A Comprehensive Guide To Controlling Your Mac With Your Keyboard

[@0xR0b0tt]

I worked for Apple. I have been using MACs for 20 years. And I learned a number of new, useful, time saving tricks. Thanks!!!

[@viclapira]

Thanks for this video-I’ve been using Windows-based machines for more than 35 years and can navigate around so quickly without the mouse, but with my Macs at home, it was not as apparent-until I started watching your videos. Great work.

[@toadlguy]

Thank you. The bit I got was great. I am a Computer Guy for 50 years and you keep coming up with stuff I didn’t know (or forgot 🤣)

[@teaseproductions6603]

Another gem my friend… I particularly liked the live aspect of this one.

[@franjaureguim]

Thank you sooooooo soooooo much Gary for this, and everything...

[@loisskiathitis8926]

This was great today Gary! Very useful and informative. Thank you! 👏🏻❤️

[@tristramllewellyn8162]

The Mac doesn’t have home/end keys like a PC but you might want that functionality with a text editor. You can get this by redefining your spaces hotkeys from command+left/right arrow when you shift spaces to command+control+arrows then you often get home/end. Doesn’t work for all apps but those that do it can be useful to have. Gary’s command+? is genius because not all desktop keyboards have the globe key so getting into menus without disabling special keys as well. This is a great workaround for when your wireless mouse goes flat. The trick searching menu items also being a great bonus. Being able to define a menu item hotkey is one of my favourites of Mac OS too.

[@macmost]

Actually Macs do have Home/End just like Windows, but you need an extended keyboard to have those, just like Windows. If not, then you don't need to reassign anything to use Home/End, just use FN+left and FN+right.

[@vinnybauer4205]

Whew, Tried the new SanDisk on MacBook Pro...it worked. So tried different port on Wife's iMac...it now Works. Thanks Chief Ken Bauer, USAF (Ret)

[@rm3934]

I'm using fully updated Monterey and fn + m Mutes the sound; maybe that's only in KZbin; yes I tried it elsewhere and it did move the "cursor" to the Menu bar.

[@dchungmanson]

Excellent demonstration Thanks a lot

[@haydnhorne2505]

very great got thirsty listening you did well !!!so much to absorb will watch again thank you for the time and effort Gary

[@umarsuleiman1299]

thanks alot you are very good to teaching me on youtube about mac app

[@demodrift8605]

I've already started using the shortcut for "Tags..." ! I appreciate that! Is there a way to know if some shortcut will impact another before you try to use and that doesn't work? For example, I tried option+command+T and that show/hide Toolbar in Finder in Monterey and I needed to change my shortcut for "Tags..."

[@botch3936]

That would be useful.

[@kevinhawthorne5257]

I enjoyed the video that you just did.

[@JAKE-1x1]

Thanks Gary!

[@rm3934]

11 mins. in; followed guide precisely (or so I thought) for "move focus to the menu bar" to no effect; it turns out that the same symbols in System Prefs. in OS Monterey require Ctrl/ Fn /F2 ( Ctrl/F2 in tutorial) which is only revealed when the Shortcut command is hovered over - as was shown in the video - but it reveals how complex things are with new OS's etc. This was cleared up later but would have been better covered earlier as most would have the F1/2 keys for Brightness. fn + m just mutes (not open menu as per tutorial) is this because of some other setting? I believe mine are at the default so ...

[@cucobein]

I love this video

[@FelixYap67]

Hi Gary, your section on emacs commands REALLY opened the eyes of this keyboard warrior! Do you have a cheatsheet of all emacs commands? I am stumped about which key serves as the Meta modifier key on Mac.

[@macmost]

I don't have one, but I'm sure there are many EMACS cheat sheets online. But not all commands probably work for Mac text editing. Not sure about "meta modifier" but try all of the modifier keys (Option, Command, Control)

[@FelixYap67]

Thanks Gary. No luck with the Meta modifier, but the commands you covered are sufficient for my purposes. And of course I make ample use of key mapping on my programmable (non-Apple) keyboard 😁

[@IvanSavin]

Which software do you use for showing on the screen buttons which are pressed during the demo? Thanks!

[@macmost]

macmost.com/what-i-use

[@alex.mcintosh]

you're the man

[@desertpatient]

Thanks bunches

[@hellojennifer-ux]

Hi Gary, I love your videos, thank you!! Is there a shortcut while using Photos to edit movies, to slow the frame rate as you drag, to clip the movie precisely where you want it? THANKS!

