If you’re new to Mac, though, learning all the different macOS keyboard shortcuts can be a challenge. Hence, to help you in the process, we’ve curated a list of the best Mac keyboard shortcuts that you can use to perform a range of operations.
Best Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
Almost all keyboard shortcuts on a Mac require you to press (and hold) at least one modifier key at once to trigger an action. A modifier key, for the uninitiated, is a special key that momentarily invokes the alternate function of another key to help you perform its assigned operation. On a Mac, there are five different modifier keys, namely:
Command (or CMD) – ⌘ Option – ⌥ Shift – ⇧ Control – ^ Function (or Fn)
Now that you know how to work with modifier keys let’s dive in and explore the best keyboard shortcuts for Mac. We’ve clubbed these shortcuts by categories and use-cases to make it easier for you to find them.
1. Basic Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac
Basic Mac keyboard shortcuts include everything from simple copying and pasting text to opening a new Finder window, emptying the trash, or accessing folders. These shortcuts can significantly help you in your day-to-day Mac operations and improve your efficiency.
2. macOS Finder Keyboard Shortcuts
Finder is the most-used app on Mac that gives you access to the entire file system along with all your apps/documents. Although it’s fairly easy to navigate Finder, you can accomplish most of these tasks more efficiently if you know the right keyboard shortcuts.
3. macOS Spotlight Keyboard Shortcuts
Spotlight is a system-wide search functionality on macOS that lets you search your Mac for various types of files, documents, images, apps, system settings, and more. Much like other system elements, Apple employs certain keyboard shortcuts to Spotlight as well. These shortcuts enhance the search experience and dramatically speed up the process.
4. Mac Startup Keyboard Shortcuts
As the name suggests, startup keyboard shortcuts are shortcuts that allow you to perform Mac startup operations with ease. Using them, you can restart Mac in recovery mode, access Startup Manager, or reset NVRAM or PRAM, among other things. These keys or key combinations should be pressed and held immediately after you hit the power button to turn on your Mac or when it begins to restart. Bear in mind that these startup keyboard shortcuts only work on Intel-based Mac. If you wish to access any of the startup options on a Mac with Apple silicon, turn it on and continue to press and hold the power button until you get to the startup options window.
5. Mac Power Keyboard Shortcuts
Power operations such as putting the Mac to sleep, forcing Mac to restart, locking its screen, etc., can be performed using the power button or by navigating certain system settings. However, much like other Mac actions, these can also be simplified with keyboard shortcuts.
6. Mac Accessibility Keyboard Shortcuts
Accessibility features allow you to control your Mac using a keyboard. Apple also includes accessibility keyboard shortcuts for a lot of these features like VoiceOver, Siri, Dictation, etc., on macOS, which you can use for easy access.
7. Document Keyboard Shortcuts
If you use Mac as your primary device for work or personal use, you probably use it to work (create or edit) on many documents. In which case, you can get the most of the editing experience using the different keyboard shortcuts. Most of these shortcuts work well with Apple’s suite of apps like TextEdit, Pages, Numbers, etc., but you can also put some of them to use on third-party document apps.
What Is Mac Screenshot Shortcut?
On macOS, you can take a screenshot in a few different ways. Listed below are the different ways to take a screenshot and their shortcuts
Take a screenshot of the entire screen: Command + Shift + 3 Capture a portion of the screen in your screenshot: Press Command + Shift 4 and use the crosshair to select the area to capture Capture a window or menu: Hit the Command + Shift + 4 + Space bar screenshot shortcut and tap on the window or menu to capture it View screenshot menu/record the screen: Press Command + Shift + 5 and select from the available screenshot or screen capturing options. Additionally, you can set a timer to capture the screen after the specified time
Get Stuff Done Faster With macOS Keyboard Shortcuts
Using the macOS keyboard shortcuts in this guide, you should be able to carry out a lot of your daily Mac operations with ease and accomplish more with fewer steps. Of course, this goes without saying that third-party applications will have their native keyboard shortcuts for different actions. And therefore, you’ll have to refer to their documents to find out these shortcuts for Mac. Besides, if you ever need to create custom shortcuts, be it to launch specific apps or trigger app-specific or setting-specific operations, among others, you can do so using Keysmith. While this is ideal macOS behavior, if you wish to use the Control key for your shortcuts instead, you can swap the functionality of the Control and Command key from the Mac keyboard settings. To do this, head to System Preferences > Keyboard. Click on Modifier Keys, hit the dropdown button next to Command, and select Control from the dropdown list. And as such, its equivalent on macOS is the Command+Option+Esc keyboard shortcut that brings up the Force Quit Applications menu from where you can close the frozen app.
