A physical device with buttons that allow characters to be entered
76
votes
16answers
7k views
Is there a quick way to lock my Mac?
On Windows you can hit the keys Windows+L to lock your computer if you step away.
I don't want to have to remember if sleep currently asks for a password, if there is a time out where my screen isn't ...
2
votes
4answers
1k views
Can I create a shortcut to open a specific application on OS X?
I want to create a shortcut to i.e. open Firefox while I am working in another application. I know I can use ⌘T when I am in Firefox to open a new tab.
I haven't found a way to create that kind of ...
5
votes
5answers
3k views
Create global shortcut to run command line applications
What steps do I need to run a command line program via a global shortcut?
I setup Automator to create a new Run Shell Script and tried to assign a shortcut in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> ...
18
votes
6answers
3k views
How to add characters to the press and hold character picker in OS X Lion?
In OS X Lion, there is a very useful feature for people like me who need to write in multiple languages, which pops up a small menu of additional characters when you hold down a letter.
For instance, ...
21
votes
6answers
9k views
How do I type a ² or a ³ on an Apple keyboard (International English layout)?
I use ² and ³ a lot in e-mails. When using my Belgian Windows keyboard and a custom keymap it was easy to type this in Mac OS X as I assigned the appropriate key.
Now I switched to a qwerty ...
18
votes
6answers
2k views
How can I select buttons with just the keyboard?
Many user interface (UI) elements or dialog boxes have buttons. I would like to be able to select a button with just the keyboard, without the mouse. How can I do this?
4
votes
7answers
4k views
How to remove or disable a default keyboard layout?
Is it possible to remove or disable one of OS X Lion’s default keyboard layouts?
I’m using a custom keyboard layout, and now that I managed to set it as the system-wide default keyboard layout, I’d ...
31
votes
31answers
7k views
What are your favorite Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts?
What are your favorite keyboard shortcuts on Mac OS X?
15
votes
3answers
2k views
Remap “Home” and “End” to beginning and end of line
Most of my computing time is spent in Linux (with occasional time in Windows). On these platforms the Home and End keys universally jump to the beginning or end of the current line.
I am gradually ...
11
votes
6answers
3k views
How can I expand the number of special characters I can type using my keyboard?
I am aware that when I press ⌥ or ⇧⌥ on my Mac, I can type a variety of special characters. I also know that I can insert special characters using the character palette. Is there a way to expand the ...
13
votes
6answers
5k views
Can I get windows 7 like window resizing on Mac OS X?
Windows 7 has a nice new feature for moving around windows.
The one that I am particularly interested in is:
Windows Key + Left/Right : Move the window to the left or right of the screen, or over ...
12
votes
6answers
6k views
What Is the Keyboard Shortcut for Sleep Display Without Eject Key?
I read that if you want to put your display into sleep the keyboard shortcut is Control ⌃+Shift ⇧+Eject ⏏, but what is it in Mountain Lion or Lion using a retina MacBook Pro or MacBook Air without an ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
How to set to open folder with enter in finder?
I want to set to open a folder in finder with Enter.
I know it's possible to open a folder with ⌘ Command + ↓ Down Arrow but I don't like it and I never use it because it's easier to use the ...
11
votes
1answer
2k views
In Lion, if I keep pressing a key, why doesn't it repeat?
I don't know if there are any settings to toggle, but I figured out that if I keep pressing a button on my keyboard it doesn't repeat it and displays only one character! Can this be fixed to go back ...
5
votes
6answers
2k views
Decimal comma in Spanish keyboard layout
I have a Spanish layout keyboard (in Snow Leopard). Whenever I use the dot, or comma, in the numeric keyboad (right of the 0) it always shows a comma, but I'd prefer if it entered a dot, just like PCs ...
32
votes
2answers
7k views
What do I type to produce the command symbol (⌘) in Mac OS X?
What combination of keys do I press to produce the command symbol (⌘) on Mac OS X?
(I copied the above symbol from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_key.)
