# macOS Tips & Tricks Last updated for macOS Ventura ### General #### Native UI Conventions - Press ⇧⌘/ to search all of the current app's menu items. Then use the Up/Down arrow keys to navigate the results and press `Return` to execute that menu bar action. - Press ⌃F2 to move keyboard focus to the application's menu bar. Start typing the first few letters of a menu title to jump to that menu. - Hold the `Option` key while expanding an outline view to recursively expand all children. (The easiest place to test this is in Finder's List view.) - On modal dialogs/sheets, press `Command` + the first letter of the button to press that button. ⌘. is the shortcut equivalent of the `Escape` key. - Hold `Control` and `Option` while clicking on a window to switch focus to that window without raising it. - Hold `Command` while dragging a toolbar icon to move it to a new position. - By default, clicking inside a scroll bar will scroll partially towards the clicked location. Hold `Option` while clicking in the scroll bar to jump directly to the clicked location. - Hold `Option` while dragging the scroller to slowly scroll. - In a scroll view, use the Up/Down keys to scroll in small increments. Hold `Option` to scroll in larger increments, and hold `Command` to scroll to the beginning or end. - Hold `Option` while pressing the Page Up/Page Down keys to also move the cursor while scrolling. - In a text field that treats the Tab key as an input, press `Control-Tab` and `Control-Shift-Tab` to move focus to the previous or next control. - Press ⌃⌘D while holding the pointer over a word to view an inline dictionary definition of the word. - Press ⌃F6 to move focus to a floating window. - To quickly find text, select some text and press ⌘E followed by ⌘G. - Press ⌃⌫ to delete only the accent mark from the previous character (e.g. é will become e). - In Fonts windows, enter `*X` to scale the current font size, e.g. `*1.5`. - When entering text, press ⌥⇧K (on U.S. keyboards) to insert an Apple logo. - Hold `Command` while dragging a Picture-in-Picture (PiP) video player to move it anywhere without having it snap to one of the screen corners. #### Screenshots - After pressing ⇧⌘4 and while drawing the screen capture area, hold `Option` while resizing to resize from the center, and hold `Shift` while resizing to adjust only one axis. After drawing the area, hold the Space bar and drag to move the selected area. - After pressing ⇧⌘4, hold `Control` while taking the screenshot to copy to the clipboard instead of saving to file. - After pressing ⇧⌘4, press the Space bar to select a window to screenshot. Hold down `Option` while taking the screenshot to remove the window's shadow. - Right click on the floating screenshot preview to access additional actions. #### Open/Save Dialogs - Drag a file or folder from Finder into an open/save dialog to jump directly to that file. - In save dialogs, press ⌘= to switch between the compact and expanded layout. - In save dialogs, press ⌘⌫ to activate the Delete button, ⌘D to activate the Don't Save button, and ⌘. (or `Esc`) to activate the Cancel button. - Press `~` to open a Go To File dialog prefilled with the home directory. Press `/` to open it prefilled with the root directory. - Press ⌘R to reveal the selected item in Finder. #### Mission Control / Window Management - When a window is inactive, use the `Command` key to interact with it without making it active. - Hold `Control` when pressing the Mission Control function key to only show the current app's windows. Hold `Command` when pressing the Mission Control function key to show the desktop. - Hold `Option` while double-clicking a window's corner to expand the window to fill the screen. - `Option`-Click to switch windows while hiding the previous app. `Command-Option`-Click to switch windows and hide all other apps. - In the Command-Tab app switcher, press the Up or Down arrow keys (or the 1 key) on an app to view that app's windows. - In the Command-Tab app switcher, hold `Option` while switching to an app to un-minimize all its windows. - Press ⌘` to cycle between windows of the foreground application. - Press ⌃F4 to cycle between windows across all applications in the current desktop space. - Drag a window to the top of the screen and push it against the top of the screen to enter Mission Control with that window selected. - Press ⌥⌘W or hold `Option` while clicking the red close button, to close _all_ of the foreground application's open windows. - Press ⌥⌘M, or hold `Option` while clicking the yellow minimize button, to minimize _all_ of the foreground application's open windows. - Hold `Option` while clicking the green zoom button to fill the window to the screen instead of entering full-screen mode. - When configuring Hot Corners in System Settings, hold any or all of `Control`, `Option`, `Command`, or `Shift` to only activate the corner while the selected keys are also held down. - On a trackpad, use two fingers to double-tap (_tap_, not click) on an app's Dock icon to show all of the app's windows. Alternatively, perform the App Exposé trackpad gesture over an app's Dock icon. - Hold `Option` while resizing a window to resize from the center of the window. Hold `Shift` while resizing a window to lock the aspect ratio. - Double-click a window's border to resize that edge to fill the screen. Hold `Option` while