If you have recently switched to macOS from Windows, you need to learn keyboard shortcuts to perform different things quickly. Keyboard shortcuts are not the same as in Windows. So, you will struggle even in simple tasks such as copy-paste. In Windows, most keyboard shortcuts use the CTRL key. macOS uses the COMMAND key instead. For example, you need to use CTRL+C for copy in Windows but COMMAND+C in macOS. But this isn’t the case with all keyboard shortcuts. Learning keyboard shortcuts helps you perform things faster than the mouse. Some of the keyboard shortcuts work across different applications. For people who are new to Mac, you should learn the Mac keyboard shortcuts to improve productivity. In this detailed article, I am listing more than 100 keyboard shortcuts for Mac. These Mac keyboard shortcuts will save you time and make you productive.
First of all, have a look at some common keyboard shortcuts you need to learn. These shortcuts will help you across different applications and are also most commonly used.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command + A | Select all |
| Command + C | Copy |
| Command + V | Paste |
| Command + X | Cut |
| Command + S | Save |
| Command + Q | Quit |
| Command + N | New |
| Command + Z or Command + Shift + Z | Undo/Redo |
| Command + M | Minimize window |
| Command + W | Close window |
| Command + P | |
| Command + F | Find |
These keyboard shorts are for simple text formatting. They will help you with different word processing and text applications.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command + B | Bold |
| Command + I | Italicize |
| Command + U | Underline |
These are the keyboard shortcuts for Finder for performing different actions quickly.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command + A | Select all items in the front Finder window (or desktop if no window is open) |
| Command + Option + A | Deselect all items |
| Command + Shift + A | Open the Applications folder |
| Command + C | Command + Accent (`) (the Accent key above the Tab key on a US English keyboard layout) |
| Command + Shift + C | Open the Computer window in Finder |
| Command + D | Duplicate selected item |
| Command + Shift + D | Open desktop folder |
| Command + E | Eject |
| Command + F | Find any matching Spotlight attribute |
| Command + Shift + F | Find Spotlight file name matches |
| Command + Option + F | Navigate to the search field in an already-open Spotlight window |
| Command + Shift + G | Go to Folder |
| Command + H | Hide the currently active window |
| Command + Option + H | Hide all windows except the currently active one |
| Command + Option + H + M | Hide all windows except the currently active one and minimize the active window |
| Command + Shift + H | Open the Home folder of the currently logged-in user account |
| Command + I | Get Info |
| Command + Option + I | Show Inspector |
| Command + Control + I | Get Summary Info |
| Command + Shift + I | Open iCloud Drive |
| Command + J | Show View Options |
| Command + K | Connect to Server |
| Command + Shift + K | Open Network window |
| Command + L | Make alias of the selected item |
| Command + M | Minimize window |
| Command + Option + M | Minimize all windows |
| Command + N | New Finder window |
| Command + Shift + N | New folder |
| Command + O | Open selected item |
| Command + Shift + Q | Log out |
| Command + Shift + Option + Q | Log out immediately |
| Command + R | Show original (of alias) |
| Command + T | Open the current location in a new tab |
| Command + Shift + T | Show Tab Bar |
| Command + Option + T | Show/hide Sidebar |
| Command + Shift + U | Open Utilities folder |
| Command + V | Paste |
| Command + W | Close window |
| Command + Option + W | Close all windows |
| Command + X | Cut |
| Command + Option + Y | Slideshow (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) |
| Command + Z or Command + Shift+ Z | Undo / Redo |
| Command + 1 | View as Icon |
| Command + 2 | View as List |
| Command + 3 | View as Columns |
| Command + 4 | View as Cover Flow (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) |
| Command + Comma (,) | Open Finder preferences |
| Command + Accent (`) (the Accent key above Tab key on a US English keyboard layout) | Cycle through open Finder windows |
| Command + Shift + Question Mark (?) | Open the Help menu |
| Command + Left Bracket ([) | Go to the previous folder |
| Command + Right Bracket (]) | Go to the next folder |
| Command + Up Arrow | Open the folder that contains the current folder |
| Command + Control + Up Arrow | Open the folder that contains the current folder in a new window |
| Command + Down Arrow | Open highlighted item |
| Command + Shift + Up Arrow | Open the Computer pane in a new Finder window |
| Right Arrow (in List view) | Open the selected folder |
| Left Arrow (in List view) | Close the selected folder |
| Option + click the disclosure triangle (in List view) | Open all folders within the selected folder |
| Option + double-click | Open a folder in a separate window, closing the current window |
| Command + double-click | Open a folder in a separate tab |
| Command + click the window title | See the folders that contain the current window |
| Command + Delete | Move to Trash |
| Command + Shift + Delete | Empty Trash |
| Command + Shift + Option + Delete | Empty Trash without confirmation dialog |
| Space bar (or Command + Y) | Quick Look (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) |
| Command key while dragging | Move dragged item to other volume/location (pointer icon changes while key is held — see this article) |
| Option key while dragging | Copy dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held — see this article) |
| Command + Option key combination while dragging | Make alias of dragged item (pointer icon changes while key is held — see this article) |
Startup Shortcuts
These are startup keyboard shortcuts that you can use at the time of macOS booting.
