Top Ten Most Useful Keyboard Shortcuts For Mac
It really doesn't matter how old you are. Students who learn a few keystroke shortcuts end up loving the speed and feeling of empowerment, Glazebrook says. He has recommendations for shortcuts everyone should know, regardless of their experience level. We've also added a few of our own. This list is a great starting point, whether you're trying to speed up your own computer work or help a friend or relative gain new skills. The Basics There are dozens of keyboard shortcuts available for your Mac or Windows PC. And the two platforms share them.
Most require only a swap between Ctrl (for Windows) and ⌘ (for Macs). The simplest of these require users to press Control (Ctrl) or Command (⌘) along with just one other key. For instance: Ctrl or ⌘ along with P to print, C to copy, V to paste, and S to save. But even these can be difficult to remember. If you're coaching a friend or relative, Glazebrook advises you to give him or her plenty of context. For instance, show how using the commands to copy and paste can help move text around in an email.
Printing out a list of keyboard commands can also be very helpful, especially the commands that require the user to press more than two keys at the same time. New Windows and Tabs If you're looking at a web page in a browser, you can open new windows by depressing Ctrl or ⌘ plus N. That's a fairly common trick for the computer-savvy, but many users don't know that it also opens new windows in Mac's Finder and File Explorer on Windows. (The same combination opens fresh files in Microsoft Word or Excel.) Swapping out the N for a T will create tabs in the same window. And yes, this also works with Mac Finder and Windows File Explorer.
Creating tabs helps desktops from becoming too cluttered with open windows. Hiding Windows Now that you've opened a lot of new windows and tabs, there's also an easy way to hide them, either to clean up the clutter or to preserve your privacy when a nosy co-worker ambles. On a Windows machine, the combination is the Windows key + M.
For Apple users, hold down ⌘ + Option + H + M. Quick Search Looking through drives and folders for documents is a time-consuming task, especially if you have hundreds (or thousands) of files. If you know the name of the file you’re looking for, a quick Windows key + S on a PC will pull up File Explorer (or summon Windows's virtual assistant, Cortana).
Pressing ⌘ + Space on a Mac opens a search window that lets you hunt through your entire computer, no matter what application you're in. Searching for specific text inside a document or on a web page is slightly different. Use Ctrl + F on Windows computers, or if you're on a Mac, depress ⌘ + F. (If you're on the computer's desktop rather than inside a particular window, those key combinations will call up the Mac Finder.) Screen Shots When you see a juicy social media post that's sure to be taken down soon, you’ll be glad to have screen shots in your arsenal.
They're even more useful for jobs like recording transaction numbers if you've placed an online order, or getting a snapshot of an online chat with a sales rep. There are two kinds of screen shot. First, you can take an image of your entire work area or desktop. If you're running Windows 10 on a PC, press the Windows Key + Print Screen. On older PCs, you may need to press the Windows key + Ctrl + Print Screen or Windows key + Fn + Print Screen instead. On a MacBook, hold ⌘ + Shift + 3. The other kind of screen shot captures just a portion of the screen.
On a Mac, press ⌘ + Shift + 4, and then use your mouse to drag open a box around the section you want to include in the image. The screen shot will be taken when you release the mouse.
On Windows computers, you do the same thing by opening the built-in Snipping Tool. Force Quit When your operating system hits a snag, it’s usually because of an unresponsive app. When waiting it out doesn’t work, close the troublesome application by using Ctrl + Alt + Esc on a PC; this will open Task Manager. On an Apple computer, the key combination is ⌘ + Option + Esc, and the box that opens is labeled Force Quit Applications.
This is also a good way to see a list of apps currently running and using up your computer’s memory. Copyright © 2005-2017 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. No reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission.
Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this site.
Windows Key + Search The Windows key is particularly important on Windows 8 — especially before Windows 8.1 — because it allows you to quickly return to the Start screen. On Windows 7, it opens the Start menu. Either way, you can start typing immediately after you press the Windows key to search for programs, settings, and files.
