Mac Keyboard Shortcuts: The Complete Cheat Sheet for macOS

Mac keyboard shortcuts can save you dozens of trips to the menu bar every day, but the symbols Apple uses (⌘, ⌥, ⌃, ⇧) aren’t obvious if you came from Windows or never learned them. This cheat sheet explains what each modifier key is, then lists the shortcuts that actually matter, grouped by what you’re trying to do.

Everything here works on current macOS, from Ventura through macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27, unless a note says otherwise.

Mac modifier key symbols

Menus and shortcut lists on a Mac use symbols instead of key names. Here’s how to read them:

Symbol	Key	Windows equivalent	Where it is
⌘	Command (cmd)	Ctrl (for most shortcuts)	Either side of the space bar
⌥	Option (alt)	Alt	Between Control and Command
⌃	Control (ctrl)	Ctrl (in a few cases)	Bottom-left, next to fn
⇧	Shift	Shift	Same place as on any keyboard
fn / 🌐	Function / Globe	Fn	Bottom-left corner
⇪	Caps Lock	Caps Lock	Left side
⎋	Escape (esc)	Esc	Top-left
⌫	Delete	Backspace	Top-right of the main keys

A few things that trip people up:

• Command does most of the work. Most shortcuts that use Ctrl on Windows use ⌘ Command on a Mac: ⌘C to copy, ⌘S to save.
• Control is separate. ⌃ Control is mostly used for system features (Mission Control, locking the screen) and for right-clicking: hold ⌃ and click.
• The Globe key is the fn key. Newer Mac keyboards print a 🌐 globe on the fn key. It works exactly like fn in shortcuts, and pressing it on its own can switch input sources, open emoji or start dictation depending on your Keyboard settings.
• Delete is Backspace. To delete forward (the Windows Delete key), press fn + ⌫ Delete.

You press modifier keys first and hold them, then tap the final key. So ⇧ Shift + ⌘ + 4 means hold Shift and Command, then press 4.

Essential Mac keyboard shortcuts

If you only learn one table, make it this one. These work in almost every app.

Shortcut	What it does
⌘C	Copy
⌘X	Cut
⌘V	Paste
⌘Z	Undo
⇧⌘Z	Redo
⌘A	Select all
⌘F	Find
⌘G	Find next
⌘S	Save
⌘P	Print
⌘O	Open a file
⌘N	New document or window
⌘T	New tab
⌘W	Close the front window or tab
⌘Q	Quit the app
⌘,	Open the app’s settings
⌘Space	Open Spotlight search
Space	Quick Look a selected file

Tip: Closing a window with ⌘W usually leaves the app running. Use ⌘Q when you actually want to quit it.

Finder shortcuts

These work when a Finder window (or the desktop) is active.

Shortcut	What it does
⌘N	New Finder window
⇧⌘N	New folder
⌘D	Duplicate the selected file
⌘I	Get Info
Return	Rename the selected item
⌘⌫	Move to Trash
⇧⌘⌫	Empty Trash
⌘↓	Open the selected item
⌘↑	Go to the enclosing folder
⌘[ / ⌘]	Back / forward
⌘1 – ⌘4	Icon, list, column or gallery view
⇧⌘G	Go to Folder (type a path)
⇧⌘H	Open your Home folder
⇧⌘D	Open the Desktop folder
⌥ Option⌘L	Open the Downloads folder
⇧⌘A	Open the Applications folder
⇧⌘U	Open the Utilities folder
⇧⌘.	Show or hide hidden files
⌥⌘P	Show or hide the path bar

Warning: ⌘⌫ only moves files to the Trash, so you can still get them back. Emptying the Trash is permanent. If you’re cleaning up to save space, read our guide on how to free up space on Mac first.

Text editing shortcuts

These work in nearly every text field: Notes, Pages, Mail, browsers, and most third-party apps.

Shortcut	What it does
⌘← / ⌘→	Jump to the start / end of the line
⌘↑ / ⌘↓	Jump to the start / end of the document
⌥← / ⌥→	Move one word left / right
⇧ + any of the above	Select as you move
⌥⌫	Delete the previous word
⌘⌫	Delete to the start of the line (in most text fields)
fn⌫	Delete the character to the right
⌘B / ⌘I / ⌘U	Bold / italic / underline
⌘K	Add a link
⌥⇧⌘V	Paste and match style (no formatting)
⌃ Control⌘Space or fnE	Open emoji and symbols
⌃⌘D	Look up the word under the pointer
⌘;	Find the next misspelled word

“Paste and match style” is the one most people wish they’d learned sooner: it drops text into a document without dragging along the fonts and colors from wherever you copied it. If you copy and paste a lot, a clipboard manager is worth a look too.

Window and app shortcuts

These shortcuts help you move between apps and windows without touching the mouse.

Shortcut	What it does
⌘Tab	Switch to the last app you used; keep holding ⌘ and tap Tab to cycle
⇧⌘Tab	Cycle backward through open apps
⌘`	Switch between windows of the current app
⇧⌘`	Switch windows of the current app in reverse
⌘H	Hide the current app
⌥⌘H	Hide every app except the current one
⌘M	Minimize the front window to the Dock
⌥⌘M	Minimize all windows of the current app
⌥⌘W	Close all windows of the current app
⌃⌘F	Enter or exit full screen (in apps that support it)
⌃↑	Open Mission Control
⌃↓	Show all windows of the current app
fnF11 or fnH	Show the desktop
⌥⌘D	Show or hide the Dock

The ` key is the backtick, just above Tab on US keyboards. On other layouts it may sit somewhere else.