11
votes
1answer
2k views
Make a custom keyboard layout the system default on Lion — even for the login screen
Can I make a custom keyboard layout (one that wasn’t included with OS X by default) the system default on Lion — even for the login screen?
2
votes
3answers
803 views
Permanently swapping option and command keys on a non-Apple keyboard
Whenever I plug my Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard into my MacBook Pro, I have to swap the Command and Option modifier keys. How can I prevent these keys from reverting to their default settings ...
3
votes
2answers
280 views
Is there a way to tweet from a keyboard command?
I use CMD space a million times a day to find files, launch apps, etc.
Wouldn't it be cool if I could press a keyboard combination and get a box to send a tweet? I know I can do it through ...
3
votes
3answers
419 views
How to turn off the iOS-style character picker menu
When I hold a key in Lion, I get this iOS-style character picker instead of a repeated character, as in previous versions of the OS:
I really dislike this (I rarely use those symbols as I only ...
2
votes
5answers
2k views
How to open or toggle Keyboard Viewer by a keyboard shortcut?
I changed the shortcut to Command ⌘ + X to change the language of the keyboard.
However I would like to display the Keyboard Viewer using a shortcut as well.
Is there a way to display the Keyboard ...
7
votes
2answers
2k views
Switch between full-screen windows of the same application in Lion
Is there a keyboard shortcut in Lion for navigating through my open full screen Xcode projects? ⌘~ is not working.
9
votes
6answers
2k views
Home and End commands in Lion
After installing Lion, ⌘ + ← doesn't go to the line start and ⌘ + → doesn't go to the line end.
Anyone know how to reconfigure this?
14
votes
2answers
412 views
How do I take a screenshot on my Mac?
What's the easiest way to take a screenshot of my Mac?
I've used Grab.app, but it's a bit annoying just to get a quick screenshot. Is there a faster way?
10
votes
6answers
26k views
Alternative to Windows Snipping Tool for Mac OSX
Is there something like the Windows Snipping Tool for OSX?
For those, who don't know about the tool, it's an easy to use software to take snapshot of any portion of screen, and is really useful in ...
12
votes
2answers
401 views
What is the ⌥ key?
Is this key the same as shift?
If so, why don't people just call it shift? I spent a long time looking around for what this key means. Google returned no results. My MacBook Air keyboard does not ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
How can I force command-line arguments to a program shortcut in the dock?
I have Chrome installed in Applications, and a shortcut to it in the Dock.
How can I achieve to force some command-line arguments to each start-up of this app?
Let me be clearer, in the Terminal, I ...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
Move windows around a desktop — and to different desktops — using only the keyboard?
Here's what I'm trying to accomplish using only a keyboard:
Move a window to different areas/corners of a desktop
Move a window to different desktops
Set/unset a window as shown/sticky on all ...
7
votes
2answers
667 views
DefaultKeyBinding.dict - old-style NeXT format vs XML plist format
DefaultKeyBinding.dict
The ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict file lets you define your own key bindings in Mac OS X. It can be in one of two formats: old-style NeXT format (example) or ...
7
votes
2answers
488 views
What is the keyboard shortcut for editing a cell in Excel?
I can't find the keyboard shortcut for this on the mac. It's F2 on a windows machine.
7
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the best key remapper tool?
I use international keyboards which have ` (~ with shift) next to Z key. I'm used to having `/~ key next to 1 (currently, this key produces § or ± with shift, which I don't use at all). My goal is to ...
3
votes
4answers
598 views
How to define Lion’s key variations in a `.keylayout` file?
In Lion you can hold down a key to show its variations.
However, when using my custom keyboard layout in .keylayout format, this functionality is disabled.
I assume Lion’s default keyboard layouts ...
11
votes
2answers
4k views
How can I get Safari to reopen my last closed tab?
I'm switching back to Safari from Chrome. Now that I figured out how to get Safari to let me navigate tabs the way I want, only one thing remains: I want to be able to reopen my last closed tab with ...
7
votes
1answer
586 views
Can I open the menu with keyboard?
With PC, alt-something opens the something in the main menu.
