Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
Master essential keyboard shortcuts for macOS. Navigate faster and control system features easily. Improve productivity and daily workflow on Mac.
Total Shortcuts:
174
Categories:
8
Application:
OS
Platform:
macOS
All macOS Keyboard Shortcuts
| Category | Shortcut | Description | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
| System & Desktop |
⌘
+ ⌥
+ Esc
|
Open Force Quit Applications window | |
| System & Desktop |
⌘
+ F3
or Fn
+ F12 (on MacBook)
|
Open Notification Center | |
| System & Desktop |
⌃
+ F3
or Fn
+ F11 (on MacBook)
|
Open Control Center | |
| System & Desktop |
⌘
+ Space
|
Open Spotlight Search | |
| System & Desktop |
⌃
+ Space
|
Switch Input Language / Keyboard | |
| System & Desktop |
Fn
+ F11
|
Show Desktop | |
| System & Desktop |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ 5
|
Take Screenshot (opens screenshot tool) | |
| System & Desktop |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ 3
|
Take Screenshot of entire screen to file | |
| System & Desktop |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ 4
|
Take Screenshot of selection to file | |
| System & Desktop |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ 4 then Space
|
Take Screenshot of window to file | |
| System & Desktop |
⌃
+ ⇧
+ ⌘
+ 3
|
Take Screenshot of entire screen to clipboard | |
| System & Desktop |
⌘
+ , (in Finder)
or Apple Menu → System Settings
|
Open System Settings | |
| System & Desktop |
⌘
+ N (in Finder)
|
Open Finder window | |
| System & Desktop |
⌃
+ ⌘
+ Q
|
Lock Screen | |
| System & Desktop |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ Power
|
Sleep | |
| System & Desktop |
⌃
+ ↑
or Fn
+ F9 (on MacBook)
|
Open Mission Control | |
| System & Desktop |
⌘
+ Tab
|
Switch between apps | |
| System & Desktop |
Fn
+ F4
|
Open Launchpad | |
| System & Desktop |
Fn
+ Q
|
Open Quick Note | |
| System & Desktop |
⌃
+ ⌘
+ Space
|
Open Emoji & Symbols panel | |
| System & Desktop |
Fn
+ Fn (double-tap)
|
Dictation | |
| System & Desktop |
⌥
+ Brightness Up
|
Display preferences (arrangement) | |
| Window Management |
⌃
+ ← / →
|
Switch between Spaces/Desktops | |
| Window Management |
⌃
+ ↓
|
Enter Stage Manager | |
| Window Management |
⌥
+ click green maximize button
|
Tile window to left | |
| Window Management |
⌥
+ click green maximize button (toggle)
|
Maximize window | |
| Window Management |
⌘
+ M
|
Minimize window | |
| Window Management |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ M
|
Minimize all windows | |
| Window Management |
⌥
+ click green maximize button
|
Zoom window (toggle size) | |
| Window Management |
⌃
+ ↑ then move cursor to top-right corner and click
+
|
Create new desktop | |
| Window Management |
⌃
+ ← / → with window active
|
Move window to another desktop | |
| Window Management |
⌃
+ ⇧
+ ← / →
|
Move window between displays | |
| Window Management |
⌘
+ H
|
Hide window | |
| Window Management |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ H
|
Hide other applications | |
| Window Management |
⌘
+ `
|
Cycle through windows of current app | |
| Window Management |
⌘
+ W
|
Close active window | |
| Window Management |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ W
|
Close all windows of app | |
| Window Management |
⌃
+ ⌘
+ F
|
Enter/Exit full screen | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ N
|
New Finder window | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ N
|
New folder | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ I
|
Get Info (Properties) | |
| Finder & Navigation |
Enter
|
Rename selected item | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ Delete
|
Move to Trash | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ Delete
|
Empty Trash | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌥
+ ⇧
+ ⌘
+ Delete
|
Empty Trash with confirmation | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ A
|
Select all items | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ C
|
Copy selected item | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ X
|
Cut selected item | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ V
|
Paste | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ Z
|
Undo | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ Z
|
Redo | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ F
|
Search | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ ↑
|
Go to parent folder | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ [
|
Go back | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ ]
|
Go forward | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ 1
|
View as icons | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ 2
|
View as list | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ 3
|
View as columns | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ 4
|
View as gallery | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ P
|
Toggle preview pane | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ P
|
Toggle path bar | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ /
|
Toggle status bar | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ G
|
Go to folder | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ H
|
Go to Home folder | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ C
|
Go to Computer | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ R
|
Go to AirDrop | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ R
|
Refresh view | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌘
+ O
|
Open selected item | |
| Finder & Navigation |
⌃
+ ⇧
+ ⌘
+ T
|
Add to Dock | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ T
|
New tab | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ N
|
New window | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ N
|
New Private Browsing window | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ W
|
Close tab | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ W
|
Close window | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ T
|
Reopen closed tab | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌃
+ Tab
or ⇧
+ ⌘
+ ]
|
Next tab | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌃
+ ⇧
+ Tab
or ⇧
+ ⌘
+ [
|
Previous tab | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ [1-9]
|
Go to specific tab | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ R
|
Refresh page | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ R
|
Hard refresh | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ .
|
Stop loading | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ ]
|
Go forward | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ [
|
Go back | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ H
|
Home page | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ F
|
Find on page | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ D
|
Add bookmark | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ D
|
Bookmark all tabs | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ L
|
View downloads | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ Y
|
View history | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ B
|
View bookmarks | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌃
+ ⌘
+ 2
|
View Reading List | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+
|
Zoom in | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ -
|
Zoom out | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+
|
Reset zoom | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌃
+ ⌘
+ F
|
Full screen | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ I
|
Developer tools | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ U
|
View page source | |
| Browser & Web (Safari) |
⌘
+ L
|
Open Location (address bar) | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ V
|
Open Clipboard History | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ A
|
Select all | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ C
|
Copy | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ X
|
Cut | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ V
|
Paste | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌥
+ ⇧
+ ⌘
+ V
|
Paste with matching style | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ Z
|
Undo | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ Z
|
Redo | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ B
|
Bold | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ I
|
Italic | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ U
|
Underline | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ F
|
Find | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ F
|
Find and replace | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ G
|
Go to | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ S
|
Save | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ S
|
Save As | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ P
|
||
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ N
|
New document | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ O
|
Open document | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ W
|
Close document | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⇧
+ ⌘
+ :
|
Spell check | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ C then ⌘
+ V in Word Count tool
|
Word count | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ K
|
Insert hyperlink | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ {
|
Align left | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ |
|
Align center | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ }
|
Align right | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ |
|
Justify | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ ←
|
Move to beginning of line | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ →
|
Move to end of line | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ ↑
|
Move to beginning of document | |
| Text Editing & Input |
⌘
+ ↓
|
Move to end of document | |
| Text Editing & Input |
Double-click
|
Select word | |
| Text Editing & Input |
Triple-click
|
Select line | |
| Accessibility |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ F5
|
Open Accessibility settings | |
| Accessibility |
⌘
+ F5
or Fn
+ ⌘
+ F5
|
Turn VoiceOver on/off | |
| Accessibility |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ 8
|
Turn Zoom on/off | |
| Accessibility |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ =
|
Zoom in | |
| Accessibility |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ -
|
Zoom out | |
| Accessibility |
⌃
+ ⌥
+ ⌘
+ 8
|
Invert colors | |
| Accessibility |
⌃
+ ⌥
+ ⌘
+ ,
|
Reduce contrast | |
| Accessibility |
⌃
+ ⌥
+ ⌘
+ .
