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The best Mac keyboard shortcuts for 2024

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Many Mac owners swear that keyboard shortcuts help simplify their lives. If you’re new to a Mac, learning all the available keyboard shortcuts can be a real challenge. Quite a few of these shortcuts will now work in iPadOS, too, thanks to the Magic Keyboard available to iPad Pro users.

We’ve put together a list of the most important shortcuts you should know. You can also take a look at our list of the best Mac apps for even more Apple shortcuts.

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The most important shortcuts

Command + space

Open Spotlight

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Command + Shift + 4

Capture custom screenshot

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Command + Control + D

Define highlighted word

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Command + Control + Power 

Restart your Mac (without confirmation dialog)

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Command + Shift + Delete

Empty Trash (opens confirmation dialog)

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Command + Comma

Open Preferences for the current app

Option + Shift + F11/F12

Change volume in smaller increments

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Option + Shift + F1/F2

Change brightness in smaller increments

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Very cool, but these shortcuts are just the tip of the iceberg. macOS comes loaded with other handy keyboard shortcuts that you can use to speed up your workflow and increase your productivity.

Before we dive straight into the comprehensive list, look below to find a table of the most useful shortcuts in a table of their own.

These keyboard shortcuts are major timesavers once you start implementing them in your daily tasks. They’re also pretty easy to learn and remember because the majority of the shortcuts use the first letter of the command. For example, command + Q = quit.

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 Print
Command + F Find

Once you get the keyboard shortcuts memorized, you’ll save tons of time in your word processing tasks like typing, copying, and pasting. If you’re frequently using Pages (Mac’s word processing program) or Google Docs on your Mac, then you’ll become more efficient since most of the shortcuts are consistent across applications. These handy shortcuts (along with the ones we mentioned earlier in this article) will help to simplify your workflow and improve your task-completion speed.

Command + B Bold
Command + I Italicize
Command + U Underline

Check out our list of the best alternatives to Microsoft Office to get even more Mac keyboard commands that will simplify your word processing workload.

Finder Shortcuts

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 Copy selected item/text to the Clipboard
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

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

Other Application Shortcuts

Note: Not all of these shortcuts work across the board; each application differs slightly. The Finder app is a great example of one of these. If you try the Shift + Option + Right Arrow command, you’ll find that it does not work.

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

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