16 ms·

My macOS keyboard shortcuts

213 points by donbrae 5y ago

_virtu 5y ago
How is this front page material? Maybe I need to write a post about my qmk x karabiner x keyboard maestro set up because I’m kind of surprised. - No tap and hold keys - No hyper escape - No latch keys This all seems pedestrian from a keyboard shortcut guru perspective.
- smeyer 5y ago
  What is hyper escape? My attempts to duck and google it just gave me stuff about a game "hyper scape".
  - recuter 5y ago
    It is when you remap caps lock to escape (good) for a key tap and add some other functionality for a long press. Meh.
- petey283 5y ago
  Please do! I would love a post on that topic
- VTimofeenko 5y ago
  Please do write such a post. I am in the middle of revamping my keyboard setup(want to unify qmk, xremap, sway and the Mac) and I am looking for ideas.
- dylan604 5y ago
  See, you're up on that pedastal looking down at all of us plebes that are becoming interested in what others do to make their day-to-day task more effecient. Maybe some of us weren't exactly thinking about that specific task until someone wrote about it, another found it and shared it, now here we are discussing. That's why it's on the front page because enough other people thought it was interesting enough to promote. But I think you're smart enough to realize that, and are just grandstanding as a humble-brag "I already know this" kind of thing. The real question is who are you to think that something not intresting to you shouldn't be interesting to others.
  - doogerdog 5y ago
    I did not see his comment as looking down on anyone. I too am surprised that so many people here do not manage their windows with Keyboard Maestro. Anyone with a desktop Mac and some kind of programming skill needs Keyboard Maestro. It not only slings windows around but automates many chores. It also lets you get around most user interface annoyances that turn up in every program. My advice is to get it and learn it well if you spend much time on a Mac. I have an ancient Genovation CP48 ControlPad attached to my keyboard. It has 48 function keys and every one is assigned. Most of the keys do double or triple duty. I positively hate it when I have to use anyone else's Mac for any prolonged period.
- b3morales 5y ago
  For every person like you who has mastered the topic there are thousands who have no idea it even exists. https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/ You should indeed feel free to share your knowledge; likely someone will find it useful.
- SxC97 5y ago
  What does a latch key mean in this context?
beyti 5y ago
What I would definitely suggest on top of this list is: https://www.hammerspoon.org/ https://www.hammerspoon.org/ for extensive keyboard + functionality customization.
- Kungfuturtle 5y ago
  I would also suggest https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd for hotkeys; it also pairs well with an associated project for window tiling and management: https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai
AndrewOMartin 5y ago
> Hold $KEY in text fields to get pop-up menu of given character with diacritic markings Well this explains the odd behaviour of vim keybindings on VSCode on a Mac. I hold `l` to move right and instead I just see a strange pipe-ish character pop up.
- brandonhorst 5y ago
  This is an easy fix: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39972335/how-do-i-press-and-hold-a-key-and-have-it-repeat-in-vscode https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39972335/how-do-i-press-...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
sxg 5y ago
Creating a Hyper Key (i.e., remapping capslock to become an additional modifier key) is a game changer! I use Capslock [1] with Karabiner Elements on macOS. [1] https://github.com/Vonng/Capslock https://github.com/Vonng/Capslock
- reaperducer 5y ago
  If you're not into installing third-party tools, you can create your own hyper key by using a combination of the Shift, Control, Option, and Command keys† (Shift, Control, Meta, Super). Because macOS uses Control+Option to activate the on-screen magnifying glass, I use Shift+Option+Command, which works well for my hand size. I haven't found any macOS or third-party programs that use Shift+Option+Command for shortcuts yet, so there haven't been any conflicts. Once you get your personal shortcuts set up in Apple → System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts, it's really a major productivity boost. †I think you can use Function now, too, since Preview uses it, but haven't tried it yet.
- rrdharan 5y ago
  I use Karabiner Elements to make CapsLock either Escape (when tapped) or Control (when held / pressed with another key) - works great with a Kinesis Advantage: https://pastebin.com/6gQFV9EY https://pastebin.com/6gQFV9EY
- chris37879 5y ago
  I get this horrible bug with Karabiner where it just slams one of my CPU cores... I was actually planning to replace it because of that. My current issue is that I can't have my macbook's keyboard use the system control keys while my external uses F keys. Like if I don't have the 'use f keys' option on in prefs, my external F1 and F2 become brightness keys...
  - dylan604 5y ago
    That makes some logical sense to me though. If your keyboard layout is set up for a Apple keyboard where the function keys are actually OS specific keys, then it shouldn't matter if your keyboard has a F[1-9]+ printed on them or Apple symbols. The key will just do what it's mapped to do. It's like expecting a DVORAK keyboard to work when the computer is still in QWERTY mode. There's just more matching overlap between keyboards with function keys vs Apple symbols.
plufz 5y ago
The custom shortcuts I have in Karabiner that I couldn't be without: capslock + [key] = ctrl + [key] capslock alone = esc capslock + space = enter capslock + wasd = arrow keys
jelsisi 5y ago
Vimium [1] is great in browser. [1] https://vimium.github.io/ https://vimium.github.io/
- sxg 5y ago
  And Vimari for Safari: https://github.com/televator-apps/vimari https://github.com/televator-apps/vimari
- mkmk 5y ago
  If you're just looking for faster link navigation, check out the appropriate-named Link Hints [0], which is very lightweight and makes me feel like a superhero all day long. [0] https://lydell.github.io/LinkHints/ https://lydell.github.io/LinkHints/
- SxC97 5y ago
  Personally I’ve tried a bunch of these vim-browser extensions and I think SurfingKeys has the best feature set thus far.
malkosta 5y ago
mod + 1: toggle Firefox mod + 2: toggle Terminal That’s the most useful I have.
Bigpet 5y ago
I've tried Karabiner Elements for quite some time. Because I came from Windows and wanted to swap some keys around (command/control and some shortcuts). It seems to me that it made input lag sometimes worse and also just ate input more often that when I uninstalled it. I mean this piece of shit i9 2019 MBP does that sometimes anyway when under high load, but happens more often with Karabiner installed.
- limeblack 5y ago
  I have control and command swapped in system preferences and the only other key combo I use is the CMD+Tab and Ctrl+Tab[1]. I have no issues this way. I will say system preferences is where I put all other key combos linked to AppleScripts. [1]: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/334266/swap-or-remap-cmdtab-to-ctrltab/334280#334280 https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/334266/swap-or-rem...
- ink_13 5y ago
  I have been using Karabiner Elements for nearly a decade and have never noticed this. To me, it's indispensable (I remap Caps Lock to both CTRL and ESC depending on whether I hold or tap) and it's the very first thing I install when I get a new Mac. There were some hiccups around the time of 10.12, but the developer resolved all the ones that I saw.
mkdirp 5y ago
> Command-Backtick: cycle current application’s windows For the Brits among us, or perhaps anyone with a non-US keyboard layout, I recall when I still had my Mac, this wasn't mapped properly. It was the button on the right of the left shift. This was quite strenuous when I had to switch within the same application. I can't remember if I just re-mapped the shortcut or what it was, but I suggest you look into having that mapped to the button right above Tab (below ESC). It makes it a lot easier.
- bazzargh 5y ago
  I find the split between Cmd-backtick (cycle windows of an application) and Cmd-tab (cycle front window of all applications...which isn't all windows) super annoying, there is an app for that: https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ Alt-tab, it makes alt-tab cycle all open windows and shows you previews. So much better.
  - dieulot 5y ago
    Speaking of that annoying split, I have a base 2020 Intel MacBook Air and command-tab takes 200 ms to display, making it utterly unpleasant. Mind-blowing for a €1200 computer. Are all Intel MacBook Airs affected by this? Only those with baseline processors?
    - stnmtn 5y ago
      Seems to me the intention is that if you quickly press command-tab to switch back to your previous window, you don't get the window popping up in front of that window you've brought to the front. This is nice, as most of the time I'm command tabbing between two windows, so I quickly press it and no window pops up on my screen. If I need to press command-tab more than once, it appears and I'm able to select the window I'd like. Seems like decent UX to me
      - dieulot 5y ago
        I don’t think that’s it, no one told me about that when I complained about that delay on the Mac Power Users forums, and I can’t find anything about it (such as removing that delay) online right now. Which Mac(s) are you experiencing that on, and since which OS version?
mFixman 5y ago
As someone who grew up with Windows XP, the first thing I do when I get a new Macbook is install Hyperswitch [1] which makes Cmd+Tab cycle through all windows of all applications of the current desktop. The regular OSX workflow seems to be only good for a workflow that includes a single maximised Chrome window with a million tabs open. [1] https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch
- chris37879 5y ago
  I completely agree on keyboard nav, but when I'm using my laptop, even at my desk, I position it so I can reach and do gestures on the trackpad, sometimes it's just easier for me, and I find myself missing them on my desktop machine that doesn't have a trackpad.
- ascagnel_ 5y ago
  I also grew up on WinXP, but I prefer how macOS separates application & window switching. I'd like to see per-tab support added in the mix somehow, but that could be tricky. Safari supports a gesture (pinch inwards) and a keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-\) to get a zoomed-out view of all tabs in a window, but a window with a bunch of tabs is hard to scan like that.