| Key or key combination | What it does |
| Option | Display all bootable volumes (Startup Manager) |
| Shift | Perform a Safe Boot (start up in Safe Mode) |
| Left Shift | Prevent automatic login |
| C | Start from bootable media (DVD, CD, USB thumb drive, and so forth) |
| T | Start in FireWire target disk mode |
| N | Start from NetBoot server |
| X | Force MacOS startup (if non-MacOS startup volumes are present) |
| D | Use Apple Hardware Test |
| Command + R | Use Recovery (OS X Lion or later) |
| Command + V | Start in Verbose Mode |
| Command + S | Start in Single User Mode |
| Command + Option + P + R | Reset NVRAM/PRAM |
| Hold down the Media Eject (⏏) key or F12 key, or mouse or trackpad button | Eject removable discs |
These keyboard shortcuts work across different apps and help you perform things faster.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command + Space bar | Show or hide the Spotlight search field (if multiple languages are installed, may rotate through enabled script systems) |
| Control + A | Move to beginning of line/paragraph |
| Control + B | Move one character backward |
| Control + D | Delete the character in front of the cursor |
| Control + E | Move to end of line/paragraph |
| Control + F | Move one character forward |
| Control + H | Delete the character behind the cursor |
| Control + K | Delete from the character in front of the cursor to the end of the line/paragraph |
| Control + L | Center the cursor/selection in the visible area |
| Control + N | Move down one line |
| Control + O | Insert a new line after the cursor |
| Control + P | Move up one line |
| Control + T | Transpose the character behind the cursor and the character in front of the cursor |
| Control + V | Move down one page |
| Option + Delete | Delete all words on a line to the left of the cursor |
| Command + Option + Space bar | Show the Spotlight search results window (if multiple languages are installed, may rotate through keyboard layouts and input methods within a script) |
| Command + Tab | Move forward to the next most recently-used application in a list of open applications |
| Command + Shift + Tab | Move backward through a list of open applications (sorted by recent use) |
| Shift + Tab | Navigate through controls in a reverse direction |
| Control + Tab | Move focus to the next grouping of controls in a dialog or the next table (when Tab moves to the next cell) |
| Shift + Control + Tab | Move focus to the previous grouping of controls |
| Command + Esc | Open Front Row (if installed) |
| Option + Media Eject (⏏) | Eject from secondary optical media drive (if one is installed) |
| Fn + Delete | Forward Delete (on a portable Mac’s built-in keyboard) |
| Control + F3 | Show the open windows for the currently active app, plus recently opened documents for that app |
| F3 | Open Mission Control |
| Command + F3 | Hide or show all open windows |
| F4 | Show Launchpad |
| Command + Accent (`) | Activate the next open window in the frontmost application |
| Command + Shift + Accent (`) | Activate the previous open window in the frontmost application |
| Command + Option + Accent (`) | Move focus to the window drawer |
| Command + Shift + [ | Left-align a selection |
| Command + Shift + ] | Right-align a selection |
| Command + Shift + | Center-align a selection |
| Command + Shift + Colon (:) | Display the Spelling window |
| Command + Semicolon (;) | Find misspelled words in the document |
| Command + Option + Control + Comma (,) | Decrease screen contrast |
| Command + Option + Control + Period (.) | Increase screen contrast |
| Command + Option + / | Turn font smoothing on or off |
| Command + Shift + = | Increase the size of the selected item |
| Command + Minus (-) | Decrease the size of the selected item |
| Command + Shift + 3 | Capture the screen to a file |
| Command + Shift + Control + 3 | Capture the screen to the Clipboard |
| Command + Shift + 4 | Capture a selection to a file |
| Command + Shift + Control + 4 | Capture a selection to the Clipboard |
| Command + A | Highlight every item in a document or window, or all characters in a text field |
| Command + C | Copy the selected data to the Clipboard |
| Command + Shift + C | Display the Colors window |
