Here are many useful shortcuts that will make your daily work with your Mac OS X much more comfortable and efficient. The keyboard shortcuts, listed here will work in all current Mac OS X versions.
Shortcuts that are only available in certain OS X versions are labeled with the version name.
– OS X Mavericks
– OS X Yosemite
– OS X El Capitan
– macOS Sierra
Mac keyboard legend shortcut
| Button | Designation |
|---|---|
 |
Esc (also: ␛, ⎋, escape ) |
 |
Tab (also: ↩, tab stop , tab key ) |
 |
Caps-Lock (also: ⇪, Capslock , Caps Lock ) |
 |
Shift (also: ⇧, Shift , Shift ) |
 |
Ctrl (also: ^, control , control key ) |
 |
Alt (also: ⌥, option key , option key , selection key ), alternate |
 |
CMD (also: ⌘, , Command , Apple , Apple , Apple key , Command key , Command key , clover , cloverleaf , propeller , Ctrl ) |
 |
Enter (also: ↩, ⌤, Return , Enter , Enter ) |
 |
Backspace (also: ←, ␣, backspace , backspace ) |
 |
Eject, Power (also: ⏏, ⌽, eject ) |
 /  |
Mission Control (former Exposé) (also: Overview , F3 , Exposé ) |
General shortcuts for Mac OS X
| Mac OS shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Alt + CMD + Q | Sign out |
| Alt + CMD + Eject | hibernation |
| CMD + Ctrl + Eject | Start anew |
| Alt + CMD + Ctrl + Eject | shut down |
| Ctrl + Eject | Dialog window ” Restart “, ” resting state “, ” off “ |
| Ctrl + Shift + Eject | Turn off the monitor / lock Screenlock / Mac |
| Mac OS shortcut | Action |
| Alt + CMD + Ctrl + 8 | Invert screen on / off |
| Alt + CMD + D | Hide dock on / off automatically |
| CMD + Shift + T | adds the marked file to the dock |
| CMD + Shift + 3 | ” normal ” screenshot, more options |
| CMD + Tab | switch between active applications |
| CMD + < | switch between windows of an application |
| CMD + Q | exit program |
| Alt + CMD + Esc | Exit program immediately |
| Alt + CMD + Shift + Esc (hold for several seconds) |
Shoot down the program |
| CMD + W | Close the window |
| Alt + CMD + W | Close all windows of a program |
| CMD + M | Minimize active window / drop to the dock |
| CMD + H | Hide / hide windows |
| Alt + CMD + H | all windows, except active, hide |
| CMD + Exposé | hide all windows & show desktop / desktop |
| CMD + F5 | activates / deactivates the speech output |
| CMD + , | in most programs settings menu |
| CMD + F CMD + Alt + Space |
Find dialog |
| CMD + Space | Spotlight search |
| CMD + Space (keep moving) |
Siri |
| CMD + Backspace | Move file / folder to trash |
| CMD + Shift + Backspace | Empty trash |
| Alt + Shift + CMD + Backspace | Recycle Bin without dialog box / clear confirmation |
| Alt + Shift + Lauter/Leiser | finer volume setting |
| Alt + Shift + Heller/Dunkler | finer brightness setting |
| Ctrl + F7 | activates tab control in dialog boxes |
| Ctrl + CMD + F | Program in full screen / fullscreen represent OS X Lion |
| Mark word and Ctrl + CMD + D |
Dictionary, word look up OS X Lion |
| F3 | Mission Control OS X Lion |
| Ctrl + Pfeiltaste links / rechts | Spaces switch OS X Lion |
| Ctrl + F3 danach Tab | switch between programs OS X Lion |
| Alt + Change window size with mouse | Adjust the window size on both sides OS X Lion |
| Alt + Shift + Change window size with mouse | Scales a window & gets OS X Lion aspect ratio |
| CMD + Change window size with mouse | Size v. inactive windows customize OS X Lion |
| CMD + move inactive windows | inactive windows move OS X Lion |
| Move the mouse up / down the left / right edge of the window | Move margins on the sidebar OS X Lion |
Basic Shortcuts for Mac OS X
| Mac OS shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| CMD + P | To press |
| CMD + O | open dialog box |
| CMD + A | select all |
| CMD + C | Copy |
| CMD + V | Insert |
| Alt + CMD + V | Insert & delete the source file (Cut) OS X Lion |
| CMD + S | Save / Save |
| CMD + Shift + S | Save As / Save As |
| CMD + Z | Back |
| CMD + E | Eject volume |
| Fn + Backspace | Remove (Enf key) |
