Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

I like to figure out the fastest way to do things. I hope these keystrokes help you to become the power user that lies within. They should work on most versions of Mac OS (10.7 Lion, 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.5 Leopard, and even 10.4 Tiger). I’ll be adding more 10.7 Lion keystrokes, so check back!

Menu Symbols

Menu Symbol	Key on Keyboard
	Command/Apple Key (like Control on a PC) Also written as Cmd
	Option (like Alt on a PC)
	Shift
	Control (Control-click = Right-click)
	Tab
	Return
	Enter (on Number Pad)
	Eject
	Escape
	Page Up
	Page Down
	Home
	End
	Arrow Keys
	Delete Left (like Backspace on a PC)
	Delete Right (also called Forward Delete)

Finder

Action	Keystroke
Open Sidebar item in a new window	Cmd-Click
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 or open the selected file	Cmd-Down Arrow
Go to parent folder	Cmd-Up Arrow
Go Back	Cmd-[  (that’s left bracket)
Go Forward	Cmd-]  (that’s right 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 filename
Resize one 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 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). 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

App Switcher

Action	Keystroke
Quickly switch between 2 apps (like InDesign & Photoshop)	Press Cmd-Tab to switch to last used app. Press Cmd-Tab again to switch back. NOTE: Press keys quickly and do NOT hold.
Switch between apps	Press Cmd-Tab & continue holding Cmd. While holding Cmd, to choose which app you want to switch to you can: press Tab (several times if needed) to scroll right press tilde(~) or Shift-Tab to scroll left use the left/right arrow keys aim with the mouse use end/home key to go to first/last app
Quit an app in the app switcher	When in the app switcher you’re already holding Cmd, so hit Q to quit selected app.
Hide an app in the app switcher	In the app switcher you’re already holding Cmd, so hit H to hide selected app.
Cancel the app switcher	In the app switcher you're already holding Cmd, so hit Esc or period(.)

Dock

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 app	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
Change the icon size of a stack	Cmd-plus(+) or Cmd-minus(–)
Temporarily turn magnification on/off	Hold Control-Shift (Mac OS 10.5+)

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
Add Shift to 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
Switch to Outline Mode in TextEdit	Press Option-Tab to convert the current line into a list item Press Return to create another list item Press Tab at the start of a blank list item to indent it, creating a sublist Press Shift-Tab to remove a level of indention Press Return twice to decrease the indent, exiting the current sublist

Screenshots
Screenshots are saved to the Desktop as PNG in OS 10.4+ (PDF in 10.3 and prior).

Action	Keystroke
Take picture of the entire screen	Cmd-Shift-3
Take picture of a selected area	Cmd-Shift-4 and Drag over an 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

Managing Windows & Dialogs

Action	Keystroke
Switch to next window	Cmd-tilde(~)
Switch to previous window	Cmd-Shift-tilde(~)
See where the File/Folder is located (a menu will pop-up displaying the folder hierarchy). Works in most programs, including the Finder.	Cmd-Click on name of the window in its titlebar
Move a window in the background without switching to it.	Cmd-Drag on the window’s titlebar
Choose “Don’t Save” in a Dialog	Cmd-D in most apps, but starting in Lion, some apps use Cmd-Delete (Cmd-D will change the location to the Desktop)

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

Spotlight

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

Spaces Mac OS 10.5 and higher

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)

Startup, Restart, Shutdown & Sleep

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, DVD	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 immediately (no confirmation)	Cmd-Opt-Ctrl-Eject
Restart immediately (no confirmation)	Cmd-Ctrl-Eject
Sleep immediately (no confirmation)	Cmd-Opt-Eject
Show Dialog with Restart, Sleep & Shutdown Options	Ctrl-Eject
Put display to sleep	Ctrl-Shift-Eject

Safari

Action	Keystroke
Switch to Next Tab	Ctrl-Tab (or Cmd-Shift-Right Arrow)
Switch to Previous Tab	Ctrl-Shift-Tab (or Cmd-Shift-Left Arrow)
Go to one of the first 9 bookmarks in the Bookmarks Bar (doesn’t work on folders)	Cmd-1 through Cmd-9
Move between found items	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(.)
Scroll by one full screen	Scroll Down: Spacebar or Option-Down Arrow Scroll Up: Shift-Spacebar or Option-Up Arrow
Add to Reading List	Shift-Click a link

Apple Mail

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

Miscellaneous

Action	Keystroke
Force Quit (displayed list of apps)	Cmd-Opt-Esc
Force Quit Frontmost App (no confirmation)	Hold Cmd-Opt-Shift-Escape for several seconds
Scroll using a Trackpad (like a mouse’s scroll wheel)	Slide 2 fingers on the trackpad (Must be enabled in System Prefs and doesn’t work on older trackpads.)
Right-click using a Trackpad (like on a 2 button mouse)	Place 2 fingers on the trackpad and Click (Must be enabled in System Prefs and doesn’t work on older trackpads.)
Quickly find any menu item and launch it. (Mac OS 10.5+)	Press Cmd-? which is Cmd-Shift-/ In the Help menu Search that opens, start typing a few letters of your desired menu command. Arrow key down to the item you want and press Return to choose it.
10.7 Lion: Quit & Discard Windows (Do not re-open windows)	Cmd-Opt-Q
10.7 Lion: Some apps re-open the windows that were open when you quit. To NOT have an app re-open the way it was...	Hold Shift while launching an app
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: These launch directly into a preference pane. Here are 2 examples.	To open “Sound” Preferences: Hold Option & hit a Sound key (Mute, Volume Up or Down ) To open “Displays” Preferences: Hold Option & hit a Brightness key
Open Front Row	Cmd-Esc
Quickly Exit Front Row	Press any F key, like F5. In OS 10.5+ other keys also work.
Customize the toolbar at the top of a window. Works in the Finder, Apple Mail, Preview, etc. but not some apps, like Firefox.	Cmd drag icons to rearrange. Cmd drag icon off toolbar to remove. Ctrl-click toolbar and choose Customize for more options.

Preview

Action	Keystroke
Choose the Scroll/Move tool	Cmd-1
Choose the Text tool	Cmd-2
Choose the Select tool	Cmd-3
Zoom In or Out	Cmd-Plus(+) or Cmd-Minus(-)
Zoom to Actual Size	Cmd-0
Scroll Large Images	Hold Spacebar & drag on the image

Emacs Key Bindings
Only work in Cocoa apps like Safari, Mail, TextEdit, iChat, etc.

Action	Keystroke	Remember As
go to start of line (move cursor to start of line)	Ctrl-A	A = Start of alphabet
go to end of line (move cursor to end of line)	Ctrl-E	E = End
go up one line	Ctrl-P	P = Previous
go down one line	Ctrl-N	N = Next
go back a character (move cursor left)	Ctrl-B	B = Back
go forward a character (move cursor right)	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 the selection or to the end of the line (acts like cutting the text)	Ctrl-K	K = Kill
yank back the killed text (acts like pasting)	Ctrl-Y	Y = Yank
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 letters on left and right of cursor)	Ctrl-T	T = Transpose