[@macmost]

You mean while trimming a video in the Photos app? No. Just do your best and maybe err on the side of including an extra second.

[@4fredeya]

Hey Gary, great video again. i used some of your keyboard shortcuts. btw, what's the brand of that little numpad that you just showed at the end of the video. Thanks a ton in advance!

[@macmost]

MacAlly. The biggest problem with it is it is wireless and uses regular batteries. I would rather have a rechargeable one or a USB one. Of course I have a keyboard with the numpad so I don't really need it anyway.

[@4fredeya]

@@macmost Thank you so much, Gary for your input. appreciate it a lot.

[@nicholashunt5230]

@@macmost Aren't there rechargeable versions of those regular batteries out there? I like them because they don't necessarily wear out (unlike a built-in battery). I can simply just swap out the batteries once they die and immediately have a full charge. No need to wait a couple of hours for it to charge to full capacity... 🙂

[@macmost]

@@nicholashunt5230 Yeah, but in my experience they don't last nearly as long. I think I went through a dozen batteries over the lift of my previous trackpad for instance and my current trackpad with built-in batteries is still going strong, and I've had it longer.

[@nicholashunt5230]

@@macmost That's fair. I guess it depends on what kind of batteries you get. I use Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries, and they've been very reliable.

[@rm3934]

It seems that the keyboard shortcuts to the menu don't work when for example You Tube is open; I just tried it now and it did work but I'm sure it didn't at other times; it may have been covered but are there programmes/apps where the shortcuts won't work?

[@petercohen3966]

This is great. Thank you. Is there are a way to add a shortcut to popups and right-click menus? Many uses. For example, to save an image from a browser, like in other operating systems (i.e. right-click v enter).

[@macmost]

Yes.You can create services in Automator, Script Editor or Shortcuts and those would be added to Services in the Context Menu, provide the context is right.

[@petercohen3966]

@@macmost Cool. I'll give it a go. I already tried Shortcuts but I'm still getting to know the app.

[@petercohen3966]

​@@macmost I've given this a go in automator, shortcuts and script editor and have looked on the web. No joy. Could you explain in more detail? It's a fairly simple request but I'm not sure if you're understanding. Normally I'd two-finger-click a LINK in a browser and access the various options there. I'm happy to continue right clicking but I'd like a key stroke for the shortcut so I don't have to move my pointer away from the clicked link.

[@macmost]

@@petercohen3966 It sounded like in your initial question you were looking to add some functionality to the context menu. Now it sounds like you want to add keyboard shortcuts to access the existing functions in the context menu instead. Can you tell me what, exactly, you are looking to do?

[@petercohen3966]

@@macmost Yes, the latter.

[@Toboe26]

Hi! thanks for this video. Do you know if there is a shortcut to switch the focus to an external monitor and back? for example, let's say you have 3 spaces (or full screen apps) in your built-in monitor and other 3 spaces in your external monitor, if you are working on one space in the external monitor, you have the focus on it and can move between those spaces in that monitor with the shortcut ctrl + left / right arrow. However, if you are working on your external monitor (ie. have the focus on it) and want to move between the spaces (or full screen apps) from the built-in display to start working on one of those, you will need to use the mouse or trackpad. Now, by assigning a shortcut to "Switch to Desktop #" in the Mission Control shortcuts, in some cases it just shows the desktop # nothing else, the focus will not change; also, it seems that you can only assign up to 3 desktop shortcuts (at least in Mojave) and also, it will not apply when working with full screen apps. Sorry for the long question 😅 I haven't found an answer to that.

[@macmost]

There's nothing that will do exactly that, but you may be able to use just the plain App Switcher for it. For instance, if the other screen has three apps in full screen like Mail, Safari and Messages and you use Command+Tab to switch to Safari. That will work no matter where your pointer is located, even if it is on the other screen.

[@gw3705]

I've got to clean up my desktop, (11"), and I can't remember your instructions. I am going to use my iPhone to watch this video while I perform the shortcuts and create a couple. Is this ok or a weird workaround?

[@macmost]

There's no right or wrong way...

