Macs All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Using Mac special feature keys

Newer Macs feature keyboards with a row of dedicated special feature keys marked with descriptive icons that also double as function (Fn) keys.

For instance, the fifth key from the left is the one you press to open Launchpad, which displays all the applications on your Mac. Some special feature keys evoke a second special feature when you hold down the Fn key and then press the special feature key.

From the Apple menu, choose System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts to find all the default key command shortcuts (on the Shortcuts tab), turn on those you want to use, and then edit the key combinations to something easier for you.

Here are the special feature keys you can press:

Common Mac application shortcut keystrokes

No matter what app you’re running on your Mac, you can usually work faster and more efficiently by pressing a Mac keyboard shortcut rather than using the mouse or trackpad to point to a menu and select a command.

The following table lists the most common Mac keyboard shortcuts that can speed up working with 99.99999 percent of all Mac apps.

Mac shortcuts for international letters and symbols

When writing, you may need to use a symbol or a letter with a diacritical mark, such as an accent (à) or a tilde (ñ). Holding down any of the letters in the following table opens a pop-up window with the variations of that letter and a number under each one. Type the number, and the variation appears in your document.

For example, hold down A and then press 1 to type à. For uppercase letters, you add the Shift key. For example, hold down both Shift and A and then press 1 to type Àa. This table shows the variations:

These variations appear when you use the U.S. English keyboard. If you add a keyboard for another language, you may see more or different variations.

To add a keyboard, go to the Apple menu and choose System Settings; then click the Keyboard icon. Click the Edit button to the right of the Input Sources row and then click + (add) at the bottom left of the dialog that appears. Select the language you want, and then click the Add button. Click the Show Input Menu in Menu Bar switch on, and then click Done.

When you’re working in a document and want to switch to a different language, click the Input menu button in the menu bar and select the language you want to use.

You can quickly access some common symbols with the following key combinations.

To see all the key combinations, go to the Apple menu and choose System Settings and then Keyboard. Click the Edit button to the right of Input Sources, click the Show Input Menu in Menu Bar switch on, click Done, and then close System Settings. A button for the Input menu appears on the menu bar at the top of your screen. Click the Input menu button and choose Show Keyboard Viewer. A graphic representation of the keyboard appears on your screen.

Do one of the following three actions: Hold down Shift, hold down Option, or hold down Shift+Option. The keyboard changes to show the letter or symbol that will be typed when you now hold down Shift, Option, or Shift+Option and type a letter or number.

There are five gold option keys. If you hold down the Option key, press one of the gold keys, release the Option key, and then press another letter, the accent associated with the gold key appears on the letter you typed. For example, press Option+E, and then type a. The result is á.

Mac mouse and trackpad actions

Using your Mac’s mouse or trackpad can be a real drag — in a good way! That’s because drag (as well as click and right-click) describes how you use your Mac’s mouse and trackpad to do things with windows, icons, and other items on the screen.

The following table lists Mac mouse and trackpad action terms and what they mean.