The Most Useful Apple Mac Keyboard Shortcuts to Know

Keyboard Shortcut	Description
Startup Shortcuts
D	Boot to Apple Diagnostics
N	Boot from a network server
T	Boot in Target Disk Mode
Shift	Boot in Safe Mode
Cmd + R	Boot to macOS Recovery
Cmd + S	Boot in Single-User Mode
Cmd + V	Boot in Verbose Mode
Cmd + Option + P + R	Reset NVRAM or PRAM
Option	Boot to Startup Manager and pick other startup disks if available
Global Shortcuts
Shift + Cmd + 3	Take screenshot of entire screen
Shift + Cmd + 4	Take screenshot of selected region
Shift + Cmd + 4, then Space	Take screenshot of selected window
Shift + Cmd + Q	Log out
Shift + Cmd + Option + Q	Log out instantly
Cmd + A	Select all
Cmd + C	Copy
Cmd + F	Find
Cmd + H	Hide current window
Cmd + M	Minimize current window
Cmd + O	Open
Cmd + P	Print
Cmd + S	Save
Cmd + V	Paste (copy)
Cmd + W	Close current window
Cmd + Z	Undo
Cmd + ?	Help
Cmd + Comma	Open Preferences for current app
Cmd + Space	Open Spotlight search
Cmd + Tab	Switch to the next open app
Cmd + Tilde	Switch to the next window in the current app
Cmd + Option + H	Hide all other windows
Cmd + Option + M	Minimize all windows
Cmd + Option + W	Close all windows
Cmd + Option + V	Paste (cut)
Cmd + Option + Esc	Force quit
Cmd + Option + Eject	Sleep
Cmd + Control + Eject	Quit all apps and restart
Control + Eject	Choose between Sleep, Restart, or Shutdown
Finder Shortcuts
Enter	Rename selected file or folder
Space	Open preview of selected file
Shift + Cmd + G	Go to folder...
Shift + Cmd + N	Create new folder
Shift + Cmd + Delete	Empty the trash
Shift + Cmd + Option + Delete	Empty the trash immediately
Cmd + 1	Icon View
Cmd + 2	List View
Cmd + 3	Column View
Cmd + D	Duplicate selected file or folder
Cmd + I	Get info
Cmd + J	View options
Cmd + N	Open new Finder window
Cmd + T	Open new Finder tab
Cmd + [	Back
Cmd + ]	Forward
Cmd + Delete	Move to trash
Cmd + Up	Move up one folder
Cmd + Down	Move down one folder
Cmd + Option + I	Show Attributes Inspector
Cmd + Control + N	With files selected, create a new folder and immediately move selected files into that folder

Once you’ve mastered these keyboard shortcuts, you should look into these useful Mac tips and tricks, including split view mode, tab pinning, advanced Spotlight searching, previewing files in Finder, and text expansion—all of which will boost your productivity even further.