How-to: macOS Keyboard Shortcuts

Screen Capture to disk:

3 Screen to jpeg file on desktop. 4 + Drag Selection to jpeg file on desktop. 4 + Spacebar Window (click camera) to jpeg file. 5 In macOS Mojave or later, take a screenshot or make a screen recording.

Screen Capture to clipboard:

3 + Ctrl Screen to clipboard. 4 + Drag + Ctrl Selection to clipboard. 4 + Spacebar + Ctrl Window (Camera effect) to clipboard.

Copy and Paste

X Cut. C Copy. V Paste. V Move: Move the files in the Clipboard from their original location to the current location. ⇧ V Paste and match style, may not work everywhere. while dragging: Copy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item. while dragging to another volume: Move the dragged item to the other volume, instead of copying it. while double-clicking: Open the item in a separate window, then close the original window. while while double-clicking: Open a folder in a separate tab or window. while dragging: Make an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.

Dock /Switch Applications

D Show/Hide Dock. Ctrl F Enter or exit Full Screen mode (or press + Green zoom button). Tab Switch applications (even while dragging a file). ` Switch between document Windows in current application. Dock Switch application, hide previous one. Dock Switch application, hide all others. Ctrl 8 Toggle Monochrome Hi Visibility (Accessibility). +drag will prevent dock icons from moving out of the way. (useful when dragging items to the trash).

Apple Finder

+ Drag Explicit COPY (will copy even if destation is on same volume). + Drag Explicit MOVE (will move even if destation is on different volume). ⌘ ⇧ A Jump to /Applications ** C Copy the selected files to the clipboard. C Copy File/Folder pathname to the clipboard. ⌘ ⇧ C Jump to /Computer (a virtual folder displaying all mounted disks) **. ⌘ ⇧ D Jump to ~/Desktop ** V Paste one or more files from the clipboard to the current folder. V MOVE files on the clipboard from their original location to the current folder. + Drag Make alias in new location. ⌘ ⇧ . Show/Hide hidden files (toggle). If you have multiple finder windows open this will take a few seconds to work. D Duplicate the selected files. D Open the desktop folder. E Eject the selected disk or volume. F Start a Spotlight search in the Finder window. F Open the Recents window, 'all my files'. ⌘ ⇧ G Go to folder - allows you to type in a path (with tab-completion) **. ⌘ ⇧ H Jump to Home Folder ~/ ** I Get Info. I Super Get Info (change whatever you click on). ⌘ K Open the Connect to Server window **. ⌘ ⇧ K Go to network **. L Make Alias. L Open the Downloads folder. N New Finder window. N Create a new folder. N Create a new Smart folder (saved search). O Open item, or open a dialog to select a file to open. O Open the Documents folder. ↓ Open item. P Print. P Show or hide the Preview pane in Finder windows. P Hide or show the path bar at the bottom of Finder windows. To copy the UNIX path use Get-Info/Inspector 'Where'. Q Quit Application. R Show original.(1) When an alias is selected the Finder: show the original file for the selected alias. (2) In some apps, such as Calendar or Safari, refresh or reload the page. (3) In Software Update preferences, check for software updates again. R Open the AirDrop window. S Save. S Save as. S Show/Hide the Finder sidebar. T Open new Tab. T Show or hide the Tab bar in Finder windows. T Show or hide the toolbar in Finder windows. Ctrl T Add selected Finder item to the Dock ⌘ ⇧ U Jump to /Applications/Utilities/ ** W Close Window. W Close all Windows. Y Toggle Slideshow mode (show selected graphic files full-screen). ⌫ Delete/Move to Trash. ⌫ Delete selected item immediately. ⌫ Empty the Trash. ⌫ Empty the Trash without confirmation dialog. ~ Cycle finder windows (including desktop). Tab Highlight next item. ⌘ + double-click folder icon, will open the folder in a new window. ⌘ ↑ Move up one directory. ⌘ [ go back. ⌘ ] go forward. ⌘ ⇧ ⌫ Empty Trash (Finder Menu ). ⌘ ⇧ ⌥ ⌫ Empty Trash without dialog. ⌘ , Open preferences for the front app. ⌘ ⇧ . Toggle hidden files (Finder and in apps that support this.) ** ← Move between Folders in Finder, in list view close folder. → Move between Folders in Finder, in list view open folder. ** =also works in Open/Save dialogues: Function Keys ⌘ Brightness Down(F1) Turn video mirroring on or off when your Mac is connected to more than one display. ⌘ Brightness Up(F2) Turn target display mode on or off. Brightness Up Open Displays preferences. This works with either Brightness key. Ctrl Brightness Up (or Down) Change the brightness of your external display, if supported by your display. ⇧ Brightness Up (or Down) Adjust the display brightness in smaller steps. ⇧ Ctrl Brightness Up (or Down) Adjust the display brightness on an external display, if supported. ⌘ Mission Control(F3) Show the desktop. ⌥ Mission Control(F3) Open Mission Control preferences. ⌥ Volume Up(F12) Open Sound preferences. Also works with Volume down(F11). ⌥ ⇧ Volume Up(F12) Adjust the sound volume in smaller steps. Also works with ⌥ ⇧ Volume Down(F11). Window management: Ctrl F Use the app in full screen, if supported by the app. H Hide the windows of the front app. H View the front app but hide all other applications. M Minimize the front window to the Dock. M Minimize all windows of the front app. Hide all other apps: + click on dock icon. + click inside app window. Hide all other apps that are in front: + click dock icon (of running app) + click inside app window.