- kitsunesoba 5y ago
  It’s been quite the opposite for me. I find that the “windows” model of alt-tab quickly breaks down — the number of windows the switcher can comfortably handle is reached and exceeded quite quickly, which then drives me to try to do everything in a couple of maximized windows. The logical separation of applications and windows sidesteps this problem nicely.
- kergonath 5y ago
  MacOS is application-oriented, and it is great. I can't stand the precise behaviour you like when I am forced to use a Windows computer at work. My windows currently open: ~50 iTerm2 (with loads of tabs and tmux sessions), 5 TextMate (quite a lot of tabs as well), 6 Safari (ditto), 1 Messages, 1 Mail, 1 Music. Cycling through the 50-odd windows to swap to mail would be insane. The use case you mention is precisely where application orientation is useless, I am not sure why you bring that up.
smeej 5y ago
If you're not signed into an iCloud account, do these get randomly reset half a dozen a day like the text shortcuts do? I have to use a MacBook for work, but am forbidden from creating or logging into an iCloud account on it, and this is absolutely infuriating. I found a way to copy all the shortcuts into a file so at least I don't have to retype them every time, but at least six times a day, I have to delete the stupid "omw: on my way!" shortcut and drag my own file back into the window. Several hours searching for a solution hasn't solved it. This appears to be intentional on Apple's part to force iCloud sign-in.
- donbrae 5y ago
  That is infuriating. On my work Mac I’m only signed into the App Store (not iCloud) and have not had this problem. Maybe it’s the corporate malware your company installs that’s doing it?
- mproud 5y ago
  No, I think you’re going down the wrong rabbit hole. Text shortcuts are not tied to iCloud.
evaneykelen 5y ago
My favorite shortcut is to restore minimized windows by pressing Command-Tab to display the application switcher, selecting the minimized app's icon, holding down Option (⌥), and then letting go of the Command key. The minimized window will be restored to its previous position and dimensions.
- sisk 5y ago
  In case you have multiple minimized windows, another seemingly little known trick is pressing 1 while in the application switcher which will show all of the windows for the highlighted application.
  - deleted 5y ago
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  - hirvi74 5y ago
    Ctrl + Up arrow has a similar functionality where the user can use the arrow keys to select one of the multiple windows.
  - chillage 5y ago
    It is far easier imo to just use a dedicated window switcher which shows all open windows right away https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/
- chrisfinazzo 5y ago
  When the "Minimize into the Application icon" feature appeared back in Snow Leopard, I was very much into this kind of thing. Yet over the years since, I've moved to mostly using Cmd-H to hide. I tried the method you described and it seems to only bring back the frontmost window DragThing/Front and Center style.[1] Odd. [1]: https://hypercritical.co/front-and-center/ https://hypercritical.co/front-and-center/
  - Cockbrand 5y ago
    Cmd-H seems very underused to me, even by Mac power users. The reason might be that many recent Mac users are converts from Windows or Linux, where the concept of hiding an app doesn't exist. I love and extensively use this feature since I started using Macs about 25+ years ago. It's so much more convenient than minimizing an app's window(s) into the dock, and it's so nicely complemented by the app switcher.
frankus 5y ago
I end up using the built-in emacs key bindings a lot (they also work in many shells). Ctrl-k (cut to the end of the current line and save it in a special secret extra clipboard) and ctrl-y to paste Ctrl-e to go to the end of a line, ctrl-a to go to the beginning. Ctrl-d to forward-delete, ctrl-t to transpose characters (this rarely saves time but I do it anyway). You can also use ctrl with b, f, p, and n to go back or forwards one character or to the previous or next line, but I just use the arrow keys.
- ubercow13 5y ago
  They don't work everywhere though, making them basically useless. For example ctrl+a and ctrl+e don't work in the Safari address bar or the text box I'm typing this comment in, or TextEdit, and many other native text widgets.
  - reayn 5y ago
    First and foremost, they should work everywhere, especially the places you describe, almost every native widget (even in third party native apps) should support the readline bindings. If, however, you desire more control, you can use Karabiner-Elements [0] and one of the many [1] community made emacs-like configurations to have this behaviour system wide, these also add many many more keybinds (such as C-w to delete last word) to further emacsify your workflow! 1. karabiner-elements.pqrs.org 2. https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=emacs https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=emacs
  - saagarjha 5y ago
    They work for me? Do you have an app that might be eating those shortcuts?
    - jjoonathan 5y ago
      They work for me too on latest Safari, FF, and Chrome, and pretty much everywhere else. I'd actually flip the critique upside down: ctrl+aedfb are so useful precisely because they are deeply embedded in the lower layers of the OSX text system and therefore work almost everywhere.
anotherhue 5y ago
If you think this is good interface design I suggest you watch someone use a real system. Something like an old bloomberg terminal or those DOS stock keeping systems still kicking around some travel agents / department stores. I'll take ugly and smart over the reverse any day.
- kossTKR 5y ago
  Interesting. Is there a video of how such an oldschool department store system works? I remember clerks looking proficient clicking away behind the desk in the 90's compared to the extremely slow use of touchscreens these days.
  - anotherhue 5y ago
    Here's one https://youtu.be/ql4qL1L-R6E?t=358 https://youtu.be/ql4qL1L-R6E?t=358
  - ptaffs 5y ago
    Here's a training video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJBk8TKV9Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJBk8TKV9Q) for creating CICS Screens, which are the type of thing I think the poster was referencing. My first job was writing CICS CoBOL. There was a steep learning curve, like vim, but the users would remember the transaction/workflow codes, usually 4 character abbreviations, which would be keyed somewhere on the screen, the map/form would open and they user would tab and cursor until they press some form of submit, then then next screen in the workflow would open. The users would learn which codes took them to the screen they needed and became very fast. These were all text screens, normally 3270, with no mouse. And most often had excellent mechanical keyboards.
flurie 5y ago
I like that the author points out a number of great default shortcuts in macOS, but I find it hard to beat the combination of yabai[1] and skhd[2] for the best keyboard-driven workflow. In the absence of these, I would be more inclined to try either Hammerspoon or Karabiner-Elements. I also find Phoenix[3] intriguing, but it's probably too much work to get it to where I'd want it for daily use. [1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai [2] https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd [3] https://github.com/kasper/phoenix https://github.com/kasper/phoenix
- gundamdoubleO 5y ago
  I found yabai to be a little buggy when I moved over to an M1 Mac from an Intel one. Haven't tried it for a few months now so maybe it's time to hop back in. It's an amazing piece of software if you're used to some of the TWMs available on Linux, it made the transition into MacOS much more manageable.
  - flurie 5y ago
    There was a recent major release that added in M1 (and Monterey) support. A few of us have been using it since the beta a few months back. It works at least as well as it did previously, and it feels much snappier now.
- galoisscobi 5y ago
  Curious to hear if you use Yabai with system integrity protection enabled and if so, what features do you lose?
  - flurie 5y ago
    I now run it with SIP enabled on my work machine, not by choice, and I didn't find it made a huge difference. I think the only major thing I lost is easy app movement across spaces, but that is mitigated somewhat by having pre-defined spaces for things I use a lot, such as browser, editor, mail, calendar.
  - 5y ago
mproud 5y ago
I use `option-left arrow` and `option-right arrow` all the time to travel to the next word, and `command-left arrow` and `command-right arrow` goes to the beginning and end of a line. Combine any of these with the shift key and you can select everything in between.
- JKCalhoun 5y ago
  I do this as well ... except in the apps that break this. (Aarg!)
  - hbn 5y ago
    It always bugged me that this didn't work in the terminal, and it's why I was so jazzed when I found out about Warp[1] (not affiliated). Aside from the other handy enhanced terminal features you'd expect from a replacement to the mac bundled one, the biggest win for me is it treats text input like a normal text input field, so all the normal shortcuts work. [1] https://www.warp.dev https://www.warp.dev
    - SxC97 5y ago
      I think iTerm has a similar feature where you can configure the keyboard shortcuts to use normal system style text selection shortcuts.
- e28eta 5y ago
  control-left / control-right should get you the same behavior _inside_ of words in applications like Xcode, which often deal with CamelCaseCompoundSymbols.
- antipaul 5y ago
  If arrow keys are too far, alternatives can be: - ctrl option b, ctrl option f - ctrl a, e, k Some GUIs and editors respect this, but it varies (Jupiter lab, emacs, GitHub.com text fields, etc)
deleted 5y ago
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dukeofdoom 5y ago
cmd+option+v - this will move a file if you cmd+c first
harsilspatel 5y ago
I can't use any keyboard without my favorite mappings: 1. caps lock --> escape / ctrl 2. right command + h/j/k/l --> arrow keys 3. left/right shift --> left/right parenthesis Source: https://github.com/harsilspatel/dotfiles https://github.com/harsilspatel/dotfiles
- jjoonathan 5y ago
