Keyboard shortcuts give you quick and easy ways to navigate your Mac and apps. And for those who use the Photos app on Mac, there are plenty of shortcuts that help you accomplish many tasks. From viewing photos and albums to cropping and rotating pictures, here are some helpful keyboard shortcuts for Photos on Mac. The Macintosh operating system has always made it easy to capture a screen shot. A screen shot is an image of your computer desktop or an active window. Here's a summary of all the keyboard shortcuts you can use to capture your screen in Mac OS X. Entire screen: To capture the entire screen, press Command-Shift-3. The era of the butterfly keyboard kicked off with 2015's 12-inch MacBook.It was just called MacBook (no 'Air' or 'Pro' modifier), and it was heralded as a new kind of laptop for Apple. Close the current window (Command + W) This keyboard shortcut has been around since the first.
This is the ultimate guide for working with MacBook keyboards, including accessing special functions, characters, accents, and using keyboard shortcuts in Mac OS system. Click on the list below to jump to an appropriate section.
MacBook Keyboard Diagram / Map
MacBook keyboard has few distinctive sections: Function keys (in light blue), which provides access to various functions in MacBook itself or Mac OS system. By combining them with the FN key, you'll get access to F1 - F12 Database options for mac. keys, which can be associated with particular application features (useful in Photoshop for example).
The second section is the modifier keys (in light yellow). Shift allows to type uppercase letters and other additional characters. Command and Alt/Option are used in keyboard shortcuts, as well as the Control key, which is used almost exclusively by Mac OS X and Apple programs.
Return and left Shift has two variants, one used in the US and Eastern Asia (horizontal Return and long Shift), and second, used in Europe, Middle East and Africa (vertical Return and short left Shift). On the diagram, this is shown by dashed lines. Of course, MacBook keyboards have lots of localizations, the most common - US English - is shown above. If you're unsure about the localization you have, go and check it with this guide.
MacBook Air 11' has slightly different keyboard, with smaller top and bottom row keys to accommodate smaller laptop size. Newest MacBooks Pro with TouchBar don't have upper F keys row, instead, they have a touchscreen which changes displayed options based on context.
MacBook Keyboard Symbols Chart
Symbol | Meaning | Notes |
Screen brightness down | ||
Screen brightness up | ||
Launches Mission Control | Icon available on MacBooks Unibody | |
Launches Mission Control | Icon available on MacBooks pre-unibody | |
Launches Dashboard | Icon available on MacBooks Unibody | |
Launches Dashboard | Icon available on MacBooks pre-unibody | |
Keyboard backlight down | ||
Keyboard backlight up | ||
Rewind | ||
Play / Pause | ||
Fast Forward | ||
Sound: mute | ||
Sound: volume down | ||
Sound: volume up | ||
Eject | Available on MacBooks with CD/DVD drive | |
Power | Available on MacBooks without CD/DVD drive | |
Command | On MacBooks 1st generation this is replaced by Apple logo | |
Alt / Option | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Tab | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Backspace | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Shift | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Caps Lock | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Return | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Enter | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts, accessed with FN key | |
Delete | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Clear | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Home | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing. Can be substituted by CMD + up arrow shortcut. | |
End | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing. Can be substituted by CMD + down arrow shortcut. | |
Page Up | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Page Down | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Arrows | Used to move things or pointer |
MacBook Keyboard Special Characters and Accents Map
If you want to type special characters or accents, change your keyboard language to US International PC (thanks, Steve!) and use the map below to get them. You can also check out our solution to the two languages on one keyboard problem.
Where is the Print Screen Button?
Unlike PC keyboard, there is no Print Screen key on MacBook keyboard. This functionality is accessed by keyboard shortcuts and - on Mac - you have greater flexibility:
- Command + Shift + 3 - captures entire screen;
- Command + Shift + 4 - captures selected region. Your cursor turns to crosshair and by clicking and dragging you can specify which area you want to capture;
- Command + Shift + 4 + Space - captures selected window. First press the shortcut from above, then - when you have crosshair - hit Space. The cursor will turn to the camera and the active window will have a blue overlay. Click on it to get it captured.
In some apps, like Photoshop, you need to add Control into the mix, to paste the screenshot into the app.
