Now that I’ve switched to a PowerBook at work, I’m trying to figure out what the Mac OS X equivalents are of various things that I was accustomed to in Windows. I wrote down a few things that I’ve found helpful, which hopefully will be helpful to other switchers. I’ll update this over time.
Keyboard Shortcuts – Text Editing
Description |
Windows |
Mac OS X |
Go to beginning of line |
(Home) |
(Cmd)(Left) |
Go to end of line |
(End) |
(Cmd)(Right) |
Go to beginning of document |
(Ctrl)(Home) |
(Cmd)(Up) |
Go to end of document |
(Ctrl)(End) |
(Cmd)(Down) |
Select from cursor until end of line |
(Shift)(End) |
(Cmd)(Shift)(Right) |
Select from cursor until end of document |
(Ctrl)(Shift)(End) |
(Cmd)(Shift)(Down) |
Keyboard Shortcuts – Firefox
Description |
Windows |
Mac OS X |
Focus cursor in URL field |
(Alt)(D) |
(Cmd)(L) |
Focus cursor in searchfield |
(Ctrl)(K) |
(Cmd)(K) |
Keyboard Shortcuts – Screenshots
Key Combination |
Result |
Command+Shift+3 |
Capture entire screen and save as a file |
Command+Control+Shift+3 |
Capture entire screen and copy to the clipboard |
Command+Shift+4 |
Capture dragged area and save as a file |
Command+Control+Shift+4 |
Capture dragged area and copy to the clipboard |
Command+Shift+4 then Space bar |
Capture a window, menu, desktop icon, or the menu bar and save as a file |
Command+Control+Shift+4 then Space bar |
Capture a window, menu, desktop icon, or the menu bar and copy to the clipboard |
Keyboard Shortcuts – Application Switching: Exposé, Dashboard, etc.
Description |
Windows |
Mac OS X |
Toggle between applications |
(Alt)(Tab) |
(Cmd)(Tab) |
Toggle between windows in an application |
(Ctrl)(F6) |
(Cmd)(Backquote) |
Focus on menubar |
(Alt) |
(Ctrl)(F2) |
App preferences |
Not consistent |
(Cmd)(Comma) |
Hide app |
??? |
(Cmd)(H) |
Exposé: Tile all open windows |
N/A |
(F9) |
Exposé: Tile open windows for current app |
N/A |
(F10) |
Exposé: Hide all open windows, show desktop |
N/A |
(F11) |
Dashboard – toggle |
N/A |
(F12) |
Bring up a list of applications to kill |
(Alt)(Control)(Delete) |
(Command)(Option)(Escape) |
Software
Must-have Software
More cool stuff
- Automator
- Platypus – Make GUI apps that wrap scripts such as Perl, Python, AppleScript, etc.
Software I’m playing with or might want to play with
Miscellaneous links


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Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard is packed with over 300 new features, installs easily, and works with the software and accessories you already have. |
Thanks Marc, great list of keyboard shortcuts 🙂
That’s what I was looking for. Thanks!
Marc,
Useful guide. Keep on updating it. Check out these apps too, if you haven’t done so already:
– CheckOff
– Alarm Clock
– TextWrangler/BBEdit
– VLC media player
– Cocktail (sys. utility)
Also, from what I’ve read above, it seems like you haven’t fully realized the power of QuickSilver =) Read tutorials and tips/tricks. And… install -at least- the recommended modules (such as MouseGestures, calculator, etc.) you can replace several apps from your list with QS.
Again, you may have read this already, but just in case:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106743
– these are some additionl tricks with the dock: e.g. opt+cmd+click -> will switch to that app and hide the rest.
Cheers,
~M
regarding opt+cmd+click: this what you will find only on a mac.
things that macs have, but windows doesnt:
http://www.wellness-heaven.net
(Testberichte)
Cheers
This is exactly the Mac shortcuts that I have been looking for! Thanks a million, Marc.
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One more Must-have Software for me:
OpenOffice 3.0 & MobileMe
Thanks a million!
And if you want your Home and End keys to work like they do in Windows, I found this site….
http://www.starryhope.com/tech/apple/2006/keyfixer/
great list, thanks.
Thanks a lot for these great links. This are exactly the shortcuts I´ve been looking for.
On my Maverick MBA, as opposed to the desired “move cursor to the beginning of document”effect, (Cmd)(Up) results in all windows being displayed simultaneously. Any idea of what has replaced the Windows equivalent of Ctrl+Home???
Mac User:
The keyboard shortcut (Command-Up) is correct, but seems to be overridden in your settings to display windows (which is usually Control-Up if I remember correctly).
Either way, go to System Preferences » Keyboard » Shortcuts » Mission Control, and you can just remove or change the shortcut to get that “Command-Up to Home†functionality back.
I also recommend taking a look at the “Services†pane while you’re in there—it lets you set up some fantastic shortcuts.
Hey Marc! Do you have any idea as to how to shift-select multiple items on a Mac ?
Software OS X 10.9.4 (13E28)
MacBook Air Early 2014
Usually Command-click selects multiple items
So helpful! Thanks!