
Cancel out of the application switcher once it’s open	When in the app switcher you're already holding Cmd. Hit Esc or period(.)

 

Dock Shortcuts

Action	Keystroke
Hide all other applications (except the one you're clicking on)	Command-Option click an App’s icon in Dock
Reveal a Dock item’s location in the Finder	Command Click on the icon in the Dock
Move and a Dock item to somewhere else on the hard drive	Command Drag the icon from the Dock to new destination
Force a file to open in a specific program	While dragging the file onto an app’s icon in the Dock, hold Command-Option
When in an app’s Dock menu, change the Quit to Force Quit	Hold Option while in Dock menu
Force the Dock to only resize to non-interpolated icon sizes	Hold Option while dragging Dock separator
Move Dock to left, bottom, right side of screen	Hold Shift and drag Dock divider
Temporarily turn magnification on (or off) It’s a toggle.	Hold Control-Shift (Mac OS 10.5)

Working with Windows

Action	Keystroke
Switch windows (works in most programs)	Next window: Cmd-tilde(~) Previous Window: Cmd-Shift-tilde(~)
See where the File/Folder is located (a menu will pop-up displaying the folder hierarchy). This works in “most” programs as well as the Finder.	Cmd-Click on name of the window in its titlebar
Move a window in the background without switching to it. (Example: You’re in a dialog and can’t move a window in the background, so Cmd-Drag its titlebar.)	Cmd-Drag on a window’s titlebar

Taking Screenshots

Action	Keystroke
Take picture of the entire screen	Cmd-Shift-3
Take picture of a selected area	Cmd-Shift-4 and Drag over desired area New in Mac OS 10.5: While dragging: - Hold Spacebar to move selected area. - Hold Shift to change size in one direction only (horizontal or vertical) - Hold Option for center-based resizing.
Take picture of a specific window/object	Cmd-Shift-4, then press Spacebar, then Click on the window/object
Copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of making a file	Hold Control with the above keystrokes
Screenshots are saved to the Desktop as PNG file in OS 10.4 and later (or a PDF file in OS 10.3 and prior).

Startup Commands

Action	Keystroke
Eject CD on boot	Hold Mouse button down immediately after powering on
OS X Safe boot	Hold Shift during startup
Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode	Hold T during startup
Startup from a CD	Hold C during startup
Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (CD, etc.)	Hold Cmd-Opt-Shift-Delete during startup
Choose Startup disk before booting	Hold Option during startup
Start up in Verbose mode	Hold Cmd-V during startup
Start up in Single-User mode (command line)	Hold Cmd-S during startup
Force OS X startup	Hold X during startup

Shutdown/Sleep Commands

Action	Keystroke
Shutdown immediately (no confirmation)	Cmd-Opt-Ctrl-Eject
Sleep immediately (no confirmation)	Cmd-Opt-Eject
Restart, Sleep, Shutdown dialog (like hitting the Power button on old Mac keyboards)	Ctrl-Eject
Put display to sleep	Ctrl-Shift-Eject

Dashboard

Action	Keystroke
Open/Close Widget Dock	Cmd-Plus(+)
Cycle to next/previous “page” of widgets in widget dock	Cmd-Right/Left Arrow
Close a widget without having to open the widget dock	Hold Option and hover over widget (close box will appear)
Reload/Refresh a widget	Cmd-R

 

Spaces Mac OS 10.5

Action	Keystroke
Activate Spaces (birds-eye view of all spaces)	F8
Consolidate all windows into a Single Workspace	After pressing F8, press C to consolidate (press C again to restore)
Move to a neighboring space	Ctrl-arrow key (left, right, up or down)
Move to a specific space	Ctrl-number of the space (1, 2, 3, etc.)
Move all windows of an app to another space	Cmd-Drag in Space’s birds-eye view (Control and Shift also work)

 

Spotlight

Action	Keystroke
Open Spotlight Menu	Cmd-Space
Open Spotlight Window	Cmd-Option-Space
In Spotlight menu: Launch Top Hit	Mac OS 10.5: Return Mac OS 10.4: Cmd-Return
Reveal the selected item in the Finder	In Spotlight Menu: Cmd-click item or press Cmd-Return In Spotlight Window: Press Cmd-R
Skip to first result in each category	Cmd up/down arrow
Clear Spotlight’s search field	Esc clears to do another search. Esc a second time closes the spotlight menu.

Working with Text (some only work in Cocoa apps like Safari, Mail, TextEdit, etc.)

