13 Uses For the Mac Esc Key

You can use the Esc key on your Mac to cancel or exit different dialogs, modes or functions. It is particularly useful if you like to keep your hands on the keyboard.
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Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let me show you some uses for the Escape Key on your Mac. 
Often I'm asked how you can cancel an action in the middle of it. Like if you go to Save a document and you decide you don't want to save it just yet. Sometimes the answer is obvious, like there is a cancel button. But how you do it with just the keyboard. Usually you can cancel actions using the Escape Key. Here are a bunch of examples.
So let's say you go to Save a document like this one. So I can go to File, Save or Command S. Then let's say I want to cancel right here. There's a cancel button and that will work. But how do you do it with a keyboard? There are actually a few ways. One is to actually use Command period. That usually simulates pressing the cancel button. But you can also usually use the Escape Key in any situation where you see a cancel button. So a quick Escape will also close the dialogue without doing anything. This works in a variety of different dialogues. So a Command O or File, Open brings the Open Dialogue. There's a cancel button. But the Escape Key will do it as well.
I go to File and then Export to PDF and then you can see there's a cancel button there and sure enough the Escape Key will work to cancel the dialogue as well. Sometimes you won't see a Cancel Button but it will still work. Like, for instance, if I Control Click here on the Toolbar I can customize Toolbar. You can also go in the View Menu in most apps to customize Toolbar. It brings up this huge dialogue here where I can customize the Toolbar in whatever app you're working on. There is no cancel button here along the bottom. But, pressing the Escape Key will dismiss the dialogue.
Now when you're using something like Mission Control or App Exposé the Escape Key will work there too. So I'm going to use Control Up Arrow to enter Mission Control. There are several different ways to leave this. But a way to do it with just the keyboard is to press the Escape Key. The same for App Exposé. I'm going to use Control Down Arrow to do that and you can see here I'm in Pages. I can tab to other apps and see all the windows in that app. But the Escape Key will exit and take me back.
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Now you can also use Escape to dismiss Quick Look. I've selected a file here and I'll press the Spacebar to bring up Quick Look. I can just press the Spacebar again and it will dismiss Quick Look. But you can also use the Escape Key. It also works for Spotlight. If I use Command space to bring up Spotlight Search I can use the Escape Key to dismiss it. You can also just use the same Command space to dismiss it. But you can also go deeper than that. If you start typing something in Spotlight and decide to use the Escape Key it won't dismiss it right away. But what it will do is clear out the text at the top first and then the second escape will dismiss it. You can also use it to cancel asking Siri whether you're using Type to Siri or the Microphone. You can use the Escape Key to dismiss it. So I'm going to activate it and then dismiss it, like that. Since I'm using Type to Siri I can type something and then use Escape and then it will delete what I typed and go back to nothing and then a second Escape will dismiss it.
You can also use it for dismissing menus. So, for instance, let's say I click once on a menu here. Now I can use the Escape Key and it will close the menu. This is useful if you have the keyboard to trigger the Menu Bar. For instance I'll use Command and Shift and the Slash key, which is question mark, and I can navigate around here and Escape will simply dismiss it. The same thing if you have your keyboard settings set to use Control and F2 to select the Menu Bar. You can see I'm moving around in here and I can go down and I can use Escape to dismiss it then. It works for other things in the Menu Bar as well. For instance, I can activate Control Center here or using the fn and C key and Escape will dismiss it. But any of these will actually work with Escape. So, for instance, I can use the Time Machine, Menu item here and Escape. I can use even a third party app, like my own ClipTools here and Escape. It also works with Notification Center. Click here on the Time, you get Notification Center, there's a keyboard shortcut as well. You can use Escape to dismiss Notification Center.
Sometimes Toolbars actually bring up Menus. Like, for instance, the Share Menu here. I've got this file selected and I can click this button here and it brings up this Menu. But an Escape will dismiss it. 
This is also true for Dock menus as well. So, for instance, I can click and hold Launchpad here and I get this Menu of all of the apps in alphabetical order. Or any of these. If I go to Photos here, like this, you can see I get a menu and I can use Escape to dismiss that.
Now like the Spotlight and Siri you can clear out Search fields using Escape. So here I am in System Settings, as an example. I can start typing something, like this, but if I want to start over I don't have to hit the Delete key a bunch of times. I can hit Escape and it clears it out.
