Mac keyboard shortcuts

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 08:46:27 +0100

Handy reminders of some of the many useful things you can do with keyboard combinations on a Mac.

Note: if you’re using a PC keyboard, ‘Option’ is the Alt key , and ‘Command’ is the Windows key

Key combination	what it does
Command-Shift-4	Take a screen capture (selected area)
Command-Shift-3	Take a screen capture (whole screen, saved straight to your desktop)
Option-#	print the £ sign (if you have a U.S keyboard)
Ctrl-Command-spacebar	to type an emoji
Command-F1	display on external monitor

AT POWER-ON :	(i.e. hold the keys down when powering on)
Option (Alt)	Boot menu - e.g to boot from a USB stick
D	Diagnostics mode
Command-R	Recovery mode
Option-Command-R	?Internet Recovery mode - may offer more recovery options

Reset combinations :
SMC Reset	Shutdown your Mac, then hold `Left-hand-Shift + Control + Option (Alt)` , then press Power button for 10 sec . ( can be useful for power/charging issues, fans, hot PC, or webcams not working)
NVRAM Reset	hold down `Option+Command+P+R` for about 20 sec when powering on. Release after 2nd startup sound. ( only for older/Intel Macs, not for M1 and later. Can resolve problems with audio, screen resolution, clock, slow startup etc)

Reminders for MacOS

Sun, 23 Aug 2026 12:30:22 +0100

Find a download link for the version of MacOS you want ( usually a large 7GB file named something like ‘Install macOS Sequioa’ )
Use the MacOS Disk Utility to erase a 16GB USB stick : choose format type ‘MacOS Extended format’, and give it a name like ‘sequoiastick’ or similar
In a Terminal Window , type

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\.Sequioa.App/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/sequoiastick

from Catalina back to Mountain Lion were known as ‘OS X’ ; Lion back to Leopard were ‘Mac OS X’