Master Essential Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

Place your left thumb on the left command (⌘) key, just to the left of the space bar, and keep it there.

Locate the control, option (alt) and shift keys next to command. With your thumb on command, try ⌘C to copy, ⌘S to save, ⌘A to select all and ⌘Z to undo.

Hold command with your thumb and tap tab with your ring finger to bring up the application switcher. Keep tapping tab until the app you want is highlighted, then release.

Look at the app name next to the Apple menu in the upper-left corner of the menu bar, here Finder, to see which application is active.

Press ⌘W to close the front window of the active application.

Press ⌘Space to open the Spotlight Search bar in the middle of the screen.

In the Spotlight Search field, type premiere and, when Adobe Premiere Pro 2026.app is highlighted, press Return with your right pinky to launch it.

Press ⌘Space again, type premiere, then hold command. The result's icon changes to a Finder icon and its path appears underneath: Macintosh HD ▸ Applications ▸ Adobe Premiere Pro 2026.

While still holding command, press Return (or click the result) to open a Finder window showing the file in its folder.

When an app freezes and shows the spinning pinwheel, press ⌥⌘Esc to open the Force Quit Applications window listing all open applications.

Select the misbehaving application in the list, here Adobe Premiere, and click Force Quit in the lower-right corner of the window.

In the confirmation dialog, click Force Quit again to exit the application. If an Adobe crash report window appears, click Don't send, then close the Force Quit Applications window.

Switch to the Finder with ⌘Tab and click File in the menu bar. The shortcut for each command is listed on its right side, for example New Finder Window ⌘N.

Press ⌘N to open a new Finder window. Press it several more times to keep opening windows.

Press ⌘W repeatedly to close the extra Finder windows one at a time.

Click Go in the Finder menu bar to see shortcuts for the most common places on your computer, such as Desktop ⇧⌘D.

From the Finder, hold shift and command and press D to open a Desktop window, ready to create, store or move things.

Hold option and command with your left thumb and press L to open your Downloads folder, shown as ⌥⌘L in the Go menu.

Press ⇧⌘D to go to the Desktop, then press ⇧⌘N (File > New Folder). A folder named untitled folder appears.

With the folder selected, press Return to highlight its name, type your last name, first name and Class Project (for example Adam Nathan Class Project), then press Return to accept.

Select your folder and press ⌃⌘N (File > New Folder with "…"). The folder is immediately placed inside a New Folder With Items, ready to rename.

Double-click New Folder With Items to open it and confirm your class project folder is stored inside, then click the Back arrow in the toolbar to return to the Desktop.

When you see ⌥ in a menu, it means the option key, so ⌥⌘Y reads as option-command-Y.

Hold command and tap Z to undo the last thing you did. Here it removes New Folder With Items and brings your original folder back to the Desktop.

Hold shift and command and press 3. A screenshot file of the entire screen appears on your Desktop.

Click a screenshot file to select it and press the space bar to open it in Quick Look. Press the space bar again to close it.

Click the first screenshot, then hold shift and click the next one so both are highlighted.

With the files selected, press ⌘Delete to move them to the Trash.

Press ⇧⌘4 to turn the cursor into a target, then drag across the part of the screen you want to capture. The screenshot file appears on your Desktop.

Press ⇧⌘4, then press the space bar so the cursor becomes a small camera. Move it over the window you want and click to capture that entire window.

Select the new screenshot on the Desktop and press the space bar to confirm it shows the complete window.

Add the control key: press ⌃⇧⌘3 to take a screenshot that is copied to the clipboard. No new file appears on the Desktop.

Press ⌘Space, type prev until Preview.app is highlighted, and press Return to open it.

In Preview, choose File > New from Clipboard (or press ⌘N) to make a new image containing the screenshot you just took.

A Finder Desktop window shows your Adam Nathan Class Project folder and one window screenshot file, and you have used shortcuts to switch apps, launch and find software, navigate the Finder and capture the screen.