double-clicking to expand both edges. - In Mission Control, perform a scroll up over a group of app windows to reveal the individual windows. Press the Space bar while holding the pointer over any window to magnify it. - In Mission Control, Option-click another desktop space to switch to that space while staying in Mission Control. - In Mission Control, drag the application icon underneath the windows to move all of an app's windows to another space. - In Mission Control app window mode, press `Tab` and `Shift-Tab` to switch applications. - If a window was minimized in a different space, hold `Command` while un-minimizing to restore it to the current space. - Hold `Option` while un-minimizing a window to un-minimize all windows from that app. - If an app has windows in multiple spaces, click the app's Dock icon repeatedly to cycle through the spaces with that app's windows. - If keyboard shortcuts are enabled for switching desktop spaces, pressing a shortcut while clicking and holding a window will move the window to that space. - In Stage Manager, hold `Shift` while clicking on a window to add that window to the current stage instead of replacing it. #### Function Keys - Hold down `Shift` and `Option` when changing the volume or brightness to make smaller adjustments. - Hold down `Option` while changing the brightness to quickly open Display settings, or while changing the volume to open Sound settings. - Hold down `Shift` while changing the volume to audibly preview the volume level. - When connected to an external display, hold down `Control` while changing the brightness to adjust the brightness of the non-active display. - Press and hold down on the Mission Control function key to automatically exit Mission Control after letting go of the key. #### Menu Bar / Notification Center - Hold `Option` while opening the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth menus to access extra options. - Hold `Command` while dragging a menu bar icon to move it to a new position. - Add new menu bar items by dragging icons from Control Center to the menu bar. - Option-click the date/time in the menu bar to toggle Do Not Disturb. - Right-click a widget to change its size. - On a trackpad, swipe horizontally with two fingers over a notification to dismiss that notification. ### Finder - After copying a file, press ⌥⌘V to move the file instead of pasting a copy of it. - Press ⌃⌘N with multiple files selected to create a new folder with those items. - Press `Tab` and `Shift-Tab` to navigate through files alphabetically, regardless of the current sort ordering (only in Icons and List view). - Hold `Option` while activating Quick Look to immediately launch into full-screen view. - After opening Quick Look with multiple files selected, press ⌘⏎ to display a grid view of all items. Use the arrow keys to navigate and press Return to select an item to focus on. - Right-click on the "Open with" button to select a different app to use to open the file. - In Columns view, hold `Option` while resizing a column to simultaneously resize all columns. - In Columns view, double-click a column separator to auto-resize that column. Hold `Option` while double-clicking on any separator to auto-resize all columns. - In Columns view, click the empty space at the bottom of a folder to go to the parent folder. - In Columns view, and when in a deeply nested file, press `Shift-Tab` and `Tab` to navigate through the parent directories without losing the path to the file. - Hold `Option` while dragging a file to make a new copy instead of moving the original. Hold `Command` and `Option` to create an alias to the file. - In List view, press ⌘+ and ⌘- to increase and decrease the row size. - In List view, press ⌥↑ and ⌥↓ to select the top-most and bottom-most item. - In List view, use the Left and Right arrow keys to collapse and expand directories. When a file is selected, press the Left arrow key to jump to the parent folder. - Press ⌘I to show the inspector for the current file. Press ⌥⌘I to show a floating inspector that updates with the selected file. - Press ⌥⌘C to copy the full pathname of the currently selected file. - Press ⇧⌘. to toggle showing hidden files. - Press ⌥⌘⌫ to immediately delete a file without sending it to the Trash. - Merge folders by holding `Option` while dragging one folder on top of another folder. - Set a custom icon for a folder by copying the new icon, inspecting the folder (⌘I), and pasting the icon by selecting the folder icon in the upper-left of the inspector window and pressing ⌘V. - Drag selected text into a Finder window to quickly create and save a text clipping. (Text clippings are text files that can't be edited and don't require a filename to be saved.) - Press ⌥⌘O to open the selected file _and_ automatically close the Finder window. - Press ⌥⇧⌘V to paste an item while preserving the file permission flags. - Hold `Command` while dragging an icon in Icon view to align it to a grid. - Restart Finder by holding `Option` while right-clicking the Finder dock icon and selecting Relaunch. - Drag a folder to the new tab button (only visible if multiple tabs are already open) to open the folder in a new tab. - Press ⌃⌘↑ to open the parent folder in a new window. - If the toolbar is hidden (⌥⌘T), Finder will open folders in a new window. ### Dock - Press ⌥⌘D to hide and show the dock. - Press ⌃F3 to move