Mac User Tips & Tricks
Screenshots
- Video Screenshots – Shift + Command + 3 takes a screenshot, Shift + Command + 4 lets you select an area of the screen to screenshot, but Shift + Command + 5, a lesser known option, brings up an interface that lets you record your screen or a portion of your screen.
- Cleaner Screenshots – When using Shift + Command + 4 to select an area of the screen, if you press spacebar, the icon turns to a camera. From there, you can click on any open window to get a screenshot of just that window or interface element like dock or menu bar.
Managing Files
- Quickly Open Folders – To open up a folder in Finder or on your desktop, hold Command and press the down arrow key. To go back, just hold Command and press the up arrow key.
- Clean Up Your Desktop – For those with macOS Mojave or later, on a messy desktop, just right click and choose “Stacks” to have your Mac automatically organize everything by file type.
- Instant File Deletion – If you want to delete a file and want to bypass the Trash Can on the Mac that saves files before deleting them, just select a file and press Option + Command + Delete at the same time.
- Create an Auto Duplicating File – If you want to create a duplicate file when clicking on a specific file, just right click, select “Get Info.” and then check the Stationary Pad box. Every time you open that file, it’ll actually open a duplicate, which is great for templates and similar file types.
Desktop and App Management
- Activate DND Quickly – If you hold the Option key and click on the Notification Center icon in the top right corner of your Mac’s menu bar, you can activate Do Not Disturb.
- Save Your Searches – Save your searches in what are called “Smart Folders” (basically, virtual folders with constantly updated search results in them. Run a search in Finder as normal, using the search box to the top right and whatever filtering criteria you want. When you’ve got your search set up the way you want, click Save: Give your search (or Smart Folder) a name, and you can then access it from the Sidebar with one click in the future.
- Text Replacements – Set this up by opening the Apple menu, then choosing System Preferences, Keyboard, and Text. Create your snippet and what you want it to become when expanded. These text replacements are applied across all the apps on your Mac, wherever you can input text.
- Use Dictation – Opening System Preferences from the Apple menu, then going to Keyboard and Dictation. Turn the feature on, and whenever you need to enter text on your Mac, press the Fn key twice or choose Edit then Start Dictation. When macOS is listening for spoken input, it’ll show a microphone symbol on screen—click Done underneath this to stop dictating.
- Activate Spotlight for Searching – To bring up a handy search interface that will let you find files on your Mac, just use Command + Space. Spotlight can do all kinds of things, from locating files to answering basic questions to solving math problems.
- Swap Between Apps – To switch between your open applications, press Command + Tab. Keep holding down the Command key and then press Tab to cycle through the open apps. Let go when the app you want is highlighted.
- Close Apps From App Switcher – When you’re in the Command + Tab view, press the Q key with command held down to close an open app.
- Hot Corners – If you don’t already use Hot Corners, they’re worth checking out. You can set tasks that will happen when your mouse hovers in a specific corner, like launching Mission Control, showing the desktop, and more. Set them up in System Preferences > Mission Control > Hot Corners.
- Advanced Hot Corners – If you want to use Hot Corners but have found yourself accidentally activating features, hold down the Option key when setting up a Hot Corner. From there, the Hot Corner won’t activate unless you’re holding down the Option key.
- Hide a Window – To quickly hide a window on the desktop, just press Command + H. The app will disappear into the background, but you can get it back by clicking on the icon on the dock or using Command + Tab.
- Hide All Windows – You can hide all of the windows except for the window for the app you’re currently using by pressing Option + Command + H.
- Cycle Between App Windows – If you have multiple windows open for an app like Safari, you can swap between those open windows using Command + the Tilde (~) key.
