Mac 101: Navigating OS X with your keyboard
Let's face it: unless you're just casually surfing the Internet or playing a game, chances are pretty good that your hands are on the keyboard most of the time when you're at the computer. Sure, the mouse is only a few inches away, but wouldn't it just be easier if you didn't have to keep going back and forth from the mouse to the keyboard?Enter the world of keyboard shortcuts. A keyboard shortcut is exactly what the name implies: a way of using the keys on your keyboard to quickly perform tasks that typically would require multiple steps using a mouse. Before we dive in to the magic keystrokes, let's take a quick look at how shortcuts work on the Mac.
Most keyboards have a number of special keys in the bottom corners that look and work differently from the other keys. These keys are called 'modifier keys', because they change (or modify) the behavior of any keys that are pressed while the modifier key is held down. A good example of this is the shift key, which causes letters to appear in uppercase as they are typed. Although the shift key is commonly found on everything from typewriters to telephones, the other keys that are available depend on the keyboard you have and what kind of computer it is plugged in to. But just like the shift key, you use them by holding down the modifier key, pressing another key, then letting go of both keys.
On a Mac, the most commonly used modifier key is the Command key, which is just to the left of the space bar, and can be identified by a clover-like icon on the key. The most commonly used shortcuts in OS X make use of the Command key. For example, in most applications, pressing Command-S will save the document you have open, while Command-O will show the open dialog so you can open another document. Less common tasks make use of the other modifier keys, such as the Option and Control keys, and some even use more than one at a time (such as Command-Shift-S to show the Save As dialog instead of just saving the document).
If you're switching from using a PC, and you're familiar with keyboard shortcuts in Windows, you will find that many of the common shortcuts are similar, but it might take some time to train your muscle memory to find the Command key as it is in roughly the same spot as the Alt key on most PC keyboards.
One last thing that's important to know about keystrokes is exactly where they will work, or their 'scope'. There are a handful of shortcuts built in to OS X that have a global scope, meaning they will work pretty much anywhere, at any time, from any application. Here are some of my favorites:
Global OS X Keyboard Shortcuts
- Command+Tab - This is handy for switching between applications. Hold down Command and press the Tab key repeatedly to cycle through all of the running applications. You can also use the ` key (while still holding down the Command key) to go through the list of applications in reverse.
- Command+Space Bar - This will pop open the Spotlight search box so you can do a quick search. This can also double as a quick way to open applications without a mouse -- just type in an application, and hit enter when it shows up in the Spotlight search results.
- Command+H - Hide the current application. I use this to get rid of my e-mail window when I'm finished with it. You can get back to it by using Command+Tab as mentioned above, or clicking the icon in the dock.
- Command+Option+H - Hide all other applications (but the current one). This is really useful if you have a lot of windows open and want to focus on just one of them, or if you just want to reduce screen clutter.
- F8 through F12 - These keys toggle Spaces, Expose`, and Dashboard. On newer Macs, you might need to hold down the fn key as well.
Besides the global shortcuts, there are several shortcuts that are standard across most applications, allowing you to quickly perform common tasks without having to guess what the keystroke might be:
- Command+X, Command+C, & Command-V - Cut, copy and paste. I know, they aren't easy to remember by the letters, but somewhere along the line that became the standard.
- Command-N - Open a new file, or sometimes a new window, depending on the application.
- Command-O - Show the open file dialog
- Command-S - Save the current document
- Command-W - Close the current window or tab
- Command-Q - Quit the current application
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Let's face it: unless you're just casually surfing the Internet or playing a game, chances are pretty good that your hands are on the...
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Nice article - thanks!
Here's a fun question: how to switch to the user authentication dialog (and probably other system dialogs) using the kb?
i.e. perform an action which results in the authentication dialog popping up (e.g. lock and the unlock some system settings - with a passworded admin account). Cmd-tab away to another app. Boink. I cannot find a way to get back to the system dialog.
Still digging on the webternets - I'll post back if I find out!
Cheers
Will
@Mike
I suppose you have an american keyboard, but anyway, for some European keyboards, to toggle between multiple windows in an application, say multiple Finder-windows, one will use ⌘< (Cmd + are located next to the left Shift-button. Between that and Z.