  I've almost entirely purged non-defaults from my workflow, but I still go for CapsLock->Ctrl. On mac, it's a menu in preferences. On windows, I have to download a program. On linux, there are 30 different programs and config files to do it and the linux community seems to be perpetually at war with them, with 25 of them silently or loudly broken at any given moment. The only one that works reliably, setxkbmap, is temporary. Still worth it!
  - brimble 5y ago
    > On linux, there are 30 different programs and config files to do it and the linux community seems to be perpetually at war with them, with 25 of them silently or loudly broken at any given moment. The only one that works reliably, setxkbmap, is temporary. I got used to this on Mac and was kinda shocked how difficult it was to make it work everywhere on Linux, when I last tried it about 18 months ago. I spent (well, wasted) a lot of time digging through suggestions for how to do it, half of which didn't work and the rest of which only worked some places. On a new Mac it takes maybe 20 seconds to configure, simply using the GUI, and that's it.
- susodapop 5y ago
  Maybe I'm missing something: how do you make uppercase letters?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - redytedy 5y ago
    This is part of the "space cadet" layout which I also use. The shift keys only function as parentheses when you tap the key (i.e. press and release without tapping another key in the meantime). It means that the character is typed when you physically lift the key instead of pressing it but worth it.
ISL 5y ago
Is there a macOS equivalent to Alt+Click/drag in X? That's something I still miss from linux/unix systems.
- justbrowsingthx 5y ago
  This command should enable the same behavior with ctrl+cmd+click/drag: defaults write -g NSWindowShouldDragOnGesture -bool yes
  - ISL 5y ago
    Thank you!!!!
- reaperducer 5y ago
  Is there a macOS equivalent to Alt+Click/drag in X? You might get more responses if you tell people what behavior you expect from Alt+Click/drag. If you're trying to copy something (often a file, but many other things), you can Option+Click+drag. If you want to click on something, then drag it after releasing the click, that's available in the Accessibility settings.
  - ISL 5y ago
    Looks like my question was answered in a sibling thread. The behavior of Alt+Click/drag is to allow you to click on any part of a window and move the window. It is extremely useful not just from time-savings (no need to click on the top bar to reposition a window), but also to be able to grab windows that are positioned off-screen or beneath another window and move it with a single operation.
user3939382 5y ago
One of my biggest pain points with macOS, which I still haven't adjusted to after over 15 years, is the inconsistent behavior of Home and End. This "just worked" in Windows, with the same behavior in every application. On macOS it's per application which makes it so unpredictable I hesitate to even try/use it.
- k3liutZu 5y ago
  Alternatives would be: - Cmd+⬅ or Cmd+ (edit supposed to be a right arrow character here, but it seems HN comment strips it) - Or the linux shortcuts Ctrl+A and Ctrl+E
  - lalopalota 5y ago
    What was nice about Windows was Ctrl+Home/End to go to the beginning/end of the file. On Mac, different apps use different key combos for this. Sometimes Cmd+Up/Down works, other programs that is PageUp/Down. (or maybe it is just pycharm that is goofy, it trips me up a lot).
  - yen223 5y ago
    Hang on, how is the left arrow emoji showing up? I thought HN strips out all emojis...
- jjoonathan 5y ago
  Ha, my biggest minor gripe with windows is having to use Home/End rather than ctrl+a and ctrl+e. Not only are ctrl+ae universal on MacOS, they are right beneath your fingers, unlike Home/End, which are banished off to keyboard Siberia for some reason.
- benniomars 5y ago
- dylan604 5y ago
  I wish my macOS running device had Home/End buttons. I've tried on multiple occassions to remap keys to use as those are favorites in NLE workflows. My brain just has a harder time remapping the keys than the OS.
12ian34 5y ago
I used Mac and Windows alternately since 1997 until 2017 when I moved to Arch Linux with the i3wm Tiling Window Manager [0]. i3wm is easily one of the key things keeping me using Linux as my daily driver (personal + work). It's so simple yet deeply configurable. Sure, it takes a bit of time to tweak and get used to but IMO it has paid off massively. It has made using a computer just so much more of a joy. Whenever I use Mac and Windows I really miss i3wm. I spend barely any time moving Windows around - everything Just Works (with the caveat of some tweaking - but my config file is only about 100 lines of i3 declarations) and I've barely had to change it in 5 years. I do go around shilling i3wm here and there on hn, purely just because it has provided me actual joy and I want others to know about it! I know the Apple crowd are fans of everything Just Working, and i3 comes with sensible defaults to enable that. [0]: https://i3wm.org/ https://i3wm.org/
- benniomars 5y ago
- beepbooptheory 5y ago
  It is extremely hard to go back to anything else after i3wm, even when I do wish I could have some more things taken care of for me in a full fledged DE -- mostly stuff like touchpad configuration, polkit, theming. Longing for a central settings manager like KDE/Gnome, but still not worth it to give up the i3 world. And yes, I know you can use KDE or Gnome as a DE to i3's WM, but the things you have to do to get it to work are very brittle and it feels very hacky, makes it not worth it. Haven't had enough money for a Mac in the past decade, but this article makes a good case that I could at least tolerate it coming from i3!
  - curioussavage 5y ago
    You should check out the regolith project then. It’s pretty awesome, I just wish someone would start an equivalent project for sway.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
whatever1 5y ago
as someone who moves between windows and mac, first thing I do is to remap the cmd key on the ctrl key. That means that many of the common shortcuts such as copy paste are on the same physicals buttons regardless of the OS. Huge quality of life improvement.
- brimble 5y ago
  I find the Mac version creates less strain. It does harm muscle memory, though, if you have to switch between the two often. On my Mac layout I basically never touch lower-left ctrl, just cmd (which is faster and requires less movement and stretching to strike than ctrl does) and CAPS LOCK, which I've mapped to ctrl. Pressing bottom-left-ctrl makes me rotate my wrist and stretch my pinkie down—I don't have RSI in my left wrist, but I can feel the tension that motion creates. Cmd, I just shift my thumb over an inch or so, no wrist rotation, everything stays more relaxed. CAPS LOCK, pinkie just moves a few mm left, other fingers can stay where they are unless needed for something else.
  - whatever1 5y ago
    The ctrl caps switch sounds like a great idea! I will try it!
    - brimble 5y ago
      System preferences -> keyboard -> button labeled "Modifier keys..."
reisr3 5y ago
Thanks for this! I learned a few new ones. The main feature I want from a window manager is the ability to save my OSX workspace (applications open and tiled per Desktop, per monitor) and reset it to that state instantly. I haven't found anything that does this yet. Does Karabiner, yabai, or any of the tools mentioned here do this? I'll spend significant time setting up my window environment just how I want it (grouping chats on Desktop 1, localhost browsers on Desktop 2, terminals on Desktop 3, etc.) Then after unplugging my Macbook, my workspace gets all messed up and I have to re-organize everything! I'm surprised this isn't a more commonly discussed issue.
- tksb 5y ago
  I'm sure this is possible with yabai, but I still haven't yet migrated from slate [1]. I have multiple custom layouts similar to what you've mentioned and can trigger them with hotkeys or when specific display combinations are detected. [1]: https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate
- trevorlynnsmith 5y ago
  I've been using Stay[0] for the past year and it works well. It can save and restore window and application configurations for different monitor layouts, and automatically repositions everything when you attach or detach displays. [0] https://cordlessdog.com/stay/ https://cordlessdog.com/stay/
- blubbity 5y ago
  I get this functionality on MacOS with https://www.hammerspoon.org/ https://www.hammerspoon.org/ Every morning I hit Command+Option+W (W for work), which opens Slack, Teams, Email, Dashboards, VPN, and terminals with ssh connections, plus all windows open where I want them automatically. Then when I’m done for the day I hit Command+Option+Shift+W and all my work stuff magically disappears. It’s straightforward to set up with good documentation, but you must architect your own system for automating tasks like this. Hammerspoon can be pretty powerful for MacOS quality of life automation.
- rxhanson 5y ago
  In Rectangle Pro [1], mentioned in the article, there is a feature built specifically for saving and loading layouts, in the “Applications” tab. The app is not free and I’m the developer. 1: https://rectangleapp.com/pro https://rectangleapp.com/pro
tambourine_man 5y ago
What's $KEY?
- donbrae 5y ago
  Author here. Programmer notation: I just mean it more or less as ‘whichever key’.
  - tambourine_man 5y ago
    I understood reading comments. I turned off that iOSesque thing back in Lion or whenever it was imported. Key repeating is important, I set it to the slowest delay possible. Hate that thing.
monroewalker 5y ago
If you're using Karabiner, I HIGHLY recommend putting the time in to learn how to use Goku[1]. I initially found it when trying to find an easier way to express the extremely verbose Karabiner config json but was turned off by the unfamiliar clojure-like EDN data format and the somewhat lacking documentation. A couple years later I had the right combination of free time and frustration from managing my Karabiner config that I actually took the time to setup Goku. I've found it not only drastically simplified the setup I already had, but made it so much easier to extend it and really take advantage of Karabiner. It mostly provides more convenient syntax for what you do in Karabiner, but it also provides new abstractions that it converts into the appropriate rules. "simlayers" for example are keyboard layers entered by pressing the trigger key and quickly pressing a layer key within a short timeout window. I've used this to set shortcuts like w+e to open IntelliJ, w+r to open chrome, s+d to open Alfred's clipboard history, etc.. Caveat being that there's a slight delay on your simlayer trigger keys entering their actual character since the layer timeout must be hit before the default keydown behavior of inserting a character is used. Also it's common to occasionally press a second key before releasing a first key while just typing naturally, so best to avoid using keys that you often roll into others while typing as trigger keys.. [1] https://github.com/yqrashawn/GokuRakuJoudo https://github.com/yqrashawn/GokuRakuJoudo
