What are keyboard shortcuts that I can use?
One of the easiest ways to speed up your work and impress your friends is to learn a few key commands. These are key combinations that you hold down to access functions that are usually listed in your menus. The nice thing about the Macintosh operating system is that many of these key commands work across multiple applications. Depending on your keyboard, your keys may be labeled differently than we show below.
Control key – usually the key closest to the end of the keyboard on the bottom row, sometimes labeled Ctrl and abbreviated as ^.
Command key – the key closest to the Spacebar labeled command or with the Apple symbol. On Windows keyboards there will be a Windows logo (but the Mac will still see at as a Command key).
Option – the key between Command and Control, usually labeled as Option or Opt. On Windows keyboards this will be labeled Alt.
Mostly Universal: Key combinations that work in the Finder and on most Apple applications
| Key Combination | Function |
|---|---|
| Command - O | Open |
| Command - S | Save |
| Command - P | |
| Command - F | Find |
| Command - Z | Undo |
| Command - X | Cut |
| Command - V | Paste |
| Command - C | Copy |
| Command - A | Select all |
| Command - W | Close window |
| Command - Option - W | Close all windows |
| Command - H | Hide active application |
| Command - Shift - N | Create a new folder in the Finder |
| Command - T | Show the font palette (in most applications) |
| Command - Shift - C | Show the colors palette (in most applications) |
| Command - Shift - 3 | Take a screenshot which is then saved on your desktop |
| Command - Shift - 4 | Take a screenshot of a portion of your screen |
| Control-click | On almost any file, dock item or application, brings up a contextual menu with more things you can do with that file |
Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) and Later
| Key Combination | Function |
|---|---|
| Command -Tab | Brings up menu that allows you to tab through open applications. Hold down [insert command icon] as you press tab to switch to another application. If you continue to hold down [insert command icon], you can press ` or Shift-Tab to go backward through open applications. While holding down [insert command icon] you can also press H to hide the selected application or Q to quit the applicationto quit the application. |
| Command - Space | Opens your spotlight search |
| Command - Control - D | In Apple’s own applications, this brings up the dictionary definition of the word directly under the cursor. You can click the More button to see the entire dictionary and thesaurus entry for the word. |
Abandon Ship: Keys to press when things aren’t going so well
| Key Combination | Function |
|---|---|
| Command - Option - Esc | When an application freezes, hold down these three keys. This will bring up a menu that allows you to select the misbehaving application and force quit it immediately. (Caution: You will lose any of your unsaved work by force quitting the application.) |
| Command - Control - Eject | Quit all applications and restart |
Published March 24, 2009 12:00 PM
Last modified on June 16, 2009 5:08 PM
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