These MacOSX Keyboard Shortcut Keys are sure to make your Mac experience more efficient and fun!
Startup
Keystroke
Description
Press X during startup
Force Mac OS X startup
Press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup
Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)
Press C during startup
Start up from a CD that has a system folder
Press N during startup
Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot)
Press T during startup
Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode
Press Shift during startup
start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items and non-essential kernel extension files (Mac OS X 10.2 and later)
Press Command-V during startup
Start up in Verbose mode.
Press Command-S during startup
Start up in Single-User mode
Finder window
Keyboard shortcut
Description
Command-W
Close Window
Option-Command-W
Close all Windows
Command-Right Arrow
Expand folder (list view)
Option-Command-Right Arrow
Expand folder and nested subfolders (list view)
Command-Left Arrow
Collapse Folder (list view)
Option-Command-Up Arrow
Open parent folder and close current window
(Assigned in Keyboard & Mouse preferences)
Show Package Contents (of selected file in Mac OS X 10.5 or later only). To create this contextual menu shortcut, open Keyboard & Mouse preferences in Mac OS X 10.5, click Keyboard Shortcuts, click the "+" button, choose Finder.app as the Application, and type "Show Package Contents" (exactly), and set whichever shortcut you want, such as Command-Control-S.
Menu commands
Keyboard shortcut
Description
Shift-Command-Q
Apple Menu Log out
Shift-Option-Command-Q
Apple Menu Log out immediately
Shift-Command-Delete
Finder Menu Empty Trash
Option-Shift-Command-Delete
Finder Menu Empty Trash without dialog
Command-H
Finder Menu Hide Finder
Option-Command-H
Finder Menu Hide Others
Command-N
File Menu New Finder window
Shift-Command-N
File Menu New Folder
Command-O
File Menu Open
Command-S
File Menu Save
Shift-Command-S
File Menu Save as
Command-P
File Menu Print
Command-W
File Menu Close Window
Option-Command-W
File Menu Close all Windows
Command-I
File Menu Get Info
Option-Command-I
File Menu Show Attributes Inspector
Command-D
File Menu Duplicate
Command-L
File Menu Make Alias
Command-R
File Menu Show original
Command-T
File Menu Add to Favorites (Mac OS X 10.2.8 or earlier), Add to Sidebar (Mac OS X 10.3 or later—use Shift-Command-T for Add to Favorites)
Command-Delete
File Menu Move to Trash
Command-E
File Menu Eject
Command-F
File Menu Find
Command-Z
Edit Menu Undo
Command-X
Edit Menu Cut
Command-C
Edit Menu Copy
Command-V
Edit Menu Paste
Command-A
Edit Menu Select All
Command-1
View Menu View as Icons
Command-2
View Menu View as List
Command-3
View Menu View as Columns
Command-B
View Menu Hide Toolbar
Command-J
View Menu Show View Options
Command - [
Go Menu Back
Command - ]
Go Menu Forward
Shift-Command-C
Go Menu Computer
Shift-Command-H
Go Menu Home
Shift-Command-I
Go Menu iDisk
Shift-Command-A
Go Menu Applications
Shift-Command-F
Go Menu Favorites
Shift-Command-G
Go Menu Goto Folder
Command-K
Go Menu Connect to Server
Command-M
Window Menu Minimize Window
Option-Command-M
Window Menu Minimize All Windows
Command-?
Help Menu Open Mac Help
Command-Space
Open Spotlight (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Command-esc
Front Row Activates Front Row for certain Apple computers
Turn on Full Keyboard Access When Full Keyboard Access is turned on, you can use the key combinations listed in the table below from the Finder.
Control-F2
Full Keyboard Access Highlight Menu
Control-F3
Full Keyboard Access Highlight Dock
Control-F4
Full Keyboard Access Highlight Window (active) or next window behind it
Control-F5
Full Keyboard Access Highlight Toolbar
Control-F6
Full Keyboard Access Highlight Utility window (palette)
Command-F5 or fn-Command-F5
Turn VoiceOver on or off (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Control-Option-F8 or fn-Control-Option-F8
Open VoiceOver Utility (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Control-Option-F7 or fn-Control-option-F7
Display VoiceOver menu (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
Control-Option-; or fn-Control-option-;
Enable/disable VoiceOver Control-Option lock (Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
The Universal Access preference pane allows you to turn on Mouse Keys. When Mouse Keys is on, you can use the numeric keypad to move the mouse. If your computer doesn't have a numeric keypad, use the Fn (function) key.
Mouse Keys
Keystroke
Description
8
Move Up
2
Move Down
4
Move Left
6
Move Right
1, 3, 7, and 9
Move Diagonally
5
Press Mouse Button
0
Hold Mouse Button
. (period on keypad)
Release Mouse Button (use after pressing 0)
Other Commands
Keystroke
Description
Option-Command-D
Show/Hide Dock
Command-Tab
Switch application
tab
Highlight next item
Command-Up Arrow
Move up one directory
Command-Down Arrow
Move down one directory
Page Up or Control-Up Arrow
Move up one page
Page Down or Control-Down Arrow
Move down one page
Option-Drag
Copy to new location
Option-Command-Drag
Make alias in new location
Command-Drag
Move to new location without copying
Shift-Command-C
Show Colors palette in application
Command-T
Show Font palette in application
Command-Shift-3
Take a picture of the screen
Command-Shift-4
Take a picture of the selection
Command-Shift-4, then press Control while selecting
Take a picture of the screen, place in Clipboard
Command-Shift-4, then Spacebar
Take a picture of the selected window
Option-Command-esc
Force Quit
Control-Eject
Restart, Sleep, Shutdown dialog box
Control-Command-Eject
Quit all applications and restart
Option-Command-Eject or Option-Command-Power
Sleep
Command-click window toolbar button (upper right corner)
Cycle through available views for the window's toolbar (dependant on the nature of the Finder or application window)
Command-`
Cycle through windows in application or Finder (if more than one window is open)