Transcription
What are the most important keycodes that every Mac user should know? Stick around and find out. I'm Dylan Stewart, The MacWhisperer, and in this lesson, we're going to talk all about keycodes.
What's a keycode you say? Well, there are these amazing commands that you can perform directly from your keyboard to do all sorts of tasks and actions, and they're super helpful and efficient. If you're constantly coming all the way up to your menu bar to cut, copy, or paste something in a document, these keycodes are going to save you so much time and make everything so much easier.
There are hundreds of keycodes, but we're not going to cover all of them. We're just going to cover the most important ones. But don't zone out before you hear my MacWhisperer power tip, because this keycode is beyond powerful. It's one that I use not just every day, but every few minutes in order to manage what I do on my computer. And I promise you it's worth waiting for. So let's hop on in and get started.
The first thing we need to talk about are modifier keys. If you look down at your keyboard, you're going to see a bunch of keys like the shift button, the command button, the option button, the control button. These are what are called modifier keys. And before we learn about keycodes, we need to learn how to properly use them. Keycodes are triggered by one of the modifier keys. And the most common one that we're going to talk about in all of the keycodes we discuss today is the command key. That's the button to the left and the right side of your space bar.
What you need to understand about modifier keys is that by themselves they do nothing. The most popular modifier key of all is the shift button. So I want you to think about it. What happens when you press your shift button? Nothing. But if you press the shift button in conjunction with a letter, it capitalizes that letter. The shift key modifies the capitalization of a letter. So by itself the shift key is useless. You can sit there with your finger on the shift key for an hour or two as long as you don't press any other button and it won't do anything.
Over the decades I've watched people try to hit keycodes. And they have this bad habit. They'll take their two fingers and they'll hover them over the modifier key, and then hover it over the other letter they want to use and then they'll stab at it together. And they'll do their best to hit the two buttons at the exact same time, which works like a third of the time. The other two thirds of the time it does something else, and the users get really frustrated because they say these keycodes don't work. They're not consistent. But it's because of how they're clicking the buttons.
As we go through this class, don't do that. Don't try to hit both keys at the same time. The modifier key does nothing by itself. So go ahead and hold down that modifier key and then come over and just tap the other key. Once you've tapped the other key, you can release the modifier key and the action will be performed. We're going to talk about all sorts of powerful and important keycodes today, but the most important lesson of all is hold the modifier key and then tap the other key. Don't try and do it together, it just doesn't work.
Alright, now that we know how to press a keycode, let's talk about the essential keycodes. The essential keycodes are four keys that I recommend every Mac user knows. They're simple and they're all collected right next to each other. Look down at your keyboard and you'll see the letters Z, X, C, and V all beside each other.
What do those keycodes do? Well, the first one, the Z, is the undo button. What does that mean? Well, take a look at this document and let's say I accidentally deleted something. Oops, it's gone forever. Nope. Command Z and it comes right back. Command Z undo is super powerful and it can allow you to undo multiple steps and actions that you've taken. So even if you deleted something and then deleted something else, you can command Z to bring each of them back to get back to where you were. Command Z has five levels of undo, helping you fix most of the common mistakes you make. The mnemonic device that I use for undo is I look at the Z and I think about it like a little arrow zapping me backwards, taking me back in time before I made that last move.
To the right of that, we've got X, which is cut. Command plus X will cut anything that you've got selected. In this particular document, I've selected this paragraph. I don't need it anymore, but I want to paste it later on in the document. So I'm going to use Command X to remove it. When you click Command X, it cuts that information and puts it onto this invisible screen called the clipboard, and it holds it there until you come back down and paste it down later. When you're using the clipboard, anything that you cut or copy stays on the clipboard. The clipboard can only hold one piece of information. So if you cut something and then cut something else, you can't get back to the first piece of text. Cutting works not just with text, it works with images and files and documents and all sorts of things, but we're going to work with it in text just for simplicity. The mnemonic device I use for cut, command X, is scissors, because the X looks just like scissors, which instantly makes me remember cut, because that's what you do with scissors, right?
To the right of the X is the C button. Command C is copy. Copy and cut are very similar. They both use the clipboard, but when you cut something, like this, it is removed from the document and placed onto the clipboard. When you copy it using command C, it leaves it in the document, but pastes it onto the clipboard so that you can move it and paste it into other apps or other places in the document. And fortunately, since the C is copy, I don't really need a mnemonic device for it because it's pretty obvious.
And to the right of that is the V button. Command V is paste or insert. It's the other side of cutting and copying. So if I cut this information right here by doing Command X and move my cursor down here and hit Command V, it will paste that paragraph down here. Cutting, copying, and pasting are some of the most common things we do on the computer whether it's within a document or from one document to another one. So realizing whether you want to cut it or copy it is important. But either way, you're eventually going to paste it down into a new location.