jmmv 5y ago
The macOS shortcuts seem like an easy thing to dismiss... but once you have bought into them, they are kind of thing that turn into a deal-breaker when trying to move away from macOS. The dedicated Cmd key for most operations (which doesn't conflict with, say Ctrl+C in the terminal) is super-convenient. The consistency across apps is... something that you can't appreciate until you experience it. And the pervasive Emacs-like text navigation shortcuts throughout the system are productivity boosters. I like how someone else described the "right side of the keyboard" as "keyboard Siberia" -- I have not touched it for years and have not missed any of those special keys in minimalistic keyboards that don't have them. Until I tried to actually move off of macOS last year. The different shortcuts on Windows were and still are super-painful. For months, I fought those and tried to use macOS-like shortcuts on Windows. You can see my AHK configuration here if you are interested in adopting something similar: https://jmmv.dev/2021/07/macos-ahk.html https://jmmv.dev/2021/07/macos-ahk.html Recently, though, and because that setup is problematic at times and because I decided to remove macOS altogether from my machine... I'm trying to retrain my hands and adapt to the non-macOS shortcuts. It's painful and I miss the macOS consistency a lot. On the plus side, however, after a few weeks of this on Windows, I booted into a FreeBSD desktop and could navigate the system pretty well :) Some more details here: https://jmmv.dev/2022/03/a-year-on-windows-shortcuts.html https://jmmv.dev/2022/03/a-year-on-windows-shortcuts.html
- lloeki 5y ago
  Being able to map any menu item for any app in the Keyboard pref pane, Shortcuts tab by typing the exact label (case sensitive) is crazy. You don't even have to have a third party app to snap left||right or maximise via the keyboard, as these are available (behind Option either in the menu or when hovering over the traffic lights, but once you bind them they're always there, example is my bindings): Ctrl+Option+Return: Zoom Ctrl+Option+Left: Move Window to Left of Screen Ctrl+Option+Right: Move Window to Right of Screen And for multihead users there's "Move to <display name>". Again in Keyboard pref pane, Shortcuts tab, under Mission Control there's also Switch to Desktop 1-N keyboard shortcuts but you first have to create as many virtual desktops (a.k.a Spaces) as you want to have all the shortcuts show up. Make sure to disable "Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use" under Mission Control pref pane to keep them predictable. Since the total count is spread across display heads, I create 5 on my left screen and 5 on my right one. I also disable "When switching to an application, switch to a Space with windows open for that application", otherwise clicking on a Dock icon jumps me to another Space when I just want to have the app activated. As a i3 user on Linux (which of course is in another league) this brings macOS kind of close enough in behaviour to not be too jarring for me when I jump from one to the other. Another one of my favourites is Paste and Match Style, which is absolute genius.
athenot 5y ago
I use a full size mac keyboard so I mapped the right-most function key (F19) to Mute/Unmute in Zoom. Global shortcut, regardless of what app is in the foreground and super convenient to locate by touch. Recently, I added the key right next to it (F18) to toggle video.
gnicholas 5y ago
He mentions Copy 'Em [1] as a clipboard manager. Does anyone else use this? I've used Clipmenu for years, but it doesn't appear to have been updated in many years and is now a bit buggy. Has anyone else used CE, or other clipboard managers? 1: https://apprywhere.com/ce-mac.html https://apprywhere.com/ce-mac.html
- kstrauser 5y ago
  I wrote about Mac clipboard managers[1] a while ago. My answer then: Copied. Since it seems to be dead, my answer now: bite the bullet and pay for Paste. [1] https://honeypot.net/post/favorite-apps-copied/ https://honeypot.net/post/favorite-apps-copied/
  - gnicholas 5y ago
    Appreciate this! What makes Paste better than Copy 'Em (which is $15 one-time, instead of $10/yr)?
    - kstrauser 5y ago
      You bet! I don't remember why it wasn't on my radar at the time. Maybe I just didn't find it in my searches? I might have seen it, didn't perceive much active development (eg to support newer OSes), and moved on to the next option, but I don't specifically remember that. Regardless, I'd review it if I were writing that post today. Note, though, that the mobile app is $9/yr. Cross-device sync was one of my personal requirements, so Copy 'Em would only be $1/yr cheaper than Paste.
- kall 5y ago
  I think the best macOS clipboard manager is the one that is built into Alfred. The one in Raycast is very similar and also good. I would recommend installing Alfred just for that. You don't even have to use the main Alfred window. It's very lightweight, so not a problem. The same goes for the Music controller, actually. I also loved Copied because of it's sync and great iOS version but it's unsupported so wouldn't really recommend it.
jen729w 5y ago
Paletro works wonders in this space. It’s like Alfred, but inside your application. (So I use my Alfred shortcut, with a Shift modifier.) What’s great is the discoverability this affords. And because it shows the native shortcut right there, you can learn that if you want. Or if it’s something you don’t use so often, don’t bother. https://appmakes.io/paletro https://appmakes.io/paletro Tip: there’s an option to manually force it on for all apps, vs. ‘auto’ mode. Something like that, I’m not on my Mac now. Turn that on.
- SebastianKra 5y ago
  Raycast has this built in. It's quickly turning into _the_ essential utility on Mac. Hopefully their business model will be acceptable.
- SxC97 5y ago
  I believe Alfred can also replicate this feature with the Menu Bar Search plugin.
greggman3 5y ago
How do you get Home/End to work well and consistently on MacOS? I'm talking about these keys on this Apple Keyboard https://i.imgur.com/LWO3VOG.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LWO3VOG.jpg I'd like them be be beginning-of-line/end-of-line like they are on Linux and Windows but instead they seem to vary by app
- terhechte 5y ago
  Not the solution you're looking for, but the consistent shortcut for end of line and beginning of line that works across macOS in every input field or text area or editor is the same as in Emacs and conveniently doesn't require you to lift your hand from where is: - Control-A: Beginning of line - Control-E: End of line In addition, there's also Control-N, Next line, Control-P, Previous line. Control F, Next Character and Control B previous Character
- nuccy 5y ago
  Home/End issue is the most frustrating thing ever in MacOS for me (along with cmd+tab unreachable windows if they are minimized already). The solution I recently started to use is this [1]. Seems ok so far (except iTerm ssh to a FreeBSD server, though I'm not sure maybe it is iTerm's "feature") 1. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251108215 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251108215
alin23 5y ago
Those launch/focus app hotkeys in Karabiner are exactly why I made rcmd (https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd) I had a similar setup first in Karabiner, then in BetterTouchTool for easier configurability. But I needed the system to be smarter about this and allow me to assign keys on a whim, not have to change a config file. rcmd automatically detects your most used apps from those already running and assigns keys to them. It uses the Right Command key as the trigger, but it’s completely configurable to any other trigger like the mentioned Control+Shift in the post. It also allows you to hide/show the app fast (I do that a lot with the kitty terminal) or cycle between apps with the same first letter.
chillage 5y ago
I find native window switching extremely painful and cumbersome on Mac. Very highly recommend Alt Tab for fixing these issues https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app I basically can't use a Mac in any reasonable capacity without this now
iRonJ_AI 5y ago
Command control shift 4 to take a screenshot and instantly place it into what we doc im working on. Works on gitlab too Press spacebar to capture the window
__mharrison__ 5y ago
I had a bunch of Karabiner shortcuts setup when I primarily drove a Mac. Since start of Covid I started on Windows fulltime when I upgraded my devices. At first the lack of emacs-like controls left me a little sad. (Have used emacs since 1998). I soon discovered AutoHotkey and the Emacs configuration by John Cooper. It is pretty awesome. I have more consistency than I had on Mac. I also have emacs(like) bindings on Excel, Davinci Resolve, Chrome, and more. Lest you think I'm weird for liking emacs, I also use an ErgoDox keyboard, so I probably am.
Tagbert 5y ago
FYI - This is Apple’s main list of keyboard shortcuts https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236
vonseel 5y ago
Hold $KEY in text fields to get pop-up menu of given character with diacritic markings No matter how long I've been using MacOS, it seems there's always something new to learn that will surprise me. Something like 13 years exclusively using Macs for my desktop OS and I've just learned this. Granted I don't speak or write any foreign languages so I wouldn't have much use for diacritics, but it's still cool. Shortcuts I constantly use: - Command-Backtick - Command-Tab (seems obvious, but some people don't work this way...) - Command-Tab to hidden app icon then press Option before releasing Command to restore a hidden apps windows - https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/55440 https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/55440 - Command+Shift+4 to take screenshots using the built in functionality, or the other similar shortcuts for screenshot-ing a screen, portion of a screen, or a window to the clipboard. - Shortcuts for sending window to left half / right half of the screen, or switching screens, using Rectangle. - Command-Opt-\ + TouchID for 1Password deserves a mention for sure.

