A keyboard shortcut is a way to invoke a function in OS X by pressing a combination of keys on your keyboard. Learn about common OS X keyboard shortcuts.
Using keyboard shortcuts
To use a keyboard shortcut, press a modifier key at the same time as a character key. For example, pressing the Command key (it has a 
symbol) and then the “c” key copies whatever is currently selected to the Clipboard. This is also known as the Command-C keyboard shortcut. You can see the keys that map to many shortcuts by looking in an app’s menus.
A modifier key is a part of many keyboard shortcuts. A modifier key alters the way other keystrokes or mouse/trackpad clicks are interpreted by OS X. Modifier keys include: Command, Shift, Option, Control, Caps Lock, and the fn key. These keys are represented by special symbols when you see them in menus and other parts of OS X:
| ⌘ | Command key |
| ⌃ | Control key |
| ⌥ | Option key |
| ⇧ | Shift Key |
| ⇪ | Caps Lock |
| fn | Function Key |
When the fn key is used with the top row of keys on your keyboard, it makes them perform a different function. For example, if a keyboard shortcut is Control-F2, you press fn-Control-Brightness on your keyboard. If you look closely at the Brightness key at the top of your keyboard, there is an F2 symbol indicating that this key works as a function key (F2 or function 2) when you hold fn on the keyboard.
If you use a non-Apple keyboard that includes a Windows key, the Alt key is the same thing as pressing Option, and the Windows key is the same thing as Command. You can change how these keys are interpreted from the Keyboard pane of System Preferences.
Startup shortcuts
Use these key combinations to change how your computer starts up. Press and hold the key or combination of keys immediately after starting your Mac until the expected function occurs or appears. For example, press and hold the Option key during startup until the Startup Manager appears.
Note: If you’re using a keyboard manufactured by someone other than Apple, the Alt key is usually the same key as the Option key. If this modifier doesn’t appear to work, try using an Apple keyboard instead.
| 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
Use these key combinations after your Mac has started up to sleep, shut down, or restart your computer.
| 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
Use these shortcuts to take a picture of what you see on your screen. You can also use Grab to take screenshots, an app located in the Utilities folder.
| 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 keyboard shortcuts work in most apps.
| 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
Use these key combinations when editing text in a field or document.
| 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 |
*Note: If no text is selected, the extension begins at the insertion point. If text is selected by dragging, then the extension begins at the selection boundary. Reversing the direction of the selection deselects the appropriate unit.
Accessibility
These keyboard shortcuts help you control your Mac with your keyboard or assistive devices.
Accessibility and VoiceOver keyboard commands
| 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) |
Note: You may need to enable “Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard keys” in Keyboard preferences for the VoiceOver menu and utility to work.
Full keyboard access
Full keyboard access lets you use your keyboard to navigate and interact with items on the screen. Use these shortcuts to select and adjust controls such as text fields and sliders. This setting can be toggled by pressing Control-F7, or by selecting Full Keyboard Access from the Shortcuts pane of Keyboard preferences in System Preferences.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Tab | Move to the next control |
| Shift-Tab | Move to the previous control |
| Control-Tab | Move to the next control when a text field is selected |
| Arrow keys | Move to the adjacent item in a list, tab group, or menu or Move sliders and adjusters (vertical up and down arrows used to increase and decrease values) |
| Control-Arrow keys | Move to a control adjacent to the text field |
| Space bar | Select the highlighted menu item |
| Return or Enter | Click the default button or perform the default action |
| Esc | Click the Cancel button or Close a menu without choosing an item |
You can navigate the menus in the menu bar without using a mouse or trackpad. To put the focus in the menu bar, press Control-F2 (fn-Control-F2 on portable keyboards). Then use the key combinations listed below.
| Key combination | What it does |
| Left Arrow and Right Arrow | Move from menu to menu |
| Return | Open a selected menu |
| Up Arrow and Down Arrow | Move to menu items in the selected menu |
| Type the menu item’s name | Jump to a menu item in the selected menu |
| Return | Select a menu item |
Accessibility – Mouse Keys
When Mouse Keys is turned on in Accessibility preferences, you can use the keyboard or numeric keypad keys to move the mouse pointer.
