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I think Mac OS has the most inaccessible hidden hotkey shortcuts out of every OS I've used. Even essential functions like showing hidden files in a directory is

I think Mac OS has the most inaccessible hidden hotkey shortcuts out of every OS I've used. Even essential functions like showing hidden files in a directory is uniquely done through an hidden shortcut in Mac OS.

ledauphin 4y ago
I have to look this one up every few months. just rare enough that it won't stay in long term memory.
lawgimenez 4y ago
There should be a compilation of every hidden tricks and shortcuts.
- Smoosh 4y ago
  Perhaps this will help: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201236 https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201236 Of course, this can only cover Apple's own software and 3rd party software which adheres to Apple conventions.
SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago
Perhaps, but the aforementioned screenshot shortcut I learned just like OP because I wanted to take a screenshot, and it's muscle memory for me as well. I even thought to myself before I clicked on the article "I'm pretty sure they are going to have CMD + Shift + 4 or CMD + Shift + 5 as the focal point of the article". I would call it "inaccessible" in terms of natural discovery, sure. But it is definitely not "inaccessible" in terms of ease of use and memory when you do know about it. I had to google "how to screenshot on mac" once in my life and I've used the keyboard shortcuts on a near daily basis for more than half a decade.
MiddleEndian 4y ago
Some of them are obscure but there's a big list of them somewhere in System Preferences and you can change them. You can also change keyboard shortcuts in your programs too. Definitely something I miss from Mac OS X.
BurningFrog 4y ago
Features the typical user can't access/discover are wasted development effort. So sad...
doctor_eval 4y ago
Most of the time Mac shortcuts also come with a more discoverable approach. I’m not at my desktop atm, but isn’t there also the “grab” application for taking screenshots?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
tchvil 4y ago
If all features had their menu or button visible, that would make the interface more complex. Maybe they consider this as advanced features, that advanced users will find out anyway.
- ASalazarMX 4y ago
  Your comment is somehow weird in this publication, because the article assumes (and many comments corroborate) that advanced users are not advanced enough to know all the hidden UI of the screenshot feature.
hutattedonmyarm 4y ago
> Even essential functions like showing hidden files in a directory is uniquely done through an hidden shortcut in Mac OS. I'm fairly certain, it's in the menu bar too
- Crazor 4y ago
  Or is it? I can’t even find it with the search box in the help menu. FWIW, I didn’t know that shortcut before today, and I consider myself a well-versed Mac user since the intel switch
  - hutattedonmyarm 4y ago
    Huh, you’re right it’s not. My FTP client does expose it, maybe that’s what I had in mind
bmitc 4y ago
I fully agree. macOS is a nightmare of usability. For showing hidden files and file extensions, there's a Terminal command you can run to permanently set it for every file. Of course, since it's only exposed through some command line utility, I forgot what it was and would have to search again.
- keybits 4y ago
  cmd + shift + . (that's a dot / period / full stop with cmd and shift) is the built in shortcut in Finder to toggle hidden files. Easy to remember as hidden files start with a dot.
  - corney91 4y ago
    The dot might be easy to remember, but the cmd+shift bit isn't for me. Mac shortcuts can be cmd+shift, or ctrl+shift, or ctrl+cmd, or just cmd, or sometimes there's an opt in there as well. After using a Macbook for work for 4 years, I still have no intuitive idea which modifier keys should be used when, it seems to be random.
- PUSH_AX 4y ago
  “Usability nightmare” is objectively a bit of a stretch. The example given isn’t really something most users need. Even when I did need to do that the answer was discovered and executed within 20 seconds of googling. This is the same for other things most people don’t need across all the prevalent OSes
  - bmitc 4y ago
    Well I disagree, so I don’t think it’s objective. Another goodie is when installing an update, macOS only shows that you can cancel the update if you hover over the progress bar or where the cancel X would be. If you just look at the window, you think there’s no way to cancel and that you need to ride it out. You just have to happen to hover over the right element. There’s no reason for this. macOS is absolutely full of little things like this that are hidden in the OS. iOS does this as well. Going to the settings screen, you gotta pull down to see that there’s a search bar. Again no reason for that. Both macOS and iOS are very inconsistent and hide all sorts of settings, behaviors, etc. Another example is that I can’t even adjust my external monitor’s volume and brightness from the OS because Apple wants you to buy their monitors. And all that’s ignoring the portion of usability from things in the OS just not working or that break.
FabHK 4y ago
> essential functions like showing hidden files in a directory How is that an essential function? My mom has never needed it in 20 years of using Macs. And when I want to know about hidden files, I pop open a terminal and ls -la.
- diffeomorphism 4y ago
  That is kind of hilarious: This GUI feature is very undiscoverable. No, no, "just" open a terminal instead and type this.
  - jen729w 4y ago
    The entire point of these hidden files is that the user should never see them. Otherwise they’ll think, what’s this nonsense?, and delete them. It should be difficult to see hidden files. And it is!
    - FabHK 4y ago
      Precisely. Just as the "Go" menu in the Finder doesn't contain the Library folder, because the user generally doesn't need it. As an advanced user, you can pop open a Terminal and `open Library`, or you use a shortcut: press Option while in the Go menu.
  - falsaberN1 4y ago
    MacOS is good because I have to open the terminal to do complex tasks. Linux is crap because I have to open the terminal to do complex tasks. I know the devil is in the details, I'm just poking fun at the thing, but you gotta admit it's kind of funny.
suction 4y ago
They're not "hidden" when you know them.
tokamak-teapot 4y ago
Seeing as you and I both know the shortcut, how is it inaccessible or hidden? Just because it’s not there cluttering up the visual interface doesn’t mean it’s hidden. For anyone who thinks they might want it, they can find it. For anyone else, they’ll never see it. Seems about right to me.
- hackernewds 4y ago
  I do not know this shortcut. Further, I do not what shortcuts I do not know about.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - tokamak-teapot 4y ago
    If you were keen on the idea of finding some shortcuts, you would buy a book or search for docs or something though, right?
  - Hammershaft 4y ago
    Probably the most succinct unintentional definition of poor discoverability in a UI I have seen.
- happymellon 4y ago
  Be sure how would I even know this is a thing to Google unless I see tip lists like this? If there was a MacOS shortcut list, grouped by category so that when I want to do something I can search if it is possible without installing a utility, that would be awesome.
  - wil421 4y ago
    Have you tried to google it? It’s the first result. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236 Screenshot shortcuts and functions are here. https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/take-a-screenshot-or-screen-recording-mh26782/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/take-a-screenshot-o...
ziml77 4y ago
Just hours ago complained to a friend about how arcane some things in macOS are. Short of just pressing random key combinations, there is no way to discover that it's possible to paste/type a path into the standard file selection dialog. (It's cmd-shift-g to get the text entry to appear, or simply forward slash to get it to appear with the slash already entered. Also, it says "Go to Folder", but if you direct it to a file, it will navigate to the folder the file is in and also select the file)
- Hammershaft 4y ago
  I learned I could do this for the first time reading your post.
- pseudalopex 4y ago
  The file selection dialog looks like a Finder window. It could be more discoverable. But trying what works in Finder isn't random key combinations.
leviathant 4y ago
As a lifetime Windows user who started using Macs for the day job about a decade ago, it was clear that Windows came from a keyboard-oriented background, and Macs come from a legacy of focusing on doing as much with a mouse as possible. I have a lot of internal thoughts about why I like what I grew up with (particularly with respect to discoverable keyboard shortcuts), but it's just not worth the mental energy of exploring that with internet strangers. The bottom line for me is that a decade on, I still split it between a Macbook for work, Windows desktop for home/creative/gaming, and if I could reasonably work without MacOS I would, but I can't.
bradknowles 4y ago
Yeah, that's the other problem. And I just don't want to be bothered.