One shortcut that has saved me some time:
CTRL-F8 gives you access to the menu icons in the top-right of your screen.
Extremely useful to reconnect your bluetooth mouse to your iMac manually after you've replaced the batteries, and have gotten tired of waiting for the automatic reconnect.
Does anyone know a keyboard command for "Merging All Windows" in Safari? I open quite a bit of tabs and windows, but I prefer having multiple tabs in one window. When a new window opens from my clicking a link, so I then click "Window" and then "Merge All Windows." Thats fine and dandy, but is there a more efficient way to do this?
February 27 2010 at 8:34 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou can do a couple of things.
If you have multiple windows w/multiple tabs, you can drag the tabs directly from one window to another.
Or Drag a tab off the active window and make a new window.
In Preferences: Tabs
Select the top item:Command-Click opens a new link in a new Tab.
Just remember to hold down the Command key when clicking on links.
Also, there's a great Safari add-on called Glims that saves your work state: all windows and all tabs and does a few other things.
http://www.machangout.com/
I am studying abroad for a year and so Skype is a life-saver for staying in touch with the world back home as well as the world I am discovering. Alt-Tab works great to switch between windows, and say if I am using Safari with multiple tabs open, Control-Tab will allow me to switch between separate tabs. The Skype client for Mac likes to have a window open for your contact list, and then a window open for your current conversations. When I was on my PC (recent switcher to MBP, but have had plenty of experience with MACs before) ALT-TAB would allow me to switch between conversations, the same that it would allow me to switch between tabbed windows on Safari. The problem that I have now is that Control-Tab will allow me to switch between tabbed widows in Safari, but won't allow me to switch between conversations in Skype. Any advice on this one?
February 27 2010 at 8:01 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replydid not know command h and command option h. invaluable. I am a command tabber machine.
February 26 2010 at 3:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySpeaking of keyboard shortcuts, Exposé is spelled with an accent, which can be inserted with ease. Press Option-E, which will cause a little yellow rectange with a forward accent to appear, then press the E key again to put the "e" under the accent. This works with several other letters as well, making it quick and easy to type "åéîøüñç" without having to open up the character palette.
One very important thing to mention (in fact, I'm a little surprised it wasn't in this article) is that most keyboard shortcuts you'll commonly use are pointed out in the menu items they correspond to. You can take a quick look through any of the menus up top, and you'll see that, for example, the menu item for "Quit Safari" also says "⌘Q" on the right-hand side of the menu, meaning that pressing Command-Q will have the same effect as clicking that menu item. It's a no-pressure way of exploring keyboard shortcuts on your own.
Thanks for the tip... I can't believe I forgot to mention the menu hints.
February 26 2010 at 3:10 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI have a question regarding the Command + Tab command. When I hold that and flip to a new program, all that happens for me is that the menu bar at the top of the screen shows it as being selected, but the window doesn't show up. For example, I tab over to mail, then select. Mail shows up in place of Finder or whatever, but no windows appear. Anyone else know how to get that to show?
February 26 2010 at 1:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyNot easy to remember?? I think you need a little bit of imagery to assist you my friend...
C - for Copy
X - Cut (it's beside C and is like a pair of scissors (kinda))
V - The other side of C and it's like an insertion marker.
btw - on a UK keyboard, I thoroughly recommend that Everyone (NOW!) remaps their ⌘`keyboard shortcut to ⌘§
The reason is that the back tick on a UK keyboard is next to Z not just above TAB where it makes sense
They're easy for me to remember, and I actually think of them the same way you do. I actually thought I was the only one who figured the V could be an insertion mark :-P
But I've known a lot of not-so-technical people who have had a hard time with them (especially paste). They usually get used to it after a while, but they're just kind of weird keystrokes.
In addition to Command+C and Command-V (for copy and paste) I also use Command+A a lot, which is Select All. I'd be lost without it!
February 26 2010 at 4:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCan please someone point me in the right direction: when using arrow keys to browse files inside finder, I want to get into a folder, I am PC switcher (MBP proud owner now) and I usually just press ENTER to get into the folder, but in finder I only get to start editing the name. Is there a special step to get into folders insider finder ?
Thank you
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