| Ctrl + Mausklick Can be used in system settings are changed |
right-click |
Finder Shortcuts for Mac OS X
Mac OS X quick access
| Mac OS shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| CMD + Shift + G | “Go to Folder” dialog |
| CMD + Shift + R | Open AirDrop folder |
| CMD + Shift + H | Open user directory |
| CMD + Shift + C | Open the computer directory |
| CMD + Shift + O | Open the document folder |
| CMD + Shift + U | Open the utility folder |
| CMD + Shift + K | Open network folder |
| CMD + Shift + A | Open the program folder |
| CMD + Shift + D | Open a desk folder |
| CMD + Shift + G | opens a dialog box |
| CMD + Shift + L | Open the Library folder |
| CMD + Alt + L | Open the Downloads folder |
| Alt + F1 | opens System Settings -> Monitors |
| Alt + F3 | opens System Settings -> Exposé & Spaces |
| Alt + F10 | opens System Settings -> Sound |
Startup Shortcuts for Mac OS X
The following shortcuts must be executed during system startup.
| Mac OS shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| C | starts from CD / DVD |
| Alt | Startup Manager (selection start volume) |
| mouse button | throws the CD out |
| Shift | starts Mac OS in “safe mode”, disables startup items & unimportant kernel extension files |
| V | starts Mac OS in ” verbose mode “ |
| CMD + R | starts Mac OS in ” Recovery Mode “ |
| T | starts in ” Target Disk Mode “ |
| D | Apple hardware test |
| CMD + Alt + P + R | NVRAM reset |
Word processing shortcuts for Mac OS X
| Mac OS shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| CMD + Alt + T | opens a window for inserting special characters |
| CMD + Pfeiltaste rechts | to the end of the line |
| CMD + Pfeiltaste links | to the beginning of the line |
| CMD + Pfeiltaste hoch | to the beginning of the document |
| CMD + Pfeiltaste runter | to the end of the document |
| Alt + Pfeiltaste rechts | a word forward |
| Alt + Pfeiltaste links | a word backwards |
| Alt + Pfeiltaste hoch | a paragraph back |
| Alt + Pfeiltaste runter | a paragraph before |
| Alt + CMD + Shift + V | Insert text & customize text style |
| CMD + X | (Text) Cut |
| long press of a letter (eg A) |
shows possible letter accents OS X Lion |
| fn (twice) | launches the dictation function OS X Mountain Lion |
| CMD + Ctrl + Space | Opens the special character palette |
iTunes (Mac OS) Shortcuts
| iTunes shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Leertaste | pause |
| Pfeiltaste rechts | play next title |
| Pfeiltaste links | play previous title |
| CMD + I | opens the song information for the selected title |
| CMD + N | with open song information; displays information about the next track |
| CMD + P | with open song information; displays information about the previous track |
| CMD + L | back to the current song |
| CMD + Shift + N | creates a playlist from the selected songs |
| CMD + T | shows visual effects |
| CMD + Alt + 2 | opens the equalizer |
| Alt + Enter | Add the selected song to “Up next” |
iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) Shortcuts
| iWork shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| CMD + B | Display text in bold |
| CMD + I | Text in italics |
| CMD + U | Show text underlined |
Preview / Preview Shortcuts
| Preview / Preview Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| CMD + L | Turn document to the left |
| CMD + R | Turn document to the right |
| CMD + + | Enlarge |
| CMD + - | decrease |
| CMD + 0 | original size |
| CMD + Shift + A | Shows / hides the annotation tools |
| CMD + D | Bookmark |
| ` Shift + ´ |
activates a magnifying glass OS X Lion |
| + (with magnifying glass activated) | enlarges the magnifying glass OS X Lion |
| - (with magnifying glass activated) | Shrinks the magnifying glass OS X Lion |
Safari Shortcuts
| Safari Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| CMD + Shift + N | New private window |
| CMD + T | open a new tab |
