As a writer, the Mac has always been my platform of choice because it offers so many text shortcuts, and I find writing on any other platform to be a painful experience. Unfortunately, many people don’t realize just how many shortcuts the Mac offers, so here is a comprehensive list.
Basic text-editing shortcuts
Here are the basic text-editing keyboard shortcuts everyone should know:
- Command + C / X / V – Copy / Cut / Paste
- Command + Z / Shift + Command + Z – Undo / Redo
- Delete – Delete the character to the left
- Fn + Delete – Forward delete (delete character to the right)
- Option + Delete – Delete previous word
- Command + Delete – Delete entire line (in many apps)
Another useful command to know is Control + T, which swaps the two characters on either side of the cursor. Unfortunately, it only works in some apps.
Text navigation shortcuts
Here we dive into the Mac’s text navigation shortcuts that can save you a ton of time and let you avoid using the mouse or trackpad:
- ← / → – Move cursor left/right one character
- ↑ / ↓ – Move cursor up/down one line
- Option + ← / → – Move left/right one word
- Command + ← / → – Move to beginning/end of line
- Command + ↑ / ↓ – Move to top/bottom of document
- Control + A / E – Move to beginning/end of line
- Control + F – Move forward one character
- Control + B – Move back one character
- Control + N – Next line
- Control + P – Previous line
Once you memorize these, you can combine them with the Shift key to select text or the Delete key to delete text. Examples below.
Text selection shortcuts
Hold Shift with navigation keys to select text:
- Shift + ← / → – Select one character left/right
- Shift + ↑ / ↓ – Select one line up/down
- Shift + Option + ← / → – Select one word left/right
- Shift + Command + ← / → – Select to beginning/end of the line
- Shift + Command + ↑ / ↓ – Select to top/bottom of the document
- Command + A – Select all text
World and line deletion
Be careful with these, they are powerful!
- Option + Delete – Deletes the word to the left of the cursor
- Fn + Option + Delete — Deletes the word to the right of the cursor
- Command + Delete – Deletes all text from the cursor to the beginning of the line
Formatting shortcuts
These shortcuts won’t work in every app, but work in the most commonly used word processors, like Google Docs, Notes, Pages, and Microsoft Word, so are good to know:
- Command + B / I / U – Bold / Italic / Underline
- Command + Option + V – Paste without style
- Control + Command + Space – Emoji and symbol picker
- Command + K — Insert a hyperlink
The second shortcut is often found in Edit > Paste and Match Style. This is super useful for pasting from one document into another without altering the style of the receiving document. Unfortunately, the Command + Option + V shortcut often doesn’t work for some reason.
Fortunately, we have a simple TextExpander Snippet to help here. Subscribe to the Community Snippets Public Group, copy some text, and then use the shortcut xpt to expand the contents of your clipboard without formatting.
Apply styles
These work in Google Docs and Microsoft Word:
- Command + Option + 1 – Heading 1
- Command + Option + 2 – Heading 2
- Command + Option + 3 – Heading 3
- Command + Option + 0 – Body text (normal style)
Mac keyboard shortcuts for symbols
Did you know that you can hold down a character key to reveal a popup with variations of the character? Try it with e, u, and c. Press the corresponding number to insert that character.
Here are some Mac keyboard shortcuts for various symbols:
- Option + 2 – ™ (Trademark)
- Option + R – ® (Registered trademark)
- Option + G – © (Copyright)
- Option + 8 – • (Bullet)
- Option + Shift + 8 – ° (Degree symbol)
- Option + Shift + K – (Apple logo)
- Option + 3 – £ (British pound)
- Option + 4 – ¢ (Cent sign)
- Shift + Option + 2 – € (Euro)
- Option + $ – ¤ (Generic currency)
- Option + = – ≠ (Not equal)
- Option + V – √ (Square root)
- Option + Z – Ω (Greek capital omega)
- Option + = – ≠ (Not equal)
- Option + < – ≤ (Less than or equal)
- Option + > – ≥ (Greater than or equal)
- Option + Shift + = – ± (Plus-minus)
- Option + P – π (Pi)
- Option + M – µ (Micro sign)
If you’re like me, you probably can’t remember all of these. That’s why we have Snippets in the Community Snippets Public Group for the cents symbol and copyright symbol.
Did we miss any?
Do you have any favorite Mac text shortcuts that we missed here? Tell us about them!