For Mac Converts: A Keyboard Resource

I’m providing this information because I had to go looking for it when I converted to the Mac. It’s simply a map of how the Mac keyboard works. You’d think it would be well documented, but it isn’t. Neither is it well explained to new Mac users anywhere that I’m aware of:

So here’s the main point:

With the Mac you can be highly productive if you use Keyboard shortcuts, or “hot keys” as some people call them. A big advantage of the Mac is that the apps tend to abide by standards in this area. So if you use hot keys to do something in one application, mostly likely the same hot key will do the same thing in another application. But even if it doesn’t, you can override what the application does and assign the hot keys that work for you.

To do this go to System Preferences  ->  Keyboard – > Keyboard Shortcuts.

I always use the standard hot keys for: Copy, Cut, Paste, Quit, Close Window, Select All and Save. So much so that they are now second nature. I also use others. If you want to do this with confidence, you need to know what the Mac standards are. So I’m providing two tables here, which you can save to your computer with as simple right click or bookmark, if you prefer.

Table A is the special character mappings for the keyboard. You need to be aware of these in case you want to use any of them, but you also need to know that it is best not to assign hotkeys to these keys because they’re already used.

Table B (which is on a separate page click here) is a summary of what I believe are hotkey standards used by Mac applications. Be aware that not every application abides by these.

Table A

The following conventions are used for Mac keys:

Click here for Table B

Click on this link: PDQ Mac to see a list of other postings on Apple Mac productivity.