Common MacOS Shortcuts | Bowen's Blog

I’m focusing on unifying shortcuts to form muscle memory. Personally, I don’t want to memorize application-specific shortcuts (like various shortcuts of Chrome extensions):

Not versatile enough;
If it’s not global, then it’s even less necessary;
In case of stopping or being replaced, you have to remember again.

Only one IDE, VS Code, was tested, the others are theoretically universal.

Tabs

The actual test shows that Finder, VS Code, Iterm2, and the browser can be unified.

⌘ + num Switch to the nth Tab

^ + Tab Switch to the next Tab
^ + ⇧ + Tab Switch to the previous Tab
⌘ + W Close the current Tab
⌘ + T Create new Tab and focus
⌘ + ⇧ + T Reopen the tab that was just closed, press multiple times to restore multiple tabs
⌘ + N New Window

This part of the shortcuts is not the default for VS Code and iTerm2.

Set up Item2

I’m using Warp , no setup required.

Make the UI look uniform: Go to Appearance > General > Theme and select Minimal
Always show Tabs：Go to Appearance > Tabs, make sure Show tab bar even when there is only one tab and Show tab bar in fullscreen are enabled.
Set shortcut keys: Go to Keys > Navigation Shortcuts and set Shortcut to select a tab to ⌘ Number

Set up VS Code

Go to Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts, Set workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex1 to cmd+1 and search for cmd+1 to remove any other extraneous shortcuts. Same for other keys. I’ve provided a copy of my setup here, just paste it directly into keybindings.json:

View Codes

[
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad1",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "!editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad5",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "!editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad9",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "!editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad3",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "searchViewletVisible"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad0",
    "command": "-workbench.action.zoomReset"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad5",
    "command": "-workbench.view.debug",
    "when": "editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad3",
    "command": "-workbench.view.search",
    "when": "!searchViewletVisible"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad1",
    "command": "-workbench.view.explorer",
    "when": "editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad0",
    "command": "-workbench.actions.view.problems"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+numpad9",
    "command": "-workbench.view.git",
    "when": "editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+1",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusFirstEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+1",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "!editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+1",
    "command": "-workbench.view.explorer",
    "when": "editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+2",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusSecondEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k",
    "command": "editor.foldLevel2",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+2",
    "command": "-editor.foldLevel2",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+3",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusThirdEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+3",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "searchViewletVisible"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+3",
    "command": "-workbench.view.search",
    "when": "!searchViewletVisible"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+3",
    "command": "-editor.foldLevel3",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+4",
    "command": "-editor.foldLevel4",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+4",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusFourthEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+5",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "!editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+5",
    "command": "-workbench.view.debug",
    "when": "editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+5",
    "command": "-editor.foldLevel5",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+5",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusFifthEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+6",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusSixthEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+6",
    "command": "-editor.foldLevel6",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+7",
    "command": "-outline.focus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+7",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusSeventhEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+7",
    "command": "-editor.foldLevel7",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "shift+cmd+8",
    "command": "-editor.action.toggleColumnSelection"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+8",
    "command": "-editor.foldAllMarkerRegions",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+8",
    "command": "-workbench.action.focusEighthEditorGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+9",
    "command": "-workbench.action.lastEditorInGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+cmd+9",
    "command": "-workbench.action.moveEditorToLastGroup"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+9",
    "command": "-workbench.action.toggleSidebarVisibility",
    "when": "!editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+9",
    "command": "-workbench.view.scm",
    "when": "editorFocus"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+k cmd+9",
    "command": "-editor.unfoldAllMarkerRegions",
    "when": "editorTextFocus && foldingEnabled"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+1",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex1"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+1",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex1"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+2",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex2"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+2",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex2"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+3",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex3"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+3",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex3"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+4",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex4"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+4",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex4"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+5",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex5"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+5",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex5"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+6",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex6"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+6",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex6"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+7",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex7"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+7",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex7"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+8",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex8"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+8",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex8"
  },
  {
    "key": "cmd+9",
    "command": "workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex9"
  },
  {
    "key": "ctrl+9",
    "command": "-workbench.action.openEditorAtIndex9"
  }
]

Cursor

Many people only use the mouse and arrow keys to move the cursor. Here are some shortcut keys for you.

Tested VS Code, Iterm2, Chrome search box, Input in web pages, Spotlight/Alfred search boxes

Moving

Everyone knows that the arrow keys move one word at a time, but you may not know that holding down option ⌥ + arrow key moves one word at a time.

⌥ + ← Move the cursor one word to the left
⌥ + → Move the cursor one word to the right

Regarding moving the cursor to the beginning and end of a line, Home / End keys are not universal. In some places, they function as page navigation, and some keyboards such as the 13-inch Macbook Pro don’t have these keys at all. It is recommended to use the following universal shortcuts:

⌘ + ← Move cursor to beginning of line
⌘ + → Move cursor to end of line
⌃ + A Move cursor to beginning of paragraph, ignoring soft line breaks
⌃ + E Move cursor to end of paragraph, ignoring soft line breaks

Deleting

Everyone knows that backspace deletes a character to the left, and surely no one doesn’t know that delete deletes a character to the right.

Holding down option ⌥ + backspace/delete will delete a word to the left/right each time;

⌥ + backspace deletes a word to the left
⌥ + delete deletes a word to the right

Holding down command ⌘ + backspace/delete will delete to the beginning/end of line each time.

⌘ + backspace deletes from current position to beginning of line
⌘ + delete deletes from current position to end of line

Selecting

Just like moving the cursor, but with the addition of the shift ⇧ key:

Double-click to select the current word
Triple-click to select the current line
⇧ + ← to expand selection left by one character
⇧ + → to expand selection right by one character
⇧ + ↑ to expand selection up by a whole line
⇧ + ↓ to expand selection down by a whole line
⌥ + ⇧ + ← to expand selection left by one word
⌥ + ⇧ + → to expand selection right by one word

This part of the shortcuts is not the default for and iTerm2.

Set up Item2

Profiles > Keys > Key Mapppings > Presets > Natural Text Editing It’s been a long time. I’m not sure that’s it.

Others

Works on any application

⌘ + ⇧ + P Call out the command panel, if there is one
⌘ + , Calls out the settings panel

Feel free to add in the comment section.