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Matt Britt
Matt Britt

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Simple Mac Keyboard Shortcuts

As you have probably heard at some point in your coding journey (thanks Marc), the faster you can make mistakes, the faster you can learn from those mistakes. To that end, I have been trying to use my mouse as little as possible lately and instead have been relying on keyboard shortcuts. It was a struggle at first to break from old habits, but the new muscle memory is finally starting to take hold. Here are some of the shortcuts that I have found most useful.

  • Command-Tab (or Command-Shift-Tab): Toggle between apps.
  • Control-Tab (or Control-Shift-Tab): Toggle between tabs in your browser.
  • Option-Command-J: Open/close the DevTools (in Chrome).
  • Control-Backtick (`): Jump into your console (while in DevTools or Visual Studion Code).
  • Command–Left Bracket ([): Go to the previous page/folder.
  • Command–Right Bracket (]): Go to the next page/folder.
  • Control-Command-F: Full screen mode (or undo if already full screen).
  • Command-X: Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard.
  • Command-C: Copy the selected item to the Clipboard.
  • Command-V: Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app.
  • Command-Z: Undo the previous command. You can then press Shift-Command-Z to Redo, reversing the undo command.
  • Command-A: Select all.
  • Command-R: Refresh the page.
  • Command-F: Open a Find window.
  • Control-T: Open a new tab.
  • Command-W: Close the front window or tab.
  • Command-H: Hide the front app.

And, of course...

  • Control-Command-Q: Lock your screen. (Seriously, always lock the screen when you step away from your computer.)

These shortcuts make a good set to begin your practice. Learn them, love them, and in no time you'll forget that you paid a lot of money for a good mouse that you never use.

For a much more exhaustive list, visit https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236.

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