OSX Shortcuts

Mac OS X Shortcuts

Many of these shortcuts can be customized (eg the Exposé shortcuts), as explained in Customizing shortcuts below.

 

 

Symbols seen on Mac menus and non-US Apple keyboards, with their common names

command-option-esc	force quit
command-option-eject	sleep now
command-shift-Q	log out
command-shift-option-Q	log out without confirmation
command-control-eject	restart
command-option-control-eject	shut down
command-tab	cycle between open applications
command-`	*after* having pressed command-tab, it will cycle between open applications in reverse
command-shift-tab	cycle between open applications in reverse direction
command-`	cycle between open windows in the selected application
command-shift-`	cycle between open windows in the selected application in reverse direction
control-F4	cycle between open windows in all applications
control-shift-F4	cycle between open windows in all applications in reverse direction
F9	Exposé for all windows (Panther and newer)
F10	Exposé for all windows in selected application
F11	Exposé to reveal desktop
F12	Dashboard (Tiger only)
control-F2	activate keyboard control of the menu bar
control-F3	activate keyboard control of the Dock
control-F8	activate keyboard control of the Menu Extras (right side of menu bar)
command-space	activate Spotlight (Tiger) or switch between keyboard layouts (pre-Tiger systems)
command-option-control-,	decrease the screen contrast
command-option-control-.	increase the screen contrast
command-option-8	turn screen zooming on or off
command-option-=	zoom in (if screen zooming is on)
command-option–	zoom out
command-option-control-8	invert the screen colors
command-delete	delete file
spacebar	when dragging file onto folder it will spring open without the usual delay

When using control-F# shortcuts on newer laptops that share the function keys with brightness, volume, etc. you must also press the function key (fn) in the lower right corner of your keyboard.

The Taking Screenshots in Mac OS X article includes keyboard shortcuts related to taking screenshots.

[edit]

Shortcuts Common to Most Applications

command-,	preferences
command-?	help
command-:	spelling
command-;	check spelling
command-A	select all
command-C	copy
command-shift-C	show colors
command-F	find
command-G	find next
command-H	hide
command-option-H	hide others
command-M	minimize
command-N	new
command-O	open
command-P	print
command-Q	quit
command-S	save
command-T	show fonts
command-V	paste
command-W	close
command-X	cut
command-Z	undo

[edit]

Text Shortcuts

These shortcuts can be used within all text areas in Cocoa applications.

option-left arrow	move left one word
option-right arrow	move right one word
option-up arrow	move up one paragraph
option-down arrow	move down one paragraph
control-left arrow	move to start of current line
command-left arrow
control-right arrow	move to end of current line
command-right arrow
shift + any of the above	extend selection by appropriate amount
click then drag	select text
double-click then drag	select text, wrapping to word ends
triple-click then drag	select text, wrapping to paragraph ends
shift-select text with mouse	add to selection (contiguous)
command-select text with mouse	add to selection (non-contiguous)
option-drag	select rectangular area (non-contiguous)
command-option-drag	add rectangular area to selection
drag selection	move text
option-drag selection	copy text
control-A	move to start of current paragraph
control-B	move left one character
control-D	forwards delete
control-E	move to end of current paragraph
control-F	move right one character
control-H	delete
control-K	delete remainder of current paragraph
control-N	move down one line
control-O	insert new line after cursor
control-P	move up one line
control-T	transpose (swap) two surrounding character
control-V	move to end, then left one character
control-Y	paste text previously deleted with control-K

[edit]

System startup

Hold down these keys to cause a Mac to perform special actions at startup time.

C	boot from CD or DVD
T	start up in FireWire target mode (the Mac temporarily becomes a very expensive external FireWire drive)
X	force boot into Mac OS X (older Macs that dual-boot into OS 9 and X)
shift	boot into safe mode
mouse button	eject CD before booting normally
command-S	boot into single user mode; type exit when done
command-option-O-F	boot into the Open Firmware prompt
command-option-P-R	reset PRAM
command-option-V	verbose boot; show the Unixy text goodness at boot time
option	choose startup disk at boot time

[edit]

Customizing shortcuts

Many system-wide shortcuts can be customized. This is described in detail in the Changing Keyboard Shortcuts article.

[edit]

Shortcuts on laptops

On most Mac laptops, some of the function keys are used to control hardware features:

F1	decrease brightness
F2	increase brightness
F3	mute
F4	decrease volume
F5	increase volume
F6	Num lock
F12	eject

If you want to use these function keys for standard keyboard shortcuts, you must use the fn key, located in the lower-left corner of the keyboard. Any functions labeled on the keyboard with light-gray text are accessed using the fn key. So, for example, to shift between all open windows in all applications, you must press ctrl-fn-F4. This behaviour can be altered in the Keyboard tab of the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane.

[edit]

App shortcuts

[edit]

iPhoto

command-option-backspace	delete pictures from the library from within an album
command-1,2,3,4,5	rate picture

[edit]

iTunes

command-option-backspace	delete songs from the library from within a playlist
command-B	show browser
command-L	highlight currently playing track

[edit]

MS Office 2004

[edit]

Powerpoint 2004

page down while in normal view, cursor in the slide window (not notes or outline)	next slide
F6	toggle between Slide, Outline, and notes windows