Mac Shortcuts: Quick Keyboard Functions to Be More Productive

When working with Mac, you always seek to be productive and this is achieved thanks to the multitude of shortcuts included in macOS. In this article we will try to collect the main shortcuts that exist as well as the possibility of creating some custom ones.

Essential shortcuts

If you are migrating from Windows to macOS, surely an action as simple as copying and pasting a text is something you miss. We must bear in mind that between Windows and macOS keyboard shortcuts differ, and that is why we are going to compile below the most common keyboard shortcuts that we all use on a daily basis.

Mac Shortcuts: Quick Keyboard Functions to Be More Productive

  • Command + C : copy action to clipboard.
  • Command + V : Paste in any document what you have copied to the clipboard.
  • Option + Command + V: paste respecting the origin style.
  • Option + Shift + Command + V: Paste in the same style as the target document.
  • Command + X : move file or text from one part to another (cut).
  • Command + Z : if you made a mistake you can go back.
  • Command + A : Select all text or all files in a folder.
  • Command + F : Search in a document or open the Finder .
  • Command + spacebar : Open Spotlight search bar.
  • Command + S : Saves any changes made to a document.
  • Shift + Command + S: ‘Save As …’ dialog box.
  • Command + H : Hides the open file in the foreground.
  • Command + M : to minimize the open document, placing the icon on the desktop.
  • Command + P : Print the document in the foreground or the web page you are visiting.
  • Command + W : Close all open windows.
  • Command + U : displays the code of an html page.
  • Option + Command + Escape: force quit an application.
  • Command + T: open a new tab.

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Document shortcuts

If you work a lot with documents, either in word processors such as Word or Pages, or in the Preview application, these shortcuts interest you. They allow you to move freely through a text you are writing at the moment as well as being able to edit it easily.

  • Command + B: Bold the selected piece of text or enable / disable the option.
  • Command + I: Italicize the selected text or enable / disable the function.
  • Command + U: underline the chosen text or activate / deactivate the function.
  • Control + Command + D: Shows the definition of a chosen word.
  • Shift + Command + Colon: displays the spelling window.
  • Command + Semicolon: Search for misspelled words.
  • Option + Delete: Delete the word on the left.
  • Control + H: Removes the character to the left of the insertion point. If we press D instead of the H, it will erase the one on the right.
  • Control-D: simulates the functions of ‘Delete’ in case you do not have the specific key.
  • Control + K: Delete the text between the insertion point and the end of the line.
  • Fn + Direction arrows: depending on the arrow you press you will move to a specific part of the document. If you press left you will go to the beginning of the document, and if you click on the right arrow you will go to the end. If you press the date above, you will return to the previous page and if it is down, the next page.
  • Command + Direction Arrows: Pressing the up arrow will move the insertion point to the beginning of the document, and pressing the bottom arrow will move it to the end. In the case of pressing the left arrow you will move the insertion point to the beginning of the left line and with the right arrow to the end.
  • Control + A: move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
  • Control + E: move to the end of the line or paragraph.
  • Control + F: center the cursor.
  • Control + O : insert a new line.
  • Command + opening curved braces: align text to the left.
  • Command + close curved braces: align text to the right.
  • Shift + Command + Vertical bar: align to center.
  • Shift + Command + Plus sign: Increase the size of the selected text or image.
  • Shift + Command + Minus Sign: Decreases the size of the selected text or item.

Finder shortcuts

  • Command + Spacebar: Open Spotlight Finder.
  • Space bar: preview of a selected item.
  • Command + D: duplicate selected files.
  • Command + E : Eject a disc as a USB storage device.
  • Command C: open the Computer window.
  • Command + Shift + D: Open the Desktop folder.
  • Shift + Command + F : open the Recent window.
  • Shift + Command + N: create a folder.
  • Shift + Command + L : Open the Downloads folder.
  • Shift + Command + I : Open the iCloud Drive folder.
  • Shift + Command + O: open the documents folder.
  • Shift + Command + R: Open AirDrop.
  • Shift + Command + U: open the utilities folder.
  • Shift + Command + D: show or hide the Dock.
  • Shift + Command + F: Open the Recent folder.
  • Option + Command + N: create a Smart Folder.
  • Command + 1 : View the elements of the Finder window as icons.
  • Command + 2 : view items in a Finder window as a list.
  • Command + 3 : View the elements of a Finder window in columns.
  • Command + 4 : View the elements of a Finder window in a gallery.
  • Command + double click: open folder in another new tab.
  • Option + double click: open file in new window.
  • Command + Delete: move item to trash.
  • Option + Shift + Raise or lower brightness: adjust brightness more precisely.
  • Command + Brightness Up: Activate or deactivate the target screen mode.
  • Command + Brightness Down: Enable or disable video mirroring.
  • Command + down arrow: open selected item.

On and off shortcuts

Although the task of shutting down or restarting a Mac is extremely simple, sometimes a series of errors can occur that force us to resort to different keyboard shortcuts to shutdown or restart a Mac:

  • Option + Command + Power Button: Put Mac to sleep.
  • Control + Shift + Power Button: Put the screen to sleep.
  • Control + Power Button: Show dialog box to shutdown, restart or put to sleep.
  • Control + Command + Power Button – Force the Mac to restart.
  • Control + Option + Command + Power button: Turn off the Mac.
  • Control + Command + Q: lock screen.

Keyboard shortcuts during startup

If you are a somewhat advanced user and you have a problem with your Mac, you can resort to some commands at computer startup to access safe mode or recovery mode. As we mentioned, these commands should be used if you have knowledge about the operating system and what you are going to do.

  • Command + R: Launch ‘macOS Recovery’, ideal for restoring your computer.
  • Option or Alt: Boot the Mac from a specific disk partition or another different volume.
  • Option + Command + P + R: reset NVRAM.
  • Uppercase: boots in safe mode.
  • D: Starts the Apple diagnostic. Ideal to check if any hardware component is failing.
  • N: start the Mac from a NetBoot server.
  • Command + S: boots up in single user mode.

Create new shortcuts on macOS

In addition to all these keyboard shortcuts that we found, you can include many others following your tastes. It is important that it does not conflict with the rest of the shortcuts, something that can certainly be complicated, although shortcuts can be created for specific applications. This is ideal for professional editors looking to have shortcuts to specific editing programs. In order to create these shortcuts, simply follow these steps:

  1. Go to System Preferences> Keyboard> Quick Features.
  2. On the left you can select ‘Quick app functions’ and clicking on the ‘+’ icon you can display a series of applications and choose the one in which you want to create the custom shortcut.
  3. In the ‘Menu title’ field, you must enter the quick function command exactly as shown in the app command. That is, the route to follow when clicking on the shortcut.
  4. In the ‘Keyboard shortcut function’ field, enter the key combination that will be associated with the command specified above.

With these simple steps you can easily run a shortcut in a specific application or in all of them to make your task a little easier.