Yesterday, we covered some basic Mac keyboard shortcuts. Today, we’ll check out some more useful options.
| Option-Command-Esc | Force Quit: Choose an app to force quit. Or press Command-Shift-Option-Esc and hold for 3 seconds to force just the front app to quit. |
| Command–Space bar | Spotlight: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. To perform a Spotlight search from a Finder window, press Command–Option–Space bar. If you use multiple input sources to type in different languages, these shortcuts change input sources instead of showing Spotlight. |
| Space bar | Quick Look: Use Quick Look to preview the selected item. |
| Command-Tab | Switch apps: Switch to the next most recently used app among your open apps. |
| Shift-Command-Tilde (~) | Switch windows: Switch to the next most recently used window of the front app. |
| Shift-Command-3 | Screenshot: Take a screenshot of the entire screen. |
| Command-Comma (,) | Preferences: Open preferences for the front app. |
Log Out & Shutdown Options
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
| Power button | Press to turn on your Mac or wake your Mac from sleep.Press and hold for 1.5 seconds while your Mac is awake to display a dialog asking if you want to sleep, restart, or shut down. If you don’t want to wait 1.5 seconds, press Control–Power button or Control–Media Eject  .*Press and hold for 5 seconds to force your Mac to turn off. |
| Control–Command–Power button | Force your Mac to restart.* |
| Control–Shift–Power button or Control–Shift–Media Eject |
Put your displays to sleep.* |
| Control–Command–Media Eject |
Quit all apps, then restart your Mac. If any open documents have unsaved changes, you’ll be asked whether you want to save them.* |
| Control–Option–Command–Power button or Control–Option–Command–Media Eject |
Quit all apps, then shut down your Mac. If any open documents have unsaved changes, you’ll be asked whether you want to save them.* |
| Shift-Command-Q | Log out of your macOS user account. You’ll be asked to confirm. |
| Option-Shift-Command-Q | Log out of your macOS user account immediately, without being asked to confirm. |
~ Cynthia