- Series: Simple accessibility hints
- Simple: Enlarging Text
- Simple: Bigger Mouse Pointer
- Simple: Alert Sounds You Can See
- Simple: The Computer Tells You The Time
- Simple: Show Icons in open/save dialag box
- Simple: Zoom in to see screen details more easily
- Simple: Word Completion
- Make iTunes Easier To See and Use
- Simple Keyboard Shortcuts To Save You Time
Keyboard shortcuts are a quick way of getting many things done without needing to access the menus or the mouse. If you know to press command-s to save your work, you’ve used a keyboard shortcut. For people who primarily use a keyboard or a switch interface, using keyboard shortcuts can save a lot of time and effort. MouseLess’s Keyboard vs. Mouse section has some good reasons why even people who can easily use both keyboard and mouse should use the mouse less. And there are lots of people out there with repetitive strain problems who can only use a mouse with some pain, so sticking to the keyboard means they can get more done with less pain.
There are some great pages which detail keyboard shortcuts which can be used in Mac OS X. UsingMac’s Mac OS X Leopard: 200+ Productivity Booster Keyboard Shortcuts is one example of many similar ones. But sometimes less is more – Karen Janowski reminded me with her efficient Shortcut Keys Handout post (for Windows users) that basic shortcuts need to be learned too. A half-page list that you can print out and refer to can be much more useful than an exhaustive list – especially for people not familiar with keyboard shortcuts.
So I’ve made one. This list doesn’t show you all the keyboard shortcuts you’ll ever need – just the ones you’re likely to use many times a day. It’s a half a page format that you can easily print out and refer to while you work. I’m making a PDF available for easy printing, and a version in the original Pages format for those who might want to edit it for themselves. I’ve also created versions in both A4 and US Letter page sizes, which should cover everybody’s standard page sizes.
Basic Keyboard Shortcuts – PDF, A4
Basic Keyboard Shortcuts – PDF, US
Basic Keyboard Shortcuts – Pages, A4 [Edit, 18 December 2008: this version is now available and works properly.]
Basic Keyboard Shortcuts – Pages, US
If you edit these for yourself, let me know what you come up with – I’d love to see.
- Ricky Buchanan
Afuna December 10, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Awesome <3 I’m passing these on to my dad. (Not quite your target audience, but relatively new to the Mac)
Ricky Buchanan December 11, 2008 at 12:16 am
@Afuna: The target audience is really anybody who can benefit from this stuff, so your Dad totally fits! Glad you like ‘em
Peter Abrahams December 17, 2008 at 5:35 am
I use most of the shortcuts you listed on a regular basis; but there are two more I use continuously.
ctrl+f3 takes me to the dock
ctrl+f2 takes me to the blue apple and from there I can get to all the commands and to things like force quit.
If you try this you will probably find they do not work. In that case press ctrl+f1 and try again.
Ricky Buchanan December 18, 2008 at 9:59 am
@Peter: Thanks, those are good suggestions to add to the next version.
Michael January 27, 2009 at 5:32 am
Great post, Ricky. Finally someone speaks my one-page ADD language!
You also know that while I Zooooom across my Windows laptop, I look like an injured bird flapping on the ground when I try to operate my MAC keyboard. Many thanks for this cool PDF! Be sure to ping the good folks at MakeUseOf and share this!
Ricky Buchanan January 27, 2009 at 9:56 am
@Michael: Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll do that. Also, if you leave comments in future, please put your name in the “Name” field, rather than SEO keywords.