Mac OS X Shortcuts

Many of these shortcuts can be customized (eg the Exposé shortcuts), as explained in Customizing shortcuts below.

/Image:224px-Mac_keyboard_symbols.jpg/Image:224px-Mac_keyboard_symbols.jpgSymbols seen on Mac menus and non-US Apple keyboards, with their common names

[edit]

Shortcuts With Global Scope

command-option-esc	force quit
command-option-eject	sleep now
command-shift-Q	log out
command-shift-option-Q	log out without confirmation
command-control-eject	restart
control-shift-eject	sleep displays
command-option-control-eject	shut down
command-tab	cycle between open applications
command-`	*after* having pressed command-tab, it will cycle between open applications in reverse
command-shift-tab	cycle between open applications in reverse direction
command-`	cycle between open windows in the selected application
command-shift-`	cycle between open windows in the selected application in reverse direction
control-F4	cycle between open windows in all applications
control-shift-F4	cycle between open windows in all applications in reverse direction
F8	Spaces (Leopard only)
F9	Exposé for all windows (Panther and newer)
F10	Exposé for all windows in selected application
F11	Exposé to reveal desktop
F12	Dashboard (Tiger and newer)
control-#	Jump to a space (10.5+)
control-arrow	Cycle through spaces (10.5+)
control-F2	activate keyboard control of the menu bar
control-F3	activate keyboard control of the Dock
control-F8	activate keyboard control of the Menu Extras (right side of menu bar)
command-space	activate Spotlight (Tiger) or switch between keyboard layouts (pre-Tiger systems)
command-option-control-,	decrease the screen contrast
command-option-control-.	increase the screen contrast
command-option-8	turn screen zooming on or off
command-option-=	zoom in (if screen zooming is on)
command-option--	zoom out
command-option-control-8	invert the screen colors
command-delete	send file to trash
command-space	open a Spotlight search
command-option-space	open a Spotlight search in a finder "Find" window
spacebar	when dragging file onto folder it will spring open without the usual delay
shift-volume	Change volume without sound effect
option-shift-volume	Fine-grained volume control (10.5+ ?)
option-volume	Sound Preference Pane
option-brightness	Display Preference Pane
command-decrease-brightness	Change display mode (only on revised fn keyboard layout on Alu. keyboards, newer MBP/MBs?)

[edit]

Keyboard Navigation in Mac OS X Core Apps

Expose, Spotlight, Spaces
tab (Expose)	cycle through Expose'd windows
tab (Spaces)	cycle through Spaces
number (Spaces)	focus specific space
c (Spaces)	collect all windows in space 1
tab (Spotlight)	select current search term (equivalent to cmd-a)
command-enter (Spotlight)	show selected file in Finder
Finder
spacebar	quicklook selected item
command-option-i	multi-item Inspector for all selected files
command-delete	send to trash
command-shift-delete	empty trash
enter	edit filename, escape cancels, enter accepts the changes
Finder - Column View
command-3	Switch to Column View
type anything	Find As You Type within the focused pane (FAYT)
tab	Focus contents of selected directory in a new pane
right
left	go one pane back
Finder - List View
command 2	switch to list view
type anything	Find As You Type (FAYT)
tab	cycle through contents of folder, wrapping around
shift tab
command-up	change working directory to parent
right	open selected folder
left (on a file)	jump to parent folder, if that folder is visible
left (on folder)	close that folder, if open
option-right	open all children of all selected folders
option-left	close all selected folders and children
open..., save..., browse...
/	go to... dialogue, allowing one to specify full pathnames from root file. w/ Tab Autocomplete
command-shift-g	Go to folder... dialogs. w/ Tab Autocomplete
tab space	activate disclosure triangle

Column View Note:

• A hollow arrow indicates that the pane with the selected folder is active.


• A solid white arrow indicates that contents of the selected folder are active in the pane to the right .


• The behavior of FAYT/Tab in Column View is functionally equivalent to tab-autocomplete on a standard *nix shell.

[edit]

Taking Screenshots

The Taking Screenshots in Mac OS X article includes keyboard shortcuts related to taking screenshots.

