- Keyboard Shortcuts Macbook Pro
- Macbook Shortcut Change Keyboard Shortcuts
- Apple Shortcut Change Keyboard Language
- Keyboard Shortcuts For Macbook
Open TextEdit or another text editing application to test it out, then hit your keyboard shortcut (or ours; Command+Shift+Option+Spacebar) to switch the keyboard and/or language being typed Close out of System Preferences once confirmed to be working Switching the Keyboard Languages with the Keystroke. And based on your preference, you can change the keyboard layout on your Mac to type faster in a specific language. So, whether you want to write comfortably in Dutch or Chinese, there is a suitable layout for you. Let me walk you through the quick steps! Quick links: How to Change Mac Keyboard Layout; Switch Between Keyboard Layouts on Mac.
Control accessibility options with your keyboard and Siri
You can use these keyboard shortcuts to control accessibility options, or ask Siri to perform these functions. For example, ask Siri to ”Turn VoiceOver On.”
Action | Shortcut |
---|---|
Display Accessibility Options | Option-Command-F5 or triple-press Touch ID (power button) on supported models1 |
Turn VoiceOver on or off2 | Command-F5 or Fn-Command-F5 or hold Command and triple-press Touch ID on supported models1 |
Open VoiceOver Utility, if VoiceOver is turned on2 | Control-Option-F8 or Fn-Control-Option-F8 |
Turn zoom on or off3 | Option-Command-8 |
Zoom in3 | Option–Command–Plus sign (+) |
Zoom out3 | Option–Command–Minus sign (-) |
Invert colors4 | Control-Option-Command-8 |
Reduce contrast | Control-Option-Command-Comma (,) |
Increase contrast | Control-Option-Command-Period (.) |
1. MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
2. To use VoiceOver and VoiceOver Utility, you might need to turn on 'Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys' in Keyboard preferences. You might also need to make VoiceOver ignore the next key press before you can use some of the other Mac keyboard shortcuts.
3. To use the zoom shortcuts, you might need to turn on 'Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom' in Accessibility preferences.
Keyboard Shortcuts Macbook Pro
4. To enable this shortcut, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Keyboard. In the Shortcuts tab, select Accessibility on the left, then select ”Invert colors” on the right.
Use your keyboard like a mouse
You can use your keyboard like a mouse to navigate and interact with items onscreen. Use the Tab key and arrow keys to navigate, then press Space bar to select an item.
- Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Keyboard.
- Click Shortcuts.
- From the bottom of the preferences window, select ”Use keyboard navigation to move focus between controls.” In macOS Mojave or earlier, this setting appears as an ”All controls” button instead.
Action | Shortcut |
---|---|
Switch between navigation of all controls on the screen, or only text boxes and lists | Control-F7 or Fn-Control-F7 |
Move to the next control | Tab |
Move to the previous control | Shift-Tab |
Move to the next control when a text field is selected | Control-Tab |
Move the focus to the previous grouping of controls | Control-Shift-Tab |
Move to the adjacent item in a list, tab group, or menu Move sliders and adjusters (Up Arrow to increase values, Down Arrow to decrease values) | Arrow keys |
Move to a control adjacent to the text field | Control–Arrow keys |
Choose the selected menu item | Space bar |
Click the default button or perform the default action | Return or Enter |
Click the Cancel button or close a menu without choosing an item | Esc |
Move the focus to the previous panel | Control-Shift-F6 |
Move to the status menu in the menu bar | Control-F8 or Fn-Control-F8 |
Activate the next open window in the front app | Command–Grave accent (`) |
Activate the previous open window in the front app | Shift–Command–Grave accent (`) |
Move the focus to the window drawer | Option–Command–Grave accent (`) |
Navigate menus with your keyboard
To use these shortcuts, first press Control-F2 or Fn-Control-F2 to put the focus on the menu bar.
Action | Shortcut |
---|---|
Move from menu to menu | Left Arrow, Right Arrow |
Open a selected menu | Return |
Move to menu items in the selected menu | Up Arrow, Down Arrow |
Jump to a menu item in the selected menu | Type the menu item's name |
Choose the selected menu item | Return |
Use Mouse Keys to move the mouse pointer
When Mouse Keys is turned on, you can use the keyboard or numeric keypad keys to move the mouse pointer.
Action | Shortcut |
---|---|
Move up | 8 or numeric keypad 8 |
Move down | K or numeric keypad 2 |
Move left | U or numeric keypad 4 |
Move right | O or numeric keypad 6 |
Move diagonally down and to the left | J or numeric keypad 1 |
Move diagonally down and to the right | L or numeric keypad 3 |
Move diagonally up and to the left | 7 or numeric keypad 7 |
Move diagonally up and to the right | 9 or numeric keypad 9 |
Press the mouse button | I or numeric keypad 5 |
Hold the mouse button | M or numeric keypad 0 |
Release the mouse button | . (period) |
Learn more
- Change the behavior of the function keys or modifier keys
This is the ultimate guide for working with MacBook keyboards, including accessing special functions, characters, accents, and using keyboard shortcuts in Mac OS system. Click on the list below to jump to an appropriate section.
MacBook Keyboard Diagram / Map
MacBook keyboard has few distinctive sections: Function keys (in light blue), which provides access to various functions in MacBook itself or Mac OS system. By combining them with the FN key, you'll get access to F1 - F12 keys, which can be associated with particular application features (useful in Photoshop for example).
