macOS + Keyboard Shortcuts = ❤

A bunch of keyboard shortcuts and configuration for macOS I use extensively.

⌘ = Command | ⌥ = Option/Alt | ⇧ = Shift | ⌃ = Control

1. ⌃+fn+F7 — hit this once, to globally enable Tab key focus on all controls in dialogs/preferences screens. See the state of this setting under System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.
2. Enable the following with ⌃+fn+F1:
   - ⌃+fn+F2 to focus on menu bar
   - ⌃+fn+F3 to focus on the dock
   - ⌃+fn+F8 to focus on menu bar icons
   after focusing either, use the keyboard to navigate.
   - ⌃+fn+F4 / ⌃+fn+⇧+F4 toggles focus between open windows
3. ⌘+⇧+/ (actually ⌘+?) — jump to the menu bar “Help” search input — to search all the available commands. You can also start navigating with the arrows to focus on other menu items (like #2!)
4. ⌘+` (tick) and ⌘+⇧+` to navigate between windows of the same app.
5. While in ⌘+tab :
   - use up arrow to show all windows of an app (app expose)
   - keep holding ⌘ (without the tab) and hit Q to exit an app without focusing on it first
6. ⌘+H to hide all windows of an app
7. ⌘+, to show the Preferences screen of most apps
8. Mac doesn’t have “Cut” for files, but it has “Move”. ⌘+c to copy a file/folder in Finder, ⌘+⌥+v to move to a new location.
9. ⌃+a and ⌃+e to place the cursor at the beginning/end (respectively) of a text field/paragraph. Just like in Terminal.
10. ⌘+delete — delete everything until the beginning of the line
    ⌘+⌥+delete — delete the last word
    fn+delete — delete the next character
    fn+⌘+delete — delete everything until the end of the line
    fn+⌘+⌥+delete — delete the next word
    use with ⇧ instead of delete to select the text instead of deleting it.
11. [Thanks Avi Pinto for this one:]
    Search for text — instead of copying some text, then pasting in search box and pressing enter (means you lose what you had in the clipboard), you can:
    ⌘+E — puts the selected text in buffer
    ⌘+G — searches the next occurrence of the buffer
    ⌘+⇧+G — searches the previous occurrence of the buffer
    The buffer is global and is shared between most apps.
12. Tab navigation: In most apps that have tabs, navigation can be done with:
    ⌃+tab — next tab
    ⌃+⇧+tab — previous tab
    Some apps (e.g. Chrome/Sublime Text) also respect ⌘+⌥+left/right arrow
13. ⌘+⌃+space to show Emoji picker with a search input 😈😎🆒
14. ⌘+⇧+⌥+v (sometimes ⌘+⇧+v) — paste as plain text/paste without formatting. Great for copying and pasting from web into Notes.app, or your favorite mail app.

Bonus:

Hot corners (mouse 🐀!) — bottom left for Expose, bottom right for Show Desktop. Great when you drag files and you want them to be on the desktop (also dragging an image from browser directly to desktop).

BetterTouchTool and Karabiner — these apps let you customize keyboard/trackpad shortcuts and actions.

Thanks Alex Wolkov ☭ for reviewing this post and adding extra tips!

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