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# MacOS Shortcuts



**The Ultimate List** **⌘⇧⌥⌃ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=ε=┌(|•͡˘‿•͡˘)┘.**



Did you know that **⇧⌥-** (Shift-Option-dash) makes an em dash (—)?

Or that pressing **⌘⇧⌥V** (Command-Shift-Option-V) pastes text without its formatting?

Well, most people don’t!



Lists of MacOS keyboard shortcuts exist in the [usual places](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201236), but they are mostly both incomplete and a slog to read through.

This is a big list. But read only the first part of this page for the most useful ones!



Notes: We cover shortcuts that work in many apps or in Finder, but not shortcuts for individual apps.

Note these are the **default settings**.

Global shortcuts [can be reassigned](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18415) and if assigned in conflicting ways [may stop working](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18424).

If you see any ways this guide can be improved, **[please contribute](CONTRIBUTING.md)**!



Contents:  

    [The Keys](#the-keys)  

    [Input Methods and Special Characters](#input-methods-and-special-characters)  

    [Common Shortcuts](#common-shortcuts)  

    [Useful But Less Common](#useful-but-less-common)  

    [Finder](#finder)  

    [More Shortcuts](#more-shortcuts)  

    [Further Reading](#further-reading)  

    [License](#license)



## The Keys



Mac hardware conventionally uses several **modifier keys**, which

[can be reassigned](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18422) to different physical keys if desired, and a couple other special keys:



**⌘** Command (Windows logo on PC keyboards)  

**⇧** Shift  

**⌥** Option (Alt on PC keyboards)  

**⌃** Control  

**⇪** Caps Lock  

**Fn** Function  



**⌫** Delete  

**⌽** Power



## Input Methods and Special Characters



You can write common Unicode symbols, punctuation, and accented letters with shortcuts.

The [keyboard viewer](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21565) will allow you to discover them, or fall back to the [character viewer](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201586).



### Input



- Use **⌘⌃Space** for the **[emoji and special character pop-up](http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/13/this-is-the-most-important-mavericks-keyboard-shortcut-youll-di/)**. This is the quickest way for most to find special characters.

- You can switch to different **language keyboards** by adding new [input source](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21564).

Once multiple inputs are enabled, use the menu to select or **^⌥Space**.

- Pressing **Fn** **Fn** will start voice dictation if you [enable this feature](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT202584).

- Enable the “Unicode Hex Input” keyboard to [enter Unicode inputs by hex code](https://gigaom.com/2011/04/26/quick-tip-type-unicode-characters-quickly/).



### Punctuation



**[Em dash](http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/em-dash.html)** (—) is **⇧⌥-**  

**[En dash](http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/en-dash.html)** (–) is **⌥-**  

**[Ellipsis](https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/ellipses.html)** (…) is **⌥;**



**Open and close quotes**:   **⌥[** “   **⇧⌥[** ”   **⌥]** ‘   **⇧⌥]** ’  

**⌥\\** «   **⇧⌥\\** »  

(These are not the same as the ASCII characters " and '. If you’re confused, read more about [typographical conventions](http://practicaltypography.com/straight-and-curly-quotes.html).)



Some other special character shortcuts:  

**⌥G** ©  

**⌥R** ®  

**⌥2** ™  

**⌥7** ¶  

**⌥8** •  

**⇧⌥8** °  

**⌥6** §  

**⌥T** †  

**⌥4** ¢  

**⌥3** £  

**⌥Y ¥**  

**⇧⌥2** €  

**⌥F** ƒ  

**⌥1** ¡  

**⇧⌥?** ¿  

**⌥0** º  

**⌥9** ª  

**⌥a** å  

**⌥C** ç  

**⌥o** ø  

**⌥'** æ  

**⌥q** œ (with **⇧** for capitals)  

**⌥S** ß



The list above is not exhaustive, but you can learn additional ones via the **[keyboard viewer](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21565)** or these lists of [regular](http://symbolcodes.tlt.psu.edu/accents/codemac.html) and [extended](http://symbolcodes.tlt.psu.edu/accents/codemacext.html) shortcuts.



