You typically navigate your Mac with the click of a mouse or the swipe of a trackpad. You can even handle it with your voice using the built-in Voice Control or Siri. But there’s another way to control your Mac: keyboard shortcuts. Whether you’re using a desktop or laptop, keyboard shortcuts are always available to you as a quick way to run a command, open a program, or perform a certain task.
There’s only one problem with keyboard shortcuts. With so many available, you’d be hard-pressed to remember more than a handful. Certain universal shortcuts—such as Command + Z for undo or Command + C for copy—are probably stuck in your head after so many years of using them. But other handy shortcuts—such as Control + Command + F to display your current window full screen or Shift + Command + 3 to take a screenshot—are tough to remember because you probably don’t use them frequently enough.
The Mac offers several different modifier keys, including Command, Shift, Option, Control, and Fn. If you’re having trouble keeping all of your favorite shortcuts straight, here’s a guide to the best macOS shortcuts organized by key features and categories. Commit the ones you like the most to memory or keep this guide handy while you use your Mac.
Common Shortcuts
Here are an array of common shortcuts that should work on most Macs and versions of macOS.
Finder and System Shortcuts
These shortcuts will help you manage your folders and files in Finder and perform other system tasks in macOS.
Document Shortcuts
These shortcuts will work in documents created with most native Mac applications such as Mail, Notes, TextEdit, and Apple’s iWork suite.
Safari Shortcuts
Here are a host of shortcuts to run commands and access key features in Safari as you browse the web.
Mac Startup Shortcuts
These shortcuts are useful when you need to boot up your Mac in recovery mode, safe mode, or other modes beyond a regular startup. To use any of these shortcuts, press and hold the associated keys immediately after you press the power button to turn on your Mac or right after your Mac restarts. Certain startup modes are unavailable with a firmware password enabled.