MacOS Shortcuts

The Ultimate List ⌘⇧⌥⌃ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(|•͡˘‿•͡˘)┘.

Did you know that ⇧⌥- (Shift-Option-dash) makes an em dash (—)? Or that pressing ⌘⇧⌥V (Command-Shift-Option-V) pastes text without its formatting? Well, most people don’t!

Lists of MacOS keyboard shortcuts exist in the usual places, but they are mostly both incomplete and a slog to read through. This is a big list. But read only the first part of this page for the most useful ones!

Notes: We cover shortcuts that work in many apps or in Finder, but not shortcuts for individual apps. Note these are the default settings. Global shortcuts can be reassigned and if assigned in conflicting ways may stop working. If you see any ways this guide can be improved, please contribute!

Contents:
    The Keys
    Input Methods and Special Characters
    Common Shortcuts
    Useful But Less Common
    Finder
    More Shortcuts
    Further Reading
    License

The Keys

Mac hardware conventionally uses several modifier keys, which can be reassigned to different physical keys if desired, and a couple other special keys:

⌘ Command (Windows logo on PC keyboards)
⇧ Shift
⌥ Option (Alt on PC keyboards)
⌃ Control
⇪ Caps Lock
Fn Function

⌫ Delete
⌽ Power

Input Methods and Special Characters

You can write common Unicode symbols, punctuation, and accented letters with shortcuts. The keyboard viewer will allow you to discover them, or fall back to the character viewer.

Input

• Use ⌘⌃Space for the emoji and special character pop-up. This is the quickest way for most to find special characters.
• You can switch to different language keyboards by adding new input source. Once multiple inputs are enabled, use the menu to select or ^⌥Space.
• Pressing Fn Fn will start voice dictation if you enable this feature.
• Enable the “Unicode Hex Input” keyboard to enter Unicode inputs by hex code.

Punctuation

Em dash (—) is ⇧⌥-
En dash (–) is ⌥-
Ellipsis (…) is ⌥;

Open and close quotes:   ⌥[ “   ⇧⌥[ ”   ⌥] ‘   ⇧⌥] ’   ⌥\ «   ⇧⌥\ »
(These are not the same as the ASCII characters " and '. If you’re confused, read more about typographical conventions.)

Some other special character shortcuts:
⌥G ©   ⌥R ®   ⌥2 ™   ⌥7 ¶   ⌥8 •   ⇧⌥8 °   ⌥6 §   ⌥T †
⌥4 ¢   ⌥3 £   ⌥Y ¥   ⇧⌥2 €   ⌥F ƒ   ⌥1 ¡   ⇧⌥? ¿   ⌥0 º   ⌥9 ª
⌥a å   ⌥C ç   ⌥o ø   ⌥' æ   ⌥q œ (with ⇧ for capitals)
⌥S ß

The list above is not exhaustive, but you can learn additional ones via the keyboard viewer or these lists of regular and extended shortcuts.

Accents

You can type accents by holding down keys, unless you disable that feature. You can also type accents by pressing one of these modifier keys before a suitable letter (for example, ⌥I o yields the letter ô):

⌥E Acute ´    ⌥I Circumflex ˆ    ⌥` Grave `    ⌥N Tilde ˜    ⌥U Umlaut ¨

Common Shortcuts

Searching

⌘F Find: Open a Find window, or find items in a document.
⌘G Find Again: Find the next occurrence of the item previously found. ⌘⇧G for previous. ⌘E Find Selection: Search for the selected text. Then use ⌘G and ⌘⇧G for navigation.

⌘Space Spotlight: Show or hide the Spotlight search field.
⌥Space Show Finder search window.

Copy/Paste

⌘A Select All items.
⌘X Cut: Remove the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard.
⌘C Copy the selected item to the Clipboard. This also works for files in the Finder.
⌘V Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. This also works for files in the Finder.
⌘⇧⌥V Paste and Match Style: Apply the style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that content.
⌘⌥C Copy Style: Copy the formatting settings of the selected item to the Clipboard.
⌘⌥V Paste Style: Apply the copied style to the selected item.

Undo

⌘Z Undo the previous command.
⌘⇧Z Redo, reversing the undo command. In some apps, you can undo and redo multiple commands.

Window Operations

⌘Tab Switch apps: Switch to the next most recently used app among your open apps. Press ** (the key above Tab) while keeping the **⌘** held down to reverse directions (or use **⌘⇧Tab**). **⌘ Switch windows: Switch to the next most recently used window of the front app. ⌘⇧` for reverse direction.

