Mac Keyboard Shortcuts for Ex-Windows Users 0
Using the keyboard to navigate and perform various tasks can be a great timesaver in Mac OS X. Keyboard shortcuts and commands can be used to a great extent in mobile computing to speed up tasks that would take longer to do with the mouse. After reading this document you’ll hardly ever use your mouse or trackpad again 
You’ll learn how to:
- move Items from one Application to another without Drag and Drop
- close Documents without clicking on the close button
- take a Screenshot of your Screen and save the file as an png on the desktop
All this magic behavior is done by pressing one or more special keys – also called Modifier keys – at the same time. To become a real Apple Geek you must learn those Keyboard shortcuts by heart.
The Swiss Keyboard Layout
The Swiss Keyboard is a QWERTZ Keyboard, called after the first six letters at the top left of the keyboard: Q, W, E, R, T and Z. It differs from the QWERTY layout by interchanging the “Z” and “Y” keys. This is more convenient since “Z” is much more used in the German language than “Y” and “T” and “Z” often appear next to each other in many German Words (Katze, Satz, schwitzen).
Special Keys
There are several “special” keys on an Apple keyboard.
| Key | Function |
 |
The command keys – also well known as the Apple Keys – are on each side of the space bar and are easily reachable by the thumb fingers. Almost every Mac OS keyboard shortcut is based on the command key. We will use them a lot. |
 |
The Alt key used to change (alternate) the function of other pressed keys. By holding down the Alt key you can also print out almost every special characters. |
 |
As many of you may have noticed, the Shift key is used to type capital letters. There are 2 shift keys on a Mac keyboard which are easily reachable by the little fingers. The shift key also perform some special operations in conjunction with another modifier key. |
| Tab | In Text processing Applications such as Microsoft Word or TextEdit the Tabulator key is used to advance the cursor to the next tab stop. You will see that it has another purpose in many “switch something” shortcuts. |
| Ctrl | The control key is less used in Mac OS and almost never performs any function when it is pressed by itself. It will perform a special operation in conjunction with another modifier key. |
| Fn | We typically find the Fn (Function)Key in compact keyboard layouts like laptops. It combines keys which are normaly kept seperate such as the delete key (FN – Backspace). If you have Fn on your keyboard the F1 – F12 keys are usually occupied with some Multimedia or System Control Functions. You must hold the Fn key to use the underlying (normal) F1-F12 functions. |
| Esc | The Esc (Escape) key is mostly used to stop, cancel or abort an action or dialog. |
Basic Shortcuts
Let’s start with some basic shortcuts. How to type. I’ve listed the most requested shortcuts from Ex-Windows Users:
| Task | Windows | Mac |
| Copy | Ctrl – C | -C |
| Cut | Ctrl – X | -X |
| Paste | Ctrl – V | -V |
| Undo | Ctrl – Z | – Z |
| Select All | Ctrl – A | - A |
| Save | Ctrl – S | – S |
| Open | Ctrl – O (within Application), Enter (in Windows Ex- plorer), Context – O (on the Desktop) | – O |
| Close (Document, File, Window) | Ctrl – F4 | – W |
| Close all (Documents, Files, Win- dow) within Application | Shift – Alt – F4 | – – W |
| Quit Application | Alt – F4 | – Q |
| New Folder | Context – W – F | – – N |
| Eject/Disconnect (CD/DVD, USB-Stick, Network) | – E |
|
| Delete File/Folder (send to Bin/Trash) | Delete | Delete or – Backspace |
| Empty Bin/Trash | - Backspace |
|
| Task Manager | Ctrl – Alt – Delete | - - ESC |
Special Characters
Well, you may want to know how to type the @ (at) character on a Swiss Keyboard. As you might have seen it is located near the center of the keyboard, more precise on the “G” key. You can type the “at” by holding down the Alt key. Here are some other special caracters often used in Switzerland. They all make use of the x key.
| Shortcut | Caractere |
| – G |
@ (at) |
| – 3 |
# |
| – 5 |
[ |
| - 6 |
] |
| – 7 |
| |
| – 8 |
{ |
| – 9 |
} |
| – – 7 |
\ (Backslash) |
| – N |
~ (Tilde) |
| – S |
ß (Double S) |
Additional Shortcuts
Good to know
| Shortcut | Function |
| – -Z |
Redo |
| – – S |
Save as |
| – U |
Revert to saved |
| – P |
|
| – – P |
Print with Setup |
| – O |
Open a Document / File |
| – N |
New Window / Document |
| – W |
Close the Window / Document |
| – – W |
Close ALL Windows / Documents |
| – D |
Don’t Save (within Close Diaolog) |
| – M |
Minimize Application |
| – H |
Hide Application |
| – – H |
Hide all other Applications |
| – Space |
Spotlight Search |
| – , |
Preferences (within an Application) |
| – . |
Cancel (within Close Dialog) |
| Ctrl – |
Enter Front Row |
| – (Ctrl) – – 3 |
Screenshot (entire screen), the result will be copied into the clipboard (like on Windows…) You can save the screenshot as a png file to the Desktop without holding the Ctrl key |
| – (Ctrl) – – 4 |
Screenshot of an arbitrary area (drag a rectangle), the re- sult will be copied into the clipboard (like on Windows…) You can save the screenshot as a png file to the Desktop without holding the Ctrl key |
| – (Ctrl) - – 4, then press the Space Bar |
Take a Screenshot of any window (choose a window), the result will be copied into the clipboard (like on Windows…) You can save the screenshot as a png file to the Desktop without holding the Ctrl key |
–  |
Switch between Applications (to the right) |
| – – |
Switch between Applications (to the left) |
| – – Esc |
Force Quit / End Task Dialog |
