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Mac 101: use a tab to navigate dialogs


Recently we here at TUAW were asked about navigating dialog boxes and applications with the keyboard. It is really easy to use the tab key to select different parts of the window and different buttons in a dialog box, if you know how to enable this behavior.

Open System Preferences > Mouse and Keyboard, and click the "Keyboard Shortcuts" tab. You are presented with two options at the bottom of the window (in the "Full keyboard access" section): Text boxes and lists only or All controls. By default, "Text boxes and lists" should be selected, but if you want to be able to select other buttons in a window with the tab key then you need to select the "All controls" option.

Now when you encounter a dialog box (or window), just press the tab key to switch between the various buttons on the screen. If you would like to go to a previous button, use shift + tab. When you've got the button you want highlighted, press the enter key or space bar. It's as easy as that!


For more tips and tricks like these, visit the Mac 101 section on TUAW.

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Recently we here at TUAW were asked about navigating dialog boxes and applications with the keyboard. It is really easy to use the tab key...
 

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JoshK

Funny, I just showed this to a friend yesterday after showing him the Ctrl+Eject option for the shut down dialogue. He said he couldn't tab around to select sleep. I was puzzled but then it just clicked, I took him through the steps and he was floored!

May 07 2008 at 12:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

My previous post would make a whole lot more sense if my assumption that the TUAW blogging system would auto-encode less-than's and greater-than's, rather than remove them had turned out to be correct...

Let's try that again, with manual ampersand-lt-semi-colon type-stuff...

To clarify the behaviour:
<Enter> always invokes the default action (all-blue button)
<Space> invokes the highlighted action (blue halo)
<Tab>,<Shift-Tab> moves the highlight.

First letter often invokes a button. The behaviour here may be inconsistent from one app to another. I most often use it in iTunes, where <Del>, <R> ,<M> invokes "Delete", "Remove from Library", "Move to Trash".
No Command key required. Maybe other apps do need the Command key as Darren said.

Yes/No, OK/Cancel type dialogs often have one button set as the default action and the other one initially highlighted, meaning you can invoke either with a single <Enter> or <Space> - no need to tab around first.

May 07 2008 at 3:17 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

To clarify the behaviour:
always invokes the default action (all-blue button)
invokes the highlighted action (blue halo)
, moves the highlight.

First letter often invokes a button. The behaviour here may be inconsistent from one app to another. I most often use it in iTunes, where , , invokes "Delete", "Remove from Library", "Move to Trash". No Command key required. Maybe other apps do need the Command key as Darren said.

Yes/No, OK/Cancel type dialogs often have one button set as the default action and the other one initially highlighted, meaning you can invoke either with a single or - no need to tab around first.

May 07 2008 at 3:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mattyohe

Safari has its own option for this also in:

Safari Preferences > Advanced > Press Tab...



May 07 2008 at 12:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
KeepLooking

To be sure that this tip "sticks" in case of errant keytaps, disable the Ctrl-F7 keyboard shortcut in System Preferences.

May 06 2008 at 9:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Steve Marks

Nice! I have been wanting to know how to do this for a LONG time. And I'm not exactly a new mac user, either. Thank you.

May 06 2008 at 8:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Johnny

Well slap me silly! That is a very useful trick that has apparently passed me by... well... forever! Until now. Please tell me this hasn't been there all along and is new to Leopard or something.

May 06 2008 at 8:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Johnny's comment
Cory Bohon

No, not a new feature with Leopard. It's been there for quite a while ... but that's OK. It is always nice to discover a new trick to make the Mac more productive. :-)

Personally, I think this option should be enabled by default.

May 06 2008 at 8:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Martin

I agree with you, Cory. It would help switchers out substantially.

May 07 2008 at 11:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
RJ

For dialog boxes, the spacebar would go with what you tabbed to and enter would still select the one that is selected by default. Isn't this right?

May 06 2008 at 8:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to RJ's comment
Eric

I believe you are correct--the author of this article is incorrect.

May 06 2008 at 10:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cory Bohon

@RJ: You are correct. I have updated the post. Thanks for correcting me!

May 06 2008 at 10:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tim

Wow! I have been lamenting this fact for the last year ever since I switched and now my life will be changed! Thank you so much.

May 06 2008 at 8:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Darren

Additionally, you can use a keyboard command to select the button based on the first letter of the button label. For example, use Command+D to select the "Don't Save" button of a dialog.

May 06 2008 at 7:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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