⌘H Hide the windows of the front app. To view the front app but hide all other apps, press ⌘⌥H.
⌘M Minimize the front window to the Dock. To minimize all windows of the front app, press ⌘⌥M.
⌘W Close the front window. To close all windows of the app, press ⌘⌥W.

Application Operations

⌘N New: Open an new document or window.
⌘O Open the selected item, or open a dialog to select a file to open.
⌘S Save the current document.
⌘P Print the current document.

⌘Q Quit the app.
⌘⌥Esc Force Quit: Choose an app to force quit.
⌘⇧⌥Esc (hold for 3 seconds) Force Quit just the front app.

⌘, (comma) Preferences: Open preferences for the front app.

Menu Operations

If desired, you can use keyboard for menu gestures typically performed with mouse/trackpad.

⌃F1 Toggle “keyboard access” which sets whether the next few features work.
⌃F2 Change focus to menu bar. Follow with typing name of a menu item and arrow keys.
⌃F3 Change focus to dock.
⌃F4 Change focus to active or next window.
⌃F5 Change focus to window toolbar.
⌃F6 Change focus to the floating window.
⌃F7 Change way Tab moves focus. ⌃F8 Change focus to status menus.

Useful But Less Common

Screenshots

⌘⇧3 Screenshot of the entire screen.
⌘⇧4 Screenshot of selection of screen.
⌘⇧4 followed by Space: Screenshot of window.

Screenshots are saved to Desktop, add ⌃ to copy to clipboard. (more instructions)

Log Out, Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down

⌘⇧Q Log out of user account, with confirmation.
⌘⇧⌥Q Without confirmation.

⌽ Tap the power button to turn on or wake from sleep. While awake, hold for 1.5 seconds for dialog for box with restart, sleep, or shut down options. Hold for 5 seconds to force your Mac to turn off.
⌃⌽ Avoids the 1.5 second wait.
⌘⌃⌽ Force restart.
⇧⌃⌽ Put displays to sleep.
⌘⌃⌽ Quit all apps, then restart, first asking whether to save unsaved work.
⌘⌥⌃⌽ Quit all apps, then shut down, first asking whether to save unsaved work.

Working With Documents

Basic Navigation, Deletion, and Selection

⌃A Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
⌃E Move to the end of a line or paragraph.
⌃F Move one character forward.
⌃B Move one character backward.
⌃L Center the cursor or selection in the visible area.
⌃P Move up one line.
⌃N Move down one line.

⌃O Insert a new line after the insertion point.
⌃T Swap the character behind the insertion point with the character in front of the insertion point.
⌃H Delete the character to the left of the insertion point. Or use ⌫.
⌃D Delete the character to the right of the insertion point. Or use Fn-⌫.
⌃K Delete the text between the insertion point and the end of the line or paragraph.

⌥⌫ Delete the word to the left of the insertion point.
⌘⌫ Select Delete or Don't Save in a dialog that contains a Delete or Don't Save button.

Manipulate Text

⌘B Boldface the selected text, or turn boldfacing on or off.
⌘I Italicize the selected text, or turn italics on or off.
⌘U Underline the selected text, or turn underlining on or off.

⌘T Show or hide the Fonts window.
⌘D Select the Desktop folder from within an Open dialog or Save dialog.
⌘⌃D Show or hide the definition of the selected word.
⌘⇧: (colon) Display the Spelling and Grammar window.
⌘; (semicolon) Find misspelled words in the document.

⌘{ (left curly bracket) Left align.
⌘} (right curly bracket) Right align.
⌘⇧| (vertical bar) Center align.

More Navigation

Fn↑ Page Up: Scroll up one page.
Fn↓ Page Down: Scroll down one page.
Fn← Home: Scroll to the beginning of a document.
Fn→ End: Scroll to the end of a document.
⌘↑ Move the insertion point to the beginning of the document.
⌘↓ Move the insertion point to the end of the document.
⌘← Move the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.
⌘→ Move the insertion point to the end of the current line.
⌥← Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.
⌥→ Move the insertion point to the end of the next word.

Selection

⇧↑ Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line above.
⇧↓ Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line below.
⇧← Extend text selection one character to the left.
⇧→ Extend text selection one character to the right.

⌘⇧↑ Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document.
⌘⇧↓ Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the document.
⌘⇧← Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line.
⌘⇧→ Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the current line.

⇧⌥↑ Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again.
⇧⌥↓ Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again.
⇧⌥← Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again.
⇧⌥→ Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again.