|
Increase contrast | |
| Accessibility |
⌃
+ ⌥
+ ⌘
+ 8 (with Accessibility options)
|
Toggle Grayscale | |
| Accessibility |
⌥ 5 times
|
Toggle Mouse Keys | |
| Accessibility |
Hold ⇧ for 8 seconds
|
Toggle Slow Keys | |
| Accessibility |
⇧ 5 times
|
Toggle Sticky Keys | |
| Accessibility |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ D
|
Show/Hide Dock | |
| Accessibility |
⌃
+ ⌥
+ ⌘
+ T
|
Toggle Dark Mode | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ Space then type 'Terminal'
|
Open Terminal | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ T
|
Open new Terminal tab | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ N
|
Open new Terminal window | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ C
|
Copy selected text | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ V
|
Paste | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ A
|
Select all | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ F
|
Find | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌘
+ K
|
Clear screen | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌃
+ C
|
Break/stop command | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌃
+ D
or type 'exit'
|
Exit shell | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
↑
|
Previous command | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
↓
|
Next command | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
Tab
|
Autocomplete | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌃
+ U
|
Clear line | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌃
+ A
|
Move to beginning of line | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌃
+ E
|
Move to end of line | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌃
+ W
|
Delete word | |
| Terminal & Command Line |
⌃
+ Z
|
Suspend process | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌘
+ ⌥
+ [1-9] (position in Dock)
|
Open app from Dock | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌘
+ click Dock icon
|
Open new instance of app | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌘
+ click Dock icon
|
Show application in Finder | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌃
+ click app icon
|
Open contextual menu for app | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ D
|
Hide/Show Dock | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌃
+ F2
|
Cycle through menu bar items | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌃
+ F1
|
Open Apple menu | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌃
+ F8
|
Open status menus | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
⌥
+ ⌘
+ Esc
|
Force Quit front app | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
killall Dock (in Terminal)
|
Restart Dock | |
| Dock & Menu Bar |
killall SystemUIServer (in Terminal)
|
Restart Menu Bar |
Why macOS Shortcuts Matter
macOS keyboard shortcuts are designed to enhance productivity and provide a seamless user experience. By mastering these shortcuts, you can navigate your Mac faster, manage windows more efficiently, and access system features without reaching for your mouse or trackpad. macOS shortcuts are known for their consistency across applications, making them easier to learn and remember.
Workflow Efficiency
Speed up common tasks with consistent shortcuts across all Apple applications.
Mission Control
Manage multiple windows, desktops, and applications with intuitive keyboard controls.
Spotlight Search
Instantly find files, launch apps, and get information with ⌘ + Space.
Accessibility
Quick access to VoiceOver, Zoom, and other accessibility features.
Frequently Asked Questions
To customize keyboard shortcuts in macOS:
- Go to System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts
- Select the category (App Shortcuts, Mission Control, etc.)
- Click the "+" button to add a new shortcut
- Select the application (or "All Applications")
- Enter the exact menu title and desired keyboard shortcut
- Click "Add" to save
Tip: You can also customize shortcuts for individual apps in their preferences.
Essential macOS shortcuts every user should know:
- ⌘ + C / ⌘ + V / ⌘ + X - Copy/Paste/Cut
- ⌘ + Space - Spotlight Search
- ⌘ + Tab - Switch between applications
- ⌘ + Q - Quit application
- ⌘ + W - Close window
- ⌘ + S - Save document
- ⌘ + Z - Undo
- ⌘ + ⇧ + Z - Redo
macOS has excellent multi-desktop management shortcuts:
- ⌃ + ←/→ - Switch between Spaces
- ⌃ + ↑ - Mission Control (view all windows)
- ⌃ + ↓ - Application Windows (view current app's windows)
- ⌘ + Tab - Switch applications across all Spaces
- Create new Space: Mission Control → move cursor to top-right → click "+"
- Move window to different Space: Drag window to edge of screen in Mission Control
If a macOS shortcut isn't working:
- Check System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts for conflicts
- Restart your Mac (some system changes need reboot)
- Check for macOS updates in System Settings → General → Software Update
- Check if an app is capturing the shortcut (gaming apps, screen recorders)
- Try the shortcut in different applications to isolate the issue
- Reset NVRAM: Shut down, turn on and immediately hold ⌥ + ⌘ + P + R for 20 seconds
- Create a new user account to test if it's user-specific
Some shortcuts may be disabled by MDM policies in workplace environments.
Yes, there are some differences:
- Function Keys: MacBook keyboards have Fn keys with special functions (brightness, volume)
- Touch Bar: Some MacBook Pro models have Touch Bar instead of function keys
- Mission Control: MacBook: F3 or ⌃ + ↑; External: Usually F3
- Launchpad: MacBook: F4; External: Usually F4
- Eject Key: External keyboards may have an Eject key (⌘ + Eject = Sleep)
- Home/End: MacBook: ⌘ + ←/→; External: Usually dedicated keys