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For years I’ve collected these keystrokes. I hope they help you become the power user
that lies within. I have tested them on macOS Mojave, but most should work on older
versions of macOS X.
Menu Symbols
Shift
Return
Eject
Escape
Arrow Keys
Finder
Action Keystroke
Go Back Cmd-[
Go Forward Cmd-]
Select the next icon in Icon and List views Tab (Shift-Tab reverses direction)
Resize one column to fit the longest file name Double-Click column divider (or the resize widget at
(Column View) the bottom of the column divider, depending on
your setup)
Resize all columns to fit their longest file names Option Double-Click column divider (or the resize
(Column View) widget at the bottom of the column divider,
depending on your setup)
Copy and Paste files Exactly (Keeps original Cmd-C, then Cmd-Option-Shift-V
ownership & permissions. Requires Admin
username & password.)
Open Quick Look (Previews most types of files Press the Spacebar (or Cmd-Y). On a trackpad can
without having to open them) also tap with 3 fingers.
Zoom In/Out in Quick Look (Images & PDFs) Pinch on a trackpad or hold Opt while scrolling. For
images, hold Option to zoom to 100%.
App Switcher
Action Keystroke
Quickly switch between 2 apps Press Cmd-Tab to switch to last used app.
(like Safari & Finder) Press Cmd-Tab again to switch back.
Switch between apps Press Cmd-Tab & continue holding Cmd. While holding Cmd, to
choose which app you want to switch to:
press Tab (multiple times as needed) to scroll right
Quit an app in the app switcher 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(.)
Action Keystroke
See where the File/Folder is located (a menu will Cmd-Click on name of the window (in the
pop-up displaying the folder hierarchy). Works in titlebar)
most programs, including the Finder.
Choose “Don’t Save” in a Dialog Cmd-D in some apps, but other apps use Cmd-
Delete (Cmd-D will change the location to the
Desktop)
Dock
Action Keystroke
Hide all other apps (except the one you're clicking on) Command-Option click an app’s icon in
Dock
Hide the app you’re leaving Option click another app’s icon in Dock
Reveal a Dock item’s location in the Finder Command click on the icon in the Dock
Force a file to open in a specific app While dragging the file onto an app’s icon
in the Dock, hold Command-Option
In an App’s Dock menu change the Quit to Force Quit Hold Option while in Dock menu
(Click & hold on an App in the Dock to show the menu)
Move Dock to left, bottom, right side of screen Hold Shift and drag Dock divider
Change the icon size of a stack (must be the grid view) Cmd-plus(+) or Cmd-minus(–)
Force the Dock to only resize to non-interpolated icon Hold Option while dragging
sizes Dock separator
Dashboard
Action Keystroke
Close a widget without having to open the Hold Option and hover over widget (close box will
widget dock appear)
Action Keystroke
Look up word in dictionary Mouse over a word and hit Cmd-Ctrl-D (Or on a trackpad use 3
fingers to tap on a word)
Display Emoji pop-up Command-Control-Space will open the Special Character panel. On
the left you can select Emoji or other Symbols.
Display Special/Alternate Hold any key. Example: Holding the “A” key will display à á â etc. You
Characters can press the corresponding number under the character you want
to type to choose it (or arrow over to it).
Auto completion word Start typing the word. Press Option–Esc (or F5) to open suggested
word list
Switch to Outline Mode in Press Option-Tab to convert the current line into a list item
TextEdit Press Return to create another list item
Press Tab at the start of a blank list item to indent it, creating a
sublist
Action Keystroke
Take a screenshot of a selected area Cmd-Shift-4 and Drag over an area. While dragging:
Hold Spacebar to move selected area.
Take a screenshot of a specific Cmd-Shift-4, then press Spacebar, then Click on the
window/object window/object.
TIP: Hold Option while you click to remove the drop
shadow.
Take a screenshot of the touch bar Cmd-Shift-6
Hold Control with any of the above keystrokes to copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of
making a file.
Spotlight
Action Keystroke
Look up the definition of Type the word in Spotlight’s search field and hit Cmd–L to look it up.
a word
Do a web search Type something into Spotlight and hit Cmd–B to open it as a search in
your web browser.
Mission Control
Action Keystroke
Enter Mission Control Ctrl-Up Arrow
Show Desktop F11 (may need to hold the fn buton on some keyboards)
Show Dashboard F12 (may need to hold the fn buton on some keyboards) or the
dedicated Dashboard key
Action Keystroke
Shutdown immediately (no Hold Cmd-Opt-Ctrl and press the Eject key or Power button
confirmation)
Restart immediately (no confirmation) Cmd-Ctrl-Eject
Sleep immediately (no confirmation) Press the Power button (or hit Cmd-Opt-Eject)
Show Dialog with Restart, Sleep & Hold Ctrl and press the Eject key or Power button (or hold
Shutdown Options the Power button for a few seconds and the dialog will
appear)
Put display to sleep Hold Ctrl-Shift and press the Eject key or Power button
Safari
Action Keystroke
Switch tabs: jump directly to the first tab, second Cmd-1 through Cmd-9
tab, etc.
(If you change the preference, this will go to one
of the first 9 bookmarks in the Bookmarks Bar.)
Move between found items Cmd-F, enter your search text and Press:
Return to Move Forward
Shift-Return to Move Backward
Apple Mail
Action Keystroke
Go to Inbox Cmd–1
Prevent the next message from being automatically selected & Opt–Delete
marked as read
Preview
Action Keystroke
Zoom In or Out Cmd-Plus(+) or Cmd-Minus(-)
Miscellaneous
Action Keystroke
Scroll using a Trackpad (like a mouse’s scroll wheel) Slide 2 fingers on the trackpad
Right-click using a Trackpad (like on a 2 button mouse) Place 2 fingers on the trackpad and Click
Hide all other apps (other than the current app) Cmd-Option-H
If an app re-opens with the windows that were open Hold Shift while launching an app
when you last quit it, you can tell it not to re-open the
windows.
Turn off notifications (turn on Do Not Disturb) Option-click the Notification Center icon in
menu bar to toggle notifications off/on
Change system volume in smaller increments Hold Opt–Shift while changing volume
Change system volume with confirmation beeps Hold Shift while changing volume (prior to
Yosemite this would disable the beeps)
Completely smooth scrolling, one pixel at a time (does Hold Option while dragging scrollbar
not work in all apps)
Open “Sound” panel of System Preferences Press Option and a Sound key
(Mute, Volume Up or Down)
Open “Displays” panel of System Preferences Press Option and a Brightness key
Customize the toolbar at the top of a window. Works in Cmd drag icons to rearrange.
the Finder, Apple Mail, Preview, etc. but not some Cmd drag icon off toolbar to remove.
apps, like Firefox.
Ctrl-click toolbar and choose Customize
for more options.
Move the Terminal cursor with the mouse Option–click where you’d like the cursor
Change Terminal Directory to a specific folder (cd into Cmd-Drag a folder onto the Terminal
the folder) Window
Delete the selection or to the end of the line (acts like cutting the Ctrl-K K = Kill
text)
Yank back the killed text (acts like pasting) Ctrl-Y Y = Yank
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
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