What I love about my Mac is that now I know a ton of shortcuts it has become easier and more enjoyable to use and I can get my work done faster. In this article I’ve noted 6 of the most useful shortcuts that I use all the time. Check them out and start using them for yourself.
Take A Screen Shot Or Capture A Selection Of Your Screen
Taking screen shots seem to have become incredibly important these days whether it’s for documenting work or writing tutorials such as this one. There are many ways to take a screenshot on a Mac; the most common are the following:
Whole Screen: (Command + Control + 3) This will capture your whole screen, if you have more than one screen it will take pictures of both and they will appear as 2 separate image files on your desktop.
Selection Screen Shot: (command + Control + 4) Your mouse arrow will change into a plus sign with some numbers adjacent to it, you can now click and drag over the selection that you want to capture. The file from this will also appear an image file on the desktop.
The screen shot file on the desktop beginning with ‘Screen Shot + date and time’.
Quickly Access Spotlight
Spotlight is a one of the most useful tools on a Mac for finding lost files or quickly locating files that you need to get access to. To speed things up simply use the shortcut: (Command + Space Bar), the Spotlight search bar will appear in the top right hand corner and you are ready to type.
Two Quick Tricks In Spotlight
Spotlight is useful for many things and the two most popular that I have found myself using a lot are these two:
Quick Calculator: You can use spotlight to make quick calculations like this: 25*26=
Find definitions in Spotlight: You can also use Spotlight to find definitions for words, don’t forget to use the quick shortcut mentioned above (Command + Space Bar).
Type in the word that you want to find the meaning of and once it pops up simply place your mouse pointer over the dictionary option (you don’t have to click) and the definition of the word will just pop up next to it.
Quick Definitions In Text
Want to find the meaning of a word in something you’re reading? Simply just put your cursor of the word you want the definition of and use the shortcut: (Control + Command + D) and the definition will pop up on the screen:
Email The Page Your Browsing To A Friend
Ever wanted to send an article to a friend or get someone else’s opinions on something you’re about to buy but gave up because copy and paste just seemed to long? If you have Mac Mail setup all you have to do is use the shortcut (Shift + Command + I) and the URL will appear in a new massage ready for you to send.
Bonus Fun Tip: Your Mac In Slow-motion
If you pay close attention you’ll notice that your Mac has some cool effects like the genie effect when you minimize a window into the dock. You can slow down the animation by holding down the shift key before you click the minimize button. Try it and see what you think!
~Alex
Good to see the quick shortcuts for the Mac, they’re not easy to find.
I enjoy your weekly email info and tips.
Many thanks from another ‘Oldie’ (82).
Joan
This first tip is incorrect. Using shift + command + 4 for the last screen selection item you wrote about, will get then get the result on the desktop of your computer.
I tried your suggestion about the screen shot on my mac, I had to us the following, shift, command and the number. It did not work with the control button as you had suggested.