All* my macOS keyboard shortcuts

I use macOS to build websites and compose music. This post is a collection of keyboard shortcuts and modifiers that help my day-to-day productivity.

macOS native shortcuts and modifiers

Useful shortcuts already defined by the system.

Window management

• Command-Backtick: cycle current application’s windows
• Command-H: hide active application’s windows¹
• Command-Option-H: hide all windows expect those belonging to the active application’s^1:1
• Hold Option while resizing window: change window dimension(s)² around the window’s current centre point
• Hold Option-Shift while resizing window: change window dimensions around the window’s current centre point while maintaining aspect ratio

(See also Rectangle Pro.)

Special characters

• Hold $KEY in text fields to get pop-up menu of given character with diacritic markings
• Control-Command-Space bar: open Character Viewer (emoji and symbols picker)
• Option-Hyphen: insert en dash (–)
• Option-Shift-Hyphen: em dash (—)
• Option-Close square bracket: opening single curly quote (‘)
• Option-Shift-Close square bracket: closing single curly quote (’)
• Option-Open square bracket: opening double curly quote (“)
• Option-Shift-Open square bracket: closing single curly quote (”)

You can also search the Character Viewer (Control-Command-Space bar) by name, for ‘en dash’ etc.

‘Hidden’ functionality

Holding the Option key while clicking or hovering over a UI element can reveal additional functionality or information. Some examples: the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth menubar icons; the ‘Plus’ button when building a Finder search (allowing you to enhance the search logic); and application dropdown menus in the menu bar.

One I find useful is ‘Copy as Pathname’ in the Finder Edit menu:

Custom OS mappings

You can assign application keyboard shortcuts in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts:

• Control-Option-Command-M in Finder: run Window > Merge All Windows
• Command-Option-I in Preview: Adjust Size… from the Tools menu
• Shift-Command-Forward slash in all apps: ‘Show Help menu’ (to search menu items):

Rectangle Pro

Third-party window manager. Includes window snapping à la Microsoft Windows. The keyboard shortcuts I use:

• Shift-Command-Enter: current window to medium size, centred (custom shortcut)
• Command-Option-Enter: ‘Almost Maximize’
• Control-Option-Command-Enter: full screen, with some padding, centred (custom shortcut)
• Control-Option-Command-Left Arrow: ‘Left Half’
• Control-Option-Command-Right Arrow: ‘Right Half’
• Control-Option-Command-Down Arrow: ‘Center’
• Control-Option-Command-Escape: ‘Restore’

Karabiner-Elements

Third-party keyboard customiser that I use to open and switch between commonly used apps with a single keystroke. It’s generally more efficient than using a trackpad or mouse, Spotlight, LaunchBar or Command-Tabing.

I generally assign Control-Shift-$KEY to these.

• Control-Shift-U: launch/switch to Apple Music
• Control-Shift-C: Calendar
• Caps Lock³: Finder
• Control-Option-Shift-D: Downloads folder in Finder
• Control-Shift-F: Firefox
• Control-Shift-D: Firefox Developer Edition
• Control-Shift-G: Google Chrome
• Control-Shift-I: iTerm
• Shift-Caps Lock: Logic Pro
• Control-Shift-M: Microsoft Teams
• Control-Shift-N: Nova
• Control-Shift-S: Safari
• Control-Shift-P: Spotify
• Control-Shift-T: Terminal
• Control-Shift-R: Transmit
• Control-Option-Shift-V: Visual Studio
• Control-Shift-V: Visual Studio Code

Assign shortcuts by editing profiles[0].simple_modifications in ~/.config/karabiner/karabiner.json⁴. For example, to open Firefox Developer Edition:

{
	"from": {
		"key_code": "d",
		"modifiers": {
			"mandatory": [
				"left_shift",
				"left_control"
			]
		}
	},
	"to": [
		{
			"shell_command": "open /Applications/Firefox\\ Developer\\ Edition.app"
		}
	]
}

Or to open Finder (or whatever you have assigned as your default file browser):

{
	"from": {
		"key_code": "caps_lock"
	},
	"to": [
		{
			"consumer_key_code": "al_local_machine_browser"
		}
	]
}

Open several Finder windows at specific locations

I use Control-Option-Shift-J to open several Finder windows⁵ at locations relevant to my JazzKeys.fyi project:

{
	"from": {
		"key_code": "j",
		"modifiers": {
			"mandatory": [
				"left_control",
				"left_shift",
				"left_option"
			]
		}
	},
	"to": [
		{
			"shell_command": "open ~/Documents/dev/JazzKeys.fyi\\ process\\ files\\ \\(Hazel\\); open ~/Documents/dev/jazztoolkit/site/audio; open ~/Library/Mobile\\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Logic\\ projects/jazzkeys.fyi/Jamming; open ~/Library/Mobile\\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Logic\\ projects/jazzkeys.fyi/Licks\\ etc."
		}
	]
}

Third-party app-specific

Some third-party apps which I find useful enough to assign keyboard shortcuts to. The shortcuts are defined within the apps themselves.

I generally assign Control-Option(-Command)-$KEY to these.

• Control-Option-C: open Copy ’Em (clipboard manager)
• Control-Option-F: Dato⁶ (menubar calendar app)
• Control-Option-Command-Space: DevUtils.app (developer tools)
• Control-Option-Command-F: Dropzone (file management and general productivity booster)
• Control-Z: Menuwhere (get the Mac menu bar wherever your cursor is)
• Control-Option-Command-N: Quick Note > new note
• Shift-Command-2: Snappy (take screenshots which remain in front of other windows) > new snap
• Control-Option-Command-C: System Color Picker (OS-wide access to an enhanced system colour picker) > pick colour

(I also use aText for text automation/expansion, but that’s probably a separate blog post.)