### Accents



You can **type accents by [holding down keys](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201586)**, unless you [disable that feature](http://lifehacker.com/5826055/make-your-keyboard-keys-repeat-properly-when-held-down-in-mac-os-x-lion).

You can also type accents by pressing one of these modifier keys before a suitable letter (for example, **⌥I o** yields the letter *ô*):



**⌥E** Acute ´   

**⌥I** Circumflex ˆ   

**⌥\`** Grave \`   

**⌥N** Tilde ˜   

**⌥U** Umlaut ¨



## Common Shortcuts



### Searching



**⌘F** *Find*: Open a Find window, or find items in a document.  

**⌘G** *Find Again*: Find the next occurrence of the item previously found. **⌘⇧G** for previous.

**⌘E** *Find Selection*: Search for the selected text. Then use **⌘G** and **⌘⇧G** for navigation.



**⌘Space** *Spotlight*: Show or hide the Spotlight search field.  

**⌥Space** Show Finder search window.



### Copy/Paste



**⌘A** *Select All* items.  

**⌘X** *Cut*: Remove the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard.  

**⌘C** *Copy* the selected item to the Clipboard. This also works for files in the Finder.  

**⌘V** *Paste* the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. This also works for files in the Finder.  

**⌘⇧⌥V** *Paste and Match Style*: Apply the style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that content.  

**⌘⌥C** *Copy Style*: Copy the formatting settings of the selected item to the Clipboard.  

**⌘⌥V** *Paste Style*: Apply the copied style to the selected item.



### Undo



**⌘Z** *Undo* the previous command.  

**⌘⇧Z** *Redo*, reversing the undo command. In some apps, you can undo and redo multiple commands.  



### Window Operations



**⌘Tab** *Switch apps*: Switch to the next most recently used app among your open apps. Press **`** (the key above Tab) while keeping the **⌘** held down to reverse directions (or use **⌘⇧Tab**).  

**⌘`** *Switch windows*: Switch to the next most recently used window of the front app. **⌘⇧`** for reverse direction.



**⌘H** *Hide* the windows of the front app. To view the front app but hide all other apps, press **⌘⌥H**.  

**⌘M** *Minimize* the front window to the Dock. To minimize all windows of the front app, press **⌘⌥M**.  

**⌘W** *Close* the front window. To close all windows of the app, press ⌘⌥W.  



### Application Operations



**⌘N** *New*: Open an new document or window.  

**⌘O** *Open* the selected item, or open a dialog to select a file to open.  

**⌘S** *Save* the current document.  

**⌘P** *Print* the current document.  



**⌘Q** *Quit* the app.  

**⌘⌥Esc** *Force Quit*: Choose an app to force quit.  

**⌘⇧⌥Esc** (hold for 3 seconds) Force Quit just the front app.  



**⌘,** (comma) *Preferences*: Open preferences for the front app.  



### Menu Operations



If desired, you can use keyboard for menu gestures typically performed with mouse/trackpad.



**⌃F1** Toggle “keyboard access” which sets whether the next few features work.  

**⌃F2** Change focus to menu bar. Follow with typing name of a menu item and arrow keys.  

**⌃F3** Change focus to dock.  

**⌃F4** Change focus to active or next window.  

**⌃F5** Change focus to window toolbar.  

**⌃F6** Change focus to the floating window.  

**⌃F7** Change way Tab moves focus.

**⌃F8** Change focus to status menus.  



## Useful But Less Common



### Screenshots



**⌘⇧3** Screenshot of the entire screen.  

**⌘⇧4** Screenshot of selection of screen.  

**⌘⇧4** followed by **Space**: Screenshot of window.



Screenshots are saved to Desktop, add ⌃ to copy to clipboard. ([more instructions](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201361))



### Log Out, Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down



**⌘⇧Q** Log out of user account, with confirmation.  

**⌘⇧⌥Q** Without confirmation.  



**⌽** Tap the power button to turn on or wake from sleep. While awake, hold for 1.5 seconds for dialog for box with restart, sleep, or shut down options. Hold for 5 seconds to force your Mac to turn off.  

