Using Keyboard Shortcuts
To use a keyboard shortcut, press and hold one or more modifier keys and then press the last key of the shortcut. For example, to use Command+C (copy), press and hold the Command key, then the C key, then release both keys. Mac menus and keyboards often use symbols for certain keys, including modifier keys:
- Command (or Cmd) ⌘
- Shift ⇧
- Option (or Alt) ⌥
- Control (or Ctrl) ⌃
- Caps Lock ⇪
- Fn
On keyboards made for Windows PCs, use the Alt key instead of Option, and the Ctrl key or Windows logo key instead of Command.
Some keys on some Apple keyboards have special symbols and functions, such as for display brightness 
, keyboard brightness 
, and more. If these functions aren’t available on your keyboard, you might be able to reproduce some of them by creating your own keyboard shortcuts. To use these keys as F1, F2, F3, or other standard function keys, combine them with the Fn key.
The behavior of these shortcuts may vary with the app you’re using.
- Command+B: Boldface the selected text, or turn boldfacing on or off.
- Command+I: Italicize the selected text, or turn italics on or off.
- Command+K: Add a web link.
- Command+U: Underline the selected text, or turn underlining on or off.
- Command+T: Show or hide the Fonts window.
- Command+D: Select the Desktop folder from within an Open dialog or Save dialog.
- Control+Command+D: Show or hide the definition of the selected word.
- Shift+Command+Colon (:): Display the Spelling and Grammar window.
- Command+Semicolon (;): Find misspelled words in the document.
- Option+Delete: Delete the word to the left of the insertion point.
- Control+H: Delete the character to the left of the insertion point. Or use Delete.
- Control+D: Delete the character to the right of the insertion point. Or use Fn+Delete.
- Fn+Delete: Forward delete on keyboards that don’t have a Forward Delete key. Or use Control+D.
- Control+K: Delete the text between the insertion point and the end of the line or paragraph.
- Fn+Up Arrow: Page Up: Scroll up one page.
- Fn+Down Arrow: Page Down: Scroll down one page.
- Fn+Left Arrow: Home: Scroll to the beginning of a document.
- Fn+Right Arrow: End: Scroll to the end of a document.
- Command+Up Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the document.
- Command+Down Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the document.
- Command+Left Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the current line.
- Command+Right Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the current line.
- Option+Left Arrow: Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word.
- Option+Right Arrow: Move the insertion point to the end of the next word.
- Shift+Command+Up Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the document.
- Shift+Command+Down Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the document.
- Shift+Command+Left Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the beginning of the current line.
- Shift+Command+Right Arrow: Select the text between the insertion point and the end of the current line.
- Shift+Up Arrow: Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line above.
- Shift+Down Arrow: Extend text selection to the nearest character at the same horizontal location on the line below.
- Shift+Left Arrow: Extend text selection one character to the left.
- Shift+Right Arrow: Extend text selection one character to the right.
- Option+Shift+Up Arrow: Extend text selection to the beginning of the current paragraph, then to the beginning of the following paragraph if pressed again.
- Option+Shift+Down Arrow: Extend text selection to the end of the current paragraph, then to the end of the following paragraph if pressed again.
- Option+Shift+Left Arrow: Extend text selection to the beginning of the current word, then to the beginning of the following word if pressed again.
- Option+Shift+Right Arrow: Extend text selection to the end of the current word, then to the end of the following word if pressed again.
- Control+A: Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph.
- Control+E: Move to the end of a line or paragraph.
- Control+F: Move one character forward.
- Control+B: Move one character backward.
- Control+L: Center the cursor or selection in the visible area.
- Control+P: Move up one line.
- Control+N: Move down one line.
- Control+O: Insert a new line after the insertion point.
- Control+T: Swap the character behind the insertion point with the character in front of the insertion point.
- Command+Left Curly Bracket ({): Left align.
- Command+Right Curly Bracket (}): Right align.
- Shift+Command+Vertical bar (|): Center align.
- Option+Command+F: Go to the search field.
- Option+Command+T: Show or hide a toolbar in the app.
- Option+Command+C: Copy Style: Copy the formatting settings of the selected item to the Clipboard.
- Option+Command+V: Paste Style: Apply the copied style to the selected item.
- Option+Shift+Command+V: Paste and Match Style: Apply the style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that content.
- Option+Command+I: Show or hide the inspector window.
- Shift+Command+P: Page setup: Display a window for selecting document settings.
- Shift+Command+S: Display the Save As dialog, or duplicate the current document.
- Shift+Command+Minus sign (+): Decrease the size of the selected item.
- Shift+Command+Plus sign (+): Increase the size of the selected item. Command+Equal sign (=) performs the same function.
- Shift+Command+Question mark (?): Open the Help menu.