Overview
Modifier key symbols: Cmd (Command) = ⌘, Opt (Option/Alt) = ⌥, Ctrl = ^, Shift = ⇧, Fn = fn. All shortcuts below use these symbols. For terminal-specific shortcuts, see bash-one-liners. For editor shortcuts, see keyboard-shortcuts-vscode.
Finder shortcuts
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
⌘ N | New Finder window. |
⌘ T | New tab in the same window. |
⌘ ⇧ N | New folder. |
⌘ O or ⌘ ↓ | Open selected item. |
⌘ ↑ | Go to the parent folder. |
⌘ [ / ⌘ ] | Go back / forward. |
⌘ ⇧ G | Go to folder (type any path, supports ~ and /). |
⌘ ⇧ H | Go to Home folder. |
⌘ ⇧ D | Go to Desktop. |
⌘ ⇧ A | Go to Applications. |
⌘ ⇧ U | Go to Utilities. |
Space | Quick Look preview of selected item. |
⌘ I | Get Info (file metadata, permissions). |
⌘ Delete | Move to Trash. |
⌘ ⇧ Delete | Empty Trash (with confirm). |
Return | Rename selected file (press Return again to confirm). |
⌘ D | Duplicate selected item. |
⌘ L | Make alias. |
⌥ drag | Copy instead of move on drag. |
⌘ ⇧ . | Toggle hidden files visibility (macOS 10.12+). |
Screenshot shortcuts
| Shortcut | What it captures | Output |
|---|
⌘ ⇧ 3 | Full screen. | File on Desktop. |
⌘ ⇧ 4 | Drag to select region. | File on Desktop. |
⌘ ⇧ 4 then Space | Click to capture window/menu. | File on Desktop. |
⌘ ⇧ 5 | Screenshot toolbar (video, region, options). | Configurable. |
⌘ ⇧ 6 | Touch Bar (MacBooks with Touch Bar). | File on Desktop. |
Add ^ (Ctrl) to any above | Same as above but copies to clipboard instead of saving. | Clipboard only. |
⌘ ⇧ 4 → Space → click window # Window-only capture with shadow
^ ⌘ ⇧ 4 # Region capture to clipboard (paste into Slack, etc.)
Window management
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
⌘ Tab | App switcher (hold, press Tab to cycle). |
⌘ `` “ ` | Cycle windows of the same app. |
⌘ W | Close the current window/tab. |
⌘ ⌥ W | Close all windows of the current app. |
⌘ Q | Quit the current app. |
⌘ ⌥ Esc | Force Quit dialog. |
⌘ H | Hide the current app. |
⌘ ⌥ H | Hide all other apps. |
⌘ M | Minimize window to Dock. |
^ ↑ | Mission Control (all windows). |
^ ↓ | App Expose (all windows of current app). |
^ ← / ^ → | Move to adjacent Space (virtual desktop). |
^ 1 … ^ 9 | Jump to a numbered Space. |
fn F or green button | Enter full screen. |
Hold ⌥ click green button | Tile window to half screen. |
Text editing (universal)
These work in any text field across macOS applications.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
⌘ A | Select all. |
⌘ Z / ⌘ ⇧ Z | Undo / Redo. |
⌥ ← / ⌥ → | Move cursor one word left / right. |
⌘ ← / ⌘ → | Move to start / end of line. |
⌘ ↑ / ⌘ ↓ | Move to document start / end. |
⌥ Delete | Delete word to the left. |
⌘ Delete (text field) | Delete to start of line. |
^ K | Delete to end of line (Emacs-style; works in most fields). |
^ A / ^ E | Move to start / end of line (Emacs-style). |
⌘ ; | Spell check next error. |
⌘ : | Open spell check window. |
^ ⌘ Space | Character viewer (emoji and symbols). |
⌘ ⌥ F | Find and replace (in document editors). |
System and Spotlight
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
⌘ Space | Open Spotlight. |
⌥ ⌘ Space | Open Finder search in Spotlight. |
⌘ ⌥ D | Show/hide Dock. |
^ ⌘ Q | Lock screen immediately. |
⌘ ⌥ Eject (or Power) | Sleep. |
^ ⌥ ⌘ Eject | Quit all apps and shut down. |
⌘ , | Open preferences for the current app. |
⌘ ? | Open Help for the current app. |
⌘ ⇧ / | Open Help menu search field. |
⌥ click menu bar icon | Extended info (Wi-Fi diagnostics, volume device list). |
fn Delete | Forward delete (on keyboards without a dedicated key). |
Common gotchas
⌘ W closes a tab or window but keeps the app running. Use ⌘ Q to quit. Many beginners close all windows and assume the app stopped.^ ` ` (Ctrl + backtick) cycles windows within the same app, but only when they are not minimized. Minimized windows do not appear in the cycle.- Screenshots default to the Desktop. Change the save location in
⌘ ⇧ 5 options.
⌘ ⇧ . shows hidden files in Finder and Open/Save dialogs, but not in the path bar. Toggle it off when done to keep the view clean.⌥ drag copies files only when dragging between folders in Finder. Dragging between two windows of the same folder still moves the file.^ A and ^ E (Emacs start/end-of-line) work in Spotlight, Terminal, and most Cocoa text fields but not in some Electron apps.