The 20 basic Mac keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

Anyone using a computer daily will do several repetitive actions, sometimes tens or hundreds of times a day. Rather than finding the menu, clicking on the correct drop-down box and selecting the action you require, you can save 5 or 6 seconds each time by knowing the keyboard shortcut.

Looking for PC Shortcuts? Try here.

Why bother with keyboard shortcuts?

While 5 or 6 seconds may not seem like much, done hundreds of times a day can add up to significant time savings.

But there are other benefits too. For example, knowing the “Save” shortcut can mean easily saving your work more regularly meaning you never lose a whole file again.

20 useful keyboard shortcuts:

Here are 20 useful keyboard shortcuts for a Mac:

1. Command + C: Copy selected text or image
2. Command + X: Cut selected text or image
3. Command + V: Paste text or image
4. Command + Z: Undo the previous action
5. Command + Shift + Z: Redo the previous action
6. Command + A: Select all text or objects
7. Command + F: Find text within a document or webpage
8. Command + S: Save the current document or webpage
9. Command + P: Print the current document or webpage
10. Command + W: Close the current window
11. Command + Q: Quit the current app
12. Command + Shift + 3: Take a screenshot of the entire screen
13. Command + Shift + 4: Take a screenshot of a selected area
14. Command + Tab: Switch between open apps
15. Command + Shift + M: Minimize all windows
16. Command + Option + M: Minimize the current window
17. Command + Shift + ? Open the Help menu
18. Command + , Open the Preferences menu for the current app
19. Command + Space: Open the Spotlight search
20. Control + Option + Power Button: Put the display to sleep

Bonus keyboard shortcut: if you’re using 1Password, you can slightly change the 19th shortcut (Spotlight) by also pressing the Shift button (Command + Shift + Space).

Using keyboard shortcuts can help you save time and be more efficient when working on a Mac. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the most common shortcuts and try to incorporate them into your daily workflow.