**⌃⌽** Avoids the 1.5 second wait.  

**⌘⌃⌽**  Force restart.  

**⇧⌃⌽**  Put displays to sleep.  

**⌘⌃⌽** Quit all apps, then restart, first asking whether to save unsaved work.  

**⌘⌥⌃⌽** Quit all apps, then shut down, first asking whether to save unsaved work.  



## Working With Documents



### Basic Navigation, Deletion, and Selection



**⌃A** Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.  

**⌃E** Move to the end of a line or paragraph.  

**⌃F** Move one character forward.  

**⌃B** Move one character backward.  

**⌃L** Center the cursor or selection in the visible area.  

**⌃P** Move up one line.  

**⌃N** Move down one line.  



**⌃O** Insert a new line after the insertion point.  

**⌃T** Swap the character behind the insertion point with the character in front of the insertion point.  

**⌃H** Delete the character to the left of the insertion point. Or use **⌫**.  

**⌃D** Delete the character to the right of the insertion point. Or use **Fn-⌫**.  

**⌃K** Delete the text between the insertion point and the end of the line or paragraph.  



**⌥⌫** Delete the word to the left of the insertion point.  

**⌘⌫** Select Delete or Don't Save in a dialog that contains a Delete or Don't Save button.  



### Manipulate Text



**⌘B** Boldface the selected text, or turn boldfacing on or off.  

**⌘I** Italicize the selected text, or turn italics on or off.  

**⌘U** Underline the selected text, or turn underlining on or off.  



**⌘T** Show or hide the Fonts window.  

**⌘D** Select the Desktop folder from within an Open dialog or Save dialog.  

**⌘⌃D** Show or hide the definition of the selected word.  

**⌘⇧:** (colon) Display the Spelling and Grammar window.  

**⌘;** (semicolon) Find misspelled words in the document.  



**⌘{** (left curly bracket) Left align.  

**⌘}** (right curly bracket) Right align.  

**⌘⇧|** (vertical bar) Center align.  



### More Navigation



**Fn↑** Page Up: Scroll up one page.  

**Fn↓** Page Down: Scroll down one page.  

**Fn←** *Home*: Scroll to the beginning of a document.  

**Fn→** *End*: Scroll to the end of a document.  

**⌘↑** Move the insertion point to the beginning of the document.  

**⌘↓** Move the insertion point to the end of the document.  

**⌘←** Move the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.  

**⌘→** Move the insertion point to the end of the current line.  

**⌥←** Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.  

**⌥→** Move the insertion point to the end of the next word.  



### Selection



**⇧↑** Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line above.  

**⇧↓** Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line below.  

**⇧←** Extend text selection one character to the left.  

**⇧→** Extend text selection one character to the right.  



**⌘⇧↑** Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document.  

**⌘⇧↓** Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the document.  

**⌘⇧←** Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line.  

**⌘⇧→** Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the current line.  



**⇧⌥↑** Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again.  

**⇧⌥↓** Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again.  

**⇧⌥←** Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again.  

**⇧⌥→** Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again.  



### Application Operations



**⌘⌥F** Go to the search field.  

**⌘⌥T** Show or hide a toolbar in the app.  

**⌘⌥I** Show or hide the inspector window.  

**⌘⇧P** Page setup: Display a window for selecting document settings.  

**⌘⇧S** Display the Save As dialog, or duplicate the current document.  

**⌘⇧-** (minus sign) Decrease the size of the selected item.  

**⌘⇧+** (plus sign) Increase the size of the selected item. ⌘Equal sign (=) performs the same function.  

**⌘⇧?** (question mark) Open the Help menu.  



## Finder



### Common Operations



**Typing letters** jumps to files beginning with those letters.



**↑** or **↓** (list view) *Scroll up* and *down* (list view).  

**→** or **←** (list view) *Open* and *Close* the selected folder.  

**Space bar** (list view) *Quick Look*: Use Quick Look to preview the selected item.



**⌘N** Open a new Finder window.  

**⌘I** Show the Get Info window for a selected file.  

**⌘Y** Use Quick Look to preview the files.

**⌘F** Start a Spotlight search in the Finder window.  



**⌘⇧N** Create a new folder.  

**⌘⌥N** Create a new Smart Folder.  



