If you do a lot of writing on your Mac, here are a bunch of tips to help you type and manipulate text more efficiently. You can use the arrow keys along with modifiers to move around and select text without taking your fingers off the keyboard. You can also quickly delete words and lines without using your mouse or trackpad. You can complete and correct spelling, substitute a few keystrokes for longer pieces of text, and type accent marks and symbols quickly.
Comments: 10 Responses to “12 Tips To Help You Type Like a Pro On Your Mac”
Ian MacGregor
6 years ago
Thank you, Gary. I had no idea about Control+Command+Spacebar, very helpful!
Ian MacGregor
6 years ago
Gary, in your text replacements you have "1/2". Where can those fractions be found? I couldn't find them with Control+Command+Spacebar. Also, someone told me about an Apple icon/font, can't find that one either.
Ian: Try Control+Command+Space and searching for "fraction." For some reason Apple doesn't put the symbol in there. Maybe they don't want people over-using it. But Option+Shift+k will get it for you in many fonts.
Ian MacGregor
6 years ago
Gary, Thank you! MacMost ROCKS!
Ulrich Maasmeier
6 years ago
That's cool!
I did know much of it, but not the alt/command - delete combinations – until now.
James Moore
6 years ago
In the Character Viewer (Control+Command+Space), I add common characters I use to Favorites. This allows me to reuse commonly used characters quickly and efficiently.
I've added common math symbols, fractions, common subscripts and superscripts, and a few other characters I find useful.
This way I don't have to search for them.
𝛑√∛∜℃℉½⅓⅔¼∞≤≥∑❌•𝓪𝓫𝓬𝓭𝓮 𝓲 etc
John F.
6 years ago
Here's a weird question (I think)... sometimes when I'm typing on my Mac, I'll get emoji substitutions for words. For instance, if I type "cash" it will be replaced with a moneybag image, etc. It's not every time either. And it doesn't seem to be app specific. It's as if I were typing in Messages on my phone. I'd love to shut it off but can't find out how.
John: That's odd. Check in System Preferences to see if you added some text replacements for that. Otherwise, try to notice exactly what it is doing when that happens. Does that appear as a choice with an X next to it when typing?
Bruce
6 years ago
Very helpful! One trick I learned for text substitution: use a semi-colon (;) at the beginning of the abbreviation. Imagine you want your initials expand to your name, but your name is Bart Emory, if you use BE as the abbreviation, you can't use "be" as a word. But if you use ;BE as the abbreviation, there is never a conflict. No word starts with a ; symbol. It also allows abbreviations to be more intuitive. ";name" expands to my full name, but "name" does not.
TimA
6 years ago
Type Like A Pro On Your Mac
Left Right Up Down (Arrows)
Option Word Paragraph
Cmd Line (freezes) Body
Opt Sh Select Word Select Paragraph
Cmd Sh Select Line Select Body
Opt Del Word
Opt Forwd Del
Opt Escape - auto completion
Auto correction (escape to override)
Accent marks - hold down key
Cnt Cmd Spacebar Special Char Palette
Thank you, Gary. I had no idea about Control+Command+Spacebar, very helpful!
Gary, in your text replacements you have "1/2". Where can those fractions be found? I couldn't find them with Control+Command+Spacebar. Also, someone told me about an Apple icon/font, can't find that one either.
Ian: Try Control+Command+Space and searching for "fraction." For some reason Apple doesn't put the symbol in there. Maybe they don't want people over-using it. But Option+Shift+k will get it for you in many fonts.
Gary, Thank you! MacMost ROCKS!
That's cool!
I did know much of it, but not the alt/command - delete combinations – until now.
In the Character Viewer (Control+Command+Space), I add common characters I use to Favorites. This allows me to reuse commonly used characters quickly and efficiently.
I've added common math symbols, fractions, common subscripts and superscripts, and a few other characters I find useful.
This way I don't have to search for them.
𝛑√∛∜℃℉½⅓⅔¼∞≤≥∑❌•𝓪𝓫𝓬𝓭𝓮 𝓲 etc
Here's a weird question (I think)... sometimes when I'm typing on my Mac, I'll get emoji substitutions for words. For instance, if I type "cash" it will be replaced with a moneybag image, etc. It's not every time either. And it doesn't seem to be app specific. It's as if I were typing in Messages on my phone. I'd love to shut it off but can't find out how.
John: That's odd. Check in System Preferences to see if you added some text replacements for that. Otherwise, try to notice exactly what it is doing when that happens. Does that appear as a choice with an X next to it when typing?
Very helpful! One trick I learned for text substitution: use a semi-colon (;) at the beginning of the abbreviation. Imagine you want your initials expand to your name, but your name is Bart Emory, if you use BE as the abbreviation, you can't use "be" as a word. But if you use ;BE as the abbreviation, there is never a conflict. No word starts with a ; symbol. It also allows abbreviations to be more intuitive. ";name" expands to my full name, but "name" does not.
Type Like A Pro On Your Mac
Left Right Up Down (Arrows)
Option Word Paragraph
Cmd Line (freezes) Body
Opt Sh Select Word Select Paragraph
Cmd Sh Select Line Select Body
Opt Del Word
Opt Forwd Del
Opt Escape - auto completion
Auto correction (escape to override)
Accent marks - hold down key
Cnt Cmd Spacebar Special Char Palette