ledauphin 4y ago

I have to look this one up every few months. just rare enough that it won't stay in long term memory.

lawgimenez 4y ago

There should be a compilation of every hidden tricks and shortcuts.

Smoosh 4y ago
Perhaps this will help: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201236 https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201236 Of course, this can only cover Apple's own software and 3rd party software which adheres to Apple conventions.

SOLAR_FIELDS 4y ago

Perhaps, but the aforementioned screenshot shortcut I learned just like OP because I wanted to take a screenshot, and it's muscle memory for me as well. I even thought to myself before I clicked on the article "I'm pretty sure they are going to have CMD + Shift + 4 or CMD + Shift + 5 as the focal point of the article". I would call it "inaccessible" in terms of natural discovery, sure. But it is definitely not "inaccessible" in terms of ease of use and memory when you do know about it. I had to google "how to screenshot on mac" once in my life and I've used the keyboard shortcuts on a near daily basis for more than half a decade.

MiddleEndian 4y ago

Some of them are obscure but there's a big list of them somewhere in System Preferences and you can change them. You can also change keyboard shortcuts in your programs too. Definitely something I miss from Mac OS X.

BurningFrog 4y ago

Features the typical user can't access/discover are wasted development effort. So sad...

doctor_eval 4y ago

Most of the time Mac shortcuts also come with a more discoverable approach. I’m not at my desktop atm, but isn’t there also the “grab” application for taking screenshots?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

tchvil 4y ago

If all features had their menu or button visible, that would make the interface more complex. Maybe they consider this as advanced features, that advanced users will find out anyway.

ASalazarMX 4y ago
Your comment is somehow weird in this publication, because the article assumes (and many comments corroborate) that advanced users are not advanced enough to know all the hidden UI of the screenshot feature.

hutattedonmyarm 4y ago

> Even essential functions like showing hidden files in a directory is uniquely done through an hidden shortcut in Mac OS. I'm fairly certain, it's in the menu bar too

Crazor 4y ago
Or is it? I can’t even find it with the search box in the help menu. FWIW, I didn’t know that shortcut before today, and I consider myself a well-versed Mac user since the intel switch
- hutattedonmyarm 4y ago
  Huh, you’re right it’s not. My FTP client does expose it, maybe that’s what I had in mind

bmitc 4y ago

I fully agree. macOS is a nightmare of usability. For showing hidden files and file extensions, there's a Terminal command you can run to permanently set it for every file. Of course, since it's only exposed through some command line utility, I forgot what it was and would have to search again.

