Keyboard Cardio: 80+ Mac Keyboard Shortcuts to Master OSX

Before we jump into some interesting and cool tutorials, I think it's good to start at the beginning with some Mac keyboard shortcuts. No matter if you're a newbie or work on a mac everyday, I bet there are some keyboard shortcuts that you didn't know existed!

Why not Windows keyboard shortcuts? I'm most familiar with mac since that is what I use everyday. Tell me in the comments if there are any other apps/operating systems you'd like to see the keyboard shortcuts for!

Have you ever looked over someones shoulder while they’re on the computer and they do something the long way when you know faster/better way?

There are multiple ways of doing most everything on a computer, but the best way to do repetitive tasks means the fastest way. Some mac keyboard shortcuts are difficult to find if you don't know where to look, from basic things like how to copy and paste on mac to more advanced shortcuts like toggling through save dialog boxes and confirming a selection without taking your hands off the keyboard.

Mac keyboard shortcuts save you time and let you get more done. Let's dive into the list!

Basic Operation

Right click

Control + Click or Two Fingers: Tap on the trackpad

New folder

Command + Shift + N

Undo

Command + Z

Redo

Command + Shift + Z

Open

Command + O

Close current window

Command + W

Close all windows of current app

Command + Option + W

Quit any program

Command + Q

Print

Command + P

You can also save webpages as a PDF by selecting "PDF" instead of a printer from the save dialog box.

Find

Command + F

Show/hide dock

Command + Option + D

Delete/move to trash

Command + Delete

Rename file

Enter

Quickly preview a file

Spacebar

Preview - Zoom to 100% inside the window

Option + scroll wheel

Force Quit applications

Command + Option + Escape

View info

Command + I

Show single live updating inspector

Command + Option + I

Zoom entire desktop in and out

Control + Scrollwheel

Do not disturb notifications

Option + Click notifications bar

Manipulating Text

Show emoji picker

Control + Command + Space

Cut, copy and paste

Command + X, Command + C & Command + V

To view your clipboard, from your finder, Edit -> Show Clipboard

Select All

Command + A

Paste without formatting

Command + Shift + V

Paste and match style

Command + Shift + Option + V

Bold, underline, italicize text

Command + B, U or I

Jump to end/beginning of current line

Command + left or right.

• Up and down will move to top of bottom of document
• Holding shift will also select

Jump one word

Option + Arrow key

• Holding shift will select

Select single characters

Shift + left or right arrow key

Define selected word

Control + Command + D

Finder

Basic Finder Keyboard Shortcuts

New finder window:

Command + N

Duplicate Items

Command + D

Hide current app

Command + H

Hide all apps

Command + Option + H

Minimize

Command + M

Minimize... slowly

Command + Shift + M

View Preferences

Command + ,

New finder tab

Command + T

Cycle through the finder tabs

Command + Shift + Arrow Key

Cancel drag and drop, mid drag

Escape

Airdrop

Command + Shift + R

Advanced Finder Keyboard Shortcuts

Copy a file's pathname

Command + Option + C

Toggle hidden files

Command + Shift + .

Go to folder

Command + Shift + G

Go up a directory

Command + [

Go down a directory

Command + ]

Jump to enclosing folder

Command + Up Arrow Key

Switch finder views.

Icon, List, Column or Cover Flow

Command + 1, 2, 3 or 4

Quickly go to major locations.

Command + Shift + A for Applications

Command + Shift + D for Desktop

Command + Shift + U for Utilities

Command + Shift + H for Home

Command + Shift + C for Computer

Command + Shift + L for Library

Command + Shift + O for Documents

Launching Apps

Spotlight

Command + Space

Honorary app mention: Alfred. It costs money but is an alternative to macs version of an app launcher. It does much more than the built in option called “spotlight”.

App Switching

Cycle through app windows

Hold Command + `

Switch between apps

Hold Command + Press Tab

Reverse switch apps

Hold Command + Hold Shift + Press Tab

Quit currently highlighted app

Hold Command + Press Q

Hide currently highlighted app

Hold Command + Press H

Save dialog boxes

Save

Command + S

Save as..

Command + Shift + S

Move up a directory in finder

Command + Up

Go to desktop

Command + D

Create a new folder in a save dialog box

Command + Shift + N

To enable these next two settings, you must go to:
System Preferences => Keyboard => Shortcuts => Full Keyboard Access, All Controls

Move through dialog box options

Tab

Move backwards through dialog box options

Shift + Tab

Select current option

Space

Screen shots

Entire screen

Command + Shift + 3

Select screen area

Command + Shift + 4

Holding spacebar lets you move the selected area

Holding shift constrains horizontally or vertically

Select screen area and copy to clipboard

Command + Shift + 4 then hold control while selecting

Great for not cluttering up your desktop!

Screenshot current app window

Command + Shift + 4 then press spacebar

Gives you the entire window and a light gradient behind the window

Honorary app mention: Skitch for quickly annotating screenshots

Keyboard shortcuts are tiny, bite-sized productivity enhancers that will save you a little bit of time if used once. If you spend a few hours on a computer and use these shortcuts repeatedly though, you'll be able to get more done, faster and best of all for free!