16 Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac Users

Time is precious. We’re always looking for ways to use it wisely. Having a few tricks up our sleeves to shave off time spent at the computer are welcome shortcuts and just a click — or combination of clicks — away.

Using keyboard combinations on Windows and Mac is quick and fun, whether you’re on a laptop or desktop, and often more accurate than maneuvering a mouse. To get you started, we’ve assembled 16 Mac shortcuts here, and Windows users have their own set of 16 shortcuts.

AARP Membership— $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal

Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

Join Now

Note: We use a (+) to identify a combination of keys to hold down for an action to take place, for example, Command + (and) another key.

Mac Shortcuts

Mac users have an assortment of special keys to master, often in combination with a letter or number. This includes the Command key (which may look like this ⌘), as well as Shift ⇧ and Option or Alt (which may look like this: ⌥)

1. Command + B: Bold

2. Command + I: Italic

3. Command + U: Underline

Not only can you quickly format words to bold (CTRL B), italics (CTRL I) and underline (CTRL U), but applying the same combinations removes the bold, italic and underlined text.

4. Command + A: Select All Items

If you’re looking to select all content in a word document or a group of documents in a folder, there’s no need to drag the cursor over the entire screen. Instead, press Command + A and it will immediately select everything in one fell swoop. You can then cut and paste the content somewhere else, copy everything, or format the content using the bold, italic and underline tricks above.

5. Command + C: Copy

6. Command + V: Paste

7. Command + X: Cut

If you’re looking to duplicate information somewhere else, once you’ve selected and highlighted text on the screen, you can then copy that information using Command + C. Then paste the information to your desired location using Command + V. This keeps the original content intact.  

Alternatively, if you want to remove content from one place altogether, you can delete it using Command + X. If you want to use that information in another location, use Command + V to paste it.