keyboard focus to the Dock. Then use the Left and Right arrow keys to select an app, or type the first few letters of an app. Press `Enter` to open the selected app, or press the Up arrow key to open the app's menu. - Hold `Control` and `Shift` while mousing over the Dock to temporarily turn on magnification. - Quickly move the Dock to a different side of the screen by holding `Shift` while dragging the resize handle. - Hold `Option` while resizing the Dock to resize in multiples of 16 points. - Hold `Option` and `Command` while clicking a running app's Dock icon to hide all other applications. - Open a file in a specific application by dragging the file to the application's Dock icon. If the application doesn't accept the file type by default, force open the file by holding `Option` and `Command` while dragging the file. - If a dock icon is bouncing repeatedly, stop the bouncing by mousing over the icon. - Hold `Control` and `Command` when right-clicking a Dock icon to only see the default system menu options. - Hold `Option` and `Command` when clicking on a folder in the Dock to open the folder in a new Finder window. - To open multiple items from a stack, hold `Option` while selecting an item to open it in the background while keeping the stack open. - After opening a stack, hover the cursor over an item and press the Space bar to preview the item with quick look. - Right-click the Launchpad dock icon to open an app from an inline menu. - In Launchpad, hold `Option` to enter "jiggle mode" to re-arrange and delete apps. - Add shortcuts to System Settings to the Dock by navigating to `/System/Library/PreferencePanes` and dragging preference panes to the Dock. - To add AirDrop to the Dock, navigate to `/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Applications` in Finder and drag the AirDrop icon to the Dock. ### Spotlight - Press ⌘B to search the web for the current query. - Press ⌘C to copy the full path to the selected file, or to copy the result of the current calculation. - Press ⌘D to show a dictionary preview for the current query. - Press ⌘L to jump to the dictionary section in the results (if present). - Press ⌘⏎ or ⌘R to reveal the selected file in Finder. - Use the `name:` filter to only search in the filename. - Add `kind:folder` to only search for folder names. - Hold `Command` to show the path to the currently selected file. ### Safari - Tab groups organize tabs spatially. Use ⌥⌘{↑,↓,←,→} to navigate tabs in 2D space. - When a video is playing, right click the speaker icon in the address bar or tab to enter Picture-in-Picture (PiP) mode. - Hold `Option` while closing a tab to close all other tabs _except_ the current tab. - Click and hold the back button to see recent browsing history. Hold `Option` to see page URLs instead of page titles. - Drag selected text onto the Safari dock icon to quickly search the web for that text. - Press ⇧⌘T to re-open the most recently closed tab or window. - Click and hold on the new tab icon in the toolbar to view recently closed tabs. - Press the Space bar at the beginning of the address bar to change the search engine and to see recent web searches. - Add `kind:bookmark` to Spotlight searches to search Safari bookmarks and browsing history. - `Shift`-click a link to add it to Reading List. - Click and hold a bookmark in the bookmarks bar to edit its display title. - Option-click the reload icon or press ⌥⌘R to force a fresh reload of the current webpage. - Right-click the reader icon in the address bar to automatically turn on Reader Mode for all pages on the current website. - After performing a web search and opening a result in the same tab, press ⌥⌘S to go back to the search results page. - Press ⇧⌘I to create a new email message with the contents of the current page. - Hold `Option` over the History > Clear History menu item to only clear browsing history while preserving website data. ### Mail - `Command`-click multiple mailboxes in the left sidebar to simultaneously view all messages from the selected mailboxes. - Select part of a message's text before replying or forwarding to only include the selected text in the new message. - Select an attachment in a message before forwarding to only include the attachment in the forwarded message. - Drag a file to the Mail dock icon to compose a new message with the file already attached. - Press ⌥⇧⌘N to create a new tab. - Press the Space bar at the end of a message to go to the next message. Hold `Shift` while pressing the Space bar at the top of a message to go to the previous message. - Start typing the first few characters of the sender, subject, or body to jump to that message in the messages list. - Press ⌥⌘↑ and ⌥⌘↓ to jump to the top-most or bottom-most message in the messages list. - Save an extra copy of an important message by dragging it to the Finder. - If a message bounces, use `Message > Send Again` on the bounced message to re-send it to a different address. - To add a message to multiple folders, hold Command while dragging the message to each folder. - Press ⇧⌘C to assign a color to a message. - Drag a message into the Notes or Reminders app to add a link to the message. - Press ⌘R and ⇧⌘R while replying to a message to switch between reply and reply-all. - Press ⌥⌫ to delete a message without automatically opening the next message. - `Command`-click on the currently selected