The Mac OS has many keyboard shortcuts and special key sequences. From changing extension sets at startup to closing all windows and removing open pop-up tabs, shortcuts allow both beginning and experienced Mac users to accomplish a plethora of tasks. Some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts follow.
Note that listings are in the following format:
Action: Shortcut
Shortcuts are also listed in abbreviated form. For example:
Find the original to an alias: Command + R.
Obviously, to perform the shortcut, the alias would have to be selected first and then Command + R would be pressed to locate the original.
Many of the following shortcuts are version agnostic although some are only available in OS 8.x and above.
| Applications | |
|---|---|
| Collapse all application windows in a particular application | Option + double click on the title bar |
| Force quit an application | Command + Option + Esc |
| Application Switcher | |
|---|---|
| Change the icon size | Option while clicking on the zoom box |
| Change the orientation | Option + Shift while clicking on the zoom box |
| Chooser | |
|---|---|
| Clear the Chooser cache | Command + Option while launching the Chooser |
| Control Panels | |
|---|---|
| CloseView On/Off | Command + Option + K |
| Easy Access Mouse Keys On/Off | Command + Shift + Clear |
| Easy Access Sticky Keys On/Off | Shift five times (in a row) without moving the mouse |
| Startup Memory Tests | Command + Option while launching Memory Control Panel. Select off under Startup Memory Tests to disable. |
| Control Strip | |
|---|---|
| Move the Control Strip | Option while dragging |
| Reorder the items in the Control Strip | Option while clicking and dragging an item |
| Dialogs | |
|---|---|
| Change the current location to the desktop in an open dialog window | Command + D |
| Close an open dialog window | Esc |
| Move up a level in the file hierarchy in an open dialog window | Command + the Up Arrow |
| Finder | |
|---|---|
| Align an icon to the nearest grid point | Command while dragging icon |
| Close all open windows | Option while clicking on close button |
| Close all windows and remove pop-up tabs | Command + Option + Shift + W |
| Close pop-up window and remove its tab | Command + Shift + W while in the pop-up window |
| Collapse a selected uncollapsed folder in list view | Command + Left Arrow |
| Copy an item to a specific location | Option while dragging item to location |
| Create an alias in a specific location | Command + Option while dragging item to location |
| Delete an object (Move to Trash) | Command + Delete |
| Delete locked items in the Trash | Option and select Empty Trash |
| Eject selected removable media | Command + Y |
| Enlarge a window to its full size | Option click on the zoom box |
| Find the original to an alias | Command + R |
| Move a Finder window without making it active | Command + drag the window |
| Move from icon to icon alphabetically | Tab |
| Open a selected icon's enclosing disk or folder and close the current window | Command + Option + Up Arrow |
| Return an object in the trash to its original location | Command + Y |
| Scroll a Finder window | Command + drag in an empty area of the window |
| Select the startup disk | Command + Shift + the Up Arrow |
| Uncollapse a selected collapsed folder in list view | Command + Right Arrow |
| Floppies | |
|---|---|
| Eject a floppy | Command + Shift + 1 |
| Erase a floppy upon insertion | Command + Option + Tab |
| Ligatures (two letters running together) | |
|---|---|
| Produce an ae ligature | Option + Apostrophe |
| Produce a fi ligature | Shift + Option + 5 |
| Produce a fl ligature | Shift + Option + 6 |
| Restart/Shutdown | |
|---|---|
| Fast Shutdown | Control + Command + Option + Keyboard Power Key |
| Restart | Power Key on the keyboard + R |
| Restart | Control + Command + Keyboard Power Key |
| Screen Shots | |
|---|---|
| Create a picture of a portion of your screen to clipboard | Command + Control + Shift + 4 |
| Create a picture of a portion of your screen to disk | Command + Shift + 4 |
| Create a picture of a specific window to clipboard | Command + Control + Shift + 4 + CapsLock and click |
| Create a picture of a specific window to disk | Command + Shift + 4 + CapsLock and click |
| Screen shot to clipboard | Command + Control + Shift + 3 |
| Screen shot to disk | Command + Shift + 3 |
| While Starting Up | |
|---|---|
| Boot from CD | C |
| Bypass the startup disk and boot from another volume | Command + Option + Shift + Delete |
| Change Extension Sets | Space |
| Close Finder windows | Option |
| Disable Extensions | Shift |
| Disable Startup Items | Shift after Extensions have loaded as your Desktop appears |
| Disable Virtual Memory | Command |
| Rebuild Desktop | Command + Option |
| Select boot drive (slot loading iMac, iBook or G4) | Option |
| Zap the PRAM | Command + Option + P + R |