Lesser-known (and essential) macOS keyboard shortcuts — Finder, screenshots, Spotlight, windows, text editing, accessibility, power, and startup keys.
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Finder11 shortcuts
⌘ ⇧ .Show or hide dotfiles and dotted directories in Finder windows and any open/save dialog. Toggles instantly without restarting Finder.
Toggle hidden files
⌘ ⇧ GOpen a path-entry sheet to jump to any folder. Accepts ~, /, environment-style paths, and offers tab completion.
Go to folder
⌘ ⌥ VAfter ⌘C on a file, paste with ⌘⌥V instead of ⌘V to move (cut-and-paste) rather than duplicate. Mirrors what most file managers call cut/paste.
Move item here
⌘ ⌥ IOpen the unified Inspector that updates live as the selection changes — unlike ⌘I, which spawns a separate window per item.
Show Inspector
⌘ YPreview the selected file in a floating window — same as pressing Space. Works for most file types via Quick Look generators.
Quick Look
⌘ ⌥ YStart a full-screen slideshow of all selected items — useful for browsing a folder of images or PDFs without opening each one.
Quick Look slideshow
⌘ ↑Navigate up one level to the parent folder in the current Finder window.
Open enclosing folder
⌘ ⇧ ⌫Empty the Trash with a confirmation dialog. Add ⌥ (⌘⌥⇧⌫) to skip the confirmation.
Empty Trash
⌘ ⇧ PShow or hide the path bar at the bottom of the Finder window. Drag any segment to navigate, or ⌃-click for a path popup.
Toggle path bar
⌘ /Show or hide the status bar with item count and free disk space.
Toggle status bar
⌘ JOpen the per-folder view options panel: icon size, grid spacing, sort key, and whether to show hidden columns in list view.
Show view options
Screenshots7 shortcuts
⌘ ⇧ 3Save a PNG of the entire display(s) to the desktop (or wherever the screenshot toolbar is configured to save).
Capture full screen
⌘ ⇧ 4Drag a crosshair to select a rectangle, release to save. Hold ⇧ to lock one axis, ⌥ to resize from center, ␣ to drag the selection.
Capture region
⌘ ⇧ 4 then ␣Press Space after ⌘⇧4 to switch to a camera cursor, then click any window to capture it with its drop shadow. ⌥-click to omit the shadow.
Capture window
⌘ ⇧ 5Open the screenshot/screen-recording control bar with options for timer, save location, click visibility, and selected microphone.
Screenshot toolbar
⌃ ⌘ ⇧ 3Add ⌃ to any screenshot shortcut to copy directly to the clipboard instead of writing a file to disk.
Copy full screen
⌃ ⌘ ⇧ 4Region selection that goes straight to the clipboard — handy for pasting into chat or a document without cleaning up files.
Copy region
⌘ ⇧ 6On Macs with a Touch Bar, save an image of its current contents. No-op on other models.
Capture Touch Bar
SpotlightSpotlight & input5 shortcuts
⌘ ␣Open the Spotlight search bar. Type to search files, apps, definitions, calculations, conversions, and web suggestions.
Open Spotlight
⌃ ⌘ ␣Open the Character Viewer (emoji and symbol picker) at the cursor. Searchable by name; recent picks appear at the top.
Character Viewer
⌥ ⌘ ␣Open a new Finder window pre-focused in Spotlight search mode — like ⌘⌥F from within Finder.
Finder search
⌃ ⌘ DHover or select a word and press ⌃⌘D to pop up the system dictionary, thesaurus, and Wikipedia preview.
Look up word
fn fnPress the fn (or 🌐 globe) key twice to start system dictation in any text field. Press fn again or click anywhere to stop.
Start dictation
WindowsWindows & spaces10 shortcuts
⌘ MMinimize the front window to the Dock. Add ⌥ (⌥⌘M) to minimize all windows of the front app.
Minimize window
⌘ HHide every window of the front app — faster than minimizing each. ⌥⌘H hides all other apps and leaves the front one visible.
Hide app
⌘ WClose the front window. ⌥⌘W closes every window of the front app without quitting it.
Close window
⌘ ⇥Hold ⌘ and tap ⇥ to cycle forward through running apps; ⌘⇧⇥ to cycle backward. Release ⌘ to switch.
App switcher
⌘ `Cycle between open windows of the current app (the backtick lives just above ⇥ on US layouts). ⌘⇧` reverses direction.
Cycle windows of app
⌃ ↑Show every open window arranged across the screen, with Spaces along the top.
Mission Control
⌃ ↓Show every window of the current app side by side, with recently used files of that app along the bottom.
App Exposé
⌃ ← / ⌃ →Move one Space (or full-screen app) to the left or right.
Switch Space
⌃ ⌘ FEnter or exit full-screen mode for the front window — equivalent to clicking the green traffic-light button.
Toggle full screen
F11 (fn F11)Slide all windows off-screen to reveal the desktop; press again to restore. On laptops you usually need fn+F11 unless function keys are set as standard.
Show desktop
TextText editing14 shortcuts
⌃ AMove the cursor to the start of the current line. Works in nearly any macOS text field — these emacs bindings are baked into Cocoa.
Beginning of line
⌃ EMove the cursor to the end of the current line.
End of line
⌃ KDelete from the cursor to the end of the line, copying the killed text into a system kill-ring.
Kill to end of line
⌃ YPaste the most recently killed text from ⌃K. Independent of the regular clipboard.
Yank killed text
⌃ TSwap the two characters on either side of the cursor — fixes typos like "hte" → "the" without selecting anything.
