Mac Hotkeys:Boost Your Productivity

Recently, while working on a project, I saw experts using shortcuts with incredible efficiency. Their proficiency was awe-inspiring, highlighting the gap between us. While you’re still slowly moving your mouse, the expert might have already switched between numerous files and executed several actions efficiently. This gap in efficiency multiplies over time. Seeing this gap has motivated me to start mastering various common shortcuts. Here, I record them for my reference and perhaps to help others.

Disclaimer

  • Since I am a Mac user and a Developer, the software and skills covered here are focused accordingly.
  • Some shortcuts are marked with * indicating that they are custom settings, not software defaults, and are for reference only.
  • The operational techniques must also be continually adjusted and enriched in practice, so this document will be continuously updated.
  • I set the F media keys as function keys, so low-frequency media key operations require Fn, but other high-frequency operations become simpler.

Mac Keyboard Symbols

  • ⌘ ——> Command
  • ⇧ ——> Shift
  • ⌥ ——> Option (or Alt)
  • ⌃ ——> Control (or Ctrl)
  • ⇪ ——> Caps Lock
  • ␣ ——> Space

Official documentation: Click here

System-Level

Operation Shortcut
Switch APP ⌘ TAB
Switch Input Method ⌃ Space
Switch between windows in the app ⌘ `
Full-Screen App ⌘ ⌃ F
Screen Capture ⌘ ⇧ 5
Stop Screen Recording ⌘ ⌃ Esc
Screenshot ⌘ ⇧ 3
Region Screenshot ⌃ ⌘ A
Invoke Alfred Custom double ⌘
Enter Moom window adjustment mode ⇧ ⌘ M
Upload image to image bed Custom ⌥ ⌘ U
Open ChatGPT App Custom ⌥ ⌘ G
Open Calendar Custom ⌥ ⌘ X
Show or hide Youdao Dictionary window Custom ⌥ ⌘ E
Open Things Custom ⌥ ⌘ H
Open Emoji Popup ⌃ ⌘ Space
Open ChatGPT App Custom ⌥ ⌘ G

Finder

Operation Shortcut
Hide and show hidden files ⌘ ⇧ .
Copy file path ⌘ ⌥ C
Get file information ⌘ I

Chrome

Official documentation: Click here

Operation Shortcut
New Tab ⌘ T
Close Tab ⌘ W
Switch to Left Tab ⌥ ⌘ ⬅️
Switch to Right Tab ⌥ ⌘ ➡️
Jump to specific tab ⌘ 1 to ⌘ 8
Jump to Address Bar ⌘ L
History ⌘ Y
Downloads ⌥ ⌘ L
Open Developer Tools ⌘ Option I
Reload the current page (Ignore cached content) ⌘ ⇧ R
View page source (unmodifiable) ⌘ Option U
Open a new window in Incognito mode ⌘ Shift N
Open Developer Tools, select element ⌘ ⇧ C

Developer Tools

Official documentation: Click here

Operation Shortcut
Open Command Menu ⌘ ⇧ P
Pause/Resume script execution F8
Step over next function call F10
Step into next function call F11
Step out of current function ⇧ F11
Toggle breakpoint ⌘ B

Also recommend installing Vimium, to use Vim-like keyboard shortcuts.

Intellij IDEA

Official documentation: Click here

Common Operations

Operation Shortcut
Hide/Show Panels ⌘ ⇧ F12
Hide All ⌘ ⇧ H
Show/Hide All Panels ⌘ 1 (Project), ⌘ 2 (Favorites), ⌘ 3 (Find), ⌘ 4 (Run), ⌘ 5 (Debug), ⌘ 6 (Problem), ⌘ 7 (Structure), ⌘ 8 (VCS), ⌘ 9 (TODO), ⌘ 0 (Terminal)
Jump to Navigation Bar ⌘ ⌥ Home