QuickLook

Spacebar (or Y) Activate QuickLook on the selected file(s). Y Full Screen/slideshow QuickLook on the selected file(s).

Terminal

+ Click Move the insertion point (this emits arrow keys). left/right arrow Switch windows.

1 Switch to 1st terminal window. 2, 3... Switch to 2nd, 3rd window.

QuickTime Player

J Play backwards/speed. K Stop (also spacebar and . ) L Play forwards/speed. ← Move one frame forward (or 0.25 sec on audio). → Move one frame back. I Set start point (QT 7 only) O Set end point (QT 7 only)

Spotlight

Spacebar Activate/deactivate Spotlight. Spacebar Open Spotlight window. Return / Click Open the top/next item. ↓ / ↑ Move to next/previous category.

Editing Text (email, TextEdit etc)

← Move one word left. → Move one word right. Ctrl A Beginning of Sentence (Home). Ctrl E End of Sentence (End). ← Beginning of line. → End of line. Ctrl Spacebar Open Emoji character panel 😎 (Emoji, symbols and punctuation) [ “ Smart quote (open/left) [ ” Smart quote (close/right) ] ‘ Smart quote (open/left) Also Apostrophe: O‘Brien ] ’ Smart quote (close/right) Scroll one page up. (cursor retains position) Scroll one page down. (cursor retains position) Move one page up. (reposition cursor) Move one page down. ↑ or Scroll to beginning of document. ↓ or Scroll to end of document. Add shift key to the above to also select the text. ⌫ Delete previous word . Del Delete next word. Ctrl D Delete next character (Del) . Show hidden files in open and save dialogs. (Snow Leopard only) / Open Application Help (Search) Scrollbar Jump to exact scrollbar location. Scrollbar arrows Scroll page at a time (page up/down) Volume up/down Open Sound preferences. Control Eject Turn display off (brightness=0) Brightness up/down Open Display preferences.