[@bulk4174]

I've customized my keyboard to use Control instead of Command. I have customized specific keys, like the video does around 7:15 , for certain keys like Copy, Paste, Select All, etc. However, I am coming up with issues with Ctrl+A and Ctrl+V, select all and paste. When I press Ctrl+A, instead of selecting all letters as I have set it to be, it goes to the front of the sentence/paragraph. When I press Ctrl+V, sometimes it doesn't paste, and I end up pressing Ctrl+V several times until it finally does paste. Can you help me fix this issue?

[@macmost]

The apps are probably using those at a lower level and you won't be able able to override those. If you really want to switch Command and Control (I don't recommend that) then at least use System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Modifier Keys to actually switch them instead of trying to adjust every keyboard shortcut.

[@rm3934]

Recently I left the Mac “asleep” with the wired mouse unplugged and the keyboard and modem off - with the plan that this may allow it to sleep. Returned hours later and the screen was on; in fact it seemed to stay on past the 3min “Turn off display” (TOD) previously selected. Anyway I’m largely over the idea that an Apple device could manage such sophistication as to have a meaningful “Sleep” option but naively (since the mouse was unplugged) I tried to check the System Prefs. to check what the TOD setting was. Fn+control+F2 worked and the down arrow went to the System Prefs. option; it opened and I was able to tab to the Energy saver area. Clicking on it (or any other Sys. Prefs. option) just produced an error sound. I plugged in the mouse and clicked on the Energy saver icon and it opened. So my questions are: Is this normal; some kind of limitation on using the keyboard - or should I reinstall my fully updated Monterey?

[@macmost]

Sounds like maybe you weren't "clicking" but pressing some other key or something? Why were are you doing so many unusual things for sleep? No need to unplug mouse, keyboard and "modem" (do you mean Wi-Fi?) Just let it sleep normally. You don't need to do all of that.

[@rm3934]

@@macmost Thank you for the response. It won't sleep for more than about 10mins usually so I've been turning off everything that may produce some input to try and ascertain whether it awakens due to a particular external device. After a restart I went to System Preferences again via the keyboard and again after any option was selected and the “return” key used it produced an error sound - but when I tabbed to the Search box and typed in Energy Saver it opened up. I gather you are suggesting that this is abnormal; is that correct? I'm recent user of a Mac and my experience is that it doesn't seem to cope well with anything out of the ordinary so being able to navigate to an icon and it not being openable via the keyboard seems consistent. If it is abnormal then along with the intermittent sleep issue maybe a reinstall of the OS is worth a try. PS. I meant Modem in prev. post.

[@macmost]

@@rm3934 Have you tried using Activity Monitor to see what is causing the issue? kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHvXi554d8t7atE

[@rhettsmedia]

I still haven’t heard how to drag and drop with the keyboard with voiceover on Also, you seem to deny that there’s a way to do like a right click or a two finger double tap on the mouse there is with voiceover on it, so VO shift an M, but you deny that exists

[@macmost]

Not sure what you are referring to here.

[@artok3897]

Thank you. Now I will not get a ”mouse shoulder” again! 🤷‍♂️

[@rasvud3014]

aaaand still i don't know how to get a context menu (right click on the mouse) of element with keyboard shortcut

[@macmost]

You can't. A context menu depends on "context" so it is an action of the pointer and its location. So what is it you are trying to DO? Often, there is a keyboard shortcut to do that, but the solution is not reliant on the context menu at all.

[@rasvud3014]

@@macmost for example if i want to open some file with some app, and i need list of these apps

[@macmost]

@@rasvud3014 But how often do you need to do that? Typically you need a keyboard shortcut for something you do very often. But how often do you need to see the list of apps that a file can be opened with? What is the situation where that is happening?

[@davismiller8318]

Since downloading Ventura, I am having keyboard problems. Some letters and number buttons aren't working and I can't figure out how to correct it. Any guidance from you is greatly appreciated.

[@macmost]

Which keys specifically?

[@davismiller8318]

The letters i j k l m u and numbers 7 8 9, this started after downloading Ventura also to log in after shut down it will take my pass word but not at the sleep mode I am presently using the keyboard viewer.@@macmost

[@macmost]

@@davismiller8318 You have turned on Mouse Keys. Go to System Settings, Accessibility, Pointer Control. Switch off Mouse Keys.

[@davismiller8318]

@@macmost got myComputer back yesterday evening about a hour after replying to you. I thank you much for your response. being in the lock mode and not knowing what I did was my problem. Thanks again .

[@LeviSmith-cw3fu]