When you go to paste something down, wherever your cursor is, is where that information is going to be pasted. So if I have the cursor here, and paste, it's going to show up here. But if I come down to the bottom of this document, and put the cursor down at the bottom, and hit paste, it's going to paste there. One of the important things to understand about the clipboard, is the clipboard holds onto that information even after you've pasted it, which can allow you to paste it again and again without ever having to copy it or cut it a second time. The mnemonic I use for V is I think about when you hand write something and you leave a word out, you were saying the dog was fat and you're like, Oh, it was the lazy dog. And you add a little arrow or a V, to tell you where to put the word that you're inserting into the sentence. That V is insert or paste.
So whether you're undoing with command Z, cutting with command X, copying with command C, or pasting with command V, these four keycodes are essential and they're right next to each other for simplicity. And you can use them in any app, all over the computer.
This next section is called Universal keycodes and these are keycodes that you can use all over the computer in all sorts of different applications and they do amazing and powerful things. The first one is command plus n is new. New what you ask? Well it depends on what application you're in. If you're in Safari like we are here, command n will open a new Safari window. But if you're in your address book and you press Command N, it's going to give you a new contact card. And if you're in your calendar and you press Command N, it's going to create a brand new event for you. It's so useful and so functional that you'll find that every app you're in, Command N helps you start a new whatever it is that you're in. It can even be used within the Finder where Command N will give you a second Finder window allowing you to easily move things from one window to the other without complicating everything. Command N is a godsend and I use it all the time.
Next up is Command Q. Command Q is Quit. And wherever you press it, it's going to quit that application. I know a lot of people that come up and they press the red button to quit something, but that doesn't actually quit it, it just closes it. However, Command Q will fully quit it. Quitting apps is a great way to reserve your resources on your computer so you don't have a ton of things open and running all the time.
Next up is Command A. Command A means select all. Sometimes you're in a document, and you need to take all of that document and either convert it, format it, cut it, paste it, do something with it. Some people will come up to the top of the document and they'll begin scrolling like this, which, you know, is effective, but not efficient. Pressing Command A on your keyboard will automatically select the entire document. But Command A is not just for documents. Command A can also be used in your photo library. Pictures from that album, Command A will automatically select them. In fact, Command A can be used everywhere on your desktop, in your finder, in your email, in your text messages. Wherever you are, pressing Command A is select all.
Our next command is Command Plus S. Command plus S means save. Whenever you change a document, you run the risk of losing that information. Quickly hitting Command S will automatically save that document, so that it's up to date and you don't have to worry about losing it. Command S is super, super easy to use. But if you want to do a save as instead of just a save, hold down the Shift button and the Command button, and then tap on the S key which will bring up your Save As dialog box, allowing you to choose a new name and a new location for whatever that document is.
Next up is Command P. Command P is a critical keycode to learn. It means Print. I'm constantly seeing people struggling to find the print button. In a lot of cases, it's up on the toolbar, like here, but it's this tiny little icon. You can also find it by going into the file menu here, but notice what you see to the right of that menu bar option? That's right, Command P. Command P will print anywhere. So stop hunting around for that tiny little printer icon, just learn that Command P prints in every single application on your Mac, and make it simpler to print that document out by just using that keycode.
Our next universal command is Command I. Command I means get information. Maybe you're on your desktop and you're looking for more information about a certain file. Clicking on it and pressing Command I will bring up this super helpful information screen that shows you everything the computer knows about that document. When it was made, when it was edited, how big it is, what kind of a program it is, and all sorts of other information. But Command I isn't just useful in the Finder. It can be used in all applications from music, to photos. Simply coming in and selecting any photograph and pressing Command I will bring up this information screen that will tell you what camera was used to take that picture, when that picture was taken, any people that are found in that picture, and so much more. Command I is super powerful. So if you ever need more information about a document, photograph, or even a song in your music library, select it, hit command I, and all of the information that the computer knows about that document will be shown right here to completely simplify organizing things.
And our next keycode is command plus comma. Command plus comma is preferences or settings. Every program that we use on the computer, whether it's music or photos or Microsoft Word has a preference section that allows you to completely customize that application. The preference section is always under the application menu right here, but if you'll notice to the right, Command plus Comma will always get you there. So if you're in Microsoft Word Command Comma brings it right up. If you're in Photos Command Comma will get you right there. If you're in Music, Command Comma. If you're in Safari, command comma. So if you're trying to change something or customize something, start with command comma and it'll save you tons of time figuring out where those settings are on that particular application.
And the last universal keycode is command plus your spacebar. Command plus your spacebar brings up Spotlight. Spotlight is a global search that looks for everything all across your computer and the internet. Simply typing a few letters will give you all sorts of information about whatever you typed. Here, I put in Dylan, and we can see here's information about Dylan Stewart, Dylan Gilbert, information about Dylans from the internet. If we continue scrolling, we're going to find information in email, documents, websites. Anywhere on the computer or the internet that the word Dylan shows up can be found just by hitting command space. Command space can even allow you to launch a specific app just by typing a few letters and pressing the return button on your keyboard and it will open it right up. It's super powerful and super simple to use, but there's a second part to this keycode that you need to know. If you press command and hold down the space bar, you're going to get Siri's attention. This can allow you to ask any question, get any information, have her open apps or perform any task without you having to lift a finger. Super simple. Command space for spotlight. Command and hold space down for Siri.