For example, if you want to launch Firefox, you can press the Windows key, start typing the word Firefox, and press Enter when the Firefox shortcut appears. It’s a quick way to launch programs, open files, and locate Control Panel options without even touching your mouse and without digging through a cluttered Start menu. You can also use the arrow keys to select the shortcut you want to launch before pressing Enter. Copy, Cut, Paste RELATED: Copy, Cut, and Paste are extremely important. If you do any typing on your computer, you probably use them. These options can be accessed using the mouse, either by right-clicking on selected text or opening the application’s Edit menu, but this is the slowest way to do it. After selecting some text, press Ctrl+C to copy it or Ctrl+X to cut it.
Position the cursor where you want the text and use Ctrl+V to paste it. These shortcuts can save you a huge amount of time over using the mouse. Search the Current Page or File To quickly perform a search in the current application — whether you’re in a web browser, PDF viewer, document editor, or almost any other type of application — press Ctrl+F. The application’s search (or “Find”) feature will pop up, and you can instantly start typing a phrase you want to search for. You can generally press Enter to go to the next appearance of the word or phrase in the document, quickly searching through it for what you’re interested in. Switch Between Applications and Tabs Rather than clicking buttons on your taskbar, Alt+Tab is a very quick way to switch between running applications.
Windows orders the list of open windows by the order you accessed them, so if you’re only using two different applications, you can just press Alt+Tab to quickly switch between them. If switching between more than two windows, you’ll have to hold the Alt key and press Tab repeatedly to toggle through the list of open windows.
If you miss the window you want, you can always press Alt+Shift+Tab to move through the list in reverse. To move between tabs in an application — such as the browser tabs in your web browser — press Ctrl+Tab. Ctrl+Shift+Tab will move through tabs in reverse. Quickly Print If you’re the kind of person who still prints things, you can quickly open the print window by pressing Ctrl+P. This can be faster than hunting down the Print option in every program you want to print something from.
Basic Browser Shortcuts RELATED: can save you tons of time, too. Ctrl+T is a very useful one, as it will open a new tab with the address bar focused, so you can quickly press Ctrl +T, type a search phrase or web address, and press Enter to go there. To go back or forward while browsing, hold the Ctrl key and press the left or right arrow keys. If you’d just like to focus your web browser’s address bar so you can type a new web address or search without opening a new tab, press Ctrl + L. You can then start typing something and press Enter. Close Tabs and Windows To quickly close the current application, press Alt+F4.
This works on the desktop and even in new Windows 8-style applications. To quickly close the current browser tab or document, press Ctrl+W. This will often close the current window if there are no other tabs open. Lock Your Computer When you’re done using your computer and want to step away, you may want to lock it. People won’t be able to log in and access your desktop unless they know your password. You can do this from the Start menu or Start screen, but the fastest way to lock your screen is by quickly pressing Windows Key + L before you get up. Access the Task Manager Ctrl+Alt+Delete will take you to a screen that allows you to quickly launch the Task Manager or perform other operations, such as signing out.
This is particularly useful because it can be used to recover from situations where your computer doesn’t appear responsive or isn’t accepting input. For example, if a full-screen game becomes unresponsive, Ctrl+Alt+Delete will often allow you to escape from it and end it via the Task Manager. Windows 8 Shortcuts On Windows 8 PCs, there are other very important keyboard shortcuts. Windows Key + C will open your Charms bar, while Windows Key + Tab will open the new App Switcher. These keyboard shortcuts will allow you to avoid the hot corners, which can be tedious to use with a mouse. On the desktop side, Windows Key + D will take you back to the desktop from anywhere. Windows Key + X will open a special “power user menu” that gives you quick access to options that are hidden in the new Windows 8 interface, including Shut Down, Restart, and Control Panel.
Top Ten Most Useful Keyboard Shortcuts For Mac Windows 10
If you’re interested in learning more keyboard shortcuts, be sure to check our longer lists. Image Credit.