OS X Keyboard Shortcuts
If you’ve ever seen such films as ‘Hackers’, ‘GoldenEye’, ‘Swordfish’, ‘Anti-Trust’, or ‘The Matrix’, you may have noticed that the uber smart computer techs rarely use a mouse. Why is that? Well, setting aside Hollywood’s inaccurate portrayal of how technology actually works, there is some truth behind the power of keyboard shortcuts.
What is a keyboard shortcut? “A keyboard shortcut is a way to invoke a function in OS X by pressing a combination of keys on your keyboard.”
To use a keyboard shortcut, you press a modifier key with a character key. For example, pressing the Command key (it has a symbol) and then the “c” key copies whatever is currently selected (text, graphics, and so forth) into the Clipboard. This is also known as the Command-C keyboard shortcut.
A modifier key is a part of many keyboard shortcuts. A modifier key alters the way other keystrokes or mouse/trackpad clicks are interpreted by OS X. Modifier keys include: Command, Shift, Option, Control, Caps Lock, and the Fn key. You may need to use the Fn key in some of the key combinations listed below. For example, if the keyboard shortcut is Control-F2, press Fn-Control-F2.
Here are the modifier key symbols you may see in OS X menus:
⌘ Command key
⌃ Control key
⌥ Option key
⇧ Shift Key
⇪ Caps Lock
Fn Function Key
With modifier keys, the world of OS X shortcuts is now your playground. It’s important to know that there are different groups of shortcuts. We have ones for Startup, Sleep and Shut Down, Finder, and Applications.
To not overwhelm you, as there are dozens upon dozens of keyboard shortcuts in OS X, I’ve decided to list only the Startup, Sleep/Shut Down, and Finder ones for this article.
Note: We offer a keyboard shortcut card in our retail stores, but for those of you who can’t pick up a hard copy, enjoy this digital version!