Keyboard shortcuts are extremely helpful in our daily life. It saves many hours of precious time of our. I am listing all the Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts to make our work easier.
Symbols for special Mac keys
| ⌘ | Command key |
| ⌃ | Control key |
| ⌥ | Option key |
| ⇧ | Shift Key |
| ⇪ | Caps Lock |
| fn | Function Key |
Startup shortcuts
These commands are used to control the startup process of Mac. You need to hold the keys when pressing the power button.
| Key or key combination | What it does |
| Option or Alt | Display all startup volumes (Startup Manager) |
| Shift | Start up in Safe Mode |
| Left Shift | Prevent automatic login |
| C | Start from bootable media (DVD, CD, USB thumb drive) |
| T | Start up in Target disk mode |
| N | Start from a NetBoot server |
| X | Force OS X startup (when non-OS X startup volumes are available) |
| D | Use Apple Hardware Test |
| Command-R | Use OS X Recovery (OS X Lion or later) |
| Command-V | Start up in Verbose Mode |
| Command-S | Start up in Single User Mode |
| Command-Option-P-R | Reset NVRAM / parameter RAM |
| Hold down the Media Eject (⏏) key or F12 key, or mouse or trackpad button | Eject removable discs |
Sleep and shut down shortcuts
These key combinations are used after the Mac has started up to sleep, shut down, or restart.
| Key or key combination | What it does |
| Power button | Tap to power on. Once powered on, tap the power button to wake or sleep in OS X Mavericks. |
| Hold down the power button for 1.5 seconds | Show the restart / sleep / shutdown dialog in OS X Mavericks |
| Hold down the power button for 5 seconds | Force the Mac to power off |
| Command-Control-power button | Force the Mac to restart |
| Control-Media Eject (⏏) | Show restart / sleep / shutdown dialog |
| Command-Option-Media Eject (⏏) | Put the computer to sleep |
| Command-Control-Media Eject (⏏) | Quit all applications (after giving you a chance to save changes to open documents), then restart the computer |
| Command-Option-Control-Media Eject (⏏) | Quit all applications (after giving you a chance to save changes to open documents), then shut down the computer |
| Shift-Control-Media Eject (⏏) | Put all displays to sleep |
Taking screenshots
With these key combinations you can take screenshots of your Mac.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command-Shift-3 | Capture the screen to a file |
| Command-Shift-Control-3 | Capture the screen to the Clipboard |
| Command-Shift-4 | Capture a selection of the screen to a file, or press the spacebar to capture just a window |
| Command-Shift-Control-4 | Capture a selection of the screen to the Clipboard, , or press the spacebar to capture just a window |
Application and other OS X shortcuts
These key combinations are used in Finder and various OS X applications.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command-Space bar | Show or hide the Spotlight search field (if multiple languages are being used simultaneously, this shortcut may rotate through enabled script systems instead) |
| Command-Option-Space bar | Show the Spotlight search results window (if multiple languages are installed, may rotate through keyboard layouts and input methods within a script) |
| Command-Tab | Move forward to the next most recently used application in a list of open applications |
| Command-Shift-Tab | Move backward through a list of open applications (sorted by recent use) |
| Shift-Tab | Navigate through controls in a reverse direction |
| Control-Tab | Move focus to the next grouping of controls in a dialog or the next table (when Tab moves to the next cell) |
| Shift-Control-Tab | Move focus to the previous grouping of controls |
| Option-Media Eject (⏏) | Eject from secondary optical media drive (if one is installed) |
| Command-F1 | Toggle "Mirror Displays" on multi-monitor configurations |
| Command-F2 | Toggle Target Display Mode |
| Command-F3 | Show Desktop |
| Command-F5 | Toggle VoiceOver On or Off |
| Option-F1 or Option-F2 | Opens "Displays" System Preference |
| Option-F3 or Option-F4 | Open Mission Control preferences |
| Option-F10 or -F11 or -F12 | Open Sound preferences |
| Shift-Control-F6 | Move focus to the previous panel |
| Control-F7 | Temporarily override the current keyboard access mode in windows and dialogs |
| Control-F8 | Move to the status menus in the menu bar |
| Command-Accent (`) | Activate the next open window in the frontmost application |
| Command-Shift-Accent (`) | Activate the previous open window in the frontmost application |
| Command-Option-Accent (`) | Move focus to the window drawer |
| Command-Minus (–) | Decrease the size of the selected item |
| Command-{ | Left-align a selection |
| Command-} | Right-align a selection |
| Command-| | Center-align a selection |
| Command-Colon (:) | Display the Spelling and Grammar window |
| Command-Semicolon (;) | Find misspelled words in the document |
| Command-Comma (,) | Open the front application's preferences window |
| Command-Option-Control-Comma (,) | Decrease screen contrast |
| Command-Option-Control-Period (.) | Increase screen contrast |
| Command-Question Mark (?) | Open the application's help in Help Viewer |
| Command-Option-/ | Turn font smoothing on or off |
| Command-Shift-= | Increase the size of the selected item |
| Command-A | Highlight every item in a document or window, or all characters in a text field |
| Command-B | Boldface the selected text or toggle boldfaced text on and off |
| Command-C | Copy the selected data to the Clipboard |
| Command-Shift-C | Display the Colors window |
| Command-Option-C | Copy the formatting settings of the selected item and store on the Clipboard |
| Command-Option-V | Paste (apply) the formatting settings from the Clipboard to the selected item |
| Command-Option-D | Show or hide the Dock |
| Command-Control-D | Display the definition of the selected word |
| Command-D | Selects the Desktop folder in Open and Save dialogs or selects Don't Save in dialogs that contain a Don't Save button |
| Command-Delete | Selects Don't Save in dialogs that contain a Delete or Don't Save button |
| Command-E | Use the selection for a find |
| Command-F | Open a Find window |
| Command-Option-F | Move to the search field control |
