Mac Treat #42: My Favorite Keyboard Shortcut

I was going to call this Mac Treat “The King of All Keyboard Shortcuts.” Bombastic, sure–but after the essential shortcuts (Command-C for copy, Command-X for cut, Command-V for paste, Command-S for save, Command-shift-; to check spelling) this is the keyboard shortcut I use more than any other. It’s a trick for jumping quickly between active applications.

Try it: all you have to do is hold down the command and tab key at the same time. You should see a large bar in the middle of your screen with all active applications. To jump between the foremost application, simply continue holding down the command key while tapping the tab key. This is a super fast way to hop between applications.

While this is an essential shortcut, it’s surprising how many long time Mac users are unfamiliar with it.

You can combine other shortcuts with tab-command. For example, you can use tab-command to quickly cut and paste text between applications (as long as they are running) such as TextEdit, Word, Pages, Mail, etc. Or, you can instantly quit applications by shift-tabbing to the application you want to quit, then (without letting go of the command key) use the Command-Q shortcut. I use this combination all the time to quit applications.

Note that the command key is found to the left of the spacebar on Mac keyboards. On laptops it’s often stamped with an Apple or an icon that looks like a little four-leafed clover.

[Editor’s note: this is also my favorite keyboard shortcut.]