I see the following Mac keyboard shortcuts defined in software documents all the time, for example in Keyboard shortcuts for macOS.
- ⇧
- ⌥
Ironically, I can't seem to find which keys on the keyboard these symbols indicate. Can anyone help me out?
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Sign up to join this communityI see the following Mac keyboard shortcuts defined in software documents all the time, for example in Keyboard shortcuts for macOS.
Ironically, I can't seem to find which keys on the keyboard these symbols indicate. Can anyone help me out?
Several modifier keys have unique symbols that identify them, including:
This list is also available at Apple's support website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201236
^
symbol is used in the *nix OSes to mark Control key, nowadays usually only in terminal applications (^C
means Control-C etc.).
Whether those keys have words or symbols or both can depend on the language of the keyboard and when it was made.
I see both of those symbols — and most of the others listed in jefe2000's answer — on mine (old 2015 MacBook Pro, Finnish keyboard layout, FWIW):
The one exception is that the "ctrl" key on my keyboard doesn't have the ⌃ symbol on it; perhaps because it could be confused with the actual ^ (caret) key found on the other side of the keyboard, next to the return key.
control
.
option
andalt
on it, but doesn't have the symbol.