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Complete Guide To OSX Keyboard Shortcuts

creativebits.org — Complete Guide To OSX Keyboard Shortcuts, this guide has every possible keyboard shortcut that one could need for OSX.

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  • supermanred, on 10/12/2007, -13/+32Thanks! This will come in handy for my new macbook!

    Is there a keyboard shortcut for "remove Vista partition, resize osx partition to take over complete drive and return vista for refund?

    Now that one would come in handy for me!

    Anyone want to buy a used copy of Vista Home Premium? Installed only twice on a macbook.
    • dgblackout, on 10/12/2007, -20/+43no thanks, i like secure operating systems.
    • Asin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Sorry for the comment abuse. Google Cache:

      http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:NkNg666NLsUJ:creativebits.org/keyboard_shortcuts_in_os_x&strip=1
    • EBFoxbat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Fn + delete ....oh thank god. I'm embarrassed to say how long I looked for that.
    • boogie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How do you select a different startup-disk (Opt-Cmd-Shift-Delete = Seeks a different startup volume) on a laptop like the Macbook (pro) which hasn't got the Delete-key? Backspace?
    • PDubNYC, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0don't know about you boogie, but my MacBook Pro has got a delete key, clear as day. And yes, if you want to force it to start off an external disk cmd+opt+shift+delete. Or just hold down option at book and choose your disk
    • atlex2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3 screen-reversal-goth mode!!!
      ctrl-option-(apple)-8
      4 sure works on macbook
      crazy *****!!!
    • thespacepope, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@boogie:

      macs don't have backspace keys :-)
      The key you're thinking of is labeled "delete" on Apple keyboards.
  • Stelex, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7A few more here http://www.silvermac.com/mac-os-x-keyboard-shortcuts/
  • Ulvund, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Horrible response time now.

    His guide to surviving_the_digg_effect is now obsolete.
    • adsoftheworld, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I think some people took it as a challenge and DOS-ed the server. :)
  • mikev, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11IMO one of the best things about OS X is you can navigate completely and comfortably with the keyboard. On Windows it feels awkward to hold control/alt w/f4. :|
    • Murdats, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I use windows almsot primarily with the keyboard (except for browsing and games) and I have no problems at all. the only OS ive found more keyboard friendly is a highly customised setup of linux configured to operate purely with hotkeys.
    • directedition, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Only problem for me is when using Blender which is hot-key heavy and sometimes conflicts with OSX.
    • ActionableMango, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Every now and then there is a dialog box in OS X that doesn't allow keyboard use. For example, deleting a podcast in iTunes. It throws me off every time.
    • tgoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0How, then, to switch between windows on Preview? As in ctrl-tab in pretty much any application on Linux or Windows. It's possible in Safari and Pro Tools under OS X but I've not found any standardised way of doing it. I'm not saying there isn't one, but it's pretty damn hard to find if there is.
  • zakharm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4i use the xCuts dashboard widget for reference:
    http://www.musingsfrommars.org/downloads/widgets/
    • fuckdiggmods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6For on the fly keyboard shortcuts, KeyQue is the way to go.
    • NewChar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14"For quality carpets, visit Kaplan's carpet warehouse!"
  • LeonardNimrod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15Go right to the source:

    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459
    • 21chrisp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This blog that was dugg is an EXACT replica of what's on Apple's site, which is the first hit to show up on google. How's that news? If you don't know how to use Google, you probably don't use shortcuts...
  • tastyterrorist, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Startup

    * "Press X during startup" = Force Mac OS X startup
    * "Press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup" = Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)
    * "Press C during startup" = Start up from a CD that has a system folder
    * "Press N during startup" = Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot)
    * "Press T during startup" = Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode
    * "Press Shift during startup" = start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items and non-essential kernel extension files (Mac OS X 10.2 and later)
    * "Press Command-V during startup" = Start up in Verbose mode
    * "Press Command-S during startup" = Start up in Single-User mode

    Finder window

    * "Command-W" = Close Window
    * "Option-Command-W" = Close all Windows
    * "Command-Right Arrow" = Expand folder (list view)
    * "Option-Command-Right Arrow" = Expand folder and nested subfolders (list view)
    * "Command-Left Arrow" = Collapse Folder (list view)
    * "Option-Command-Up Arrow" = Open parent folder and close current window

