Leave it to Apple to make an incredibly user friendly and efficient operating system. Below are a few tips on how to work more efficiently from the keyboard. We’ll be adding useful tips as they make themselves known to us.
Q: How do I toggle between programs on a mac?
A: Command-Tab cycles through your programs quickly and Command-Shift-Tab will reverse cycle through them.
Q: How do I toggle between files within a program on a mac?
A: Command-` cycles through your programs quickly and Command-Shift-` will reverse cycle through them.
Q: How do I close a file but keep the program open?
A: We all know Command-Q quits the entire program but another good one to use is Command-W to close the file but still keep the program open.
Q: How do I take a screenshot of my mac desktop?
A: First hit Function-F11 to clear all screens and see your desktop. Then Command-Shift-4 to activate screen grab. Then tap the Spacebar and you will see the whole screen turn blue. Now click the left mouse button and it will take a snapshot and save it to your desktop. If you have a window open (say an excel spreadsheet or a browser) you can follow the same steps above and just take a picture of any window.
Q: How to take a screenshot and save it to clipboard and then paste anywhere?
A: This is a great tool when you want to make a quick screengrab and then paste into iChat, Keynote, etc. Hit Command-Shift-Control-4 then take your picture. Instead of saving to desktop it will only save to clipboard for easy paste action.