[edit]

Shortcuts Common to Most Applications

enter	choose blue button in dialogue box (usually "enter" or "accept")
spacebar	simulate a mouse click on focused object (i.e., the button or control that has a blue halo around it)
command-shift-?	Search application help. As of 10.5, this also FAYT searches available menu items. It also activates the menu bar as keyboard navigable if the search string is empty.
command-d	don't save
command-,	preferences
command-?	help
command-:	spelling
command-;	check spelling
command-A	select all
command-C	copy
command-shift-C	show colors
command-F	find
command-G	find next
command-H	hide
command-option-H	hide others
command-M	minimize
command-N	new
command-O	open
command-P	print
command-Q	quit
command-S	save
command-T	show fonts
command-V	paste
command-W	close
command-X	cut
command-Z	undo

[edit]

Text Shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used within all text areas in Cocoa applications.

option-left arrow	move left one word
option-right arrow	move right one word
option-delete	back delete one word
shift-option-delete	foward delete one word
option-up arrow	move up one paragraph
option-down arrow	move down one paragraph
control-left arrow	move to start of current line
command-left arrow
control-right arrow	move to end of current line
command-right arrow
shift + any of the above	extend selection by appropriate amount
click then drag	select text
double-click then drag	select text, wrapping to word ends
triple-click then drag	select text, wrapping to paragraph ends
shift-select text with mouse	add to selection (contiguous)
command-select text with mouse	add to selection (non-contiguous)
option-drag	select rectangular area (non-contiguous)
command-option-drag	add rectangular area to selection
drag selection	move text
option-drag selection	copy text
control-A	move to start of current paragraph
control-B	move left one character
control-D	forwards delete
control-E	move to end of current paragraph
control-F	move right one character
control-H	delete
control-K	delete remainder of current paragraph
control-N	move down one line
control-O	insert new line after cursor
control-P	move up one line
control-T	transpose (swap) two surrounding character
control-V	move to end, then left one character
control-Y	paste text previously deleted with control-K

[edit]

System startup

Hold down these keys to cause a Mac to perform special actions at startup time.

C	boot from CD or DVD
T	start up in FireWire target mode (the Mac temporarily becomes a very expensive external FireWire drive)
X	force boot into Mac OS X (older Macs that dual-boot into OS 9 and X)
N	start from Network drive
shift	boot into safe mode
mouse button	eject CD before booting normally
command-S	boot into single user mode; type exit when done
command-option-O-F	boot into the Open Firmware prompt
command-option-P-R	reset PRAM
command-option-V	verbose boot; show the Unixy text goodness at boot time
command-option-shift-delete	bypass internal harddrive on boot
option	choose startup disk at boot time

[edit]

Customizing shortcuts

Many system-wide shortcuts can be customized. This is described in detail in the Changing Keyboard Shortcuts article.

[edit]

Shortcuts on laptops

On most Mac laptops, some of the function keys (F1 - F12) are used to control hardware features:

F1	decrease brightness
F2	increase brightness
F3	mute on G4s, decrease volume on G3s
F4	decrease volume on G4s, increase volume on G3s
F5	increase volume on G4s, numlock on G3s
F6	Num lock on G4s, mute on G3s
F7	Display mode (mirror or extend external display)
F8	disable backlit keyboards (Aluminum PowerBooks)
F9	decrease keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards
F10	increase keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards
F12	eject (some Macs, namely all MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and newer PowerBooks, place a dedicated eject key next to the F12 key)

Newer Mac laptops (MacBook Pros made after February 2008, MacBooks after November(?) 2007, MacBook Airs), and the Aluminum keyboard, have a different layout for fn keys. Some keys have been added, while the numlock key has been removed and the display mode key has been integrated into the brightness key (see combinations in parenthesis)

F1	decrease brightness (command+F1 changes display mode, option+F1 brings up display prefs)
F2	increase brightness (option+F2 brings up display prefs)
F3	exposé (F3 shows all windows, control+F3 shows app windows, option+F3 brings up exposé prefs, command+F3 shows desktop)
F4	dashboard (option+F4 brings up exposé prefs)
F5	decrease keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards (option+F5 brings up keyboard prefs)
F6	increase keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards (option+F6 brings up keyboard prefs)
F7	media navigation backwards (like hitting back on Apple Remote)
F8	media play/pause (like hitting play/pause on Apple Remote)
F9	media navigation forwards (like hitting next on Apple Remote)
F10	mute volume (option+F10 brings up sound prefs)
F11	decrease volume (option+shift+F11 for incremental decrease, option+F11 brings up sound prefs)
F12	increase volume (option+shift+F12 for incremental increase, option+F12 brings up sound prefs)

If you want to use these function keys for standard keyboard shortcuts, you must use the fn key, located in the lower-left corner of the keyboard. For example, to use Spaces on these keyboards, you must press fn-F8; to shift between all open windows in all applications, you must press ctrl-fn-F4; etc.

This behaviour can be altered in the Keyboard tab of the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, so that hardware functions (like screen brightness) require pressing fn, and standard keyboard shortcuts (like Spaces) work without the fn key.