213 points by donbrae 5y ago

How is this front page material? Maybe I need to write a post about my qmk x karabiner x keyboard maestro set up because I’m kind of surprised. - No tap and hold keys - No hyper escape - No latch keys This all seems pedestrian from a keyboard shortcut guru perspective.

smeyer 5y ago
What is hyper escape? My attempts to duck and google it just gave me stuff about a game "hyper scape".
- recuter 5y ago
  It is when you remap caps lock to escape (good) for a key tap and add some other functionality for a long press. Meh.
petey283 5y ago
Please do! I would love a post on that topic
VTimofeenko 5y ago
Please do write such a post. I am in the middle of revamping my keyboard setup(want to unify qmk, xremap, sway and the Mac) and I am looking for ideas.
dylan604 5y ago
See, you're up on that pedastal looking down at all of us plebes that are becoming interested in what others do to make their day-to-day task more effecient. Maybe some of us weren't exactly thinking about that specific task until someone wrote about it, another found it and shared it, now here we are discussing. That's why it's on the front page because enough other people thought it was interesting enough to promote. But I think you're smart enough to realize that, and are just grandstanding as a humble-brag "I already know this" kind of thing. The real question is who are you to think that something not intresting to you shouldn't be interesting to others.
- doogerdog 5y ago
  I did not see his comment as looking down on anyone. I too am surprised that so many people here do not manage their windows with Keyboard Maestro. Anyone with a desktop Mac and some kind of programming skill needs Keyboard Maestro. It not only slings windows around but automates many chores. It also lets you get around most user interface annoyances that turn up in every program. My advice is to get it and learn it well if you spend much time on a Mac. I have an ancient Genovation CP48 ControlPad attached to my keyboard. It has 48 function keys and every one is assigned. Most of the keys do double or triple duty. I positively hate it when I have to use anyone else's Mac for any prolonged period.
b3morales 5y ago
For every person like you who has mastered the topic there are thousands who have no idea it even exists. https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/ You should indeed feel free to share your knowledge; likely someone will find it useful.
SxC97 5y ago
What does a latch key mean in this context?

beyti 5y ago

What I would definitely suggest on top of this list is: https://www.hammerspoon.org/ https://www.hammerspoon.org/ for extensive keyboard + functionality customization.

Kungfuturtle 5y ago
I would also suggest https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd for hotkeys; it also pairs well with an associated project for window tiling and management: https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai

AndrewOMartin 5y ago

> Hold $KEY in text fields to get pop-up menu of given character with diacritic markings Well this explains the odd behaviour of vim keybindings on VSCode on a Mac. I hold `l` to move right and instead I just see a strange pipe-ish character pop up.

brandonhorst 5y ago
This is an easy fix: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39972335/how-do-i-press-and-hold-a-key-and-have-it-repeat-in-vscode https://stackoverflow.com/questions/39972335/how-do-i-press-...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

sxg 5y ago

Creating a Hyper Key (i.e., remapping capslock to become an additional modifier key) is a game changer! I use Capslock [1] with Karabiner Elements on macOS. [1] https://github.com/Vonng/Capslock https://github.com/Vonng/Capslock

reaperducer 5y ago
If you're not into installing third-party tools, you can create your own hyper key by using a combination of the Shift, Control, Option, and Command keys† (Shift, Control, Meta, Super). Because macOS uses Control+Option to activate the on-screen magnifying glass, I use Shift+Option+Command, which works well for my hand size. I haven't found any macOS or third-party programs that use Shift+Option+Command for shortcuts yet, so there haven't been any conflicts. Once you get your personal shortcuts set up in Apple → System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts, it's really a major productivity boost. †I think you can use Function now, too, since Preview uses it, but haven't tried it yet.
rrdharan 5y ago
I use Karabiner Elements to make CapsLock either Escape (when tapped) or Control (when held / pressed with another key) - works great with a Kinesis Advantage: https://pastebin.com/6gQFV9EY https://pastebin.com/6gQFV9EY
chris37879 5y ago
I get this horrible bug with Karabiner where it just slams one of my CPU cores... I was actually planning to replace it because of that. My current issue is that I can't have my macbook's keyboard use the system control keys while my external uses F keys. Like if I don't have the 'use f keys' option on in prefs, my external F1 and F2 become brightness keys...
- dylan604 5y ago
  That makes some logical sense to me though. If your keyboard layout is set up for a Apple keyboard where the function keys are actually OS specific keys, then it shouldn't matter if your keyboard has a F[1-9]+ printed on them or Apple symbols. The key will just do what it's mapped to do. It's like expecting a DVORAK keyboard to work when the computer is still in QWERTY mode. There's just more matching overlap between keyboards with function keys vs Apple symbols.

plufz 5y ago

The custom shortcuts I have in Karabiner that I couldn't be without: capslock + [key] = ctrl + [key] capslock alone = esc capslock + space = enter capslock + wasd = arrow keys

jelsisi 5y ago

Vimium [1] is great in browser. [1] https://vimium.github.io/ https://vimium.github.io/

sxg 5y ago
And Vimari for Safari: https://github.com/televator-apps/vimari https://github.com/televator-apps/vimari
mkmk 5y ago
If you're just looking for faster link navigation, check out the appropriate-named Link Hints [0], which is very lightweight and makes me feel like a superhero all day long. [0] https://lydell.github.io/LinkHints/ https://lydell.github.io/LinkHints/
SxC97 5y ago
Personally I’ve tried a bunch of these vim-browser extensions and I think SurfingKeys has the best feature set thus far.

malkosta 5y ago

mod + 1: toggle Firefox mod + 2: toggle Terminal That’s the most useful I have.

Bigpet 5y ago

I've tried Karabiner Elements for quite some time. Because I came from Windows and wanted to swap some keys around (command/control and some shortcuts). It seems to me that it made input lag sometimes worse and also just ate input more often that when I uninstalled it. I mean this piece of shit i9 2019 MBP does that sometimes anyway when under high load, but happens more often with Karabiner installed.

limeblack 5y ago
I have control and command swapped in system preferences and the only other key combo I use is the CMD+Tab and Ctrl+Tab[1]. I have no issues this way. I will say system preferences is where I put all other key combos linked to AppleScripts. [1]: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/334266/swap-or-remap-cmdtab-to-ctrltab/334280#334280 https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/334266/swap-or-rem...
ink_13 5y ago
I have been using Karabiner Elements for nearly a decade and have never noticed this. To me, it's indispensable (I remap Caps Lock to both CTRL and ESC depending on whether I hold or tap) and it's the very first thing I install when I get a new Mac. There were some hiccups around the time of 10.12, but the developer resolved all the ones that I saw.

mkdirp 5y ago

> Command-Backtick: cycle current application’s windows For the Brits among us, or perhaps anyone with a non-US keyboard layout, I recall when I still had my Mac, this wasn't mapped properly. It was the button on the right of the left shift. This was quite strenuous when I had to switch within the same application. I can't remember if I just re-mapped the shortcut or what it was, but I suggest you look into having that mapped to the button right above Tab (below ESC). It makes it a lot easier.

bazzargh 5y ago
I find the split between Cmd-backtick (cycle windows of an application) and Cmd-tab (cycle front window of all applications...which isn't all windows) super annoying, there is an app for that: https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ Alt-tab, it makes alt-tab cycle all open windows and shows you previews. So much better.
- dieulot 5y ago
  Speaking of that annoying split, I have a base 2020 Intel MacBook Air and command-tab takes 200 ms to display, making it utterly unpleasant. Mind-blowing for a €1200 computer. Are all Intel MacBook Airs affected by this? Only those with baseline processors?
  - stnmtn 5y ago
    Seems to me the intention is that if you quickly press command-tab to switch back to your previous window, you don't get the window popping up in front of that window you've brought to the front. This is nice, as most of the time I'm command tabbing between two windows, so I quickly press it and no window pops up on my screen. If I need to press command-tab more than once, it appears and I'm able to select the window I'd like. Seems like decent UX to me
    - dieulot 5y ago
      I don’t think that’s it, no one told me about that when I complained about that delay on the Mac Power Users forums, and I can’t find anything about it (such as removing that delay) online right now. Which Mac(s) are you experiencing that on, and since which OS version?

