Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

Essential shortcuts

These are the essential shortcuts for everyday usage.

Keyboard shortcut	Action
Command + A	Select all content in a window, document or text field.
Command + C	Copy (selected items to clipboard)
Command + X	Cut (selected items to clipboard)
Command + V	Paste (content from the clipboard)
Command + S	Save the document state (If used inside a browser, saves the page as HTML).
Command + Z	Undo last command.
Shift + Command + Z	Redo last undone command.
Command + F	Find items in an open document or open a new Find window.
Command + G	Find the next occurrence of a found item.
Shift + Command + G	Find previous occurrence of a found item.
Command + H	Hide the windows of the front app.
Option + Command + H	Hide all apps except for the front window.
Command + M	Minimize the front window.
Option + Command + M	Minimize all windows of the front app.
Command + O	Open a selected item. If none are selected, bring up a prompt to choose a file to open.
Command + P	Print the opened document.
Command + S	Save the opened document.
Command + T	Open a new tab of the front app.
Command + W	Close the front window.
Option + Command + W	Close all windows of the front app.
Option + Command + Esc	Force quit an app. This is particularly useful when an app isn’t responsive.
Command + Space bar	Bring up or close Spotlight Search.
Option + Command + Space bar	Perform a Spotlight search in a Finder window.
Control + Command + Space bar	Bring up the Character Viewer to insert emoji and other special characters.
Control + Command + F	Switch to a full screen window, if the app supports it.
Space bar	Use Quick Look on a selected item.
Command + Tab	Switch to the next most recently used (open) app.
Shift + Command + 5	Open the Screenshot app to take a screenshot or a screen recording.
Shift + Command + N	Create a new folder in Finder.
Command + Comma	Open the preferences of the front app.

Power Shortcuts

Some of the shortcuts below don’t apply to Macs with Touch ID Power buttons.

Keyboard shortcut	Action
Option + Command + Power button	Put your Mac to sleep.
Control + Shift + Power button	Put your display(s) to sleep.
Control + Power button	Bring up the Restart/Sleep/Shut Down prompt.
Control + Command + Power button	Force restart your Mac. (Note that unsaved documents and changes will likely be lost. Use this only if your Mac is irresponsive.)
Control + Option + Command + Power button	Quit all open apps, choose whether you want to keep unsaved changes, then Shut Down your Mac.
Control + Command + Q	Lock your Mac screen.
Shift + Command + Q	Log out of your macOS user account after confirming.
Option + Shift + Command	Log out of your macOS user account without confirming.

Finder and system shortcuts

Keyboard shortcut	Action
Command + D	Duplicate selected file(s).
Command + E	Eject selected disk or volume.
Command + F	Invoke Spotlight Search in a Finder window.
Command + I	Bring up the Get Info of a selected file.
Command + R	Show the original file of a selected alias in Finder. Reload the page in select apps, such as Safari. Check for software updates in Software Update preferences.
Shift + Command + C	Open the Computer folder.
Shift + Command + D	Open the Desktop folder.
Shift + Command + F	Open the Recents folder.
Shift + Command + G	Open the Go to Folder dialogue.
Shift + Command + H	Open the Home folder of the current macOS user.
Shift + Command + I	Open the iCloud Drive folder.
Shift + Command + K	Open the Network folder.
Option + Command + L	Open the Downloads folder.
Shift + Command + N	Create a new folder.
Shift + Command + O	Open the Documents folder.
Shift + Command + P	Show/hide the Preview pane in Finder windows.
Shift + Command + R	Open the AirDrop window.
Shift + Command + T	Show/hide the tab bar in Finder windows.
Control + Shift + Command + T	Add selected item in Finder to the Dock
Shift + Command + U	Open the Utilities folder.
Option + Command + D	Show/hide the Dock.
Control + Command + T	Add selected item to the sidebar.
Option + Command + P	Hide/show the path bar in a Finder window.
Option + Command + S	Hide/show the sidebar in a Finder window.
Command + Slash	Hide/show the status bar in a Finder window.
Command + J	Show the View Options.
Command + K	Open the Connect to Server window.
Control + Command + A	Set an alias to a selected item.
Command + N	Open a new Finder window.
Option + Command + N	Create a new Smart Folder in Finder.
Command + T	Show/hide the tab bar when only one Finder tab is open in the current window.
Option + Command + T	Show/hide the toolbar when only one Finder tab is open in the current window.
Option + Command + V	Move Clipboard files from their initial source to the current location.
Command + Y	Use Quick Look on a selected item.
Option + Command + Y	Use a Quick Look slideshow on multiple selected item.
Command + 1	Switch to Icon View in a Finder window.
Command + 2	Switch to List View in a Finder window.
Command + 3	Switch to Column View in a Finder window.
Command + 4	Switch to Gallery View in a Finder window.
Command + Left Bracket	Go to previous folder.
Command + Right Bracket	Go to next folder.
Command + Up Arrow	Open the folder containing the current one.
Command + Control + Up Arrow	Open the folder containing the current one in a new Finder window.
Command + Down Arrow	Open the selected item.
Right Arrow	When in List View, open the selected folder.
Left Arrow	When in List View, close the selected folder.
Command + Delete	Trash selected item(s).
Shift + Command + Delete	Empty the Trash, if it has any items, after you confirm.
Option + Shift + Command + Delete	Empty the Trash, if it has any items, without your confirmation.
Command + Brightness Down	Toggle video mirroring if your Mac is connected to more than one device.
Option + Brightness Up/Down	Open Displays preferences.
Control + Brightness Up	Turn up the brightness on a supported external display.
Control + Brightness Down	Turn down the brightness on a supported external display.
Option + Shift + Brightness Up	Turn up the brightness in smaller steps.
Option + Shift + Brightness Down	Turn down the brightness in smaller steps.
Control + Option + Shift + Brightness Up	Turn up the brightness in smaller steps on a supported external display.
Control + Option + Shift + Brightness Down	Turn down the brightness in smaller steps on a supported external display.
Option + Mission Control	Open Mission Control preferences.
Command + Mission Control	Show the desktop.
Control + Down Arrow	Show all open windows of the front app.
Option + Volume Up/Down	Open Sound preferences.
Option + Shift + Volume Up	Turn up the volume in smaller steps.
Option + Shift + Volume Down	Turn down the volume in smaller steps.
Option + Keyboard Brightness Up/Down	Open Keyboard preferences.
Option + Shift + Keyboard Brightness Up	Turn up the keyboard brightness in smaller steps.
Option + Shift + Keyboard Brightness Down	Turn down the keyboard brightness in smaller steps.
Option + Double Click	Open item in a new window and close original one.
Command + Double Click	Open a folder in a separate tab/window.
Command + Drag to another volume	Move dragged item to new volume rather than copying it.
Option + Drag	Copy dragged item.
Option + Command + Drag	Set an alias for the dragged item.
Command + Click window title	When in List View, open all folders within a selected folder.