The second section is the modifier keys (in light yellow). Shift allows to type uppercase letters and other additional characters. Command and Alt/Option are used in keyboard shortcuts, as well as the Control key, which is used almost exclusively by Mac OS X and Apple programs.
Return and left Shift has two variants, one used in the US and Eastern Asia (horizontal Return and long Shift), and second, used in Europe, Middle East and Africa (vertical Return and short left Shift). On the diagram, this is shown by dashed lines. Of course, MacBook keyboards have lots of localizations, the most common - US English - is shown above. If you're unsure about the localization you have, go and check it with this guide.
MacBook Air 11' has slightly different keyboard, with smaller top and bottom row keys to accommodate smaller laptop size. Newest MacBooks Pro with TouchBar don't have upper F keys row, instead, they have a touchscreen which changes displayed options based on context.
MacBook Keyboard Symbols Chart
Symbol | Meaning | Notes |
Screen brightness down | ||
Screen brightness up | ||
Launches Mission Control | Icon available on MacBooks Unibody | |
Launches Mission Control | Icon available on MacBooks pre-unibody | |
Launches Dashboard | Icon available on MacBooks Unibody | |
Launches Dashboard | Icon available on MacBooks pre-unibody | |
Keyboard backlight down | ||
Keyboard backlight up | ||
Rewind | ||
Play / Pause | ||
Fast Forward | ||
Sound: mute | ||
Sound: volume down | ||
Sound: volume up | ||
Eject | Available on MacBooks with CD/DVD drive | |
Power | Available on MacBooks without CD/DVD drive | |
Command | On MacBooks 1st generation this is replaced by Apple logo | |
Alt / Option | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Tab | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Backspace | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Shift | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Caps Lock | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Return | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Enter | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts, accessed with FN key | |
Delete | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Clear | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Home | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing. Can be substituted by CMD + up arrow shortcut. | |
End | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing. Can be substituted by CMD + down arrow shortcut. | |
Page Up | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Page Down | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Arrows | Used to move things or pointer |
MacBook Keyboard Special Characters and Accents Map
If you want to type special characters or accents, change your keyboard language to US International PC (thanks, Steve!) and use the map below to get them. You can also check out our solution to the two languages on one keyboard problem.
Where is the Print Screen Button?
Unlike PC keyboard, there is no Print Screen key on MacBook keyboard. This functionality is accessed by keyboard shortcuts and - on Mac - you have greater flexibility:
- Command + Shift + 3 - captures entire screen;
- Command + Shift + 4 - captures selected region. Your cursor turns to crosshair and by clicking and dragging you can specify which area you want to capture;
- Command + Shift + 4 + Space - captures selected window. First press the shortcut from above, then - when you have crosshair - hit Space. The cursor will turn to the camera and the active window will have a blue overlay. Click on it to get it captured.
In some apps, like Photoshop, you need to add Control into the mix, to paste the screenshot into the app.
MacBook Keyboard Tricks
There's a lot you can do in Mac OS by using the keyboard only. Here's a list of highly useful and not-so-useful keyboard shortcuts:
Shortcut | Action |
Command + W | Quickly closes the active window in Safari or any other browser. Works also with many applications, like Pages, Numbers, Photoshop. Great way to quickly close something when your boss is coming around :) |
Command + H | Hides the active application. Useful for hiding something quickly ;) |
Option + Shift + F11/F12 | Makes tiny changes in volume level instead of standard jumps. |
Control + Option + Command + 8 | Reverses colors on the screen. |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | When watching YouTube video, this will advance you to 10%, 20%, 30%... of movie completion. |
Option + Delete | Deletes whole word in text editors |
Control + Command + V | Pastes copied text without formatting. Useful when copying something from Pages and pasting into eg. Wordpress :) |
Control + Command + Option + Eject/Shutdown | Shuts down the MacBook without the need to provide username and password. |
Command + Shift + A | Opens the Applications folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + U | Opens the Utilities folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + D | Opens the Desktop folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + I | When in Safari, this shortcut copies the URL, opens Mail app and creates a new email with the copied URL pasted as a link in a message. |
Command + Option + M | Minimizes all open windows, showing Desktop. |
Command + Option + Shift + Esc | Hold for 3 seconds to force quit any app. |
Command + Tab | Cycle through opened apps from left to right. |
Command + Shift + Tab | Cycle through opened apps from right to left. |
Command + ` | Cycles through active app windows. |
Command + Q | Quit active app. |
Command + T | Opens a new tab in Finder. Opens a new tab in a web browser. |
Command + N | Creates new Finder window. |
Command + Shift + N | Creates new folder in Finder. |
Command + Space | Launches Spotlight. |
Command + Option + Space | Switches to next keyboard language (if you have more than one). |
Command + Control + Space | In some websites and apps this will give you the emoji keyboard. |
Command + Delete | Sends selected files/folders to trash. |
Fn + Delete | Deletes text from left to right. |
F10 + Shutdown | Hold while launching MacBook to get a silent start. |
Command + up arrow/down arrow | Jump to the beginning or end of a page. This is equivalent to PC's Home and End keys. |
Command + up arrow + L | Highlights the address bar in a web browser. |
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