macOS Reference
Kip Landergren
(Updated: )
My cheat sheet for macOS covering general keyboard shortcuts, screenshots, and window management.
Contents
- macOS Keyboard Shortcuts
- Finder
- Personal Keyboard Preferences
- Keybindings
- Shell Configuration
-
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What is the green dot on the dock? What is the blue dot on the dock?
- How to get macOS to trust self-signed certificates?
- How do I switch between full screen windows of the same app? What is the keyboard shortcut to switch directly between full screen windows of the same app?
- How do I add an application to Automation permissions under Privacy & Security?
- External Links
macOS Keyboard Shortcuts
Note: all letter keys are displayed uppercase. Shortcuts requiring use of ⇧ Shift will be called out.
Fast Menu Item Access
Not every operation has a keyboard shortcut. In the event that you know the title of the menu item you wish to select you can use the following steps to quickly access it:
| access Help menu, focusing search | ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + / |
| access Menu Item | type Menu Item and select from search results |
General
| open Emojis & Symbols | ⌘ Command + ⌃ Control + SPACE |
| insert emoji | place cursor at desired location; double-click the emoji |
| em dash (—) | ⌥ Option + ⇧ Shift + - |
Official Apple Help article on how to use emoji and symbols on Mac.
Screenshots
| capture screenshot | ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + 3 |
| capture portion of screen | ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + 4 |
| capture window or menu | ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + 4, followed by SPACE |
| capture window or menu, without drop shadow | ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + 4, followed by SPACE, followed by ⌥ Option |
Official Apple Help article on how to take a screenshot on your Mac.
Mission Control
| enter Mission Control / leave Mission Control (show Mission Control / hide Mission Control) | ⌃ Control + ↑ |
| move left a space | ⌃ Control + ← |
| move right a space | ⌃ Control + → |
Official Apple Help article on Mission Control.
Apps and Windows
| switch to previous application | ⌘ Command + ↹ Tab |
| scroll to the right through open apps | hold ⌘ Command + ↹ Tab, then ↹ Tab any number of times |
| scroll to the left through open apps | hold ⌘ Command + ↹ Tab, then ⇧ Shift + ↹ Tab any number of times |
| cycle through open windows of the same app (note: does not switch spaces) | ⌘ Command + ` |
Finder
| show hidden files and folders | ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + . |
Personal Keyboard Preferences
Under System Preferences -> Keyboard:
- Set Key Repeat to Fast
- Set Delay Until Repeat to Short
- select Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar
Helpful articles:
Keybindings
I use Karabiner Elements to remap control key and have a custom keybindings file via instructions at Cocoa Text System using emacs with option as meta key.
Shell Configuration
review:
~/.bashrc~/.bash_profile~/.profile/etc/paths/etc/paths.d//etc/profile
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the green dot on the dock? What is the blue dot on the dock?
This appears to be a very small “Handoff” icon, and likely a bug.
More info:
How to get macOS to trust self-signed certificates?
- generate a self-signed certificate for localhost in file
localhost.crt - open Keychain Access
- select “System”
- select “Certificates”
- drag
localhost.crtto window - double click to open
- set to “Always Trust”
How do I switch between full screen windows of the same app? What is the keyboard shortcut to switch directly between full screen windows of the same app?
| access Help menu, focusing search | ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + / |
| access Window menu | ← |
| select the window name you wish to switch to | ↓ / ↑ as needed |
How do I add an application to Automation permissions under Privacy & Security?
The application must request the permission. I encountered this with the emacs package auto-dark which needed to poll for dark / light mode changing. The fix for me was to use osascript from within emacs to request the permission.