Now let's talk about the best keycodes for formatting text. Whenever you're working on a document, there are things that we do all the time, whether it's making something bold or italic or underlining it or making it bigger or smaller or changing the font or the text color. Formatting is a key component of text and it's really easy to do with keycodes. First, select whatever you want to format. Once it's selected Command B is bold, command I is italic, command U is underline, and if you want to make the text larger or smaller, hold down the command button and press the plus button in the upper right hand corner of your keyboard like this. Plus makes it bigger, minus makes it smaller, allowing you to super easily change the formatting of a document without having to use the menu bar or the toolbar at all. So again, command B is bold, command I is italic, command U is underline, and command plus the plus or minus button makes the text bigger or smaller.
And in addition to those keycodes, there's one more that isn't quite a universal command, but I wish it was. And that's the ability to instantly access your font and text panel. Command plus T will bring up this super helpful panel that can allow you to change the font with just a single click, change the size, or even come right in here and change the color. That's Command T for the text panel, but unfortunately it just doesn't work everywhere. It mostly works in Apple made programs like Notes or Pages.
Now, in just a moment, I am going to deliver my MacWhisperer power tip, and I promise it's worth the wait. This tip is such an amazing tool that I use it every single day, hundreds and hundreds of times, and it has transformed how I work on a computer since I first started using it decades ago, and it's going to do the same for you. But before I get into that, did you learn something? Do you have questions or comments, something you don't understand? Did I leave out one of your favorite keycodes? Drop it down in the comments section and let's share that information. I love to hear from you guys and I always respond to anything that you put down in the comments. And while you're down there, hit that thumbs up button if you loved this video and want to make it easier for other people to find it. And if you haven't subscribed to my channel yet, why not? You're hurting my feelings. It's a really good channel and you would be really good as a subscriber. Go ahead and click that subscribe button and that notify bell so you don't miss out and you don't make me cry.
With that being said, it is time for our MacWhisperer Power Tip. You're probably thinking to yourself, I completely oversold this power tip, right? What could possibly be so valuable that I would use it every day, every hour, sometimes minute to minute? And the answer is this, Command plus Tab. This opens up what I'll call the application launcher. And when you hold down the command button and tap the tab key, it shows this overlay across your screen that shows every application that you've currently got open.
But why is that so important, Dylan? I can already find every application that's open. Sure, the way most people get around on their computer is they move Windows out of the way to get to the window behind it. And then later they move it back to get back to where they were. If you really know what you're doing, you might use the dock down at the bottom to get from one application over to the other without minimizing windows and moving them away. But once you get the hang of the command tab, it's going to change all that. Hold down the command button and tap the tab key. The overlay will appear. As you continue to tap the tab key, the selector will move from app to app to app to app. And when you release the command button, it will go to whatever app is highlighted by the selector here. This can make it super simple to jump from one app to another app without ever using your mouse or your trackpad. Simply jumping from one to the other.
But my power tip for Command plus Tab is this. When you first trigger the overlay, the app that is selected will be the one you were last in. So right now, we're currently in Music. I'm going to press command tab, when I release it, it jumps to messages. But if I press command tab again, it's going to go right back to music. This means, with just a simple command tab, you can jump between any two applications easily, which is super helpful since most of the time, we're in one application and then another, and then back, and then another. So learning how to do the command tab and recognize that it's just going to snap you back to the last application you were in, or holding it down to get to any other application you want to use is super helpful.
But I'm not done yet. This power tip has another level to it, and that other level is command plus tilde. The tilde is the key directly above your tab button. Don't ask me why it's called the tilde. I didn't name it. But here's the situation. Sometimes, you're in a particular application and you have numerous windows that are open. So it's not great that when you command tab from wherever you were to that application, you don't have any control over which window it starts with. But the command tilde changes that. Pressing command plus tilde will allow you to scroll through all of the open windows in that particular application. So if you don't move things out of the way and you don't minimize things, command tilde will get you from this Safari page, to this one, to this one, to this one, easily without any headaches or complications, making it simple to get to whatever specific page you want. By using command tab, you can go to the application, and by using command tilde, you can cycle through those open windows to find the exact application and the exact window you need right from your keyboard. I know, game changer, right?
If you want to learn more about keycodes, the first thing you can do is come up to any menu bar item. And right from here over to the right, you will see what the keycode is for that specific item. If you find yourself going up to the menu bar again and again and again, learn that keycode. Obviously, it's one you're using and you can simplify things by just looking right here. In addition to that, if you drop down into the descriptions for this video, you'll find a link for My Favorite keycodes. This is a one sheet PDF containing most of the keycodes we talked about today, and a handful of other ones that I just find essential and critical. Go ahead and click that link, and you can download the MacWhisperer's keycode Cheat Sheet to your computer.
I hope you learned something new and got great value out of today's lesson. I'm Dylan Stewart, The MacWhisperer, and it's my passion and profession to help you get more done with your Apple products than you've ever thought possible. And I will see you next time.