Then here I am in Safari and let's say I want to go to a different website. I can start typing here and decide that I changed my mind and I can use Escape once and it will dismiss all of the suggestions, the first time. The second time it will clear out what I've typed and go back to what was there before. The third time it actually exists the field entirely going back to the webpage. 
It is not just search fields. If I want to rename a file one way to do it is select File, and then Rename. But I can also just press Return as the keyboard shortcut. I can type something but if I decide I want to change my mind I can use Escape and it will revert.
Another thing that Escape will do is Exit Full Screen Mode. I can go to View here and choose Enter Full Screen. There's a keyboard shortcut too. Anyway I do it if I get to Full Screen Mode with a window I can exit with the green button, sure. I can also use that same keyboard shortcut and menu item here. But I can also use the Escape Key to exit full screen. It won't do that for Split View. But what it will do is allow you to exit starting Split View. So if I use the green button here and go to Full Screen and say, okay this is going to be the left and now I get to choose the right. But at this point if I change my mind I use Escape and it exits without having implemented the split view.
Another thing you can use Escape for is to cancel Auto Correct. So let's say you're typing something like this. You can see how it is going to Auto Complete here. Let's say I don't want it to Auto Complete. Now one way to do it is to just keep typing and use the correct word, like that. You can see how just by ignoring Auto Correct it took care of itself. But to escape it, whether you see the word completed there or you are seeing this older type of Auto Correct, you can use the Escape Key and you can see how it just quietly dismisses the suggestion and now you can continue typing. But it is definitely useful if you have completed the word but it is suggesting adding more letters to make another word. You can then use the Escape Key, know that you've got the right word there, and pressing space won't implement the Auto Correct.
Here's one that I actually use all the time. Let's say you select a bunch of files. You start dragging and you're trying to figure out where they go and you realize you didn't select the right files or something like that. So a safe thing to do in the middle of a drag that you want to cancel is to use the Escape Key. You can see how now it safely cancels the dragging action.
So here are a bunch of other ones. If you go into System Settings Keyboard and you've enabled Dictation then you can start dictating using whatever shortcut you've got. So, press Control key twice. But if you want to cancel you can just press Control key once in that case. But the Escape Key works as well. So you can see how now I'm dictating but a quick press of the Escape Key and I'm done.
You can also use this to cancel Screenshot Mode. So Shift Command 5 brings up Screenshot mode here. You can capture the entire screen. Selected the window. A portion. You can be selecting a portion for screen recording. Any of that. You've got this little X button here. But you can also just use Escape Key to cancel it.
There are a ton of other uses especially in different apps. You want to check your favorite apps and see where the Escape Key can help you. For instance in Photos if I double-click on a photo to view it I can click this back button here. But also the Escape Key will take me back. If I go to Memories and I start playing a Memory, like this one, the Escape Key will cancel it and take me back to Memories. Another example is here I am in Quicktime Player and if I go to Trim the video, a quick Command T will do that. Now I'm in Trim Mode but you can see here there is a cancel button so that should give you a clue that the Escape Key will also exit Trim Mode.
One last one I want to show you is not using the Escape Key by itself. But using Command and then Option and then Escape. This will bring up the Force Quit application window. If an Application is misbehaving this is a way to be able to select it and then force it to Quit. Usually when you get here, if an app is misbehaving, you'll get a little red message after it saying that it is frozen on something like that. You shouldn't use this though if you could just go to the Applications' regular menu here and use Quit instead. Note that Finder is listed here as well. You can't quit the Finder but if you select it here, you can see you can Relaunch the Finder which is useful if something is going wrong in the Finder, if it is acting strangely, it is something you can try.
Oh! there's still one more thing I want to show you. That's using the Caps Lock Key as an escape key. If you go into System Settings and then go to Keyboard, go to Keyboard Shortcuts and look for Modifier Keys on the left here. You have all the Modifier Keys. The Escape Key is not listed here but it is one of the things you can set one of these keys to be. So, for instance, if you don't use the Caps Lock Key you can turn it into an additional Escape Key.
So the Escape Key is a useful tool especially for those that like to use the keyboard as much as possible. Hope you found this useful. Thanks for watching.
Comments: 3 Responses to “13 Uses For the Mac Esc Key”

Sheldon
2 months ago
Thanks bunches
Jim Terrinoni
1 month ago
Useful! Especially for clarification of some tips you’ve given in the past, now I understand better the why and how(process.) Thank you.
Eric
The Escape key is also handy to leave the full screen mode if it is used when watching these videos.