Shutdown/Logoff:

POWER Sleep now. POWER Hold for 10 seconds (force shut down). Ctrl Eject Restart, Sleep, Shutdown dialog box. Ctrl POWER Restart, Sleep, Shutdown dialog box (n/a with Touch ID sensor). Eject Sleep the computer now POWER Sleep the computer now (n/a with Touch ID sensor). Ctrl Eject Sleep the display now. Ctrl POWER Sleep the display now (n/a with Touch ID sensor). Q Log out of your macOS user account, prompt to confirm. Q Log out immediately without confirming. Ctrl Q Immediately lock your screen. Ctrl Eject Shut down the computer now (Graceful Shutdown). Ctrl Eject Force your Mac to restart, without prompting to save. Ctrl POWER Force your Mac to restart, without prompting to save. (n/a with Touch ID sensor). Esc Force Quit menu - selectively force quit applications. Esc Hold for three seconds to Force Quit the foremost application. .(period) Stop a process. Close pop-up notification.

To boot into Safe mode:

Shut down, and wait 10 seconds before pressing the Power Button to start up. As soon as you hear the startup chime/chord, press and hold down (Shift). Once the Apple logo and progress bar appear, you can release the Shift key.

To return to normal mode, restart the Mac without holding down any keys.

To Restart a system that fails a normal shutdown, open a terminal window and type: sudo shutdown -r now

Log out:

Q Log out. (Apple Menu) Q Log out immediately. (Apple Menu)

During Startup:

Shift Safe Boot mode - Press shift asap AFTER the startup chime. V Start up in Verbose mode. S Start up in Single-User mode (command line). X Force macOS startup. C Start up from a CD (if it has a system folder). D Start Apple Diagnostics from first partition (or Apple Hardware test on Pre 2012 Macs). N Attempt to start up from a network server(NetBoot). R Force PowerBook screen reset. T Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode. Option Select a startup disk. ⌫ Bypass primary startup volume (will seek DVD or external disk) P R PRAM Reset - Hold down Cmd-Option-R with your left hand, then press POWER to start up and immediately press P with your right hand. See HT204063 At the prompt you can type: reset-nvram and/or reset-all O F Open Firmware E Eject CD (press during/after startup chime) mouse Eject CD (hold mouse button down during startup)

macOS Recovery (Restore/Repair/reinstall macOS)

At startup, press and hold one of the following key combinations:

R Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac. [recommended] R Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac. R Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

is the Command or Apple key

is the Option or Alt key

is the Shift key

⌫ is the Backspace key

System Preferences

To disable or change any keyboard shortcuts, open System Preferences | Keyboard | Shortcuts

per-application settings can be added under App Shortcuts press [+]

To reset to the default settings, open Keyboard Shortcuts and press [Restore Defaults] To enable keyboard control in dialog boxes: Keyboard | Full Keyboard Access=All Controls

Full keyboard access will allow you to use Tab,Shift-Tab,Enter, Esc and the Space bar to navigate a dialogue box. To display an on screen keyboard: System Preferences | Language & Text | Input sources | Keyboard/Character viewer

Function Keys

F3 or Ctrl + ↑ Open Mission control / Spaces.

F8 Toggle Space.

F9 Exposé - Show all open windows.

F10 Exposé - Show all open windows for an application.

F11 Hide all windows.

F12 Open/close Dashboard.

Add to the above F.Keys for a slow-motion effect

You can discover additional keyboard shortcuts by opening a menu and pressing the ⌥ (Option) and ⇧ (Shift) keys. For example, in Finder, open the File menu and press the ⌥ (Option) key.

'Command + Tab' cycles through Applications,

'Command + ~ (tilde)' cycles through an individual Applications windows"

Related macOS comands:

Bash Terminal Keyboard shortcuts

nvram - Manipulate or reset firmware variables.

macOS Key bindings - Remap the Home and End Keys.

Disable or Change “global” keyboard shortcuts on Mac (Apple).

HT201236 - Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Reference (Apple).

screencapture - Take Screenshots.

Applications:Utilities:Grab - Copy the screen to a TIFF file with (optional) 10 second delay.

DanRodney - macOS Keyboard Shortcuts.

