Have you ever tried to open a document that takes forever to find because it was buried in folder after folder? Sometimes, I think it would be much easier to type the path of where I want to go instead of clicking through. The other day, I came across this little gem of a keyboard shortcut that allows you to do just that.
When you have the Finder window or an Open/Save dialog open, simply hit command + shift + G. This will open up a new window that lets you type in the directory path. You will want to use forward slashes (/) to separate your folder names and it even supports the use of the tilde (~) for home and tab completion.
The example that I tried went something like this: ~/Documents/newsletter/kibbles. I found that you have to use the tilde if you want to change to a different root directory than the one you are currently in.
There are a few different ways to access this window in the Open/Save dialog. If you press the forward slash key, the window will open with a forward slash already entered in the field. Alternatively, if you hit the tilde key, the same thing will happen, except there will be a tilde instead of a forward slash.
You might notice that you can’t just press the tilde key because it is the alternate character on the grave/backtick key. To use the tilde function, simply hold shift and press the tilde key to open the directory dialog.
As per usual, I am using these shortcuts on OS X Lion (10.7). I believe they will work on much older versions of the OS, but I cannot guarantee it. I urge you to try this one out and let me know how it works for you!