mFixman 5y ago

As someone who grew up with Windows XP, the first thing I do when I get a new Macbook is install Hyperswitch [1] which makes Cmd+Tab cycle through all windows of all applications of the current desktop. The regular OSX workflow seems to be only good for a workflow that includes a single maximised Chrome window with a million tabs open. [1] https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch

chris37879 5y ago
I completely agree on keyboard nav, but when I'm using my laptop, even at my desk, I position it so I can reach and do gestures on the trackpad, sometimes it's just easier for me, and I find myself missing them on my desktop machine that doesn't have a trackpad.
ascagnel_ 5y ago
I also grew up on WinXP, but I prefer how macOS separates application & window switching. I'd like to see per-tab support added in the mix somehow, but that could be tricky. Safari supports a gesture (pinch inwards) and a keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-\) to get a zoomed-out view of all tabs in a window, but a window with a bunch of tabs is hard to scan like that.
kitsunesoba 5y ago
It’s been quite the opposite for me. I find that the “windows” model of alt-tab quickly breaks down — the number of windows the switcher can comfortably handle is reached and exceeded quite quickly, which then drives me to try to do everything in a couple of maximized windows. The logical separation of applications and windows sidesteps this problem nicely.
kergonath 5y ago
MacOS is application-oriented, and it is great. I can't stand the precise behaviour you like when I am forced to use a Windows computer at work. My windows currently open: ~50 iTerm2 (with loads of tabs and tmux sessions), 5 TextMate (quite a lot of tabs as well), 6 Safari (ditto), 1 Messages, 1 Mail, 1 Music. Cycling through the 50-odd windows to swap to mail would be insane. The use case you mention is precisely where application orientation is useless, I am not sure why you bring that up.

smeej 5y ago

If you're not signed into an iCloud account, do these get randomly reset half a dozen a day like the text shortcuts do? I have to use a MacBook for work, but am forbidden from creating or logging into an iCloud account on it, and this is absolutely infuriating. I found a way to copy all the shortcuts into a file so at least I don't have to retype them every time, but at least six times a day, I have to delete the stupid "omw: on my way!" shortcut and drag my own file back into the window. Several hours searching for a solution hasn't solved it. This appears to be intentional on Apple's part to force iCloud sign-in.

donbrae 5y ago
That is infuriating. On my work Mac I’m only signed into the App Store (not iCloud) and have not had this problem. Maybe it’s the corporate malware your company installs that’s doing it?
mproud 5y ago
No, I think you’re going down the wrong rabbit hole. Text shortcuts are not tied to iCloud.

evaneykelen 5y ago

My favorite shortcut is to restore minimized windows by pressing Command-Tab to display the application switcher, selecting the minimized app's icon, holding down Option (⌥), and then letting go of the Command key. The minimized window will be restored to its previous position and dimensions.

sisk 5y ago
In case you have multiple minimized windows, another seemingly little known trick is pressing 1 while in the application switcher which will show all of the windows for the highlighted application.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- hirvi74 5y ago
  Ctrl + Up arrow has a similar functionality where the user can use the arrow keys to select one of the multiple windows.
- chillage 5y ago
  It is far easier imo to just use a dedicated window switcher which shows all open windows right away https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/
chrisfinazzo 5y ago
When the "Minimize into the Application icon" feature appeared back in Snow Leopard, I was very much into this kind of thing. Yet over the years since, I've moved to mostly using Cmd-H to hide. I tried the method you described and it seems to only bring back the frontmost window DragThing/Front and Center style.[1] Odd. [1]: https://hypercritical.co/front-and-center/ https://hypercritical.co/front-and-center/
- Cockbrand 5y ago
  Cmd-H seems very underused to me, even by Mac power users. The reason might be that many recent Mac users are converts from Windows or Linux, where the concept of hiding an app doesn't exist. I love and extensively use this feature since I started using Macs about 25+ years ago. It's so much more convenient than minimizing an app's window(s) into the dock, and it's so nicely complemented by the app switcher.

frankus 5y ago

I end up using the built-in emacs key bindings a lot (they also work in many shells). Ctrl-k (cut to the end of the current line and save it in a special secret extra clipboard) and ctrl-y to paste Ctrl-e to go to the end of a line, ctrl-a to go to the beginning. Ctrl-d to forward-delete, ctrl-t to transpose characters (this rarely saves time but I do it anyway). You can also use ctrl with b, f, p, and n to go back or forwards one character or to the previous or next line, but I just use the arrow keys.

ubercow13 5y ago
They don't work everywhere though, making them basically useless. For example ctrl+a and ctrl+e don't work in the Safari address bar or the text box I'm typing this comment in, or TextEdit, and many other native text widgets.
- reayn 5y ago
  First and foremost, they should work everywhere, especially the places you describe, almost every native widget (even in third party native apps) should support the readline bindings. If, however, you desire more control, you can use Karabiner-Elements [0] and one of the many [1] community made emacs-like configurations to have this behaviour system wide, these also add many many more keybinds (such as C-w to delete last word) to further emacsify your workflow! 1. karabiner-elements.pqrs.org 2. https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=emacs https://ke-complex-modifications.pqrs.org/?q=emacs
- saagarjha 5y ago
  They work for me? Do you have an app that might be eating those shortcuts?
  - jjoonathan 5y ago
    They work for me too on latest Safari, FF, and Chrome, and pretty much everywhere else. I'd actually flip the critique upside down: ctrl+aedfb are so useful precisely because they are deeply embedded in the lower layers of the OSX text system and therefore work almost everywhere.

anotherhue 5y ago

If you think this is good interface design I suggest you watch someone use a real system. Something like an old bloomberg terminal or those DOS stock keeping systems still kicking around some travel agents / department stores. I'll take ugly and smart over the reverse any day.

kossTKR 5y ago
Interesting. Is there a video of how such an oldschool department store system works? I remember clerks looking proficient clicking away behind the desk in the 90's compared to the extremely slow use of touchscreens these days.
- anotherhue 5y ago
  Here's one https://youtu.be/ql4qL1L-R6E?t=358 https://youtu.be/ql4qL1L-R6E?t=358
- ptaffs 5y ago
  Here's a training video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJBk8TKV9Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJBk8TKV9Q) for creating CICS Screens, which are the type of thing I think the poster was referencing. My first job was writing CICS CoBOL. There was a steep learning curve, like vim, but the users would remember the transaction/workflow codes, usually 4 character abbreviations, which would be keyed somewhere on the screen, the map/form would open and they user would tab and cursor until they press some form of submit, then then next screen in the workflow would open. The users would learn which codes took them to the screen they needed and became very fast. These were all text screens, normally 3270, with no mouse. And most often had excellent mechanical keyboards.

flurie 5y ago

I like that the author points out a number of great default shortcuts in macOS, but I find it hard to beat the combination of yabai[1] and skhd[2] for the best keyboard-driven workflow. In the absence of these, I would be more inclined to try either Hammerspoon or Karabiner-Elements. I also find Phoenix[3] intriguing, but it's probably too much work to get it to where I'd want it for daily use. [1] https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai [2] https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd https://github.com/koekeishiya/skhd [3] https://github.com/kasper/phoenix https://github.com/kasper/phoenix

gundamdoubleO 5y ago
I found yabai to be a little buggy when I moved over to an M1 Mac from an Intel one. Haven't tried it for a few months now so maybe it's time to hop back in. It's an amazing piece of software if you're used to some of the TWMs available on Linux, it made the transition into MacOS much more manageable.
- flurie 5y ago
  There was a recent major release that added in M1 (and Monterey) support. A few of us have been using it since the beta a few months back. It works at least as well as it did previously, and it feels much snappier now.
galoisscobi 5y ago
Curious to hear if you use Yabai with system integrity protection enabled and if so, what features do you lose?
- flurie 5y ago
  I now run it with SIP enabled on my work machine, not by choice, and I didn't find it made a huge difference. I think the only major thing I lost is easy app movement across spaces, but that is mitigated somewhat by having pre-defined spaces for things I use a lot, such as browser, editor, mail, calendar.
- 5y ago

mproud 5y ago

I use `option-left arrow` and `option-right arrow` all the time to travel to the next word, and `command-left arrow` and `command-right arrow` goes to the beginning and end of a line. Combine any of these with the shift key and you can select everything in between.

JKCalhoun 5y ago
I do this as well ... except in the apps that break this. (Aarg!)
- hbn 5y ago
  It always bugged me that this didn't work in the terminal, and it's why I was so jazzed when I found out about Warp[1] (not affiliated). Aside from the other handy enhanced terminal features you'd expect from a replacement to the mac bundled one, the biggest win for me is it treats text input like a normal text input field, so all the normal shortcuts work. [1] https://www.warp.dev https://www.warp.dev
  - SxC97 5y ago
    I think iTerm has a similar feature where you can configure the keyboard shortcuts to use normal system style text selection shortcuts.
e28eta 5y ago
control-left / control-right should get you the same behavior _inside_ of words in applications like Xcode, which often deal with CamelCaseCompoundSymbols.
antipaul 5y ago
If arrow keys are too far, alternatives can be: - ctrl option b, ctrl option f - ctrl a, e, k Some GUIs and editors respect this, but it varies (Jupiter lab, emacs, GitHub.com text fields, etc)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

dukeofdoom 5y ago

cmd+option+v - this will move a file if you cmd+c first

harsilspatel 5y ago

I can't use any keyboard without my favorite mappings: 1. caps lock --> escape / ctrl 2. right command + h/j/k/l --> arrow keys 3. left/right shift --> left/right parenthesis Source: https://github.com/harsilspatel/dotfiles https://github.com/harsilspatel/dotfiles

jjoonathan 5y ago
I've almost entirely purged non-defaults from my workflow, but I still go for CapsLock->Ctrl. On mac, it's a menu in preferences. On windows, I have to download a program. On linux, there are 30 different programs and config files to do it and the linux community seems to be perpetually at war with them, with 25 of them silently or loudly broken at any given moment. The only one that works reliably, setxkbmap, is temporary. Still worth it!
- brimble 5y ago
  > On linux, there are 30 different programs and config files to do it and the linux community seems to be perpetually at war with them, with 25 of them silently or loudly broken at any given moment. The only one that works reliably, setxkbmap, is temporary. I got used to this on Mac and was kinda shocked how difficult it was to make it work everywhere on Linux, when I last tried it about 18 months ago. I spent (well, wasted) a lot of time digging through suggestions for how to do it, half of which didn't work and the rest of which only worked some places. On a new Mac it takes maybe 20 seconds to configure, simply using the GUI, and that's it.
susodapop 5y ago
Maybe I'm missing something: how do you make uppercase letters?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- redytedy 5y ago
  This is part of the "space cadet" layout which I also use. The shift keys only function as parentheses when you tap the key (i.e. press and release without tapping another key in the meantime). It means that the character is typed when you physically lift the key instead of pressing it but worth it.

