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- LeviTheSmith, on 10/14/2008, -1/+42
Mac 101: 56 Useful Mac Shortcuts
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. - seanmx, on 10/14/2008, -1/+37Shift + Option + Volume up/down = Increase/decrease volume in smaller increments.
- lewystud, on 10/14/2008, -4/+18I'm a PC and I sell fish
- juliandunbar11, on 10/15/2008, -0/+11Control + Option + Command + 8 is all I need baby.
- boneclinks, on 10/14/2008, -0/+9maybe you should read the post before letting everyone know ur an idiot
- inactive, on 10/14/2008, -1/+9never seen that one before… thanks!
- thanatosys, on 10/14/2008, -0/+8I'm a mac, I buy fish and sell headbands.
- MysticalYute, on 10/15/2008, -0/+7Looks like moves from mortal kombat
- inactive, on 10/14/2008, -2/+8⌘+⌥+^+⏏ = shutdown
⌘+^+power = kill power (may damage files)
^+⇧+⏏ = monitor off - smackydoodle, on 10/14/2008, -2/+8There's supposed to be some undiscovered shortcut keys that after a few years this person found? This is for beginners big guy.
- Harrison88, on 10/14/2008, -0/+6Ctrl + Arrow is a great way to switch Spaces. Keep your porn in one space and then quickly switch if someone comes in!
- randomstupid, on 10/15/2008, -4/+9Press the P key when in TextEdit and a letter 'p' will appear on the screen
- gsensel, on 10/14/2008, -0/+5I did not use short cuts until I got lap top. Now I use them a ton because although I like the track pad it is just easier to use the keys opposed to it.
- Raptor007, on 10/14/2008, -0/+5I miss the power button on Mac keyboards.
My older Macs let me boot up with an easy keyboard press, while all of my PC friends had to bend over to hit their power button on the tower. Now my PC's keyboard has a power button and I'm bending over to hit power on my Mac G5 tower... why, Apple, why?? - Raptor007, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4They have a USEFUL Linux box now??
- Millsee, on 10/13/2008, -4/+8Even though I'm a shortcut nerd, this came in handy, thanks!
- DarthShaun, on 10/14/2008, -1/+5⌘ + / 0 = OH SHI-
- smrekar, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4shift silences pop noise too
- sinembarg0, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4Wow, monitor off will be quite useful, thank you.
- Crumbeast, on 10/15/2008, -0/+4your sarcasm detector is broken.
- JonLatane, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4Yes, yes you should RTFA, but it's the "Option" (or Alt) key on Mac keyboards, between ⌘ and Ctrl. Intuitively, it means whatever you do with it held will be done with extra options. For example, hold Option while typing to access Unicode characters such as accents and stuff. Hold it while emptying the trash to do it with higher privileges and delete any other users' files that might have gotten in your trash. Hold it when restoring your iPhone in iTunes to pick your pwned IPSW file for a quick jailbreak :). There's lots more.
- Perfectsound, on 10/14/2008, -1/+5This is hugely useful as I'm switching to a mac next week.
- JonLatane, on 10/14/2008, -0/+3⌘+⌥+⏏ = Sleep mode (useful for notebooks)
- rcran, on 10/14/2008, -0/+3Thanks man.
- inactive, on 10/14/2008, -0/+3some of these are undocumented.
- LeviTheSmith, on 10/15/2008, -0/+3for once i actually laughed at a digg comment
- Mast3rDigg3r, on 10/15/2008, -0/+3woah
- Raptor007, on 10/15/2008, -1/+3Command+Delete puts something in the trash? Awesome! I always did like how in Windows I could just hit Del to send something away...
- smrekar, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2add ctrl to send it to the clipboard
download grabup to send it to the web for free - magus824, on 10/14/2008, -2/+4I'm a PC and I wear headbands
- HookmasterCH47, on 10/14/2008, -2/+4command + control + shift + arrows (while in Safari) = Switch between tabs
- rcran, on 10/14/2008, -1/+3I know I know. But can someone please tell me what "⌥" is physically on the keyboard? I'm a very computer literate person (developer, even), but I never could figure out that one ;-)
- lmf49, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2Clever
- mannderdame, on 10/14/2008, -0/+2It's ⌘+⇧+left or right bracket keys.
- ulmanor, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2Same here. To think that I thought I knew them all…
("Refresh widget" is great! I can finally clear the "People" widget after I've used it…) - smrekar, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2saves battery at night
- ulmanor, on 10/15/2008, -1/+3No disrespect intended, but it's pretty easy to divvy up a list for oneself. Just study it a bit at a time!
- chkdg8, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2Holy *****, I didn't know that. I guess they're 1/4 increments. Thank you!
- klowngoblin, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2can i cut and paste files infinder? i couldnt with 10.4
what about hibernate? - vagarach, on 10/15/2008, -0/+2command+shift+4 is a very useful one I didnt know! I used to use cm+shift+3 and then crop it in preview.
- burningbush, on 10/14/2008, -3/+4Shortcuts increase productivity by a huge huge huge amount. To say that short cuts are ridiculous because macs "just work" is... asinine asspants. Tell that to someone who knows photoshop short cuts inside and out, they'll laugh in your face.
- MrLebowski, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1zing
- sherakama, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1I'm on 10.5 with Safari 3.1.2 and the tab switcher is command + shift + (left or right) arrows
- jasonh1234, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1⌘ + ⇧+ 3 = Take fullscreen picture
⌘ + ⇧ + 4 = Take selected area screenshot
⌘ + ⇧ + 4 + Space = Take screenshot of window or menu
Oh I feel dumb. I've always been using Grab.app
Argh now I just realized that Quicksilver does screengrabs too! - Dermah, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1Yes, it puts the computer to sleep. I use this when leaving the computer so it can use less power but start up quickly when I need it to.
Thank you for sharing! - Dermah, on 10/15/2008, -0/+1Oh man I just made a mess all over my desk when I did that. Thank you very much!
- smrekar, on 10/15/2008, -1/+2hibernate = cmd-ctrl-powerbutton
- LeviTheSmith, on 10/14/2008, -1/+2*****
- boneclinks, on 10/14/2008, -4/+5120 diggs and its down... Le sigh...
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