Tip: While the ⌘Tab app switcher is on screen, keep holding ⌘ and press Q to quit the highlighted app or H to hide it.

Window tiling (macOS Sequoia and later)

macOS Sequoia 15 added built-in window tiling, with these default shortcuts:

Shortcut	What it does
fn⌃F	Fill the screen (without entering full screen)
fn⌃C	Center the window
fn⌃← / →	Tile to the left / right half
fn⌃↑ / ↓	Tile to the top / bottom half

You’ll also find these under Window › Move & Resize in most apps’ menu bars. On Ventura and Sonoma they don’t exist; you’d need a third-party window manager.

Screenshot shortcuts

macOS has screenshot tools built in. Here are the four you’ll use most:

Shortcut	What it does
⇧⌘3	Capture the whole screen
⇧⌘4	Drag to capture part of the screen
⇧⌘4, then Space	Capture a single window
⇧⌘5	Open the Screenshot toolbar (also records video)

Add ⌃ to any of the first three to copy the screenshot to the clipboard instead of saving a file. For every option, including changing where screenshots are saved, see our full guide to Mac screenshot shortcuts. If you want video, here’s how to screen record on Mac.

System shortcuts

These control your Mac itself rather than a single app.

Shortcut	What it does
⌘Space	Open or close Spotlight
⌥⌘⎋ Esc	Open the Force Quit window
⌃⌘Q	Lock the screen
⇧⌘Q	Log out (asks to confirm)
⌥⇧⌘Q	Log out immediately
fnC	Show or hide Control Center
fnN	Show or hide Notification Center
fnQ	Start a Quick Note
fn⇧A	Open Apps (macOS Tahoe 26 and later) or Launchpad (earlier versions)
⌃Space	Switch to the previous input source (keyboard language)
⌥ + brightness up key	Open Displays settings
⌥ + volume up key	Open Sound settings

If an app freezes, ⌥⌘⎋ is the one to remember. Our guide to the force quit shortcut on Mac covers what to do when even that doesn’t work.

Tip: On a MacBook, pressing Touch ID (the power button) once also locks the screen.

Safari shortcuts

Most of these also work in Chrome, Firefox and other browsers.

Shortcut	What it does
⌘L	Jump to the address bar
⌘T	New tab
⌘W	Close the tab
⇧⌘T	Reopen the last closed tab or window
⇧⌘N	New private window
⌘R	Reload the page
⌘[ / ⌘]	Back / forward
⌃Tab / ⌃⇧Tab	Next / previous tab
⌘1 – ⌘8	Go to tab 1–8 (⌘9 goes to the last tab)
⇧⌘</kbd>	Show all tabs
⌘D	Bookmark the page
⇧⌘R	Show Reader
⌘+ / ⌘-	Zoom in / out
⌘0	Reset zoom to actual size

If a page suddenly looks too big or too small, you probably hit a zoom shortcut by accident. Our guide on how to zoom out on a MacBook covers every kind of zoom and how to undo it.

How to create custom keyboard shortcuts on Mac

If an app has a menu command you use constantly but no shortcut for it, you can add your own. This works for any command that appears in an app’s menu bar.

1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
2. Click Keyboard in the sidebar.
3. Click the Keyboard Shortcuts button.
4. Select App Shortcuts in the list on the left.
5. Click the Add button (+).
6. In the Application pop-up menu, choose an app, or All Applications to apply it everywhere.
7. In Menu title, type the command exactly as it appears in the menu, including any punctuation.
8. Click the Keyboard shortcut field and press the key combination you want.
9. Click Done.

A few rules make the difference between a shortcut that works and one that silently does nothing:

• Match the name exactly. Capitalization and spacing count. If the menu item ends in an ellipsis, type three periods with no spaces, as in Export as PDF....
• Use -> for submenus. For a command nested in a submenu, separate each level, for example Format->Font->Bold.
• Avoid conflicts. If your combination is already used by the app or by macOS, the new shortcut won’t work. Pick something else.
• Menu commands only. You can’t use this to launch apps or run scripts. For that, a launcher like Raycast or Alfred fills the gap; see our Raycast vs Alfred comparison.

To change a custom shortcut later, go back to the same screen, select it, click its key combination and press a new one. To delete it, select it and click the Remove button (–).

Note: On macOS Monterey and earlier, the same settings live in System Preferences › Keyboard › Shortcuts › App Shortcuts.

You can also change or turn off many built-in shortcuts in the other sections of that Keyboard Shortcuts window, such as Screenshots, Mission Control and Spotlight.

How to find shortcuts you don’t know yet

You don’t need to memorize all of this. Every Mac app lists its shortcuts right next to its menu commands, so opening a menu once is often enough to learn the shortcut for next time. For system-wide shortcuts, browse System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts.

Apple also keeps a full reference of Mac keyboard shortcuts on its support site, including accessibility and power-button shortcuts not covered here.

Start with the essentials table, add the window shortcuts once copy and paste are second nature, and you’ll be reaching for the mouse far less within a week.