Transpose characters
⌃ DDelete the character to the right of the cursor, like the Delete key on a full-size keyboard.
Forward delete
⌃ OInsert a newline after the cursor without moving the cursor — splits the current line in two while staying put.
Open line
⌥ ⌫Delete the word to the left of the cursor in one stroke instead of one character at a time.
Delete previous word
fn ⌥ ⌫Forward-delete by word — useful when the cursor sits before a typo'd word and you want to retype it.
Delete next word
⌘ ⌫Delete from the cursor to the beginning of the current line.
Delete to start of line
⌥ ← / ⌥ →Move the cursor one word at a time. Add ⇧ to extend the selection word-by-word.
Move by word
⌘ ← / ⌘ →Move the cursor to the visual beginning/end of the line. Add ⇧ to select to that point.
Move to line edge
⌥ ↑ / ⌥ ↓Move to the start of the previous or next paragraph.
Move by paragraph
⌘ ; Jump to the next misspelled word in the current document and show suggestions.
Find next misspelled word
DockDock & focus7 shortcuts
⌘ ⌥ DShow or hide the Dock — useful for reclaiming a few pixels in full-screen-ish workflows without changing the auto-hide setting.
Toggle Dock
⌥ click on Dock iconActivate the clicked app and hide every other app at once.
Switch and hide others
⌘ click on Dock iconOpen a Finder window with the app's bundle (or document) selected.
Reveal in Finder
⌃ F2Move keyboard focus to the menu bar. Use arrow keys to navigate, ⏎ to open, type to filter.
Focus menu bar
⌃ F3Move keyboard focus to the Dock so you can launch apps without the trackpad.
Focus Dock
⌃ F4Move focus to the next window across all apps. ⌃⇧F4 cycles in reverse.
Cycle windows
⌃ F8Move focus to the right side of the menu bar (Wi-Fi, battery, Bluetooth, etc.).
Focus status menus
DisplayAccessibility & display9 shortcuts
⌥ ⌘ 8Turn the screen zoom feature on or off. Must be enabled once in System Settings → Accessibility → Zoom.
Toggle zoom
⌥ ⌘ =Zoom in incrementally when zoom is enabled. Hold to zoom continuously.
Zoom in
⌥ ⌘ -Zoom out incrementally when zoom is enabled.
Zoom out
⌃ ⌥ ⌘ 8Toggle classic invert colors on the entire display — different from Smart Invert in iOS; this affects everything including images.
Invert colors
⌘ F5Turn macOS's built-in screen reader on or off. ⌘F5 again to dismiss.
Toggle VoiceOver
⌥ ⌘ F5Open a panel that toggles common accessibility features (zoom, VoiceOver, Sticky Keys, etc.) without diving into System Settings.
Accessibility shortcuts
⌥ ⇧ BrightnessAdjust display brightness in ¼-bar increments instead of the standard full-bar steps.
Fine brightness step
⌥ ⇧ VolumeAdjust system volume in ¼-bar increments instead of the standard full-bar steps. Same trick works on most function-row sliders.
Fine volume step
⇧ VolumeHold ⇧ while changing volume to suppress the click feedback sound.
Silent volume change
PowerPower & sleep7 shortcuts
⌃ ⌘ QLock the screen immediately and require the login password to return. The fastest way to step away from the keyboard.
Lock screen
⌃ PowerShow the dialog with Restart, Sleep, and Shut Down buttons. Press R/S/⏎ for Restart, Esc to cancel.
Sleep/Restart/Shut Down dialog
⌥ ⌘ PowerPut the entire Mac to sleep without prompting. On Macs with an eject key, ⌥⌘⏏ does the same.
Sleep Mac
⌃ ⇧ PowerPut just the displays to sleep while keeping the system running — useful for long downloads or builds.
Sleep displays
⌃ ⌘ PowerForce the Mac to restart immediately without prompting open apps to save. Use only when something is wedged.
Force restart
⌃ ⌥ ⌘ PowerQuit all apps (giving them a chance to save) and shut down. Skips the confirmation dialog.
Quit and shut down
⌘ ⌥ ⎋Open the Force Quit Applications window — the friendlier version of kill -9 for hung apps.
Force Quit dialog
Startup7 shortcuts
Hold Power (Apple Silicon)On Apple Silicon Macs, press and hold the power button at boot until "Loading startup options" appears. From here you can pick a startup disk, enter Recovery, or open Options.
Startup Options
Hold ⌥ at boot (Intel)Choose a startup disk at boot — useful for booting a different macOS install, an external SSD, or Windows via Boot Camp.
Startup Manager
⌘ R at boot (Intel)Boot into macOS Recovery for Disk Utility, Reinstall macOS, Terminal, and Startup Security Utility.
Recovery
⌥ ⌘ R at boot (Intel)Recovery booted from Apple's servers — used when the local Recovery partition is missing or to reinstall the macOS that originally shipped.
Internet Recovery
⇧ at boot (Intel)Boot Safe Mode: fsck the startup disk, load only required kernel extensions, and skip login items. (On Apple Silicon, hold Power then ⇧-click Continue.)
Safe Mode
⌘ ⌥ P R at boot (Intel)Hold all four keys at boot until the Mac chimes a second time to reset NVRAM/PRAM (display, sound, time zone, startup disk).
Reset NVRAM
T at boot (Intel)Boot into Target Disk Mode so the Mac shows up as an external drive over Thunderbolt/USB-C. (On Apple Silicon use Share Disk from Startup Options instead.)