| Command + Option + C | Copy the style of the selected text |
| Command + Control + C | Copy the formatting settings of the selected item and store on the Clipboard |
| Command + Option + D | Show or hide the Dock |
| Command + Control + D | Display the definition of the selected word in the Dictionary application |
| Command + D | Selects the Desktop folder in Open and Save dialogs or Selects “Don’t Save” in dialogs that contain a Don’t Save button, in MacOS X v10.6.8 and earlier |
| Command + Delete | Selects “Don’t Save” in dialogs that contain a Don’t Save button |
| Command + E | Copy the selection for use with the Find function (Command + F) |
| Command + F | Open a Find window |
| Command + G | Find the next occurrence of the selection |
| Command + Shift + G | Find the previous occurrence of the selection |
| Command + J | Scroll to a selection |
| Command + N | Create a new document in the frontmost application |
| Command + O | Display a dialog for choosing a document to open in the frontmost application |
| Command + P | Display the Print dialog |
| Command + Shift + P | Display a dialog for specifying printing parameters (Page Setup) |
| Command + Q | Quit the frontmost application |
| Command + S | Save the active document |
| Command + Shift + S | Display the Save As dialog or Duplicate the document and open the Save dialog |
| Command + T | Display the Fonts window |
| Command + Option + T | Show or hide a toolbar |
| Command + V | Paste the Clipboard contents at the insertion point |
| Command + Option + V | Apply the style of one object to the selected object (Paste Style) |
| Command + Shift + Option + V | Apply the style of the surrounding text to the inserted object (Paste and Match Style) |
| Command + Control + V | Apply formatting settings to the selected object (Paste Ruler Command) |
| Control + Right Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Control + Left Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Control + Down Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Control + Up Arrow | Move focus to another value or cell within a view, such as a table |
| Command + Right Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the current line |
| Command + Left Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the current line |
| Command + Down Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the document |
| Command + Up Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the document |
| Option + Right Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the next word |
| Option + Left Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the previous word |
| Command + Shift + Right Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the end of the current line |
| Command + Shift + Left Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line |
| Shift + Right Arrow | Extend text selection one character to the right |
| Shift + Left Arrow | Extend text selection one character to the left |
| Command + Shift + Up Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document |
| Command + Shift + Down Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the end of the document |
| Shift + Up Arrow | Extend text selection to the line above, to the nearest character boundary at the same horizontal location |
| Shift + Down Arrow | Extend text selection to the line below, to the nearest character boundary at the same horizontal location |
| Shift + Option + Right Arrow | Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again |
| Shift + Option + Left Arrow | Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again |
| Shift + Option + Down Arrow | Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again |
| Shift + Option + Up Arrow | Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again |
| Control + Space bar | Toggle between the current and previous input sources |
| Control + Option + Space bar | Toggle through all enabled input sources |
| Command + Option + Esc | Force Quit |
| Command + Shift + Option + Esc | Force Quit the front-most application (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) |
| Command + [ | Go backward in browser history |
| Command + ] | Go forward in browser history |