keybits 4y ago
cmd + shift + . (that's a dot / period / full stop with cmd and shift) is the built in shortcut in Finder to toggle hidden files. Easy to remember as hidden files start with a dot.
- corney91 4y ago
  The dot might be easy to remember, but the cmd+shift bit isn't for me. Mac shortcuts can be cmd+shift, or ctrl+shift, or ctrl+cmd, or just cmd, or sometimes there's an opt in there as well. After using a Macbook for work for 4 years, I still have no intuitive idea which modifier keys should be used when, it seems to be random.
PUSH_AX 4y ago
“Usability nightmare” is objectively a bit of a stretch. The example given isn’t really something most users need. Even when I did need to do that the answer was discovered and executed within 20 seconds of googling. This is the same for other things most people don’t need across all the prevalent OSes
- bmitc 4y ago
  Well I disagree, so I don’t think it’s objective. Another goodie is when installing an update, macOS only shows that you can cancel the update if you hover over the progress bar or where the cancel X would be. If you just look at the window, you think there’s no way to cancel and that you need to ride it out. You just have to happen to hover over the right element. There’s no reason for this. macOS is absolutely full of little things like this that are hidden in the OS. iOS does this as well. Going to the settings screen, you gotta pull down to see that there’s a search bar. Again no reason for that. Both macOS and iOS are very inconsistent and hide all sorts of settings, behaviors, etc. Another example is that I can’t even adjust my external monitor’s volume and brightness from the OS because Apple wants you to buy their monitors. And all that’s ignoring the portion of usability from things in the OS just not working or that break.

FabHK 4y ago

> essential functions like showing hidden files in a directory How is that an essential function? My mom has never needed it in 20 years of using Macs. And when I want to know about hidden files, I pop open a terminal and ls -la.

diffeomorphism 4y ago
That is kind of hilarious: This GUI feature is very undiscoverable. No, no, "just" open a terminal instead and type this.
- jen729w 4y ago
  The entire point of these hidden files is that the user should never see them. Otherwise they’ll think, what’s this nonsense?, and delete them. It should be difficult to see hidden files. And it is!
  - FabHK 4y ago
    Precisely. Just as the "Go" menu in the Finder doesn't contain the Library folder, because the user generally doesn't need it. As an advanced user, you can pop open a Terminal and `open Library`, or you use a shortcut: press Option while in the Go menu.
- falsaberN1 4y ago
  MacOS is good because I have to open the terminal to do complex tasks. Linux is crap because I have to open the terminal to do complex tasks. I know the devil is in the details, I'm just poking fun at the thing, but you gotta admit it's kind of funny.

suction 4y ago

They're not "hidden" when you know them.

tokamak-teapot 4y ago

Seeing as you and I both know the shortcut, how is it inaccessible or hidden? Just because it’s not there cluttering up the visual interface doesn’t mean it’s hidden. For anyone who thinks they might want it, they can find it. For anyone else, they’ll never see it. Seems about right to me.

hackernewds 4y ago
I do not know this shortcut. Further, I do not what shortcuts I do not know about.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- tokamak-teapot 4y ago
  If you were keen on the idea of finding some shortcuts, you would buy a book or search for docs or something though, right?
- Hammershaft 4y ago
  Probably the most succinct unintentional definition of poor discoverability in a UI I have seen.
happymellon 4y ago
Be sure how would I even know this is a thing to Google unless I see tip lists like this? If there was a MacOS shortcut list, grouped by category so that when I want to do something I can search if it is possible without installing a utility, that would be awesome.
- wil421 4y ago
  Have you tried to google it? It’s the first result. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236 Screenshot shortcuts and functions are here. https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/take-a-screenshot-or-screen-recording-mh26782/mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/take-a-screenshot-o...

ziml77 4y ago

Just hours ago complained to a friend about how arcane some things in macOS are. Short of just pressing random key combinations, there is no way to discover that it's possible to paste/type a path into the standard file selection dialog. (It's cmd-shift-g to get the text entry to appear, or simply forward slash to get it to appear with the slash already entered. Also, it says "Go to Folder", but if you direct it to a file, it will navigate to the folder the file is in and also select the file)

Hammershaft 4y ago
I learned I could do this for the first time reading your post.
pseudalopex 4y ago
The file selection dialog looks like a Finder window. It could be more discoverable. But trying what works in Finder isn't random key combinations.

leviathant 4y ago

As a lifetime Windows user who started using Macs for the day job about a decade ago, it was clear that Windows came from a keyboard-oriented background, and Macs come from a legacy of focusing on doing as much with a mouse as possible. I have a lot of internal thoughts about why I like what I grew up with (particularly with respect to discoverable keyboard shortcuts), but it's just not worth the mental energy of exploring that with internet strangers. The bottom line for me is that a decade on, I still split it between a Macbook for work, Windows desktop for home/creative/gaming, and if I could reasonably work without MacOS I would, but I can't.

bradknowles 4y ago

Yeah, that's the other problem. And I just don't want to be bothered.