Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts

AndyM — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:43:29 +0000

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)

Restore a Minimized OS X Window

AndyM — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:26:51 +0000

[Sorry, this post got corrupted and is displaying '?' instead of the keys. I'll fix it once I remember what they were... Oops. ]

In OS X you can swap between applications in a similar way to Windows (Alt+Tab on Windows, ?+Tab on OS X) however there’s one important difference – Windows swaps between all open windows, but OS X only swaps between apps. The problem is that in OS X you can switch to the right application but the window you want can be minimized.

To restore the window from the dock you need to:

Hold ?
Press Tab until the correct app is highlighted
Hold Alt
Release ?
Release Alt

It’s a bit tricky but you soon get the hang of it and it’s easier than picking up the mouse

andymadge.com » OS X

Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts

Restore a Minimized OS X Window