Master macOS at your fingertips and save valuable time by using keyboard shortcuts to perform specific actions on your Mac.
The most seasoned macOS users may already know the main shortcuts, but Apple’s operating system, like Microsoft’s Windows, offers plenty of keyboard shortcuts to quickly accomplish certain everyday tasks.
Whether you want to take a clean screenshot of a window, turn off your machine’s screen, quit an application, or simply force an optical disc to eject, macOS is full of keyboard shortcuts for performing everyday tasks. .
All these keyboard shortcuts are made up of a combination of several keys whose name or appearance may differ depending on the age of your machine.
Whether you have the latest MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Pro, or Mac mini, you are bound to find the following keys on your keyboard :
- Command (or Cmd) ⌘, formerly Apple key.
- Option (or Alt) ⌥
- Control (or Ctrl) ⌃
- Shift ⇧
- Caps lock ⇪
- Fn (Function)
We have selected for you the shortcuts that we think are the most important for everyday use.
Basic shortcuts
Command + A: select all elements
Command + C: Copy content to clipboard
Command + X: Cut content and copy it to clipboard
Command + V: Paste the contents of the clipboard
Command + Z: Undo last action
Command + F: Find content in a document, in the Finder
Command + O: Open a file (when you are in an application)
Command + P: Print active document
Command + S: Save the active document
Shift + Command + S: Open the Save As menu
Command + I: Make selected text in a document italic
Command + B: Make selected text in a document bold
Command + U: Underline selected text in a document
Command + W: Close the active window
System and Finder shortcuts
Command + N: Open a new Finder window
Command + Shift + N: Create a new directory in Finder
Command + I: Show item information
Command + D: Duplicate selected items.
Note that when you are saving a document from an application, this shortcut allows you to choose the Desktop as the save destination.
Command + T: Open a new tab in Finder, a web browser
Command + Q: Quit (Close) an application
Command + Tab: Switch from one open application to another
Command + H: Hide the active application window
Command + Option + H: Hide all active windows except the one in the foreground
Command + M: Minimize the active window in the dock
Command + Option + M: Minimize all windows of the active application, except the one in the foreground
Command +, (comma): Display the parameters of the active application
Command + Option + D: Show or hide the Dock
Command + Delete: Directly place one or more items in the trash
Shift + Command + Delete: Empty the contents of the recycle bin
Control + side directional arrows: Go from one desk to another
Spacebar or Command + Y: preview the selected file
Command + Space: Show Spotlight search field
Option + Command + Esc: Force close a blocked application
Shortcuts for taking screenshots
Command + Shift + 3: Take a screenshot of the whole screen
Command + Shift + 4: Take a screenshot of an area of the screen
Command + Shift + 4 then Space: Take a screenshot of a specific window (you must then click on the window to validate the capture)
Command + Shift + 5: Start a video recording of the screen
Standby and shutdown shortcuts
Power button (except Mac equipped with Touch ID sensor): Press once to start or wake up, press and hold for 1.5 seconds to put it to sleep and hold it down for a long time to force shutdown of the Mac.
Option + Command + Power button / Eject key: Put the Mac to sleep
Control + Shift + Power button / Eject key: Put screens to sleep
Control + Command + Q: Lock screen
Shift + Command + Q: Close the current session
Troubleshooting shortcuts (keep pressed immediately after turning on the Mac)
Command + R: Restart your Mac to the recovery system built into macOS
Option: Display the boot manager to select the boot partition
Option + Command + P + R: Reset NVRAM or PRAM (Volume of memory used by the Mac to store certain settings. Resetting is useful if you have problems with certain settings on your Mac, such as sound, resolution of the screen, startup disk selection, time zone, etc.)
Shift: Start your Mac in Safe Mode
D: Boot from Apple’s diagnostic utility
Eject button (⏏) / F12 / Mouse or trackpad click: Force the ejection of an optical disc