Document shortcuts

Keyboard shortcut	Action
Command + B	Toggle boldfacing, or boldface selected text.
Command + I	Toggle italics, or italicize selected text.
Command + K	Add a URL.
Command + U	Toggle underlining, or underline selected text.
Command + T	Show/hide the Fonts window.
Command + D	Select the Desktop folder when presented with an Open/Save dialogue.
Control + Command + D	Show/hide the definition of a selected word.
Shift + Command + Colon	Show the Spelling and Grammar window
Command + Semicolon	Find misspelled words in an open document.
Option + Delete	Delete the word to the left of the cursor.
Control + H	Delete the character to the left of the cursor. Alternatively, you could just click Delete.
Control + D	Delete the character to the right of the cursor.
Control + K	Delete all text between cursor and the end of a line/paragraph.
Fn + Up Arrow	Scroll one page up (Page Up).
Fn + Down Arrow	Scroll one page down (Page Down)
Fn + Left Arrow	Scroll to the beginning of a document (Home)
Fn + Right Arrow	Scroll to the end of a document (End).
Command + Up Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of a document.
Command + Down Arrow	Move the cursor to the end of a document.
Command + Left Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
Command + Right Arrow	Move the cursor to the end of the current line
Option + Left Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.
Option + Right Arrow	Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word.
Shift + Command + Up Arrow	Select the text between the cursor and the beginning of a document.
Shift + Command + Down Arrow	Select the text between the cursor and the end of a document.
Shift + Command + Left Arrow	Select the text between the cursor and the beginning of the current line.
Shift + Command + Right Arrow	Select the text between the cursor and the end of the current line
Shift +Up Arrow	Extend text selection to the nearest character on the same horizontal level on the line above.
Shift + Down Arrow	Extend text selection to the nearest character on the same horizontal level on the line below
Shift + Left Arrow	Extend text selection one character to the left.
Shift + Right Arrow	Extend text selection one character to the right
Option + Shift +Up Arrow	Extend text selection to the beginning of current paragraph. Pressing it again will extend it to the beginning of the following paragraph.
Option + Shift +Down Arrow	Extend text selection to the end of current paragraph. Pressing it again will extend it to the end of the following paragraph
Option + Shift +Left Arrow	Extend text selection to the beginning of current word. Pressing it again will extend it to the beginning of the following word.
Option + Shift +Right Arrow	Extend text selection to the end of current word. Pressing it again will extend it to the end of the following word.
Control + A	Move the cursor to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
Control + E	Move the cursor to the end of the line or paragraph.
Control + F	Move the cursor one character forward.
Control + B	Move the cursor one character backward.
Control + L	Center the cursor or selected text in the visible area.
Control + P	Move the cursor one line up.
Control + N	Move the cursor one line down.
Control + O	Insert a new line after the cursor.
Control + T	Swap the characters behind and in front of the cursor.
Command + Left Curly Bracket	Align left.
Command + Right Curly Bracket	Align right.
Shift + Command + Vertical Bar	Align center.
Option + Command + F	Go to search field.
Option + Command + T	Show/hide the toolbar.
Option + Command + C	Copy selected text to Clipboard including the formatting.
Option + Command + V	Paste text from Clipboard including the formatting.
Shift + Option + Command + V	Paste text from Clipboard while matching the surrounding text’s formatting.
Option + Command + I	Show/hide the inspector window.
Shift + Command + P	Bring up a window to select document settings.
Shift + Command + S	Bring up the Save As prompt or duplicate the current document.
Shift + Command + Minus	Decrease the size of a selected item
Shift + Command + Plus	Increase the size of a selected item.
Command + Equal	Increase the size of a selected item
Shift + Command + Question Mark	Bring up the Help menu.

Thanks for 'Mahmoud Itani' from XDA

All the credits for that post goes to him! OP Link