Mac OS X Shortcuts

Shortcuts With Global Scope

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
control-shift-eject sleep displays
command-option-control-eject shut down
command-tab cycle between open applications
*after* having pressed command-tab, it will cycle between open
command-`
applications in reverse
command-shift-tab cycle between open applications in reverse direction
command-` cycle between open windows in the selected application
cycle between open windows in the selected application in reverse
command-shift-`
direction
control-F4 cycle between open windows in all applications
control-shift-F4 cycle between open windows in all applications in reverse direction
F8 Spaces (Leopard only)
F9 Exposé for all windows (Panther and newer)
F10 Exposé for all windows in selected application
F11 Exposé to reveal desktop
F12 Dashboard (Tiger and newer)
control-# Jump to a space (10.5+)
control-arrow Cycle through spaces (10.5+)
control-F2 activate keyboard control of the menu bar
control-F3 activate keyboard control of the Dock
activate keyboard control of the Menu Extras (right side of menu
control-F8
bar)
activate Spotlight (Tiger) or switch between keyboard layouts (pre-
command-space
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 send file to trash
command-space open a Spotlight search
command-option-space open a Spotlight search in a finder "Find" window
when dragging file onto folder it will spring open without the usual
spacebar
delay
shift-volume Change volume without sound effect
option-shift-volume Fine-grained volume control (10.5+ ?)
option-volume Sound Preference Pane
option-brightness Display Preference Pane
Change display mode (only on revised fn keyboard layout on Alu.
command-decrease-brightness
keyboards, newer MBP/MBs?)
[edit]

Keyboard Navigation in Mac OS X Core Apps

Expose, Spotlight, Spaces
tab (Expose) cycle through Expose'd windows
tab (Spaces) cycle through Spaces
number (Spaces) focus specific space
c (Spaces) collect all windows in space 1
tab (Spotlight) select current search term (equivalent to cmd-a)
command-enter
show selected file in Finder
(Spotlight)
Finder
spacebar quicklook selected item
command-option-i multi-item Inspector for all selected files
command-delete send to trash
command-shift-delete empty trash
enter edit filename, escape cancels, enter accepts the changes
Finder - Column View
command-3 Switch to Column View
type anything Find As You Type within the focused pane (FAYT)
tab
Focus contents of selected directory in a new pane
right
left go one pane back
Finder - List View
command 2 switch to list view
type anything Find As You Type (FAYT)
tab
cycle through contents of folder, wrapping around
shift tab
command-up change working directory to parent
right open selected folder
left (on a file) jump to parent folder, if that folder is visible
left (on folder) close that folder, if open
option-right open all children of all selected folders
option-left close all selected folders and children
open..., save..., browse...
go to... dialogue, allowing one to specify full pathnames from root file.
/
w/ Tab Autocomplete
command-shift-g Go to folder... dialogs. w/ Tab Autocomplete
tab space activate disclosure triangle
Column View Note:

• A hollow arrow indicates that the pane with the selected folder is active.
• A solid white arrow indicates that contents of the selected folder are active in the pane to the right .
• The behavior of FAYT/Tab in Column View is functionally equivalent to tab-autocomplete on a standard *nix
shell.
[edit]

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

[edit]

Shortcuts Common to Most Applications

enter choose blue button in dialogue box (usually "enter" or "accept")
simulate a mouse click on focused object (i.e., the button or control that has a
spacebar
blue halo around it)
Search application help. As of 10.5, this also FAYT searches available menu
command-shift-? items. It also activates the menu bar as keyboard navigable if the search string
is empty.
command-d don't save
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-delete back delete one word
shift-option-delete foward delete 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

start up in FireWire target mode (the Mac temporarily becomes a
T
very expensive external FireWire drive)
force boot into Mac OS X (older Macs that dual-boot into OS 9
X
and X)
N start from Network drive
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
command-option-shift-delete bypass internal harddrive on boot
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 (F1 - F12) are used to control hardware features:

F1 decrease brightness
F2 increase brightness
F3 mute on G4s, decrease volume on G3s
F4 decrease volume on G4s, increase volume on G3s
F5 increase volume on G4s, numlock on G3s
F6 Num lock on G4s, mute on G3s
F7 Display mode (mirror or extend external display)
F8 disable backlit keyboards (Aluminum PowerBooks)
F9 decrease keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards
F10 increase keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards
eject (some Macs, namely all MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and newer PowerBooks, place a
F12
dedicated eject key next to the F12 key)
Newer Mac laptops (MacBook Pros made after February 2008, MacBooks after November(?) 2007, MacBook Airs),
and the Aluminum keyboard, have a different layout for fn keys. Some keys have been added, while the numlock key
has been removed and the display mode key has been integrated into the brightness key (see combinations in
parenthesis)

decrease brightness (command+F1 changes display mode, option+F1 brings up display

F1
prefs)
F2 increase brightness (option+F2 brings up display prefs)
exposé (F3 shows all windows, control+F3 shows app windows, option+F3 brings up exposé
F3
prefs, command+F3 shows desktop)
F4 dashboard (option+F4 brings up exposé prefs)
F5 decrease keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards (option+F5 brings up keyboard prefs)
F6 increase keyboard brightness for backlit keyboards (option+F6 brings up keyboard prefs)
F7 media navigation backwards (like hitting back on Apple Remote)
F8 media play/pause (like hitting play/pause on Apple Remote)
F9 media navigation forwards (like hitting next on Apple Remote)
F10 mute volume (option+F10 brings up sound prefs)
decrease volume (option+shift+F11 for incremental decrease, option+F11 brings up sound
F11
prefs)
increase volume (option+shift+F12 for incremental increase, option+F12 brings up sound
F12
prefs)

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. For example, to use Spaces on these keyboards, you must press fn-F8; to shift between
all open windows in all applications, you must press ctrl-fn-F4; etc.

This behaviour can be altered in the Keyboard tab of the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, so that hardware
functions (like screen brightness) require pressing fn, and standard keyboard shortcuts (like Spaces) work without
the fn key.

[edit]

Application specific 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
command-R reveal currently playing track in Finder