Mac OSX Shortcut Keys

Questions Addressed

What are some of the shortcut keys for navigating through the Finder?

Shortcuts for the Finder

Use these shortcuts to work with the Finder.

Action	Shortcut
Jump to the search field in a Finder window	⌘-Option-F
Define a search using multiple criteria	⌘-F
Open your home folder	⌘-Shift-H ⌘-Up Arrow (in some cases)
Open your iDisk	⌘-Shift-I
Open the Desktop folder	⌘-Shift-D
Open the Computer area	⌘-Shift-C
Open the Network browser	⌘-Shift-K
Open the Applications folder	⌘-Shift-A
Open the Utilities folder	⌘-Shift-U
Select the next icon	Arrow keys
Select an icon by the first letter of its name	Letter key
Select the next alphabetic item in a window	Tab
Select the previous alphabetic item in a window	Shift-Tab
Select a group of icons	Drag the pointer across the icons
Add an icon to the selection	Shift-click
Select adjacent icons in a list	Shift-click
Select or deselect non-adjacent icons in a list	⌘-click
Select the name of the icon	Return
Align icons as you drag them	⌘-drag
Copy a file instead of moving it	Option-drag the file's icon to new location
Make an alias to a file instead of moving it	⌘-Option-drag the file's icon
See the pathname of the current window	⌘-click window's title Choose an item from the pop-up menu to open it
Open a folder in a separate window	⌘-double-click
In list view, open the selected folder	Right arrow
In list view, open each level of folders within the selected folder	⌘-Option-Right Arrow
In list view, open all folders within the selected folder	Option-click the disclosure triangle
In list view, close the selected folder	Left Arrow
In list or icon view, open the selected folder	⌘-Down Arrow
In list or icon view, show the folder containing the current folder	⌘-Up Arrow If no Finder windows are open, opens a window showing your home folder
Open a new window showing the folder that contains the current folder and close the current window	⌘-Option-Up Arrow
Open a new window showing the contents of the current folder and close the current window	⌘-Option-Down Arrow
Make the desktop active	⌘-Option-Shift-Up Arrow
Move the selected item to the Trash	⌘-Delete
Empty the Trash	⌘-Shift-Delete
Empty the Trash without any warning or when it contains locked files	⌘-Shift-Option-Delete Hold down the Option key, then choose Finder > Empty Trash

ALSO: Learn how to take snapshot of all or a part of your screen.

If you need further assistance, please contact IGPP Net Ops.