Editing

Operation Shortcut
Show Intention Actions ⌥ Enter
Complete Code ⌃ Space
Smart Code Completion ⌃ ⌥ Space
Type Matching Completion ⌘ ⇧ Space
Reformat Code ⌘ ⌥ L
Find in File ⌘ F
Replace in File ⌘ R
Find in Path ⌘ ⇧ F
Replace in Path ⌘ ⇧ R
Create Scratch File ⌘ ⇧ N
Open Settings ⌘ ,
Commit to VCS ⌘ K
Rename File ⇧ F6
Find Action ⌘ ⇧ A
Update from VCS ⌘ T
VCS Popup ⌃ V
Git-Revert ⌥ ⌘ Z
Insert Custom Live Template ⌘ J
Run/Debug ⌃ R / D
Debug to next step/Into F8 / F7
Import Class, Toggle if statement ⌥ Enter
Increase/Decrease Font Size in Editor Custom ⌘ ⇧ = / ⌘ ⇧ - / ⌘ ⇧ 0
Open Recent Projects Custom ⌘ ⇧ P
Extend Selection ⌥ ↑
Surround with ⌥ ⌘ T
Clipboard History ⇧ ⌘ V
Toggle Case ⇧ ⌘ U
Highlight Usages in File ⇧ ⌘ F7
Move to next highlighted element usage ⌃ ⌥ ↓
Move to previous highlighted element usage ⌃ ⌥ ↑
Column Selection Mode ⌘ ⇧ 8

Modifications

Operation Shortcut
Move F6
Inline Variable ⌥ ⌘ N

View

Operation Shortcut
Quick Definition ⌘ Y

Tool Windows

Operation Shortcut
Terminal ⌥ F12
Build Project ⌘ F9

Debugging

Operation Shortcut
Step over next function call F8
Step into next function call F7
Select function to step into ⇧ F7
Step out of current function ⇧ F8
View all breakpoints ⌘ ⇧ F8

Others

Operation Shortcut
Show in Finder ⌘ ⇧ J
Scroll to bottom Custom ⌃⇧⬇️
Scroll to top Custom ⌃⇧⬆️

DataGrip

Official documentation: Click here

Operation Shortcut
View table structure ⌘ F12
Retrieve table data ⌘ F
Search everywhere double ⇧
Recent files ⌘ E
Recent locations ⌘ ⇧ E
Open Console ⌘ ⇧ F10

Editing

Operation Shortcut
Create (table, field, record, etc.) ⌘ N
Submit changes ⌘ ↩
Maximize editor ⇧ ↩
Enter in cell (same as above) ⇧ ↩
Go to line ⌘ L
Compare cell content ⌘ ⇧ D

Others

Operation Shortcut
Preview file supports search ⌥ ␣

iTerm2

Operation Shortcut
Split pane vertically ⌘ D
Split pane horizontally ⌘ ⇧ D
Previous pane ⌘ [
Next pane ⌘ ]
Enter/Exit full screen ⌘ Enter
Search command history ⌃ R
New tab ⌘ T
Increase font size ⌘ +
Decrease font size ⌘ -
Reset font size ⌘ 0
Toggle terminal opacity set opacity first ⌘ U

Things

Official documentation: Click here

WeChat

Operation Shortcut
Search ⌘ F

Dash

Operation Shortcut
Open current web page in browser ⌘ ⇧ B

1Password

Official documentation: Click here

Operation Shortcut
Show Password
Search ⌘ F
Copy Password ⇧ ⌘ C
Toggle safe field visibility ⌘ R

Postman

Operation Shortcut
Send Request ⌘ ⏎
Duplicate Request ⌘ D

Conclusion

Muscle Memory - the human muscles have a memory effect. After repeating the same action multiple times, the muscles will form a conditioned reflex. The speed at which the human body’s muscles acquire memory is very slow, but once acquired, the speed of forgetting is also very slow. So, practice repeatedly, remember repeatedly, and benefit for life.