Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts
July 14th, 2008
Useful OS X keyboard shortcuts, particularly if you’re switching from Windows. It’s not exhaustive, but it’s got the ones I use regularly.
This page will be updated as I find new ones to include.
The ⌘ key is also known as Command
The ⌥ key is also known as Alt or Option
The ⇥ key is also known as Tab
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open the Spotlight menu to start a search | ⌘-Space (Command-Space) |
| Open the Spotlight window | ⌘-⌥-Space (Command-Option-Space) |
| Show a spotlight result item in the Finder | ⌘-click it (Command-click it) |
| Force Quit an application | ⌘-⌥-Escape (Command-Option-Escape) |
| Force Reboot of OS X | Ctrl-⌘-Power (Ctrl-Command-Power) |
| Force Shutdown of computer | ⌘-⌥-Shift-Power (Command-Option-Shift-Power) |