**⌘⌫** Move the selected item to the Trash.  

**⌘⇧⌫** Empty the Trash.  

**⌘⇧⌥⌫** Empty the Trash without confirmation dialog.  



### More Operations



**⌘↑** Open the folder that contains the current folder.  

**⌘⌃↑**  Open the folder that contains the current folder in a new window.  

**⌘↓** Open the selected item.  



**⌘D** Duplicate the selected files.  

**⌘E** Eject the selected disk or volume.  

**⌘⇧C** Open the Computer window.  

**⌘⇧D** Open the desktop folder.  

**⌘⇧F** Open the All My Files window.  

**⌘⇧G** Open a Go to Folder window.  

**⌘⇧H** Open the Home folder of the current OS X user account.  

**⌘⇧I** Open iCloud Drive.  

**⌘⇧K** Open the Network window.  

**⌘⌥L** Open the Downloads folder.  

**⌘⇧O** Open the Documents folder.  

**⌘⇧R** Open the AirDrop window.  

**⌘⇧T** Add selected Finder item to the Dock (OS X Mountain Lion or earlier)  

**⌘⇧⌃T** Add selected Finder item to the Dock (OS X Mavericks or later)  

**⌘⇧U** Open the Utilities folder.  

**⌘⌥D** Show or hide the Dock. This often works even when you're not in the Finder.  

**⌘⌃T** Add the selected item to the sidebar (OS X Mavericks or later).  

**⌘⌥P** Hide or show the path bar in Finder windows.  

**⌘⌥S** Hide or show the Sidebar in Finder windows.  

**⌘/** (slash) Hide or show the status bar in Finder windows.  

**⌘J** Show View options.  

**⌘K** Open the Connect to Server window.  

**⌘L** Make an alias of the selected item.  

**⌘R** Show the original file for the selected alias.  

**⌘T** Show or hide the tab bar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.    

**⌘⇧T** Show or hide a Finder tab.  

**⌘⌥T** Show or hide the toolbar when a single tab is open in the current Finder window.  

**⌘⌥V** Move the files in the Clipboard from their original location to the current location.  

**⌘⌥Y** View a Quick Look slideshow of the selected files.  

**⌘Y** Use Quick Look to preview the selected files.  



**⌘1** View the items in the Finder window as icons.  

**⌘2** View the items in a Finder window as a list.  

**⌘3** View the items in a Finder window in columns.  

**⌘4** View the items in a Finder window with Cover Flow.  



**⌘[** (left bracket) Go to the previous folder.  

**⌘]** (right bracket) Go to the next folder.  

**⌘Mission Control** Show the desktop. This works even when you're not in the Finder.  

**⌘Brightness Up** Turn Target Display Mode on or off.  

**⌘Brightness Down** Turn display mirroring on or off when your Mac is connected to more than one display.  

**⌥Brightness Up** Open Displays preferences. This works with either Brightness key.  

**⌥Mission Control** Open Mission Control preferences.  

**⌥Volume Up** Open Sound preferences. This works with any of the volume keys.  



### Mouse/Trackpad Shortcuts



**⌘ key while dragging** Move the dragged item to another volume or location. The pointer changes while you drag the item.  

**⌥ key while dragging** Copy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.  

**⌘⌥ while dragging** Make an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.  

**⌥-click a disclosure triangle** Open all folders within the selected folder. This works only when in list view.  

**⌘-click a window title** See the folders that contain the current folder.  

**⌥-double-click** Open a folder in a separate window and close the current window.  

**⌘-double-click** Open a folder in a separate tab or window.  



## More Shortcuts



* [Startup key combinations](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201255).

* [Shortcuts for accessibility features](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204434).

* Shortcuts for [Safari 8 (Yosemite) ](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19282)and [Safari 9 (El Capitan)](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21483).



## Further Reading



* [Create new shortcuts](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21534) and [resolve conflicts with shortcuts](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH21540).

* Change the behavior of the [function keys](https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204436) or reassign [modifier keys](https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18422).

* Use [spoken commands](https://support.apple.com/kb//HT203085) for keyboard shortcuts.



## License



[![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)



This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).