20+ Must-Know Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac Users [2018]

Keyboard shortcuts help us control various aspects of the operating system just by a combination of a few keys. If you are using OS X, you know that it offers a lot of keyboard shortcuts. Apple’s website has a long list of them. You can even create your own keyboard shortcuts in OS X by going to the Keyboard settings in your System Preferences. Most of us are familiar with the common keyboard shortcuts, but here is a list of a few useful Mac keyboard shortcuts you might not know about. They are pretty useful and should help you carry out many tasks easily.

When it comes to professional work, we find that more and more people tend to choose the Mac operating system instead of Windows. Of course, there are reasons for that selection. The Mac OS offers reliable stability and performance that help to carry out our work smoothly all the time.  It doesn’t mean that the Windows operating system has nothing compared to Mac. The Window OS has its own advantages and of course, it is reliable too. However, still, people more selective towards Apple’s Mac power device when purchasing an expensive computer machine.

To make things better for you, we’ve got this list of best Mac keyboard shortcuts that you might be missing and they could help you a lot. We hope that our readers would find this list helpful. Do share your favorite and helpful one with us. Do let us know your thoughts in the comment section present at the bottom of this tutorial. Without ado, we should start our list of useful Mac keyboard shortcuts for users.

The list of Mac keyboard shortcuts for users

Dictionary:

When you are browsing the web or reading a document, if you come across a word that you don’t know the meaning of, you can simply place your cursor over the word (simply place it, not select it) and press Ctrl (⌃) + Command (⌘) + D and you’ll see a pop-up instantly with the meaning of that particular word.

Emoji Keyboard:

We all love emojis. They are the best ways to express yourself while chatting on social media. Our smartphones have emojis built right into the keyboard, but what if you are on your Mac?

Well, there is a nifty trick to bring the emoji keyboard anywhere on your Mac. Just press Ctrl (⌃) + Command (⌘) + Spacebar anywhere while typing and the emoji keyboard will pop right up!

Screenshots:

Screenshots can come in handy in a lot of ways. OS X provides a system utility called Grab that makes taking screenshots a lot easier. But, opening the Grab app now and then just to take a screenshot is not worth it. This is where the nifty keyboard shortcuts for taking a screenshot come in handy.

If you want to take a screenshot of the entire screen, just press Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 3. Pretty simple, isn’t it?

Now, if you wish to take a screenshot of a selected area, just press Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 4. Then drag over an area and release the buttons to take the screenshot. If you want to improve the selection, while dragging:

• Hold the Spacebar to move the selected area.
• Hold Shift (⇧) to change size in one direction. Either horizontally or vertically.
• Hold Option (⌥) for center based resizing.

Now, if you want to take a screenshot of a specific window, just press Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + 4 + Spacebar and Click on the window that you wish to take the screenshot of.

Tip: If you wish to copy the screenshot directly to the clipboard without it being made into a separate file on your Desktop, just hold Control (⌃) while taking a screenshot using any of the above methods.

Shutdown, Restart, Sleep & Logout:

• If you want to shut down your Mac immediately without the confirmation pop-up, just press Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + Control (⌃) + Eject (⏏).
• If you want to restart your Mac immediately without the confirmation pop-up, just press Command (⌘) + Control (⌃) + Eject (⏏).
• If you want to put your display to sleep, simply press Control (⌃) + Shift (⇧) + Eject (⏏).
• If you want to log out of your user account, just press Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + Q.

Startup:

• To start your Mac in safe mode, hold Shift (⇧) during startup.
• To start your Mac from CD/DVD, hold C during startup.

Signs & Symbols:

• To create a plus or minus sign (±), press Shift (⇧) + Option (⌥) + Equals (=)
• To create a not equals sign (≠), press Option (⌥) + Equals (=)
• To create a division symbol (÷), press Option (⌥) + ?
• To create the symbol of Pi (π), press Option (⌥) + P
• To create the symbol of registered trademark (®), press Option (⌥) + R
• To create the copyright symbol (©), press Option (⌥) + G
• To create the degree symbol (º), press Option (⌥) + Zero (0)
• To create the Greek letter Delta(∂), press Option (⌥) + D
• To create the Greek letter Beta(ß), press Option (⌥) + S
• To create the Greek letter Omega(Ω), press Option (⌥) + Z

Miscellaneous Shortcuts:

• To switch between windows in the current applications, press Command (⌘) + `
• To minimize the current window, press Command (⌘) + M
• To open the preferences of the current application, press Command (⌘) + ,
• To hide/unhide the dock, press Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + D
• To check the info of the selected file in Finder, press Command (⌘) + I
• To permanently delete items in the Trash, press Command (⌘) + Shift (⇧) + Backspace (⌫)

These are the keyboard shortcuts that we usually use on our Mac regularly. If you have any other nifty shortcuts, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. We would be happy to learn for your and make this list better. Drop your comments below.