Application Operations

⌘⌥F Go to the search field.
⌘⌥T Show or hide a toolbar in the app.
⌘⌥I Show or hide the inspector window.
⌘⇧P Page setup: Display a window for selecting document settings.
⌘⇧S Display the Save As dialog, or duplicate the current document.
⌘⇧- (minus sign) Decrease the size of the selected item.
⌘⇧+ (plus sign) Increase the size of the selected item. ⌘Equal sign (=) performs the same function.
⌘⇧? (question mark) Open the Help menu.

Finder

Common Operations

Typing letters jumps to files beginning with those letters.

↑ or ↓ (list view) Scroll up and down (list view).
→ or ← (list view) Open and Close the selected folder.
Space bar (list view) Quick Look: Use Quick Look to preview the selected item.

⌘N Open a new Finder window.
⌘I Show the Get Info window for a selected file.
⌘Y Use Quick Look to preview the files. ⌘F Start a Spotlight search in the Finder window.

⌘⇧N Create a new folder.
⌘⌥N Create a new Smart Folder.

⌘⌫ Move the selected item to the Trash.
⌘⇧⌫ Empty the Trash.
⌘⇧⌥⌫ Empty the Trash without confirmation dialog.

More Operations

⌘↑ Open the folder that contains the current folder.
⌘⌃↑ Open the folder that contains the current folder in a new window.
⌘↓ Open the selected item.

⌘D Duplicate the selected files.
⌘E Eject the selected disk or volume.
⌘⇧C Open the Computer window.
⌘⇧D Open the desktop folder.
⌘⇧F Open the All My Files window.
⌘⇧G Open a Go to Folder window.
⌘⇧H Open the Home folder of the current OS X user account.
⌘⇧I Open iCloud Drive.
⌘⇧K Open the Network window.
⌘⌥L Open the Downloads folder.
⌘⇧O Open the Documents folder.
⌘⇧R Open the AirDrop window.
⌘⇧T Add selected Finder item to the Dock (OS X Mountain Lion or earlier)
⌘⇧⌃T Add selected Finder item to the Dock (OS X Mavericks or later)
⌘⇧U Open the Utilities folder.
⌘⌥D Show or hide the Dock. This often works even when you're not in the Finder.
⌘⌃T Add the selected item to the sidebar (OS X Mavericks or later).
⌘⌥P Hide or show the path bar in Finder windows.
⌘⌥S Hide or show the Sidebar in Finder windows.
⌘/ (slash) Hide or show the status bar in Finder windows.
⌘J Show View options.
⌘K Open the Connect to Server window.
⌘L Make an alias of the selected item.
⌘R Show the original file for the selected alias.
⌘T Show or hide the tab bar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.
⌘⇧T Show or hide a Finder tab.
⌘⌥T Show or hide the toolbar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.
⌘⌥V Move the files in the Clipboard from their original location to the current location.
⌘⌥Y View a Quick Look slideshow of the selected files.
⌘Y Use Quick Look to preview the selected files.

⌘1 View the items in the Finder window as icons.
⌘2 View the items in a Finder window as a list.
⌘3 View the items in a Finder window in columns.
⌘4 View the items in a Finder window with Cover Flow.

⌘[ (left bracket) Go to the previous folder.
⌘] (right bracket) Go to the next folder.
⌘Mission Control Show the desktop. This works even when you're not in the Finder.
⌘Brightness Up Turn Target Display Mode on or off.
⌘Brightness Down Turn display mirroring on or off when your Mac is connected to more than one display.
⌥Brightness Up Open Displays preferences. This works with either Brightness key.
⌥Mission Control Open Mission Control preferences.
⌥Volume Up Open Sound preferences. This works with any of the volume keys.

Mouse/Trackpad Shortcuts

⌘ key while dragging Move the dragged item to another volume or location. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
⌥ key while dragging Copy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
⌘⌥ while dragging Make an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
⌥-click a disclosure triangle Open all folders within the selected folder. This works only when in list view.
⌘-click a window title See the folders that contain the current folder.
⌥-double-click Open a folder in a separate window and close the current window.
⌘-double-click Open a folder in a separate tab or window.

More Shortcuts

• Startup key combinations.
• Shortcuts for accessibility features.
• Shortcuts for Safari 8 (Yosemite) and Safari 9 (El Capitan).

Further Reading

• Create new shortcuts and resolve conflicts with shortcuts.
• Change the behavior of the function keys or reassign modifier keys.
• Use spoken commands for keyboard shortcuts.

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.