MacBook Keyboard Tricks
There's a lot you can do in Mac OS by using the keyboard only. Here's a list of highly useful and not-so-useful keyboard shortcuts:
Shortcut | Action |
Command + W | Quickly closes the active window in Safari or any other browser. Works also with many applications, like Pages, Numbers, Photoshop. Great way to quickly close something when your boss is coming around :) |
Command + H | Hides the active application. Useful for hiding something quickly ;) |
Option + Shift + F11/F12 | Makes tiny changes in volume level instead of standard jumps. |
Control + Option + Command + 8 | Reverses colors on the screen. |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | When watching YouTube video, this will advance you to 10%, 20%, 30%.. of movie completion. |
Option + Delete | Deletes whole word in text editors |
Control + Command + V | Pastes copied text without formatting. Useful when copying something from Pages and pasting into eg. Wordpress :) |
Control + Command + Option + Eject/Shutdown | Shuts down the MacBook without the need to provide username and password. |
Command + Shift + A | Opens the Applications folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + U | Opens the Utilities folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + D | Opens the Desktop folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + I | When in Safari, this shortcut copies the URL, opens Mail app and creates a new email with the copied URL pasted as a link in a message. |
Command + Option + M | Minimizes all open windows, showing Desktop. |
Command + Option + Shift + Esc | Hold for 3 seconds to force quit any app. |
Command + Tab | Cycle through opened apps from left to right. |
Command + Shift + Tab | Cycle through opened apps from right to left. |
Command + ` | Cycles through active app windows. |
Command + Q | Quit active app. |
Command + T | Opens a new tab in Finder. Opens a new tab in a web browser. |
Command + N | Creates new Finder window. |
Command + Shift + N | Creates new folder in Finder. |
Command + Space | Launches Spotlight. |
Command + Option + Space | Switches to next keyboard language (if you have more than one). |
Command + Control + Space | In some websites and apps this will give you the emoji keyboard. |
Command + Delete | Sends selected files/folders to trash. |
Fn + Delete | Deletes text from left to right. |
F10 + Shutdown | Hold while launching MacBook to get a silent start. |
Command + up arrow/down arrow | Jump to the beginning or end of a page. This is equivalent to PC's Home and End keys. |
Command + up arrow + L | Highlights the address bar in a web browser. |
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Studies found that small texts or small screen of your digital devices may cause strain to your eyes. You may have experienced this on your computers and mobile screens. Sometimes apps installed on the device have zoom options. But it is always better to have zoom functionality in the operating system itself. MacOS operating system has a plethora of ways by which you can zoom on to your screen. Most probably, you may have known 1-2 methods already but today I am going to tell you 4 ways to zoom in on mac.
Let's begin.
Contents
- 1 Different Ways on How to Zoom in on Mac
Different Ways on How to Zoom in on Mac
If you recently moved from Windows to Mac then you might not be knowing all 4 methods listed below.
1. Zoom in on Mac using the Magic Mouse
This method is only for the Mac users who have Magic Mouse with them. If you don't have Magic mouse move to Method 2.
In 2009, Apple introduced Magic mouse. It was the first mouse with multi-touch capabilities which also allows one finger and two fingers gestures. Zooming by sliding fingers is one of the gestures of the Magic Mouse.
Use control (ctrl) button on your keyboard and slide your finger on the mouse to the top to Zoom on to your screen. To zoom out, slide your finger to the bottom while holding the control (ctrl) button.
2. Keyboard Shortcut to Zoom in on Mac
With the help of simple keyboard shortcuts, you can zoom on to any applications such as web browsers, Images or any document. Click on the plus (+) sign while holding Command button on your keyboard to zoom in. In contrast, Use minus (-) button with Command button to zoom out.
Also Read: All Mac Startup Keyboard Key Combinations
3: Zoom in on Mac screen using a keyboard
This is another method using a keyboard. Using this method, you will be able to zoom on to any screen on Mac. For example, to zoom onto the icon. First of all, the thing which we have to do is to enable the screen zoom options on your Mac. To do that click on the Apple icon which is on the top-left corner of your Mac screen. A drop-down menu will open. Then click on the System Preferences option which will be on the top of the drop-down menu.
New 'System Preferences' window will open. Then move your cursor to the Accessibility option which is near the bottom-right corner of that window and click on it. On the left side of the 'Accessibility' window click on the Zoom option. And finally, enable the 'Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom' option by clicking on the checkbox which will allow you to use the default keyboard shortcuts for zooming. With the help of these shortcuts, you can zoom instantly on your mac.
Use Keyboard shortcuts to zoom in on Mac
Here is the Explanation for the default keyboard shortcuts:
Option-Command-8: This shortcut toggles the zoom functionality between on or off.