message to unselect it. - If a message has already been replied to, click on the reply icon in the message list to open the reply in a new window. - When creating a new mailbox, add a forward slash to create a nested mailbox. - After performing a search, select a mailbox from the left sidebar to filter the search to that mailbox. - Hold `Shift` while launching Mail to reset the index. ### Preview - Press ` to bring up a magnifier, and then press `+` and `-` to resize it. - In a PDF document, re-order the pages in the document by re-ordering the pages in the sidebar. - Merge two PDF documents by dragging pages from one document's sidebar to the other document's sidebar. - In the save dialog for an image, hold `Option` while opening the Format menu to access an extended list of formats. - Hold `Option` and the Space bar to activate the pan tool. - Hold `Option` while in text selection mode to switch to rectangular text selection. ### Calendar - Hold `Shift` while dragging an event to set a more precise time instead of snapping to 15-minute intervals. - Click and hold the `Accept` button in a calendar invite to change which calendar the event is accepted to. - Hold `Option` while pressing the `Accept` button in a calendar invite to accept all events. - Hold `Command` while clicking any calendar's checkbox in the left sidebar to show or hide all calendars. - Hold `Command` and `Option` while clicking a calendar's checkbox to only show that calendar. - Add `kind:event` to Spotlight searches to search calendar events. - Resize the mini-calendar in the bottom-left to preview more months. - With an event selected, press ⌃⌥↑ and ⌃⌥↓ to adjust the time of the event. This also works with multiple events selected. - In Week view, press ⌥⌘← and ⌥⌘→ to shift the view by a single day. ### Messages - Press ⌘R to directly reply to the latest message in the conversation. Press ⇧⌘R to reply to the latest thread in the conversation. - Press ⌘T to bring up the tapback selector for the latest message. Use the 1-6 number keys to select a reaction. - Press ⌘E to edit the latest sent message. - Press ⌥↑ and ⌥↓ in the message input field to cycle through previously sent messages. - Press ⌘1-9 to jump to a pinned conversation. - Right-click on a message and select Show Times to view exact timestamps for each message. - Right-click the Messages icon in the Dock to quickly view and jump to unread conversations. ### Photos - Drag an item to the "My Albums" header section to quickly create an album with that item. - After adding an item to an album, use ⌃⌘A to add other items to that same album. - When editing an image, hold down the `M` key to compare the modifications to the original. - Hold `Option` while launching Photos to choose a different photo library to open. - Drag a photo from the Photos app into a Finder window to quickly export the photo, or into the Mail or Messages app to attach the photo. - When editing an image, double-click an adjustment slider to reset it. - When editing an image, hold `Option` while holding the pointer over an adjustment slider to extend the adjustment range. - Hold `Option` while clicking the rotate button to reverse the rotation direction. ### TextEdit - In rich text mode, press `Option-Tab` to insert an outlined list. - Press `Option-Escape` to autocomplete the current word. - Press ⌃⌥⌘P in the find text field (⌘F) to access advanced search operators. - Hold `Option` while selecting text to make vertical text selections. - The select line dialog (⌘L) supports the following formats: `1-3` selects lines 1-3 in the document `+2` selects the 2nd line below the cursor `-2` selects the 2nd line above the cursor `+2-4` selects 3 lines, starting from 2 lines below the cursor `-2-4` selects 3 lines, starting from 2 lines above the cursor ### Terminal - Press ⇧⌘A to select the output from the previous command. - Press ⌘L to clear the output from the previous command. - Press ⌃⌘V to paste and format text that is properly escaped for the shell. - Press ⌃T while a command is executing to view runtime statistics about the execution so far. - Press ⌘{↑,↓} to select the previous/next commands. Then press ⇧⌘A to select the output of the currently selected command. - Press ⇧⌘I to set a title for the current window and tab. - Drag a file or folder into a Terminal window to insert its full path. Alternatively, copy a file or folder in Finder and paste it in Terminal to insert its path. ### Calculator - Press ⌘T to open a new window that keeps a running history of calculations. - Press ⌘R to enable Reverse Polish notation (RPN) mode. - Press `p` to insert pi. - Right-click the number display and select "Large Type" to view the current result in a large overlay window. - Use the Convert menu to perform various unit conversions. - In Programmer view (⌘3), click the individual binary bits to toggle between 0 and 1. ### QuickTime Player - Grab a single frame from a video by pausing on the desired frame (using the Left and Right arrow keys to navigate individual frames) and pressing ⌘C. ### Photo Booth - Hold `Option` while taking a picture to skip the countdown. - Hold `Shift` while taking a picture to disable the screen flash. - When choosing one of the distortion effects (on the third page), click and drag the cursor on the image preview to change the effects origin. [source](https://saurabhs.org/macos-tips)