Tips & Tricks

The Complete Guide to MacBook Keyboard Shortcuts (2026)

By Affix Computers Academy August 7, 2026 6 min read 124 Views 0 Comments

Work Faster on Your Mac with These Essential macOS Shortcut Keys

Whether you’re a student, office professional, programmer, designer, video editor, or content
creator, knowing MacBook keyboard shortcuts can save you hours every week. Instead of navigating menus with your
mouse or trackpad, you can complete tasks instantly using simple key combinations.

In this guide, you’ll learn the most useful MacBook shortcut keys, organized by category, along
with what each shortcut does.


Complete macOS shortcut keys guide for beginners and professionals

Understanding Mac Keyboard Symbols

Before learning shortcuts, it’s important to understand the special keys used in macOS.

Symbol Key
⌘ Command
⌥ Option (Alt)
⇧ Shift
⌃ Control
fn Function
Esc Escape

Most Mac shortcuts use the Command (⌘) key instead of Ctrl
used on Windows.


Basic MacBook Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
⌘ + C Copy
⌘ + X Cut
⌘ + V Paste
⌘ + Z Undo
Shift + ⌘ + Z Redo
⌘ + A Select All
⌘ + S Save
⌘ + P Print
⌘ + N New Window or Document
⌘ + O Open File
⌘ + W Close Current Window
⌘ + Q Quit Application
⌘ + H Hide Current App
Option + ⌘ + H Hide Other Apps

Finder Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
⌘ + N New Finder Window
Shift + ⌘ + N New Folder
⌘ + Delete Move to Trash
Shift + ⌘ + Delete Empty Trash
Option + Shift + ⌘ + Delete Empty Trash Without Confirmation
⌘ + I Get Info
⌘ + J Show View Options
Space Quick Look
Return Rename Selected File
⌘ + D Duplicate File
Shift + ⌘ + C Computer
Shift + ⌘ + H Home Folder
Shift + ⌘ + D Desktop
Shift + ⌘ + O Documents Folder
Shift + ⌘ + A Applications Folder
Shift + ⌘ + U Utilities Folder
Shift + ⌘ + G Go to Folder
⌘ + [ Back
⌘ + ] Forward

Text Editing Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
⌘ + Left Arrow Beginning of Line
⌘ + Right Arrow End of Line
Option + Left Arrow Previous Word
Option + Right Arrow Next Word
Shift + Arrow Select Text
Option + Shift + Arrow Select Word
⌘ + Shift + Left Arrow Select to Beginning
⌘ + Shift + Right Arrow Select to End
fn + Delete Forward Delete
Control + K Delete to End of Line
Control + A Beginning of Line
Control + E End of Line

Safari Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
⌘ + T New Tab
⌘ + Shift + T Reopen Closed Tab
⌘ + W Close Tab
⌘ + L Address Bar
⌘ + R Refresh
Shift + ⌘ + R Hard Refresh
⌘ + F Find on Page
⌘ + Plus (+) Zoom In
⌘ + Minus (-) Zoom Out
⌘ + 0 Reset Zoom
⌘ + Click Link Open in New Tab
Control + Tab Next Tab
Control + Shift + Tab Previous Tab

Screenshot Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
Shift + ⌘ + 3 Entire Screen
Shift + ⌘ + 4 Selected Area
Shift + ⌘ + 4 then Space Capture Window
Shift + ⌘ + 5 Screenshot & Screen Recording Toolbar
Shift + ⌘ + 6 Touch Bar Screenshot (Supported Models)

Mission Control & Desktop

Shortcut Function
Control + Up Arrow Mission Control
Control + Down Arrow App Windows
Control + Left Arrow Previous Desktop
Control + Right Arrow Next Desktop
F11 Show Desktop
fn + F11 Desktop (Some Models)

Window Management

Shortcut Function
⌘ + M Minimize Window
Option + ⌘ + M Minimize All Windows
Control + ⌘ + F Full Screen
⌘ + Tab Switch Apps
Shift + ⌘ + ` Previous Window
⌘ + ` Next Window of Same App

Spotlight & Search

Shortcut Function
⌘ + Space Spotlight Search
Option + ⌘ + Space Finder Search
Control + ⌘ + Space Emoji & Symbols

System Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
Option + Brightness Display Settings
Option + Volume Sound Settings
Option + Keyboard Brightness Keyboard Settings
Power Button Sleep/Wake
Control + Power Restart Dialog
Control + Shift + Power Turn Off Display

Terminal Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
Control + A Beginning of Line
Control + E End of Line
Control + U Delete Line
Control + W Delete Previous Word
Control + L Clear Screen
Control + C Stop Process
Control + D Logout
Control + R Search Command History
Tab Auto Complete
↑ Previous Command
↓ Next Command

Browser Shortcuts (Chrome, Edge, Brave)

Shortcut Function
⌘ + T New Tab
⌘ + Shift + N New Incognito Window
⌘ + Shift + B Show/Hide Bookmarks
⌘ + Shift + Delete Clear Browsing Data
⌘ + D Bookmark Page
⌘ + Shift + D Bookmark All Tabs
⌘ + Option + Left Arrow Back
⌘ + Option + Right Arrow Forward

Microsoft Office Shortcuts

Word

Shortcut Function
⌘ + B Bold
⌘ + I Italic
⌘ + U Underline
⌘ + K Insert Link
⌘ + E Center
⌘ + L Left Align
⌘ + J Justify

Excel

Shortcut Function
⌘ + ; Current Date
Control + ; Current Time
⌘ + 1 Format Cells
⌘ + Shift + K AutoSum
⌘ + Arrow Keys Move to Data Edge
Shift + Space Select Row
Control + Space Select Column

Developer Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
⌘ + ` Switch Editor Window
⌘ + Shift + P Command Palette (VS Code)
⌘ + B Toggle Sidebar
⌘ + / Comment Line
Option + Shift + F Format Document
⌘ + P Quick File Search
⌘ + Shift + F Search Project
Control + ` Integrated Terminal

Accessibility Shortcuts

Shortcut Function
Command + Triple Press Touch ID Accessibility Shortcuts
Option + Command + F5 Accessibility Options
Control + Option + Command + 8 Invert Colors
Control + Option + Command + = Zoom In
Control + Option + Command + – Zoom Out

Startup & Recovery Shortcuts

Use these while turning on your Mac.

Shortcut Function
Power Button (Hold) Startup Options
Command + R macOS Recovery
Option + Command + R Internet Recovery
Shift Safe Mode
D Apple Diagnostics
Option Startup Disk Selection

Emoji Shortcut

Shortcut Function
Control + Command + Space Emoji Picker

Force Quit Applications

Shortcut Function
Option + Command + Esc Force Quit Window

Sleep, Lock & Logout

Shortcut Function
Control + Command + Q Lock Screen
Shift + Command + Q Log Out
Option + Shift + Command + Q Log Out Immediately
Option + Command + Power Sleep

20 Most Important MacBook Shortcuts Everyone Should Know

  1. ⌘ + C — Copy
  2. ⌘ + V — Paste
  3. ⌘ + X — Cut
  4. ⌘ + Z — Undo
  5. ⌘ + S — Save
  6. ⌘ + A — Select All
  7. ⌘ + F — Find
  8. ⌘ + T — New Tab
  9. ⌘ + W — Close Window
  10. ⌘ + Q — Quit App
  11. ⌘ + Space — Spotlight Search
  12. Shift + ⌘ + 3 — Screenshot
  13. Shift + ⌘ + 4 — Area Screenshot
  14. Shift + ⌘ + 5 — Screen Recording
  15. ⌘ + Tab — Switch Apps
  16. ⌘ + L — Address Bar
  17. Option + Command + Esc — Force Quit
  18. Control + Command + Q — Lock Screen
  19. Shift + Command + N — New Folder
  20. Space — Quick Look

Final Thoughts

Learning MacBook keyboard shortcuts is one of the easiest ways to become more productive on
macOS. Whether you’re browsing the web, editing documents, writing code, organizing files, or multitasking between
applications, these shortcuts help you work faster while reducing reliance on the mouse or trackpad.

Start by memorizing the most common shortcuts such as Copy, Paste, Undo, Spotlight Search, Screenshots, and App
Switching
. Once these become second nature, gradually learn more advanced shortcuts for Finder, Safari,
Terminal, Microsoft Office, and development tools. Over time, these keyboard shortcuts can save countless hours and make
using your MacBook significantly more efficient.

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