ISL 5y ago

Is there a macOS equivalent to Alt+Click/drag in X? That's something I still miss from linux/unix systems.

justbrowsingthx 5y ago
This command should enable the same behavior with ctrl+cmd+click/drag: defaults write -g NSWindowShouldDragOnGesture -bool yes
- ISL 5y ago
  Thank you!!!!
reaperducer 5y ago
Is there a macOS equivalent to Alt+Click/drag in X? You might get more responses if you tell people what behavior you expect from Alt+Click/drag. If you're trying to copy something (often a file, but many other things), you can Option+Click+drag. If you want to click on something, then drag it after releasing the click, that's available in the Accessibility settings.
- ISL 5y ago
  Looks like my question was answered in a sibling thread. The behavior of Alt+Click/drag is to allow you to click on any part of a window and move the window. It is extremely useful not just from time-savings (no need to click on the top bar to reposition a window), but also to be able to grab windows that are positioned off-screen or beneath another window and move it with a single operation.

user3939382 5y ago

One of my biggest pain points with macOS, which I still haven't adjusted to after over 15 years, is the inconsistent behavior of Home and End. This "just worked" in Windows, with the same behavior in every application. On macOS it's per application which makes it so unpredictable I hesitate to even try/use it.

k3liutZu 5y ago
Alternatives would be: - Cmd+⬅ or Cmd+ (edit supposed to be a right arrow character here, but it seems HN comment strips it) - Or the linux shortcuts Ctrl+A and Ctrl+E
- lalopalota 5y ago
  What was nice about Windows was Ctrl+Home/End to go to the beginning/end of the file. On Mac, different apps use different key combos for this. Sometimes Cmd+Up/Down works, other programs that is PageUp/Down. (or maybe it is just pycharm that is goofy, it trips me up a lot).
- yen223 5y ago
  Hang on, how is the left arrow emoji showing up? I thought HN strips out all emojis...
jjoonathan 5y ago
Ha, my biggest minor gripe with windows is having to use Home/End rather than ctrl+a and ctrl+e. Not only are ctrl+ae universal on MacOS, they are right beneath your fingers, unlike Home/End, which are banished off to keyboard Siberia for some reason.
benniomars 5y ago
dylan604 5y ago
I wish my macOS running device had Home/End buttons. I've tried on multiple occassions to remap keys to use as those are favorites in NLE workflows. My brain just has a harder time remapping the keys than the OS.

12ian34 5y ago

I used Mac and Windows alternately since 1997 until 2017 when I moved to Arch Linux with the i3wm Tiling Window Manager [0]. i3wm is easily one of the key things keeping me using Linux as my daily driver (personal + work). It's so simple yet deeply configurable. Sure, it takes a bit of time to tweak and get used to but IMO it has paid off massively. It has made using a computer just so much more of a joy. Whenever I use Mac and Windows I really miss i3wm. I spend barely any time moving Windows around - everything Just Works (with the caveat of some tweaking - but my config file is only about 100 lines of i3 declarations) and I've barely had to change it in 5 years. I do go around shilling i3wm here and there on hn, purely just because it has provided me actual joy and I want others to know about it! I know the Apple crowd are fans of everything Just Working, and i3 comes with sensible defaults to enable that. [0]: https://i3wm.org/ https://i3wm.org/

benniomars 5y ago
beepbooptheory 5y ago
It is extremely hard to go back to anything else after i3wm, even when I do wish I could have some more things taken care of for me in a full fledged DE -- mostly stuff like touchpad configuration, polkit, theming. Longing for a central settings manager like KDE/Gnome, but still not worth it to give up the i3 world. And yes, I know you can use KDE or Gnome as a DE to i3's WM, but the things you have to do to get it to work are very brittle and it feels very hacky, makes it not worth it. Haven't had enough money for a Mac in the past decade, but this article makes a good case that I could at least tolerate it coming from i3!
- curioussavage 5y ago
  You should check out the regolith project then. It’s pretty awesome, I just wish someone would start an equivalent project for sway.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

whatever1 5y ago

as someone who moves between windows and mac, first thing I do is to remap the cmd key on the ctrl key. That means that many of the common shortcuts such as copy paste are on the same physicals buttons regardless of the OS. Huge quality of life improvement.

brimble 5y ago
I find the Mac version creates less strain. It does harm muscle memory, though, if you have to switch between the two often. On my Mac layout I basically never touch lower-left ctrl, just cmd (which is faster and requires less movement and stretching to strike than ctrl does) and CAPS LOCK, which I've mapped to ctrl. Pressing bottom-left-ctrl makes me rotate my wrist and stretch my pinkie down—I don't have RSI in my left wrist, but I can feel the tension that motion creates. Cmd, I just shift my thumb over an inch or so, no wrist rotation, everything stays more relaxed. CAPS LOCK, pinkie just moves a few mm left, other fingers can stay where they are unless needed for something else.
- whatever1 5y ago
  The ctrl caps switch sounds like a great idea! I will try it!
  - brimble 5y ago
    System preferences -> keyboard -> button labeled "Modifier keys..."

reisr3 5y ago

Thanks for this! I learned a few new ones. The main feature I want from a window manager is the ability to save my OSX workspace (applications open and tiled per Desktop, per monitor) and reset it to that state instantly. I haven't found anything that does this yet. Does Karabiner, yabai, or any of the tools mentioned here do this? I'll spend significant time setting up my window environment just how I want it (grouping chats on Desktop 1, localhost browsers on Desktop 2, terminals on Desktop 3, etc.) Then after unplugging my Macbook, my workspace gets all messed up and I have to re-organize everything! I'm surprised this isn't a more commonly discussed issue.

tksb 5y ago
I'm sure this is possible with yabai, but I still haven't yet migrated from slate [1]. I have multiple custom layouts similar to what you've mentioned and can trigger them with hotkeys or when specific display combinations are detected. [1]: https://github.com/jigish/slate https://github.com/jigish/slate
trevorlynnsmith 5y ago
I've been using Stay[0] for the past year and it works well. It can save and restore window and application configurations for different monitor layouts, and automatically repositions everything when you attach or detach displays. [0] https://cordlessdog.com/stay/ https://cordlessdog.com/stay/
blubbity 5y ago
I get this functionality on MacOS with https://www.hammerspoon.org/ https://www.hammerspoon.org/ Every morning I hit Command+Option+W (W for work), which opens Slack, Teams, Email, Dashboards, VPN, and terminals with ssh connections, plus all windows open where I want them automatically. Then when I’m done for the day I hit Command+Option+Shift+W and all my work stuff magically disappears. It’s straightforward to set up with good documentation, but you must architect your own system for automating tasks like this. Hammerspoon can be pretty powerful for MacOS quality of life automation.
rxhanson 5y ago
In Rectangle Pro [1], mentioned in the article, there is a feature built specifically for saving and loading layouts, in the “Applications” tab. The app is not free and I’m the developer. 1: https://rectangleapp.com/pro https://rectangleapp.com/pro

tambourine_man 5y ago

What's $KEY?

donbrae 5y ago
Author here. Programmer notation: I just mean it more or less as ‘whichever key’.
- tambourine_man 5y ago
  I understood reading comments. I turned off that iOSesque thing back in Lion or whenever it was imported. Key repeating is important, I set it to the slowest delay possible. Hate that thing.

