I have often found myself frustrated knowing that there is a keyboard shortcut for something in Mac OSX but for whatever reason I can’t remember what it was. This page is my way of keeping track of keyboard shortcuts I find online so I don’t have to remember them!

   
   
Menu Commands  
Shift+Apple+Q Log out
Shift+Option Apple+Q Log out immediately
Shift+Apple+Delete Empty Trash
Apple+H Hide Active Application
Option+Apple+H Hide All But The Active Application
Control+Eject Shut Down, Sleep, or Restart Options
Apple+Control+Eject Quit all applications and Restart
Apple+ . (period) Stop a process
Apple+ , (comma) Open Preferences for Active Application
Option+Apple+D Show/Hide Dock
Control+Up Arrow Move up one page
Control+Down Arrow Move down one page
Option+Apple+Esc Force Quit
File Management  
Apple+N New Finder window
Shift+Apple+N New Folder
Apple+O Open Another Existing Document
Apple+S Save
Shift+Apple+S Save as
Apple+P Print
Apple+W Close Window
Apple+Option+W Close all Windows
Apple+I Get Info
Option+Apple+I Show Attributes Inspector
Apple+D Duplicate
Apple+Q Close Application
Apple+L Make Alias
Apple+R Show Original
Apple+T Add to Favorites
Apple+Delete Move Highlighted Items to Trash
Apple+E Eject
Apple+F Find
Editing  
Apple+Z Undo
Apple+X Cut
Apple+C Copy
Apple+V Paste
Apple+A Select All
Apple+ { Align Left
Apple+ } Align Right
Apple+ | (pipe) Align Center
Apple+ ; (semicolon) Check Spelling
Shift+Apple+C Show Colors palette in application
Apple+T Show Font palette in application
View Menu  
Apple+1 View as Icons
Apple+2 View as List
Apple+3 View as Columns
Option+Apple+T Hide Toolbar
Apple+J Show View Options
Moving Around  
Apple+ [ Back
Apple+ ] Forward
Shift+Apple+A Applications
Shift+Apple+F Favorites
Shift+Apple+G Goto Folder
Apple+K Connect to Server
Apple+Tab Switch to next Application
Controlling Windows  
Apple+N New Window
Apple+T New Tab
Apple+M Minimize Window
Option+Apple+M Minimize All Windows
Getting Help  
Apple+ ? Open Mac Help
Universial Access  
Option+Apple+ * (asterisk) Turn on Zoom
Option+Apple+ = Zoom in
Option+Apple+ - Zoom out
Control+Option+Apple+ * Switch to White on Black (Invert Screen)
Combine Keyboard with Mouse  
Option+Drag Copy to new location
Option+Apple+Drag Make alias in new location
Apple+Drag Move to new location without copying
Screen Shots  
Apple+Shift+3 Take a picture of the screen
Apple+Shift+4 Take a picture of the selection
Apple+Shift+4, Control Take a picture of the selection, place in clipboard
Apple+Shift+4, Spacebar Take a picture of the selected window
   

Update: For European characters and accent marks there are several useful key combinations that use the Mac’s option key. Apple has posted a nice write up here with all the details.


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  2. Hamza on Friday 22, 2006

    Hi i would like to know how to type this :
    for coding.

  3. Alana on Friday 22, 2006

    how do I make the colors on my macbook negative/inverted using the keyboard?

  4. Druttimasia on Friday 22, 2006

    very intresting

  5. chris on Friday 22, 2006

    Why’s there not a shortcut to maximise a window?

  6. chris on Friday 22, 2006

    Why’s there not a shortcut to maximise a window?

  7. chris on Friday 22, 2006

    Why’s there not a shortcut to maximise a window?

  8. мepтвeц on Friday 22, 2006

    Согласен с автором статьи. У меня точно такое же мнение :)

  9. Frenchy1st on Friday 22, 2006

    The “INSERT key’ on MacBook Pro = fn +home, (the left arrow on your right side). It is mainly helpful for MAYA users!

    Good luck!

    La clé “INSERT” sur le MacBook Pro = fn + home, (la flèche de gauche à ta droite). C’est surtout utile pour les utilisateurs de MAYA!

    Bonne chance:)

    Frenchy1st :)

  10. jazz on Friday 22, 2006

    to minimise a window you can use apple+h. to maximise it you can use alt+tab.

  11. Michael Smale on Friday 22, 2006

    Just got my first ever MacBook. This list has probably saved me hours of frustration and I am eternally grateful. Thank you very much :)

  12. add on Friday 22, 2006

    Now I often use “apple+tab” to move to other application, but the problem is sometimes i open more than one window per one application, I cannot use “apple+tab” to move around each window in the same application. Can anyone let me know how to move around all window by using shortcut. thanks

  13. Mohan on Friday 22, 2006

    It is very useful for me

  14. nheis on Friday 22, 2006

    hey add, if u want to switch between windows in the same program you press “apple+~ and that should work

  15. sarah on Friday 22, 2006

    what is the apple button??

  16. Linda Stewart on Friday 22, 2006

    Why will Control and Up Arrow not work for page up on my Macbook Pro?

  17. Janice Lloyd on Friday 22, 2006

    Thank you for making this so simple.

  18. Jess on Friday 22, 2006

    For all those that have asked, the ‘apple’ key is the command key to the left of the spacebar. It has that swirly square thing on the top, which is actually the apple symbol

  19. J Maheswari on Friday 22, 2006

    how to type text in INDESIGN in macbook pro without using a mouse..

  20. sunny on Friday 22, 2006

    While pressing some keys my keyboard got locked.How to unlock the keyboard?

  21. Cristo on Friday 22, 2006

    Is there a shorcut or a way to get the same function of the HOME and END button from a regular keyboard in a MacBook Pro?

  22. Anna on Friday 22, 2006

    HELP!! I accidently pushed the wrong key & it locked the keyboard. Please help me out.