Does Mac have similar function? For example, is there a way to open View menu as if I click it?
6
votes
3answers
544 views
Lock screen with LaunchBar
I extensively use Launchbar and have almost all my daily productivity items working through it.
Since I use my personal MacBook at work, I do not have use a screen saver password, however, when at ...
5
votes
1answer
404 views
5
votes
1answer
1k views
Find and Change system shortcut
As I know you can find a limit of shortcut in system preference > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcut
where you can find other shortcut and how must change it? for example if I change the cmd + O to enter ...
4
votes
2answers
2k views
How to minimize all windows/applications to the dock?
⌥+⌘+M as mentioned in multiple docs only appears to minimize the current (focused) window.
I am looking for the "Show Desktop" equivalent. If it matters I'm using 10.6.4.
3
votes
1answer
166 views
How can I set caps lock to a more complex keystroke?
In the Keyboard settings, it is possible to set Caps Lock to other modifier keys, but it doesn't allow to put in a custom keystroke.
Is it possible to set it to something like Ctrl + A?
I'm using OS ...
3
votes
3answers
3k views
Can I have multiple mice & keyboards for one Mac?
I would like to control two cursors with two mice in the same time, as well as have two keyboards for separate control and text input.
My goal is to have two users on one computer, so I can let my ...
2
votes
4answers
380 views
Can I get (something like) an Apple wireless keyboard with numeric keypad?
That would be perfect; their current wireless keyboard is too laptop-like. I like having wide arrow keys, the delete/end/page up/page down/home keys.
Otherwise, can someone recommend a similar ...
2
votes
1answer
458 views
Custom keyboard shortcuts to change active Spaces desktop
I'm a mostly Unix user that are starting to user OS X for iPhone development. Since I won't (and can't) quit my Linux environment I'm trying out the 'Spaces' functionallity for virtual desktops. But ...
8
votes
2answers
4k views
Override iTunes “media” keys (play, pause, etc) for Spotify?
Is it possible to set Spotify as the default program when the "media" keys (play, pause, previous, next, etc) are pressed on the Mac keyboard?
For the most part when Spotify is open, the "media" ...
8
votes
4answers
662 views
Option + click in iTerm
In Terminal, Option + click allows me to place my cursor at any point on the current line-- great for editing really long commands.
How can I do this in iTerm2?
Update: According to this page, the ...
6
votes
3answers
306 views
What is the button in the upper right of windows?
Some Mac applications have this button in the upper right. What is it called? Is there a keyboard shortcut for it?
In the case of MacVim, the button toggles the toolbar of colorful icons you see on ...
4
votes
1answer
229 views
Prevent OS X from switching my keyboard layout when password fields are focused
Some months ago, I switched to the Colemak keyboard layout, which is mostly great. But, there is one annoyance that is imposed by OS X.
When the OS pops up a confirmation dialog to ask me to type my ...
3
votes
1answer
104 views
How to Find What a Particular Keyboard Shortcut Does?
How can I find the command triggered by a keyboard shortcut without activating it in any given application?
When I press a keyboard shortcut, the top-level menu is highlighted, but, beyond that, I ...
3
votes
3answers
173 views
Can I cmd-F and click a highlighted link in Safari (or something similar) without a mouse?
I'm trying to make my Mac as mouseless and possible. My three last big hurdles:
Moving the current window to a different space in Spaces. (I'm still on OS 10.6, until 10.8 comes out.)
A more ...
3
votes
4answers
8k views
Switch Between Apps With Alt-Tab / Command-Tab on iPad using Bluetooth Keyboard
I have an iPad 2 (with iOS 5) and an Apple bluetooth keyboard. I could be much more productive if I could do Alt-Tab (I think this is Command-Tab) app switching using my keyboard. Is there any way to ...
3
votes
5answers
637 views
How to quickly jump to another application without using command tab
I am trying to do a screencast and I use ⌘+⇥ to move from browser to my IDE . During editing I need to remove all the screenshots of me moving from one app to another since that is ...
