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!
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
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!