The fastest way to do anything on your computer is with a dedicated keyboard shortcut. That includes navigating files and folders, which is where Finder shortcuts come in so handy.
Speeding up such a common task by ditching the mouse cursor can really pay off. Eventually, these shortcuts become second nature, helping you save time and avoid distractions while trying to get things done. Here are my personal highlights.
1
Preview File: Spacebar
Quick Look might be your Mac’s greatest productivity feature. Rather than opening a file in the default app, Quick Look gives you a preview of the file. Much of the time, this is all you need. Simply highlight a file and tap the Spacebar to display it.
This works for a wide range of files out of the box, including PDFs, images, documents, videos, and audio. If in doubt, hit Spacebar anyway and see what happens. If you do this on an APP file, for example, you’ll see information like the developer name and the current version. For unsupported files, you might just see a big icon.
You can even use Quick Look to rotate, edit, or markup an image using the icons at the top of the window, and add more supported file types to Quick Look with extensions.
2
Rename File: Return
When I first switched to a Mac, my Windows brain was constantly tripping over this shortcut. Rather than opening a file or a folder, hitting Return lets you rename it instead. In time, I’ve come to appreciate this as a massive time-saver since using the right-click context menu (or clicking the name, then clicking again after a slight delay) takes a lot longer.
It’s also great for quickly renaming a few files in succession, since you can hit Return, type a new name, save it, then use the arrow keys to select the next file.
3
Move Here: Command+Option+V
By default, Finder lacks the “Cut” operation that you see on Windows. Though the Mac supports cutting text and other items, Finder lacks this feature by design. On a Mac, moving a file from one place to another is intended as a deliberate operation and one that depends on the Copy command.
You can Command+C to copy and then Command+V to paste, but if you want to move a file or folder then you’ll need to copy first, then hit Command+Option+V to move. This is a good introduction to the Option key, which acts like a modifier for many of your frequently-used Mac shortcuts. The idea here is to prevent you from accidentally moving a file instead of copying it.
If you simply can’t abide this, you can use a free app called Command X to add Windows-style Cut and Paste to the Mac’s Finder.
4
Go to Folder: Command+Shift+G
Want to navigate to a specific folder without having to double-click your way there? Hit Command+Shift+G to bring up the Go to Folder prompt. You can now type your exact location into the box and hit Enter to be transported there. This is particularly useful for reaching locations that exist outside of the usual user library folder.
Don’t know the exact location? Go to Folder can still help, since it auto-completes file paths for you. Simply start typing and you’ll see suggestions appear which you can select with the arrow keys. This is a fast way of finding things, since picking a folder from a list is quicker than scrolling through icons with your mouse cursor.
Alternatively, you could use Spotlight to find items directly, but this doesn’t really work for folders that are buried in odd places.
5
Connect to Server: Command+K
The Connect to Server shortcut makes it easy to access remote locations, whether they’re on the same local network or connected to the wider internet. Hit Command+K to bring up the dialog and then type in the protocol, followed by the address, and the port (if necessary), and hit Return.
Finder supports a wide range of protocols, including local shares over the SMB (Windows) and AFP (Mac) sharing protocols, NAS drives that use the NFS protocol, remote servers that use FTP and HTTP (including secure variants), and the lesser-used CIFS protocol. Also of note is the ability to quickly connect to VNC servers using Apple’s built-in VNC client.
I use this all the time to access my Mac mini server, which itself is accessible thanks to Apple’s inclusion of a VNC server (you can enable this under System Settings > General > Sharing > Remote Management). Type in your address and then use the plus “+” button to add it to your list of favorite servers, which makes it easy to frequently access the same locations.
6
Eject Volume: Command+E
Like it or not, you should probably be safely ejecting your drives every time you disconnect them from your computer. Rather than fishing around the sidebar and clicking the tiny eject button (or dragging the drive to the Trash can, which will forever feel weird to me), you can hit Command+E while browsing to get rid of it. You can also use the shortcut when you’ve got a mounted location highlighted from a top-level view.
On macOS, this is especially useful since the system is heavily reliant on disk images or DMG files. If you download and install a few apps from the web, you’ll have half a dozen volumes mounted that don’t automatically unmount when you’re done with them. Command+E makes light work of this.
7
New Folder (With Selection): Shift+Command+N (Control+Command+N)
Here’s two for the price of one. Creating a new folder in Finder either requires a trip to the File menu at the top of the screen or to use the right-click context menu. What’s much faster is hitting Shift+Command+N to instantly create one. On creation, the cursor will automatically be placed within the rename field, so you can give the folder a name, then hit Return to save it.
Possibly even more helpful is the ability to create a folder from a selection of files. To do this, select the files you want to clean up and hit Control+Command+N to move them immediately. You can then start typing your folder name and save it with the Return key.
8
Move to Trash (or Skip It): Command+Delete (Command+Option+Delete)
I never delete files by dragging them to the Trash can anymore, and the right-click menu is just way too slow. By far the easiest way to do this, even if you’ve painstakingly selected individual entries with your mouse cursor beforehand, is to use the Command+Delete keyboard shortcut.
Alternatively, you can choose to skip the Trash entirely and delete items permanently. I wouldn’t recommend doing this unless you’re confident that you’re deleting from a location where you’re not likely to make a mistake, or you’re desperate for disk space. As long as you’re sure, select your files, then hit Command+Option+Delete.
You’ll see a warning pop-up to let you know that what you’re about to do is non-recoverable. There’s a handy shortcut to quickly breeze through this final warning; just hit Command+D to confirm and delete the file from existence.
9
Move Up One Folder (or Down): Command+Up Arrow (Command+Down Arrow)
Finder uses back and forward arrows to help you navigate your drive, but you don’t always want to go back to where you came from. Sometimes, you want to ascend to the higher level enclosing folder, which requires that you right-click on the folder name at the top of the Finder window and select the corresponding folder. A better solution is to hit Command+Up Arrow.
Conversely, you can do the opposite using Command+Down Arrow to open the folder that’s currently highlighted. This also works for opening files. Using this trick, you can basically navigate anywhere on your drive using just the arrow keys and Command.
10
Reveal Hidden Files: Command+Shift+.
For the longest time, I left hidden files visible on my Mac since I couldn’t be bothered running the Terminal command necessary to reverse the change. Then I discovered the Command+Shift+. keyboard shortcut and never looked back.
Having hidden files visible can be handy, especially if you’re poking around in a system directory or looking for folders in which apps like Docker or Kodi store their files. But having them visible all of the time is a visual nightmare. Most of them are files you never have any need for, like temporary folders or “thumbs.db” files, making it hard to see the things you really need.
I’ve now taken to remembering to toggle hidden files visible when I need them, rather than leaving them there all of the time.
My Mac is my primary workspace, so maximizing productivity by saving time and preserving focus is incredibly important to me. Keyboard shortcuts are just one part of this equation, but taking the time to commit them to muscle memory can be of great benefit.
This is particularly true of text-editing shortcuts, since you can manipulate text without ever taking your fingers off the keyboard. These pair incredibly well with a clipboard manager like Maccy, since you’re able to store, move, and recall different passages of text without ever touching your trackpad or mouse.
For even more ideas, check out some universal Mac keyboard shortcuts that I couldn’t live without.
