keyboard shortcuts

I find keyboard shortcuts really useful to work more quickly. Here are the ones I use the most.

Modifier keys

Modifier keys are extra keys that you have to press to make a shortcut work. Some symbols in this section may not appear depending on the machine you're using.

On a Mac, the most common modifier keys are:

• Command, also written cmd, ⌘ (or  on old Macs) - this often performs the same role as Control does on Windows machines
• Control, also written ctrl or ^
• Option, also written opt, alt or ⌥
• Shift, also written ⇧
• Function, also written fn, globe or 🌐︎

On Windows, the most common modifier keys are:

• Control, also written ctrl - this often performs the same role as Command does on Macs
• Alt
• Shift, also written ⇧
• Windows, also written Start or ⊞
• Function, also written fn

On this page, when keys are listed together, it means press them at the same time (for example, ctrl C). If they're separated by commas then press them one after the other.

General keyboard shortcuts

Action	Mac (symbols)	Mac (words)	Windows	Comments
close (quit) app	⌘Q	cmd Q	alt F4
copy	⌘C	cmd C	ctrl C
cut	⌘X	cmd X	ctrl X	To cut and paste in Mac Finder, use: cmd X, cmd opt V
find	⌘F	cmd F	ctrl F
maximise window	^⌘F	ctrl cmd F or fn F	alt space, X	On a Mac, this moves the window to its own space.
move to next interactive element	⇥	tab	tab	To move to the previous element, use: shift tab. Depending on your operating system or browser, you may need to activate this first.
open a file	⌘O	cmd O	enter
paste	⌘V	cmd V	ctrl V	Increasingly, if you have a link in your clipboard and select text, some apps like Slack automatically add the link onto the text.
print	⌘P	cmd P	ctrl P
redo	⌘Y	cmd Y	ctrl Y	Sometimes it's cmd shift Z on a Mac.
rename a file	↵	enter	F2 or fn F2
save	⌘S	cmd S	ctrl S
screenshot (full screen)	^⇧⌘3	ctrl shift cmd 3	print screen (prt sc)	This copies a screenshot to the clipboard. On a Mac, to save it as a file, remove the ctrl.
screenshot (snip)	^⇧⌘4	ctrl shift cmd 4	windows shift S	This copies a screenshot to the clipboard. On a Mac, to save it as a file, remove the ctrl.
select all	⌘A	cmd A	ctrl A
show desktop	🌐︎ F11	fn F11	windows D
undo	⌘Z	cmd Z	ctrl Z
zoom in	⌘+ or ⌘=	cmd + or cmd =	ctrl + or ctrl =
zoom out	⌘-	cmd -	ctrl -
zoom to 100%	⌘0	cmd 0	ctrl 0

Editing text

Action	Mac (symbols)	Mac(words)	Windows	Comments
add bullet list	⇧⌘8	shift cmd 8	ctrl shift 8	Does not work in Word.
add numbered list	⇧⌘7	shift cmd 7	ctrl shift 7	Does not work in Word.
add link	⌘K	cmd K	ctrl K	Does not work in Slack. Use cmd/ctrl V instead.
add a new line to a message without sending it	⇧↵	shift enter	shift enter
comment	⌥⌘M	option cmd M	ctrl alt M	also works in Sheets
delete previous character	⌫	backspace	backspace
delete previous word	⌥⌫	option backspace	ctrl backspace
delete next character	🌐︎⌫	fn backspace	delete
delete next word	🌐︎⌥⌫	fn option backspace	ctrl delete
indent text less or more	⌘[/] or (⇧) ⇥	cmd [/] or (shift) tab	ctrl [/] or (shift) tab
move back or forwards one word	⌥←/→	option left/right	ctrl left/right
move to start or end of line	⌘←/→	cmd left/right	home/end	The up/down keys may also work on the first/last line of text.
move to start or end of text	⌘↑/↓	cmd up/down	ctrl home/end
paste without formats	⇧⌘V	shift cmd V	ctrl shift V	In Mac Notes you need to use shift option cmd V.
select previous/next word	⇧⌥←/→	shift option left/right	ctrl shift left/right
select to start/end of line	⇧⌘←/→	shift cmd left/right	shift home/end
select to start/end of text	⇧⌘↑/↓	shift cmd up/down	ctrl shift home/end
set heading level 1-6	⌥⌘1-6	option cmd 1-6	ctrl alt 1-6	On Windows, ctrl alt 4 sometimes adds a euro € symbol.
set normal text	⌥⌘0	option cmd 0	ctrl alt 0

Browser

The following work in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari unless stated.

Action	Mac (symbols)	Mac (words)	Windows	Comments
activate a link, button, or submit a form	↵	enter	enter
activate a menu option	⎵	space	space
bookmark the page	⌘D	cmd D	ctrl D
close tab	⌘W	cmd W	ctrl W
dismiss content	⎋	esc	esc	Does not work for all content.
full screen (hide the browser controls)	⇧⌘F	shift cmd F	F11 or fn F11	Does not work in Safari. On a Mac, this only works if the window is already maximised.
go back or forwards	⌘←/→	cmd left/right	alt left/right
go to location bar (URL)	⌘L	cmd L	ctrl L
move within menus	↑/↓/←/→	arrow keys	arrow keys
move to next interactive element	⇥	tab	tab	To move to the previous element, use: shift tab. Depending on your browser, you may need to activate this first.
new tab	⌘T	cmd T	ctrl T
open or close developer tools	⌥⌘I	option cmd I	ctrl shift I
refresh	⌘R	cmd R	ctrl R
reopen tab	⇧⌘T	shift cmd T	ctrl shift T
switch to previous or next tab	⌥⌘←/→	option cmd left/right	ctrl page-up/down
switch to tab 1-8	⌘1-8	cmd 1-8	ctrl 1-8
switch to final tab	⌘9	cmd 9	ctrl 9

Spreadsheets

Action	Mac (symbols)	Mac (words)	Windows	Comments
add new line in a cell	⌥↵ or ⌘↵	option enter or cmd enter	alt enter
add today's date	⌘;	cmd ;	ctrl ;
edit cell (Excel)	TODO	TODO	fn F2
edit cell (Sheets)	↵	enter	enter
fill downwards	⌘D	cmd D	ctrl D
fill range	⌘↵	cmd enter	ctrl enter
fill right	⌘R	cmd R	ctrl R
show shortcuts	⌘/	cmd /	ctrl /	in Google Sheets