| Key combination | What it does |
| 8 or numeric keypad 8 | Move Up |
| K or numeric keypad 2 | Move Down |
| U or numeric keypad 4 | Move Left |
| O or numeric keypad 6 | Move Right |
| J or numeric keypad 1 | Move Diagonally Bottom Left |
| L or numeric keypad 3 | Move Diagonally Bottom Right |
| 7 or numeric keypad 7 | Move Diagonally Top Left |
| 9 or numeric keypad 9 | Move Diagonally Top Right |
| I or numeric keypad 5 | Press Mouse Button |
| M or numeric keypad 0 | Hold Mouse Button |
| . (period key) | Release Hold Mouse Button |
Finder shortcuts
| Key combination | What it does |
| Command-A | Select all items in the front Finder window (or desktop if no window is open) |
| Command-Option-A | Deselect all items |
| Command-Shift-A | Open the Applications folder |
| Command-C | Copy selected item or text to the Clipboard |
| Command-Shift-C | Open the Computer window |
| Command-D | Duplicate selected item |
| Command-Shift-D | Open desktop folder |
| Command-E | Eject |
| Command-F | Find any matching Spotlight attribute |
| Command-Shift-F | Find Spotlight file name matches |
| Command-Option-F | Navigate to the search field in an already-open Spotlight window |
| Command-Shift-G | Go to Folder |
| Command-Shift-H | Open the Home folder of the currently logged-in user account |
| Command-Control-T | Add to Sidebar (OS X Mavericks) |
| Command-I | Get Info |
| Command-Option-I | Show Inspector |
| Command-Control-I | Get Summary Info |
| Command-Shift-I | Open iDisk |
| Command-J | Show View Options |
| Command-K | Connect to Server |
| Command-Shift-K | Open Network window |
| Command-L | Make alias of the selected item |
| Command-M | Minimize window |
| Command-Option-M | Minimize all windows |
| Command-N | New Finder window |
| Command-Shift-N | New folder |
| Command-Option-N | New Smart Folder |
| Command-O | Open selected item |
| Command-Shift-Q | Log Out |
| Command-Shift-Option-Q | Log Out immediately |
| Command-R | Show original (of alias) |
| Command-T | Add Finder tab (OS X Mavericks) |
| Command-Shift-T | Show or hide Finder tab (OS X Mavericks) |
| Command-Option-T | Hide or Show Toolbar in Finder windows |
| Command-Shift-U | Open Utilities folder |
| Command-V | Paste |
| Command-W | Close window |
| Command-Option-W | Close all windows |
| Command-X | Cut |
| Command-Option-Y | Slideshow (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) |
| Command-Z | Undo |
| Command-1 | View as Icon |
| Command-2 | View as List |
| Command-3 | View as Columns |
| Command-4 | View as Cover Flow (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) |
| Command-Comma (,) | Open Finder preferences |
| Command-Accent (`) (the Accent key above Tab key on a US English keyboard layout) | Cycle through open Finder windows |
| Command-Shift-Question Mark (?) | Open Mac Help |
| Command-Left Bracket ([) | Go to the previous folder |
| Command-Right Bracket (]) | Go to the next folder |
| Command-Up Arrow | Open the folder that contains the current folder |
| Command-Control-Up Arrow | Open the folder that contains the current folder in a new window |
| Command-Down Arrow | Open highlighted item |
| Command-Shift-Up Arrow | Make the desktop active |
| Right Arrow (in List view) | Open the selected folder |
| Left Arrow (in List view) | Close the selected folder |
| Option-click the disclosure triangle (in List view) | Open all folders within the selected folder |
| Option–double-click | Open a folder in a separate window, closing the current window |
| Command–double-click | Open a folder in a separate window |
| Command-click the window title | See the folders that contain the current window |
| Command-Tab | Switch application–cycle forward |
| Command-Shift-Tab | Switch application–cycle backward |
| Command-Delete | Move to Trash |
| Command-Shift-Delete | Empty Trash |
| Command-Shift-Option-Delete | Empty Trash without confirmation dialog |
| Space bar (or Command-Y) | Quick Look (Mac OS X v10.5 or later) |
| Command key while dragging | Move the dragged item to another volume or location (the pointer changes while key is held) |
| Option key while dragging | Copy dragged item (the pointer changes while key is held) |
| Command-Option key combination while dragging | Make alias of dragged item (the pointer changes while key is held) |
Learn more
To learn more about this feature of OS X, search the Help menu for “keyboard shortcuts”. The following articles also provide information about keyboard shortcuts.