Action	Keystroke
Go to end of line	Cmd-right arrow
Go to beginning of line	Cmd-left arrow
Go to end of all the text	Cmd-down arrow
Go to beginning of all the text	Cmd-up arrow
Go to end of current or next word	Option-right arrow
Go to beginning of current or previous word	Option-left arrow
NOTE: Add Shift to any of the above keystrokes to make a selection to that point.
On Laptops: Delete Text to the right of the cursor (like the Del key on a full keyboard)	Function(fn)-Delete
Non-touching (Discontinuous) text selections	Command-drag
Select non-linear areas	Option-drag
Delete entire word to the left	Opt-Delete
Look up word in dictionary	Position mouse over a word and hold Cmd-Ctrl-D
Auto completion word	Start typing the word. Press Esc (or F5) to open suggested word list

Emacs Key Bindings (only work in Cocoa apps like Safari, Mail, TextEdit, iChat, etc.)

Action	Keystroke	Remember As
go to start of line (puts cursor at beginning of current line)	Ctrl-A	A = Start of alphabet
go to end of line (puts cursor at end of current line)	Ctrl-E	E = End
go up one line	Ctrl-P	P = Previous
go down one line	Ctrl-N	N = Next
go back one character (moves cursor left 1 place)	Ctrl-B	B = Back
go forward one character (moves cursor right 1 place)	Ctrl-F	F = Forward
delete the character to the right of the cursor	Ctrl-D	D = Delete
delete the character to the left of the cursor	Ctrl-H
delete to end of the line (or delete the selection)	Ctrl-K	K = Kill rest of line
scroll down	Ctrl-V
center the current line in the window	Ctrl-L
insert line break after the cursor without moving the cursor	Ctrl-O
transpose letters (swaps letter on the left and right of cursor)	Ctrl-T	T = Transpose

Miscellaneous

Action	Keystroke
Force Quit (opens list so you can choose application)	Cmd-Opt-Esc
Force Quit Frontmost Application (without confirmation)	Hold Cmd-Opt-Shift-Escape for about 4 seconds
On Laptops: Scroll (like a mouse’s scroll wheel) (Works on newer laptops if enabled in System Preferences)	Slide 2 fingers on the trackpad
On Laptops: Right-click (like on a 2 button mouse) (Works on newer laptops if enabled in System Preferences)	Place 2 fingers on the trackpad and Click
Quickly find any menu item and launch it. (Mac OS 10.5)	1. Press Cmd-?  FYI: That’s Cmd-Shift-/ 2. In the Help menu Search that opens, start typing a few letters of your desired menu command. 3. Arrow key down to the item you want and press Return to choose it.
Change system volume without the confirmation beeps	Hold Shift while changing volume
Completely smooth scrolling—one pixel at a time. (Only works in Cocoa apps.)	Hold Option while dragging scrollbar
Open System Preferences: NOTE: These launch directly into a preference pane. Two examples are given.	To open “Sound” Preferences: Hold Option and press any Sound key (Mute, Volume Up or Down ) To open “Displays” Preferences: Hold Option and press any Brightness key
Open Front Row	Cmd-Esc
Quickly Exit Front Row	Press any F key, like F5. In 10.5 non F keys also work.
Customize the toolbar at the top of a window. Works for toolbars like in Safari, Apple Mail, Preview, Finder, etc. But it doesn't work in all programs, like Firefox.	- Rearrange icons:    Hold Cmd and drag the icons around. - Remove icons:    Hold Cmd and drag icon off toolbar. - View toolbar options:    Ctrl-click on the toolbar to get a menu.

Safari

Action	Keystroke
Move between found items (new in Safari 3)	Cmd-F, enter your search text and Press: Return to Move Forward Shift-Return to Move Backward
Cancel current Find	Press Escape or Cmd-Period(.)
Switch Tabs	Next Tab: Cmd-Shift-Right Arrow Previous Tab: Cmd-Shift-Left Arrow
Go to one of the first 9 bookmarks (not folders) in the Bookmarks Toolbar	Cmd-1 through Cmd-9
Scroll a webpage by a screenful	Scroll Down: Spacebar or Option-Down Arrow Scroll Up: Shift-Spacebar or Option-Up Arrow

Apple’s Mail.app

Action	Keystroke
Reply to Message	Cmd–R or Option-Double Click Message
Go to the next/previous email in a thread even if you haven’t organized by threads	Option-Up/Down Arrow
Scroll the listing of emails at the top (not the actual contents of an email)	Ctrl-Page Up/Down

Apple’s Preview.app

Action	Keystroke
Choose the Scroll tool	Cmd-1
Choose the Text tool	Cmd-2
Choose the Select tool	Cmd-3
Choose the Annotate tool	Cmd-4 (Mac OS 10.4 only. 10.5 has separate keystrokes for each Annotation tool.)
Switch to Next tool	Option-Right Arrow
Switch to Previous tool	Option-Left Arrow
Zoom in or out	Cmd-Plus(+) or Cmd-Minus(-)
Scroll Large Images	Hold Spacebar and drag on the image (like you do in Photoshop)