Cheat sheet · Updated
Mac Keyboard Shortcuts: The 15 Every User Should Know
The fifteen macOS shortcuts worth knowing first — copy and paste, Spotlight, app switching, screenshots, force quit — from Apple's own list, plus the apps to learn next.
By ShortcutPosters Editorial Team · from 1 official source
Most macOS speed comes from a small system layer that works the same in every app: open anything with Spotlight, switch apps without the mouse, capture exactly the region of the screen you want, and the copy, paste and undo basics. Learn these once and they pay off in every program you open.
The 15 to know
macOS
- Cut selected item⌘X
- Copy selected item⌘C
- Paste from Clipboard⌘V
- Undo⌘Z
- Show or hide Spotlight search⌘␣
- Switch to next most recently used app⌘⇥
- Quit the current app⌘Q
- Select all items⌘A
- Find items⌘F
- Save the current document⌘S
- Force quit an app⌘⌥⎋
- Close the front window⌘W
- Take a screenshot of the whole screen⇧⌘3
- Capture a selected portion of the screen⇧⌘4
- Lock screen⌃⌘Q
Then the apps you use daily
Once the system layer is second nature, learn the arrange, navigation and formatting shortcuts of the apps you open every day. Start with your browser and mail, then your writing and presentation tools — the shortcuts compound across every document and message.
Make them stick
Pin a reference within glance distance of your screen and, for a week or two, force yourself to look the shortcut up instead of reaching for the menu. By the second week the muscle memory takes over and the reference becomes decoration — which is exactly the point.
FAQ
- How do I take a screenshot on a Mac?
- ⇧⌘3 captures the whole screen, ⇧⌘4 a selected area, and ⇧⌘5 opens the screenshot and recording options.
- How do I force quit an app on a Mac?
- ⌥⌘Esc opens the Force Quit window, where you pick the app to close.
- How do I switch between apps on a Mac?
- ⌘Tab cycles through open apps; ⌘` switches between the windows of the front app.