Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Basic Apple Keyboard Shortcuts

You can drive an Apple computer with satisfaction doing it entirely with the mouse but some keyboard shortcuts can save much time particularly for any kind of text-editing, no matter how basic.

The first problem in getting started with keyboard shortcuts is finding the Apple or CMD key.


After-market keyboards may not have the standard symbols, particularly if you have a Windows USB keyboard.  The biggest variation is usually the Windows logo on the Apple / CMD key but there may be more subtle differences in such a keyboard as well.  The Windows key should perform the same function as the Apple / CMD key and it should be in the same relative position.

Note:  the above is the short keyboard and the full-width Apple keyboard has a numeric pad, function and cursor keys, etc.


Using the CMD key requires two fingers since one will press the CMD key while another presses a letter key to determine the function.  The most-used functions are also listed under the EDIT menu at the top of the screen or the top line of the current application.

CMD-X  -  Cut
CMD-C  -  Copy
CMD-V  -  Paste

Those three may be the most-used keyboard shortcuts of all since cut will copy something to memory and then remove it from the source; copy will copy something to memory while leaving it intact at the source; paste will write whatever is in memory to wherever the cursor is pointing.

Some other common keyboard shortcuts:

CMD-O  -  Open
CMD-E  -  Edit
CMD-S  -  Save
CMD-W  -  Close

Note:  there may be variations by application so review the menus to be sure you're familiar with the options before using any keyboard shortcuts in any new application.


The purpose of this is only a taste to get you started.  The Option / OPT and Control / CTRL keys can be used for keyboard shortcuts as well and they're incredibly useful if you're inclined to use the computer in this way rather than or in addition to pulling down menus for functions you need.

The Help menu at the top of the screen will show you any details on this as you like.

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