| Command-G | Find the next occurrence of the selection |
| Command-Shift-G | Find the previous occurrence of the selection |
| Command-H | Hide the windows of the currently running application |
| Command-Option-H | Hide the windows of all other running applications |
| Command-I | Italicize the selected text or toggle italic text on or off |
| Command-Option-I | Display an inspector window |
| Command-M | Minimize the active window to the Dock |
| Command-Option-M | Minimize all windows of the active application to the Dock |
| Command-N | Create a new document in the frontmost application |
| Command-O | Display a dialog for choosing a document to open in the frontmost application |
| Command-P | Display the Print dialog |
| Command-Shift-P | Display a dialog for specifying document parameters (Page Setup) |
| Command-Q | Quit the frontmost application |
| Command-S | Save the active document |
| Command-Shift-S | Display the Save As dialog or duplicate the current document |
| Command-T | Display the Fonts window |
| Command-Option-T | Show or hide a toolbar |
| Command-U | Underline the selected text or turn underlining on or off |
| Command-V | Paste the Clipboard contents at the insertion point |
| Command-Option-V | Apply the style of one object to the selected object (Paste Style) |
| Command-Shift-Option-V | Apply the style of the surrounding text to the inserted object (Paste and Match Style) |
| Command-Control-V | Apply formatting settings to the selected object (Paste Ruler) |
| Command-W | Close the frontmost window |
| Command-Shift-W | Close a file and its associated windows |
| Command-Option-W | Close all windows in the application without quitting it |
| Command-X | Remove the selection and store in the Clipboard |
| Command-Z | Undo previous command (some applications allow for multiple Undos) |
| Command-Shift-Z | Redo previous command (some applications allow for multiple Redos) |
| Control-Space bar | Toggle between the current and previous input sources |
| Option-Control-Space bar | Toggle through all enabled input sources |
| Command-Option-esc | choose an application to Force Quit |
| Command-Shift-Option-Esc (hold for three seconds) | Force Quit the front-most application |
| Command-Left Bracket ([) | Previous browser webpage |
| Command-Right Bracket (]) | Next browser webpage |
Text selection shortcuts
These key combinations can be used in text editing.| fn-Delete | Forward Delete (on a portable Mac's built-in keyboard) |
| fn-Up Arrow | Scroll up one page (same as Page Up key) |
| fn-Down Arrow | Scroll down one page (same as Page Down key) |
| fn-Left Arrow | Scroll to the beginning of a document (same as Home key) |
| fn-Right Arrow | Scroll to the end of a document (same as End key) |
| Command-Right Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the current line |
| Command-Left Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the current line |
| Command-Down Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the document |
| Command-Up Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the document |
| Option-Right Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the end of the next word |
| Option-Left Arrow | Move the text insertion point to the beginning of the previous word |
| Option-Delete | Delete the word that is left of the cursor, as well as any spaces or punctuation after the word |
Command-Shift-Right Arrow
| Select text between the insertion point and the end of the current line (*) |
| Command-Shift-Left Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line (*) |
| Command-Shift-Up Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document (*) |
| Command-Shift-Down Arrow | Select text between the insertion point and the end of the document (*) |
| Shift-Left Arrow | Extend text selection one character to the left (*) |
| Shift-Right Arrow | Extend text selection one character to the right (*) |
| Shift-Up Arrow | Extend text selection to the line above, to the nearest character boundary at the same horizontal location (*) |
| Shift-Down Arrow | Extend text selection to the line below, to the nearest character boundary at the same horizontal location (*) |
| Shift-Option-Right Arrow | Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again (*) |
| Shift-Option-Left Arrow | Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again (*) |
| Shift-Option-Down Arrow | Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again (*) |
| Shift-Option-Up Arrow | Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again (*) |
| Control-A | Move to beginning of line or paragraph |
| Control-B | Move one character backward |
| Control-D | Delete the character in front of the cursor |
| Control-E | Move to the beginning of a line or paragraph |
| Control-F | Move one character forward |
| Control-H | Delete the character behind the cursor |
| Control-K | Delete from the character in front of the cursor to the end of the line or paragraph |
| Control-L | Center the cursor or selection in the visible area |
| Control-N | Move down one line |
| Control-O | Insert a new line after the cursor |
| Control-P | Move up one line |
| Control-T | Transpose the character behind the cursor and the character in front of the cursor |
| Control-V | Move down |
Accessibility
These keyboard shortcuts are are used with Accessibility. You need to enable "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard keys" in Keyboard Preferences pane in System Preferences.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command-Option-F5 | Display Accessibility Options |
| Command-F5 or fn-Command-F5 | Turn VoiceOver on or off |
| Option-Control-F8 or fn-Option-Control-F8 | Open VoiceOver Utility (if VoiceOver is on) |
| Option-Control-F7 or fn-Option-Control-F7 | Display VoiceOver menu (if VoiceOver is on) |
| Option-Control-Semicolon (;) | Enable or disable VoiceOver |
| Command-Option-8 | Turn Zoom on or off |
| Command-Option-Plus (+) | Zoom In |
| Command-Option-Minus (–) | Zoom Out |
| Command-Option-Control-8 | Invert/revert the screen colors (OS X Lion or earlier) |
| Command-Option-Control-Comma (,) | Reduce contrast (OS X Lion or earlier) |
| Command-Option-Control-Period (.) | Increase contrast (OS X Lion or earlier) |
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