Mac Keyboard Shortcut List to Improve Efficiency

When we talk about keyboard shortcuts, the first thing that comes to our mind is Command C (Copy) or Command V (Paste). Right? Mac offers us a plethora of shortcut keys and key combinations that we can use to bypass lengthier procedures and improve our productivity. Let's learn these keyboard shortcuts beyond copy and paste.

Keep in mind that Esc is there to get you out of trouble. If you have copied the wrong content to paste it somewhere else, click Esc, or if you have captured a screenshot and realized that it's not the right one, tap Esc. Pressing the Esc button cancels the previous command.

If you have experience with Windows, you should be familiar with the popular Ctrl + Shift + Delete key combination that helps bring desktop computers to the working mode. But is it the same on MacBook? Well, you need to press Command + Option + Escape keys to turn your Mac to normal if it freezes ever.

You can take a screenshot of a single window, your entire screen, or just a portion of the screen on a MacBook. Capture the screenshot of your entire Mac screen by pressing and holding down the Shift + Command + 3 keys simultaneously. If you want to capture a portion of the screen, press Shift + Command + 4. Next, drag the crosshair, move your selection by pressing Spacebar, and take the screenshot.

If you wish, you could also consider other methods to capture the MacBook’s screen, such as third-party software. You can click there and find out what such software is.

If you have instructed your Mac to do something and later changed your mind, press Command + Z keys together. Pressing these keys will undo the previous action. If you want to go with the previous command after undo, you can press Shift + Command + Z to redo the selected action.

QuickLook on MacBook allows you to view files, rotate images, trim videos, and much more. If you want to use QuickLook to preview items, select the item in the Finder window, press Space Bar, and a preview appears. To keep it short, use the Up arrow or Down arrow keys to navigate to the item in Finder and press Command + Y keys.

For a faster web browsing experience and to activate the address bar for navigating to a website in Safari, press Command + L. Start typing the URL and use the Up arrow and Down arrow keys to select the appropriate address. Knowing these keyboard sequences will make your work efficient.

The Spotlight search bar allows you to find something instantly and efficiently. If you wish to hide the search field, press the Command + Space bar keys simultaneously. Alternatively, for performing Spotlight search from Finder, press Command + Option + Space bar. For multiple input sources for different languages, these shortcut keys will change the input source.

If you want to navigate to the Applications folder from the Finder or Desktop view, press Command + Shift + A key combination. To navigate to the Utilities folder, press Command + Shift + U keys or replace the alphabet with D to open Desktop, I to access iCloud, or H to navigate to the Home window.

Pressing Fn + Left arrow key will take you to the top of the web page, whereas pressing the Fn + Right arrow key will take you to the bottom of the web page. Alternatively, use the Command + Up arrow to navigate to the top of the web page and the Command + Down arrow to reach the bottom section of the web page.

Press and hold down the Option + Shift + Volume Up to increase the volume on your Mac in smaller intensities. Alternatively, press and hold the Option + Shift + Volume Down keys to lower the volume. Pressing down the Option + Shift key will allow you to control the display brightness on your MacBook screen.

While you are browsing Safari, select the File menu and press the Options key on the keyboard to access the Close Other Tabs option. Options keys can be of great help if you want to force quit an application. Press Option and click the application’s icon in the Dock to close the frozen application or program.