Option-Command-Plus Sign (+): This one is easier to remember. Use Combination of Option-command and ‘+' sign to Zoom in on the Mac.
Let's begin.
Contents
- 1 Different Ways on How to Zoom in on Mac
Different Ways on How to Zoom in on Mac
If you recently moved from Windows to Mac then you might not be knowing all 4 methods listed below.
1. Zoom in on Mac using the Magic Mouse
This method is only for the Mac users who have Magic Mouse with them. If you don't have Magic mouse move to Method 2.
In 2009, Apple introduced Magic mouse. It was the first mouse with multi-touch capabilities which also allows one finger and two fingers gestures. Zooming by sliding fingers is one of the gestures of the Magic Mouse.
Use control (ctrl) button on your keyboard and slide your finger on the mouse to the top to Zoom on to your screen. To zoom out, slide your finger to the bottom while holding the control (ctrl) button.
2. Keyboard Shortcut to Zoom in on Mac
With the help of simple keyboard shortcuts, you can zoom on to any applications such as web browsers, Images or any document. Click on the plus (+) sign while holding Command button on your keyboard to zoom in. In contrast, Use minus (-) button with Command button to zoom out.
Also Read: All Mac Startup Keyboard Key Combinations
3: Zoom in on Mac screen using a keyboard
This is another method using a keyboard. Using this method, you will be able to zoom on to any screen on Mac. For example, to zoom onto the icon. First of all, the thing which we have to do is to enable the screen zoom options on your Mac. To do that click on the Apple icon which is on the top-left corner of your Mac screen. A drop-down menu will open. Then click on the System Preferences option which will be on the top of the drop-down menu.
New 'System Preferences' window will open. Then move your cursor to the Accessibility option which is near the bottom-right corner of that window and click on it. On the left side of the 'Accessibility' window click on the Zoom option. And finally, enable the 'Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom' option by clicking on the checkbox which will allow you to use the default keyboard shortcuts for zooming. With the help of these shortcuts, you can zoom instantly on your mac.
Use Keyboard shortcuts to zoom in on Mac
Here is the Explanation for the default keyboard shortcuts:
Option-Command-8: This shortcut toggles the zoom functionality between on or off.
Option-Command-Plus Sign (+): This one is easier to remember. Use Combination of Option-command and ‘+' sign to Zoom in on the Mac.
Option-Command-Minus (-): In contrast, use Combination of Option-command and ‘-' sign to Zoom out on the Mac.
Option-Command-Slash Sign (): This shortcut is used to turn 'smooth images' option on or off which smoothens your image when you zoom in to make it clear. Smooth image option is used mostly if you want to zoom on to pictures of PDFs.
4: Zoom in on a mac using Trackpad
This one is easier. You don't even have to use touch your Mac keyboard to zoom. Mac desktop sierra. Just use your trackpad for that.
The trackpad on your Mac is known as Magic Trackpad. As we already know Apple is known for their innovative features. In 1988, George E. Gerpheide invented the trackpad. Apple computer was the first company to license and use it on their laptops. Apple announced Magic Trackpad in 2010 which was 80% larger in size than the trackpad used at the present. Magic Trackpad has plenty of functions. Zooming is one of them. Just like we did for the keyboard shortcuts, to use zoom gesture on your Mac you will have to turn it on.
How to turn on the Trackpad gesture?
Your Trackpad gesture may have turned on by default but it doesn't hurt to verify it. Click on the apple icon, and now on System Preferences. You will see Trackpad option on the newly opened window. Click on it and check settings for activation of the Trackpad gesture and obviously, turn it on if it's not.
Use trackpad gesture to zoom on to Mac
Picture Of Mac Keyboard Layout
With the activation of the gesture support, you can zoom on to your mac just with the two fingers. Pinch out your two fingers to zoom in. Conversely, Pinch in your two fingers on the trackpad to zoom out. Repeat your finger gestures if you want to zoom in/out more. This is a very handy function to zoom in browsers, images, and documents.
Pro tip: Double tap on your trackpad with two fingers to zoom in and out.
Suggested Article: How To Print Screen On Mac Easily?
Final words
Mac Laptop Keyboard Image
Finally, By reading this article, you may have understood that there are so many methods to zoom on to your Mac. I understand, Remembering all of these methods is not easy for everyone. But you can try all of these methods and see with which one you are comfortable with. You can continue using that method only. You will realize that it will become very natural for you to use these methods.
Thank you for reading! Free serial key for microsoft office 2011 mac. I hope this article helped you. Don't forget to give your precious feedback on the comment box below.