Word Shortcuts
Cmd + E Center a paragraph
Cmd + J Justify a paragraph
Cmd + L Left align a paragraph
Cmd + R Right align a paragraph
Cmd + Shift + > Increase font size
Cmd + Shift + Decrease font size
Cmd + Shift + A Apply all capital letters
Cmd + B Apply bold
Cmd + I (letter I) Apply italics
Cmd + U Apply underline
Cmd + Shift + D Apply double underline
Cmd + 1 Single-spacing
Cmd + 2 Double-spacing
Cmd + 5 1.5 line-spacing
Shift + Return Insert a line break
Shift + Enter Insert a page break
Cmd + Shift + Enter Insert a column break
Option + G Insert a copyright symbol
Option + 2 Insert a trademark symbol
Option + R Insert a registered trademark symbol
Option + ; (semicolon) Insert an ellipsis
Cmd + Shift + N Apply style – Normal
Cmd + Shift + L Apply style – List
Cmd + Option + 1 Apply style – Heading 1
Cmd + Option + 2 Apply style – Heading 2
Cmd + Option + 3 Apply style – Heading 3
Microsoft Outlook – Email
Cmd + N Create a message
Cmd + S Save the open message to Drafts
Cmd + Return Send the open message
Cmd + E Add an attachment to the open message
Cmd + K Send and receive all messages
Cmd + R Reply to the message
Shift + Cmd + R Reply to all
Cmd + J Forward the message
Microsoft Outlook – Calendar, Notes, Tasks, and Contacts
Cmd + N Create an event, note, task, or contact
Cmd + O (letter O) Open the selected event, note, task, or contact
Delete Delete the selected event, note, task, or contact
Shift + Ctrl + [ Navigate to the previous pane
Shift + Ctrl + ] Navigate to the next pane
Cmd + T Switch the calendar view to include today
Cmd + J Send the note as an email
Microsoft Outlook – Flagging Messages, Tasks, and Contacts
Ctrl + 1 Today
Ctrl + 2 Tomorrow
Ctrl + 3 This week
Ctrl + 4 Next week
Ctrl + 5 No due date
Ctrl + 6 Custom due date
Ctrl + = Add a reminder
0 (zero) Mark complete
Microsoft Excel
Ctrl + Shift + = Insert cells
Cmd + – or Ctrl + – Delete cells
Cmd + Shift + K Group selected cells
Cmd + Shift + J Ungroup selected cells
Cmd + K or Ctrl + K Insert a hyperlink
Cmd + D or Ctrl + D Fill down
Cmd + R or Ctrl + R Fill right
Ctrl + ; (semicolon) Enter the date
Cmd + ; (semicolon) Enter the time
Cmd + Shift + * (asterisk) Select only visible cells
Shift + Delete Select only the active cell when multiple cells are selected
Shift + Spacebar Select the row
Ctrl + 9 Hide rows
Ctrl + Shift + ( Unhide rows
Ctrl + Spacebar Select the column
Ctrl + 0 (zero) Hide columns
Ctrl + Shift + ) Unhide columns
Shift + Return Complete an entry and move up
Tab Complete an entry and move right
Shift + Tab Complete an entry and move left
Esc Cancel an entry
Shift + F2 Insert, open, or edit a comment
Ctrl + Delete Scroll to the active cell in a worksheet
Tab Move between unlocked cells on a protected worksheet
Ctrl + Page Down or Option + Right Arrow Move to the next sheet in a workbook
Ctrl + Page Up or Option + Left Arrow Move to the previous sheet in a workbook
Home or Fn + Left Arrow Move to the beginning of the row
Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + Fn + Left Arrow Move to the beginning of the sheet
Ctrl + End or Ctrl + Fn + Right Arrow Move to the last cell in use on the sheet
Page Up or Fn + Up Arrow Move up one screen
Page Down or Fn + Down Arrow Move down one screen
Option + Page Up or Fn + Option + Up Arrow Move left one screen
Option + Page Down or Fn + Option + Down Arrow Move right one screen
Microsoft PowerPoint
Cmd + N Create a presentation
Cmd + O (letter O) Open a presentation
Cmd + W Close a presentation
Cmd + P Print a presentation
Cmd + S Save a presentation
Cmd + Shift + N or Ctrl + N Insert a slide
Cmd + Shift + Return Play from the first slide
Cmd + Return Play from the current slide
Esc or Cmd + . (period) or – (hyphen) End the slide show
Ctrl + H Hide the pointer
Cmd + 1 Normal view
Cmd + 2 Slider sorter view
Cmd + 3 Notes page view
Cmd + 4 Outline view
Cmd + Ctrl + F Full screen view