monroewalker 5y ago

If you're using Karabiner, I HIGHLY recommend putting the time in to learn how to use Goku[1]. I initially found it when trying to find an easier way to express the extremely verbose Karabiner config json but was turned off by the unfamiliar clojure-like EDN data format and the somewhat lacking documentation. A couple years later I had the right combination of free time and frustration from managing my Karabiner config that I actually took the time to setup Goku. I've found it not only drastically simplified the setup I already had, but made it so much easier to extend it and really take advantage of Karabiner. It mostly provides more convenient syntax for what you do in Karabiner, but it also provides new abstractions that it converts into the appropriate rules. "simlayers" for example are keyboard layers entered by pressing the trigger key and quickly pressing a layer key within a short timeout window. I've used this to set shortcuts like w+e to open IntelliJ, w+r to open chrome, s+d to open Alfred's clipboard history, etc.. Caveat being that there's a slight delay on your simlayer trigger keys entering their actual character since the layer timeout must be hit before the default keydown behavior of inserting a character is used. Also it's common to occasionally press a second key before releasing a first key while just typing naturally, so best to avoid using keys that you often roll into others while typing as trigger keys.. [1] https://github.com/yqrashawn/GokuRakuJoudo https://github.com/yqrashawn/GokuRakuJoudo

jmmv 5y ago

The macOS shortcuts seem like an easy thing to dismiss... but once you have bought into them, they are kind of thing that turn into a deal-breaker when trying to move away from macOS. The dedicated Cmd key for most operations (which doesn't conflict with, say Ctrl+C in the terminal) is super-convenient. The consistency across apps is... something that you can't appreciate until you experience it. And the pervasive Emacs-like text navigation shortcuts throughout the system are productivity boosters. I like how someone else described the "right side of the keyboard" as "keyboard Siberia" -- I have not touched it for years and have not missed any of those special keys in minimalistic keyboards that don't have them. Until I tried to actually move off of macOS last year. The different shortcuts on Windows were and still are super-painful. For months, I fought those and tried to use macOS-like shortcuts on Windows. You can see my AHK configuration here if you are interested in adopting something similar: https://jmmv.dev/2021/07/macos-ahk.html https://jmmv.dev/2021/07/macos-ahk.html Recently, though, and because that setup is problematic at times and because I decided to remove macOS altogether from my machine... I'm trying to retrain my hands and adapt to the non-macOS shortcuts. It's painful and I miss the macOS consistency a lot. On the plus side, however, after a few weeks of this on Windows, I booted into a FreeBSD desktop and could navigate the system pretty well :) Some more details here: https://jmmv.dev/2022/03/a-year-on-windows-shortcuts.html https://jmmv.dev/2022/03/a-year-on-windows-shortcuts.html

lloeki 5y ago
Being able to map any menu item for any app in the Keyboard pref pane, Shortcuts tab by typing the exact label (case sensitive) is crazy. You don't even have to have a third party app to snap left||right or maximise via the keyboard, as these are available (behind Option either in the menu or when hovering over the traffic lights, but once you bind them they're always there, example is my bindings): Ctrl+Option+Return: Zoom Ctrl+Option+Left: Move Window to Left of Screen Ctrl+Option+Right: Move Window to Right of Screen And for multihead users there's "Move to <display name>". Again in Keyboard pref pane, Shortcuts tab, under Mission Control there's also Switch to Desktop 1-N keyboard shortcuts but you first have to create as many virtual desktops (a.k.a Spaces) as you want to have all the shortcuts show up. Make sure to disable "Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use" under Mission Control pref pane to keep them predictable. Since the total count is spread across display heads, I create 5 on my left screen and 5 on my right one. I also disable "When switching to an application, switch to a Space with windows open for that application", otherwise clicking on a Dock icon jumps me to another Space when I just want to have the app activated. As a i3 user on Linux (which of course is in another league) this brings macOS kind of close enough in behaviour to not be too jarring for me when I jump from one to the other. Another one of my favourites is Paste and Match Style, which is absolute genius.

athenot 5y ago

I use a full size mac keyboard so I mapped the right-most function key (F19) to Mute/Unmute in Zoom. Global shortcut, regardless of what app is in the foreground and super convenient to locate by touch. Recently, I added the key right next to it (F18) to toggle video.

gnicholas 5y ago

He mentions Copy 'Em [1] as a clipboard manager. Does anyone else use this? I've used Clipmenu for years, but it doesn't appear to have been updated in many years and is now a bit buggy. Has anyone else used CE, or other clipboard managers? 1: https://apprywhere.com/ce-mac.html https://apprywhere.com/ce-mac.html

kstrauser 5y ago
I wrote about Mac clipboard managers[1] a while ago. My answer then: Copied. Since it seems to be dead, my answer now: bite the bullet and pay for Paste. [1] https://honeypot.net/post/favorite-apps-copied/ https://honeypot.net/post/favorite-apps-copied/
- gnicholas 5y ago
  Appreciate this! What makes Paste better than Copy 'Em (which is $15 one-time, instead of $10/yr)?
  - kstrauser 5y ago
    You bet! I don't remember why it wasn't on my radar at the time. Maybe I just didn't find it in my searches? I might have seen it, didn't perceive much active development (eg to support newer OSes), and moved on to the next option, but I don't specifically remember that. Regardless, I'd review it if I were writing that post today. Note, though, that the mobile app is $9/yr. Cross-device sync was one of my personal requirements, so Copy 'Em would only be $1/yr cheaper than Paste.
kall 5y ago
I think the best macOS clipboard manager is the one that is built into Alfred. The one in Raycast is very similar and also good. I would recommend installing Alfred just for that. You don't even have to use the main Alfred window. It's very lightweight, so not a problem. The same goes for the Music controller, actually. I also loved Copied because of it's sync and great iOS version but it's unsupported so wouldn't really recommend it.

jen729w 5y ago

Paletro works wonders in this space. It’s like Alfred, but inside your application. (So I use my Alfred shortcut, with a Shift modifier.) What’s great is the discoverability this affords. And because it shows the native shortcut right there, you can learn that if you want. Or if it’s something you don’t use so often, don’t bother. https://appmakes.io/paletro https://appmakes.io/paletro Tip: there’s an option to manually force it on for all apps, vs. ‘auto’ mode. Something like that, I’m not on my Mac now. Turn that on.

SebastianKra 5y ago
Raycast has this built in. It's quickly turning into _the_ essential utility on Mac. Hopefully their business model will be acceptable.
SxC97 5y ago
I believe Alfred can also replicate this feature with the Menu Bar Search plugin.

greggman3 5y ago

How do you get Home/End to work well and consistently on MacOS? I'm talking about these keys on this Apple Keyboard https://i.imgur.com/LWO3VOG.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LWO3VOG.jpg I'd like them be be beginning-of-line/end-of-line like they are on Linux and Windows but instead they seem to vary by app

terhechte 5y ago
Not the solution you're looking for, but the consistent shortcut for end of line and beginning of line that works across macOS in every input field or text area or editor is the same as in Emacs and conveniently doesn't require you to lift your hand from where is: - Control-A: Beginning of line - Control-E: End of line In addition, there's also Control-N, Next line, Control-P, Previous line. Control F, Next Character and Control B previous Character
nuccy 5y ago
Home/End issue is the most frustrating thing ever in MacOS for me (along with cmd+tab unreachable windows if they are minimized already). The solution I recently started to use is this [1]. Seems ok so far (except iTerm ssh to a FreeBSD server, though I'm not sure maybe it is iTerm's "feature") 1. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251108215 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251108215

alin23 5y ago

Those launch/focus app hotkeys in Karabiner are exactly why I made rcmd (https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd) I had a similar setup first in Karabiner, then in BetterTouchTool for easier configurability. But I needed the system to be smarter about this and allow me to assign keys on a whim, not have to change a config file. rcmd automatically detects your most used apps from those already running and assigns keys to them. It uses the Right Command key as the trigger, but it’s completely configurable to any other trigger like the mentioned Control+Shift in the post. It also allows you to hide/show the app fast (I do that a lot with the kitty terminal) or cycle between apps with the same first letter.

chillage 5y ago

I find native window switching extremely painful and cumbersome on Mac. Very highly recommend Alt Tab for fixing these issues https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app I basically can't use a Mac in any reasonable capacity without this now

iRonJ_AI 5y ago

Command control shift 4 to take a screenshot and instantly place it into what we doc im working on. Works on gitlab too Press spacebar to capture the window

__mharrison__ 5y ago

I had a bunch of Karabiner shortcuts setup when I primarily drove a Mac. Since start of Covid I started on Windows fulltime when I upgraded my devices. At first the lack of emacs-like controls left me a little sad. (Have used emacs since 1998). I soon discovered AutoHotkey and the Emacs configuration by John Cooper. It is pretty awesome. I have more consistency than I had on Mac. I also have emacs(like) bindings on Excel, Davinci Resolve, Chrome, and more. Lest you think I'm weird for liking emacs, I also use an ErgoDox keyboard, so I probably am.

Tagbert 5y ago

FYI - This is Apple’s main list of keyboard shortcuts https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236

vonseel 5y ago

Hold $KEY in text fields to get pop-up menu of given character with diacritic markings No matter how long I've been using MacOS, it seems there's always something new to learn that will surprise me. Something like 13 years exclusively using Macs for my desktop OS and I've just learned this. Granted I don't speak or write any foreign languages so I wouldn't have much use for diacritics, but it's still cool. Shortcuts I constantly use: - Command-Backtick - Command-Tab (seems obvious, but some people don't work this way...) - Command-Tab to hidden app icon then press Option before releasing Command to restore a hidden apps windows - https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/55440 https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/55440 - Command+Shift+4 to take screenshots using the built in functionality, or the other similar shortcuts for screenshot-ing a screen, portion of a screen, or a window to the clipboard. - Shortcuts for sending window to left half / right half of the screen, or switching screens, using Rectangle. - Command-Opt-\ + TouchID for 1Password deserves a mention for sure.