    Menu Commands

    * "Shift-Command-Q" = Apple Menu Log out
    * "Shift-Option-Command-Q" = Apple Menu Log out immediately
    * "Shift-Command-Delete" = Finder Menu Empty Trash
    * "Option-Shift-Command-Delete" = Finder Menu Empty Trash without dialog
    * "Command-H" = Finder Menu Hide Finder
    * "Option-Command-H" = Finder Menu Hide Others
    * "Command-N" = File Menu New Finder window
    * "Shift-Command-N" = File Menu New Folder
    * "Command-O" = File Menu Open
    * "Command-S" = File Menu Save
    * "Shift-Command-S" = File Menu Save as
    * "Command-P" = File Menu Print
    * "Command-W" = File Menu Close Window
    * "Option-Command-W" = File Menu Close all Windows
    * "Command-I" = File Menu Get Info
    * "Option-Command-I" = File Menu Show Attributes Inspector
    * "Command-D" = File Menu Duplicate
    * "Command-L" = File Menu Make Alias
    * "Command-R" = File Menu Show original
    * "Command-T" = File Menu Add to Favorites
    * "Command-Delete" = File Menu Move to Trash
    * "Command-E" = File Menu Eject
    * "Command-F" = File Menu Find
    * "Command-Z" = Edit Menu Undo
    * "Command-X" = Edit Menu Cut
    * "Command-C" = Edit Menu Copy
    * "Command-V" = Edit Menu Paste
    * "Command-A" = Edit Menu Select All
    * "Command-1" = View Menu View as Icons
    * "Command-2" = View Menu View as List
    * "Command-3" = View Menu View as Columns
    * "Command-B" = View Menu Hide Toolbar
    * "Command-J" = View Menu Show View Options
    * "Command - [" = Go Menu Back
    * "Command - ]" = Go Menu Forward
    * "Shift-Command-C" = Go Menu Computer
    * "Shift-Command-H" = Go Menu Home
    * "Shift-Command-I" = Go Menu iDisk
    * "Shift-Command-A" = Go Menu Applications
    * "Shift-Command-F" = Go Menu Favorites
    * "Shift-Command-G" = Go Menu Goto Folder
    * "Command-K" = Go Menu Connect to Server
    * "Command-M" = Window Menu Minimize Window
    * "Command-?" = Help Menu Open Mac Help
    * "Command-Space" = Open Spotlight (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
    * "Command-Alt-Space" = Open Spotlight Guide (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
    * "F12" = Opens Dashboard (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)

    Universal Access and VoiceOver

    * "Option-Command-* (asterisk)" = Turn on Zoom
    * "Option-Command-+ (plus)" = Zoom in
    * "Option-Command-- (minus)" = Zoom out
    * "Control-Option-Command-* (asterisk)" = Switch to White on Black
    * "Control-F1" = Turn on Full Keyboard Access
    When Full Keyboard Access is turned on, you can use the key combinations listed in the table below from the Finder.
    * "Control-F2" = Full Keyboard Access Highlight Menu
    * "Control-F3" = Full Keyboard Access Highlight Dock
    * "Control-F4" = Full Keyboard Access Highlight Window (active) or next window behind it
    * "Control-F5" = Full Keyboard Access Highlight Toolbar
    * "Control-F6" = Full Keyboard Access Highlight Utility window (palette)
    * "Command-F5 or fn-Command-F5" = Turn VoiceOver on or off (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
    * "Control-Option-F8 or fn-Control-Option-F8" = Open VoiceOver Utility (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
    * "Control-Option-F7 or fn-Control-option-F7" = Display VoiceOver menu (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
    * "Control-Option-; or fn-Control-option-" = Enable/disable VoiceOver Control-Option lock (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)

    Mouse Keys

    * "8" = Move Up
    * "2" = Move Down
    * "4" = Move Left
    * "6" = Move Right
    * "1, 3, 7, 9" = Move Diagonally
    * "5" = Press Mouse Button
    * "0" = Hold Mouse Button
    * ". (period on keypad)" = Release Mouse Button (use after pressing 0)

