40+ Essential Mac Keyboard Shortcuts to Boost Productivity

**General Shortcuts:** 1. Command+H - Hides the front window 2. Option+Command+H - Hides all other windows except the front window 3. Command+Space - Launch spotlight 4. Command+Delete - Delete the selected item. In Finder add Shift key to permanently delete. 5. Command+Tab - Switch to last used app. Hold Command key and press tab repeatedly to switch to other apps. Combine it with Shift key to go in reverse direction. Bonus tip: You can use the window management shortcuts like Command+Q(quit) and Command+H(hide) while using Command+Tab 6. Right click on closed settings app to quickly jump to any settings 7. Command+Q - Terminate the front window app 8. Command+W - Close the front window. To close all windows of that app add Option key. 9. Command+M - Minimize the front window. To minimize all windows of that app add Option key. 10. Command+Option+Space open Finder search 11. Control+Command+F - Full screen/exit 12. Command+\` - Switch between an app opened windows, hold shift to go reverse direction 13. Command+, - Open app settings page 14. Command+G - Next search, hold shift to go reverse direction 15. Option+Command+esc - Open task manager  16. Fn+Q - Make a new note in a new window 17. Command+Control+D - Alternative for Force Touch. I bind it to my mouse middle button click 18. fn+C open control centre and can see what music is playing 19. Fn+delete key to delete text forward 20. Command+Shift+3 - Full screen screenshot, hold control while screenshotting to copy it to clipboard 21. Command+Shift+4 - Open screenshot selection, hold control while screenshotting to copy it to clipboard 22. Command+Shift+5 - Open screenshot and display tools for video recording, screenshot, custom selection etc 23. Shift+Option + F11/12 - Increases/decreases the volume by one fourth of a square 24. Cmd+Shift+? - jump to the help menu search bar 25. Hold the options key while launching the photos app to select the database location. **Safari Shortcuts:** 1. Command+L - Switch to url bar in Safari 2. Command+Shift+square brackets - Previous and next tab in Safari 3. Shift+reload icon - Hard refresh a website (clear cache and reload) in Safari 4. Command+Y - Opens history in Safari 5. Control+tab - change tabs in safari, hold shift to go reverse direction **FInder Shortcuts:** 1. Command+1/2/3/4 to switch view in Finder 2. Space to quick view selected file 3. Command+Option+v to move the copied file in Finder 4. Command+Shift+C - Open computer window in Finder 5. Command+R - Opens original location of selected alias or shortcut in Finder 6. Enter button after selecting file to rename 7. Command+E - Eject the selected .dmg or a removable media. Also works for mounted media on Desktop 8. Shift+Command+. - Toggle show/hide hidden files in Finder 9. Option+Right arrow on a folder in list view in Finder to expand the folder and all the folders inside it, alternatively Option click the disclosure arrow icon. Option+Left arrow to reverse. Right and left arrow to expand the selected folder only. Also works with multiple selected folders. 10. Command+Option+I - "Get Info" of multiple selected items together in Finder 11. Command+Up arrow - To move up one level in Finder to the enclosing folder **Apple Notes** 1. Cmd+Shift+> - increase size of text in apple notes. Cmd+Shift+< to decrease the size of text in apple notes. **Stage Manager Shortcuts:** 1. Shift+Click the window in stage manager to make a window set. To remove window from set there are three ways, first and easiest is by dragging the windows to the left side where stage manager sits, second is by hovering over the green maximize icon and clicking "Remove window from set", or clicking "Window>Remove window from Set" in the menu. Out of these my most used shortcuts are Command+Space for spotlight (I use alfred), Control+Tab for switching to last used app and Fn+Q for new note and stage manager window sets for multitasking.