Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Instead of going up to the drop down menus at the top of the screen to close windows, copy text, or quit applications, I always use the keyboard to perform these and other functions on my computer. Although it takes a bit of time to get used to doing this, this is a tip that will save a person time in the long run. The most commonly used key is the Command key, with the Option, Control and Shift key also being used (see symbols in chart to the right). Here is a link with many more keyboard shortcuts, and here is a one pager with commonly used shortcuts.

Check out the below keyboard shortcuts that I commonly use:

Quit - ⌘Q

Close - ⌘W

New - ⌘N

Print - ⌘P

Open - ⌘O

Save - ⌘S

Save As - ⌘ ⇧ ⌥ S

Undo - ⌘Z

Redo - ⌘Y

Copy - ⌘C

Cut - ⌘X

Paste - ⌘V

Select All - ⌘A

Screenshot to desktop - ⌘⇧3

Screenshot (customize size) to desktop - ⌘⇧4

Open Spotlight - ⌘Spacebar

Find - ⌘F

New Folder - ⌘⇧N

Mission Control - ⌃ + arrow up

Exit Mission Control - ⌃ + arrow down

Editing Text in MS Word (and some other applications)

Bold - ⌘B

Underline - ⌘U

Italicize - ⌘I

Enlarge Font Size - ⌘⇧.  (command + shift + period)

Reduce Font Size - ⌘⇧, (command + shift + comma)

Hey power users - want to create your own keyboard shortcut? Go to System Preferences >> Keyboard >> Shortcuts >> App Shortcuts >> + , then type the exact word of the command that is in the dropdown menu of the application. I use text boxes a fair bit so made a shortcut of  ⌃ ⌥ ⌘ T and typed in Text Box in the space provided. Before using the newly created shortcut , you have to quit the application and restart it. Have fun with them.