Keyboard shortcuts are as important as sipping a cup of coffee for fresh brains. It lets you quickly take an action be it copy, paste or cut anything on your Mac. Keyboard shortcuts are helpful and tend to increase productivity. If you are a person who relies on a keyboard for most of your tasks, these shortcuts are for you and you should not miss learning these.
If you are a Mac user, these list of keyboard shortcuts will help you save your seconds and boost your productivity. Check them out and browse through your Mac conveniently.
Before we head to the list of shortcuts, it is important to know the modifier keys. These modifier keys make a combination along with other keyboard keys to call an action on your Mac.
The Modifier Keys On Mac are:
- Command (or Cmd) ⌘
- Shift ⇧
- Option (or Alt) ⌥
- Control (or Ctrl) ⌃
- Fn
Keyboard Shortcuts For Mac You Shouldn’t Miss On!
We’ll start from basics if you have just started using a Mac, these shortcuts will be a great help for you. Since you know the modifier keys, you can easily access these shortcut keys to get your work done.
Most Used Basic Keyboard Shortcuts For Mac
List of Contents
1. Cut, Copy, and Paste on Mac
Just like Windows, a few shortcuts are universal for all the Mac applications and system UI. These operations are pretty simple and lets you select the text, or modify the items using the following keys:
Command + X : To cut a file or selected text.
Command + C: To copy a file or particular text.
Command + V: To paste the file of text at a different location.
Command key here replaces the Control (Ctrl) key on Windows. But don’t get confused, Macs do have control keys too.
2. Undo & Redo On Mac
Undo and Redo lets you save yourself from a blunder that might just happen. These universal shortcuts will work on almost all the programs and lets you save yourself from a mishap.
To Undo, use Command + Z.
To Redo, use Command + Shift +Z.
3. Keyboard Shortcut To Minimize Or Close A Program On Mac
Check out these Mac keyboard shortcuts to minimize or remove the app window from the home screen.
Command + H : Hides the application.
Command + M : Minimizes the application.
Command + W : Closes the current window or app.
4. Keyboard Shortcut To Select All Items On Mac
Just like Windows, you can use a particular combination of keys to select all the content on the page, or all the files in a folder. Use these shortcuts to make selecting easier on Mac:
Command + A : Select All Items.
Command + Click : Select multiple files.
Also you can click on one file and press the Shift key instantly, drag your mouse or arrow to the files you wish to select and that’s it.
5. Shortcut To Page Up And Page Down On Mac
Windows has a dedicated Page Up and Page Down keys unlike Mac. Therefore, for this action you need to use the following keyboard shortcuts:
Fn + Up Arrow: Page Up
Fn + Down Arrow: Page Down
Essential Keyboard Shortcuts for Power Users On Mac
Now that you know the basic Mac keyboard shortcuts, it is time to learn more of them that are required if you are an intermediate Mac user. From Spotlight to brightness you can adjust all the power actions using a these quick commands:
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command + Space | Access Spotlight |
| Option + Shift + Volume Up | Increase Volume |
| Option +Shift + Volume Down | Decrease Volume |
| Option + Shift + Brightness Up | Raise brightness |
| Option +Shift + Brightness Down | Lower brightness |
| ⌘ + Shift + 5 | On-screen capture controls |
| ⌘ + Shift + 3 | Screenshot of entire window |
| ⌘ + Shift + 4 | Screenshot of selected portion of the screen |
| Command + Q | Force Quit |
| Command + Y | Quick Look |
| Command + Option + Y | View a quick look slideshow |
| Command + Colon or ⌘ + (:) | Open Preferences directly |
| ⌘ + Shift + / | Open Help |
| ⌘+ Shift + T | Open recently closed tab |
Keyboard Shortcuts For Bizarre Mac Users
Check out the table below for advanced macOS keyboard shortcuts.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Command + Shift + I | Opens Mail app and starts composing Email instantly |
| Command + Semicolon (;) | Find spelling mistakes in a document |
| Command + Shift + X | Use Strikethrough to add some style to your text. |
| Option + Shift + ⌘ + V | Copy and Paste without formatting |
| Shift + Control + ⌘ + 4 Shift + Control + ⌘ + 3 |
Copy-Paste Screenshot on the clipboard |
| ⌘ + Control + Space bar | Add smileys or emojis to your text |
Wrapping Up
That’s all folks! You can add up to ‘n’ number of keyboard shortcuts whenever you feel like it in many macOS applications. To add shortcuts: navigate to the Shortcuts tab in the Keyboard panel > select App shortcuts > click on the ‘+’ button. Then, choose an application, and the kind of setting you’d open up with the personalized shortcut. Name the shortcut and click ADD.
These keyboard shortcuts are quite helpful for beginner, intermediate or advanced macOS users. Check them out and let us know if you have any questions or suggestions to make in the comments section below.
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