    Other Commands

    * "Option-Command-D" = Show/Hide Dock
    * "Command-Tab" = Switch application
    * "Command-Up Arrow" = Move up one directory
    * "Command-Down Arrow" = Move down one directory
    * "Page Up or Control-Up Arrow" = Move up one page
    * "Page Down or Control-Down Arrow" = Move down one page
    * "Option-Drag" = Copy to new location
    * "Option-Command-Drag" = Make alias in new location
    * "Command-Drag" = Move to new location without copying
    * "Command-C" = Show Colors palette in application
    * "Command-T" = Show Font palette in application
    * "Command-Shift-3" = Take a picture of the screen
    * "Command-Shift-4" = Take a picture of the selection
    * "Command-Shift-4, then press Control while selecting" = Take a picture of the screen, place in Clipboard
    * "Command-Shift-4, then Spacebar" = Take a picture of the selected window
    * "Option-Command-esc" = Force Quit
    * "Control-Eject" = Restart, Sleep, Shutdown dialog box
    * "Control-Command-Eject" = Quit all applications and restart
    * "Option-Command-Eject or Option-Command-Power" = Sleep
    * "Command-click window toolbar button (upper right corner)" = Cycle through available views for the window's toolbar (dependant on the nature of the Finder or application window)
    * "Command-`" = Cycle through windows in application or Finder (if more than one window is open)
    * "Function-Delete (PowerBook, iBook only)" = Forward Delete (delete the character to the right of your cursor)
  • CoheedRock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2In all seriousness, I always needed to know this. I use shortcuts about 30% of the time, but this will make me use them a lot more. This is great!
  • OutlawSamurai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Complete guide? Hardly. Basic start? Yes.
  • pscytzo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3There's a correction to be made.......

    * "Press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup" = Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)

    OR

    Press Option

    It will get you the same exact result and you won't have to be a contortionist in order to hit the keystrokes, just FYI......
  • RaffyG2000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13a cool one for macbooks (not listed here i think):

    ctrl + two-finger scroll with the trackpad = zoom in and out
    • edwardg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you press ctrl and use the scroll wheel on any other mac it works too.
  • surfing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just got a Mac Mini at home, so this would probably be useful for me if the page was up.

    How do select a block of text, like in the address bar of a browser? In Windows, if I want to delete everything to the right of .com I just hold down the [Shift] key and press the [End] key. How could I accomplish this with the keyboard?
    • pscytzo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Press Command + Right arrow + Shift

      I'm originally a PC boy, and yes, that annoys me that home and End don't work the same in browsers.
    • blizzaga, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You can also use Ctrl+A instead of the Home key and Ctrl+E instead of the End key (in most OSX applications). Not really intuitive, but at least it follows a "standard" that also exists in several Unix applications.
    • surfing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thanks
  • blizzaga, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1In Windows, these long lists are not required, as all shortcuts can be easily discovered directly in the GUI. When holding the Alt Key, any keyboard shortcut in the menus/buttons is underlined and can be used. For example, Alt + F + S can be used for the "Save" option under the "File" menu. If I don't remember that S is for Save, or if I am in an application where the shortcut is different, that's not a problem. I can still do Alt+F to see the file menu, then see that the shortcut for Save in that application is V, and therefore press V to save the document.

    Under OSX, to find the shortcut for save (if it is not the "semi-standard" Ctrl+S), I would have to first CLICK the file menu to see it. Once I've had to use the mouse, I don't really gain much time by using the keyboard shortcut anymore (unless I need it to perform a repetitive task).

    With shortcuts that have to be memorized, there is also a limited number of shortcuts you can remember, and a limited number of shortcuts that an application can support.

    The lack of this feature in OSX is one of the most crippling aspects of that OS. In Windows, everything is available through a sequence of keyboard shortcuts that can be easily found, without googling for it or keeping a long printed list of shortcuts next to the computer (there may be a few applications on Windows that don't implement this properly, but they are a minority).

    Having these shortcuts is especially useful when performing a repetitive task that's not done often (and therefore hasn't a well documented shortcut).

