Mac 101: 56 Useful Mac Shortcuts

Mac 101

Hey

As part of a new series that will be making an appearance over the next couple of months is Mac 101. This series will focus on basic tips and tricks for the new user to the Mac system. Since Macs are growing in popularity I thought it was a good idea to do some sort of series to anyone in this category.

This first post will be a big list of useful shortcuts for the Mac. This list was actually recommended by a reader from the contact form. The email was sent in about month ago so I haven’t been to long in replying. Anyway this list will be split up into two sections basic key commands and the rest of them. This list will not include any F1-12 shortcuts as these vary widely depending on the keyboard and age of computer. Of course, if you have anymore that are not features on the list please leave a comment below.

Overview

A quick over view of the shortcut symbols used on this page. They should display correctly as they are unicode as part of the font. This works on Firefox and Safari so you should be ok. The list below is for anyone who isn’t quite sure.

⌘ = Command, the most common modifier.

⌥ = Option or Alt.

⇧ = Shift

^ = Control. Not used as frequently but is still there.

Basic Shortcuts

This is a list of shortcuts that should be hardwired into your brain. These are usually the most commonly used. Most of the shortcuts on the list are for Finder, although a lot will work in other applications. If I wrote a list for every single application out there I would be here for ever.

⌘ + Q = Quit
⌘ + W = Close window
⌘ + O = Open a file in your application
⌘ + P = Print
⌘ + C = Copy
⌘ + V = Paste
⌘ + X = Cut
⌘ + S = Save
⌘ + Z = Undo
⌘ + A = Select All
⌘ + Y or Space = Quicklook
⌘ + Tab = Cycle through windows

Personally I use all of those shortcuts all of the time. It helps to remember them and use them. Most will come naturally over time.

Other Shortcuts

This is the list where every other shortcut resides. Have a look through and see if there is anything which is of interest to you.

⌘ + ⇧+ 3 = Take fullscreen picture
⌘ + ⇧ + 4 = Take selected area screenshot
⌘ + ⇧ + 4 + Space = Take screenshot of window or menu
⌥ + ⌘ + Escape = Bring up Force Quit window
⌘ + Space = Spotlight search
⌘ + ` (back tick) = Cycle through applications windows
⌘ + . = Cancel operation
⌘ + ⇧ + ? = Open help
⌘ + I = Get Info
⌘ + [ = Go backwards in history in Finder
⌘ + ] = Go forwards in history in Finder
⌘ + Up Arrow = Go to previous folder in hierarchy
⌘ + Down Arrow = Open folder of file in Finder
⌘ + ⌥ + T = Show hide Finder’s toolbar
⌘ + Delete = Move item to Trash
⌘ + ⇧ + Delete = Empty Trash
⌘ + E = Eject disk
⌘ + F = Find
⌘ + G = Next result in Find option
⌘ + H = Hide application
⌘ + M = Minimize
⌘ + N = New window
⌘ + ⌥ + W = Close all windows
⌘ + ⇧ + Z = Redo
⌘ + ⇧ + H = Go to Home folder
⌘ + ⇧ + D = Go to Desktop
⌘ + ⇧ + C = Go to Computer
⌘ + ⇧ + K = Go to Network
⌘ + ⇧ + I = Go to iDisk
⌘ + ⇧ + A = Go to Application
⌘ + ⇧ + U = Go to Utilities
⌘ + ⇧ + G = Go to folder
⇧ + ⌘ + Q = Log out
⇧ + ⌘ + ⌥ + Q = Log out immediately.
⌘ + D = Duplicate in Finder
⌘ + ⌥ + 8 = Turn on Voice Over
⌘ + ⌥ + + = Zoom in (if turned on)
⌘ + ⌥ + – =Zoom Out
⌘ + ⌥ + D = Show/Hide Dock
^ + Eject = Show shutdown dialog
^ + ⌘ + Eject = Close all and restart
⌥ + ⌘ + Eject = Sleep
⌘ + Shift + F = Find file by name
⌘ + R = Refresh widget

Conclusion

Although a lot of these are for Finder they are very useful to learn especially if you use a function quite frequently. If you have any more general shortcuts please add them in the comments. If you want a cool little application to check which shortcuts are availble to you I recommend KeyCue, I have previously written about it here. It is a good little application for finding new shortcuts on your system.

Posted in: Mac OS