Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#1

Post by yesenadam » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 1:36 AM UTC

Ones that most people don't know about, that you actually regularly use. Thank you!

Edit: "Not a shortcut exactly..." tips are most welcome too.

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#2

Post by maximilianroos » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 1:43 AM UTC

Not exactly a shortcut, but https://contexts.co/ completely changes Cmd+Tab; without it I would be materially less productive

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#3

Post by Austin_Conlon » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 1:49 AM UTC

In Finder, Command-Shift-. (period / full stop) will show hidden files.

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#4

Post by jumelles » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 1:52 AM UTC

Option-clicking on things, e.g. the wifi status symbol, will give you more detailed/different information.

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#5

Post by kevmoo1 » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 1:56 AM UTC

Not a shortcut exactly, but remap caps lock to ctrl.

So much easier in terminal and for using shortcuts like ctrl-A & ctrl-E for beginning and end of line, etc.

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#6

Post by randallsquared » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 2:03 AM UTC

Not a shortcut exactly, but get some app that adds shortcuts to snap the current window to various presets. I use Spectacle, but there are several.

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#7

Post by Austin_Conlon » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 2:04 AM UTC

jumelles wrote: post #4

Option-clicking on things, e.g. the wifi status symbol, will give you more detailed/different information.

If you hold down option in Xcode while cleaning the build from the menu, "Clean Build" turns into "Clean Build Folder" which applies to all targets.

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#8

Post by jonbaer » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 2:06 AM UTC

Shift+Cmd+4 for screenshot(s)

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#9

Post by gumby » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 2:09 AM UTC

kevmoo1 wrote: post #5

Not a shortcut exactly, but remap caps lock to ctrl. So much easier in terminal and for using shortcuts like ctrl-A & ctrl-E for beginning and end of line, etc.

If you have a touchbar remap it to esc. I swapped my MBP for an air but kept the remapping.

Re: Ask HN: The most useful Mac keyboard shortcuts?

#10

Post by srik » Tue, Aug 06, 2019, 2:09 AM UTC

kevmoo1 wrote: post #5

Not a shortcut exactly, but remap caps lock to ctrl. So much easier in terminal and for using shortcuts like ctrl-A & ctrl-E for beginning and end of line, etc.

Or to esc. Saves my vim pinky a lot of grief.