    For example, in OpenOffice, I had a series of equations written in plain text, which I wanted to convert to embedded OpenOffice Math equations. Under OSX, I would have had to repeatedly select each equation, then click on Insert, then click on Object, then click on Formula. Under Windows, I can do that much quickly by doing Alt+I+O+F repeatedly, a shortcut which I found in the GUI and which I don't need to memorize. There may be an equivalent shortcut in OSX, but I doubt it as it's not something that's used often enough for that, and even if there was one, I would have wasted more time googling for it than the time it would have taken to do it with the mouse.

    I know there is a "Full Keyboard Access" option under OSX, but it would have been even less efficient than using the mouse:
    * I would have to first press Ctrl+F2 to enable the menu bar
    * Then press the right arrow key 3 times to go to the Insert menu
    * Then press the down arrow key 22 times to go to the Object menu
    * Then press the right arrow key 5 times to go to the Formula option

    This Full Keyboard Access option is fine as a workaround if the mouse is not working for some reason, but it really is not a working substitute for the ease of keyboard navigation available in Windows. I hope a better solution is implemented in future releases of Mac OS.
    • nandabanaotakun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Or you could just set up a Quicksilver shortcut for current application menu items...
    • kolywater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2actually, if you press ctrl-f2 to focus the menu bar, you can navigate using letters instead of arrows. for example, to get to the "history" menu, just start typing "hi," then hit enter, then start typing the name of the command, hit enter. you don't have to use the arrow keys.

      so, for your example of trying to get to formulas the command sequence is:
      ctrl-f2
      i
      o
      f

      now you're in the forumla menu under objects under insert. also, you can change the hotkey in the keyboard prefs. i've set option-M to be my menu bar focus since i use it all the time.
  • fani, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1They're missing an extremely useful one -

    Control-Option-Command-Eject = Immediately shutdown the Mac.

    I use this all the time. On MacPro Laptops you have to hold them down for about 1 sec for it to kick in.
  • captaincoconut, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Thats incredibly lame. Who uses a keyboard these days when now you can use a mouse to perform various operations. I prefer to point and click because it is so easy.
    • fani, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2by the time you get to your mouse off the keyboard ( after typing an email or url say ) and get to the next action, with shortcuts, you'd be long done with your actions.
      When you get good at keyboard shortcuts, you find that you're more productive and certain actions you can do extremely quickly without even glancing at the keyboard. This saves time and time is money and precious..
      but each to their own...
    • cctoronto05, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1uh, I think coconut was being dry (as in sarcastic)...
  • Goldspink, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I really wish there was a keyboard shortcut for Login Window, i.e. a lock computer shortcut like Windows+L in XP. So much easier when you have to escape from your desk and you are already on your feet.
  • kolywater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5how about Command-L while in a browser focuses the URL field?

    no one ever includes that one but without it i'd probably shoot myself. works in safari, firefox, omniweb, and camino (maybe others - i haven't used others).
  • ikeenen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Boooo!
  • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1CTRL + Scroll Zoom has gotta be the greatest combo ever. I dunno how I ever lived without this before.
  • silvalynin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@tgoose

    Command+"~" (key above tab)

    Lets you switch between multiple windows of one application. Command+Tab = switch between different programs windows. Once you get used to it, you realize it's actually more efficient..
  • silvalynin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1wow...that timer completely screwed up my edit. Digg that down..

    @tgoose

    Command+"~" (key above tab) will switch between multiple windows of the same application. Command+Tab to switch between windows of different applications...once you get used to it, you realize it's more efficient.

    @Goldspink

    While not as quick as Window's CTRL+L, you could try the following if you haven't already..

    Go to your Applications folder, open up Keychain Access, go to Preferences, and check "Show Status in Menu Bar." Now you'll be able to click the little lock on the Menu Bar and select "Lock Screen." So it's only 2 clicks...almost as simple as it is on Windows.
  • NoFunBradley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I heart shortkeys.
  • Issimmo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0On safari you can hit cmd-[number] and it will go to the corresponding bookmark. Makes visiting digg, yahoo and others easy. I don't know if this works outside safari though.
  • amadeusdemarzi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I PDF'd it for anyone interested

    http://www.skeemo.us/distribute/OSXKeyboardShortcuts.pdf
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