Check Apple’s Mac keyboard shortcuts for the usual suspects.

Here are some of my favorites.

Keyboard Symbols

  • ⇧ - Shift
  • ⌃ - Control
  • ⌥ - Option
  • ⌘ - Command

General Shortcuts

Shortcut ▶️ Purpose – Hints are nested

Global

  • ⌥ F2 — Open the display section of system preferences.
  • ⌘ ⌥ H M — Minimize all windows
  • ⌘ L — While in the system preferences go to the main page
  • ⌘ Space — Open spotlight search
  • ⌘ ⌥ d — Toggle the dock auto hide feature, helps with hiding the dock temporarily
  • ⌘ ⌥ H-M — Minimize all windows and show the desktop
  • Fn Right Arrow — End of line
  • ⌘ ⌥+ — Zoom in any app
  • ⌘ ⌥ — Zoom out any app
  • ⌘ ⌥ d — Look up selected word definition
  • ⌥ ⇧ [-] — Em Dash
  • ⌥ [-] — En Dash
  • Right ⌘ ⌘ — Start dictation (voice to text) (configured in Keyboard)

Finder

  • ⌘ o — Open folder
  • Ctrl ⌘ o — Open Finder in the same folder
    • Check Open folders ⌥ in Finder -> Preferences to open in a new window instead of a tab
  • ⌘ Up Arrow — Moves up one directory in finder
  • ⌘ Down Arrow — Moves down one directory in finder
  • ⇧ ⌘ . — Show hidden files
  • ⇧ ⌘ g — Go to folder
  • ⌘ o — Open the selected file
  • ⌘ Up Arrow — Open the parent folder
  • ⌘ ⌥ c — Copy the path of the selected file or folder
  • ⌘ ⌥ v — Paste a copied folder to move the copied folder (faster)

More Finder Shortcuts..

Writing Shortcuts

When writing stories.

  • ⌥ [ — Left double quotation mark (“)
  • ⌥ ⇧ [ — Right double quotation mark (”)
  • ⌥ - — En dash (–)
  • ⌥ ⇧ - — Em dash (—)
  • ⌥ ; — Ellipsis (…)