Comments: 30 Responses to “MacMost Now 244: Creating Custom Keyboard Shortcuts”
Daniel
15 years ago
This was great, I already use your tip on making a keyboard shortcut to "Mac
Speech," from your Mac Answers podcast. :-)
Julie Baltins
15 years ago
i can't get this to work i called my apple tec & still can't help gary ???i went over this time & time again i have a 20'' Mac all up dates are good also any thoughts? on something i should do ?
Which part, specifically, is not working? If you follow the steps in the video, at what point do you see something different happen?
Matt Matson
15 years ago
Thanks for the tip!
However, I was wondering if there is a way to make a shortcut for a particular action within a program. For example, there is a short cut for "Special Characters..." in text/edit.app, but I would like to create a shortcut for particular characters that I use often (e.g., the em-dash, the paragraph, and the section symbol).
Any advice?
Great ! Now I reboot in a snapshot with my custom ctrl+shift+cmd+R shortcut !
I really enjoy your vids, keep the good work. Cheers from a french guy in Madrid =)
Anne Layzer
13 years ago
Many of the keyboard shortcuts that are in System Preference don't work for me, including the send command in Mail, the sleep command systemwide, Google Search in Safari.
Are you sure you have assigned a key and turned them on (checkmark). Most of them have no keys assigned and some are turned off. Then, make sure you are in the right application to use them.
mel
13 years ago
I have OS Lion and I would like to be able to delete files (from finder and/or desktop) using my keyboard. The delete key doesn't work, and either does command+delete. So I tried to create my own shortcut using command+delete, but it won't let me use the delete key in a shortcut. Any suggestions?
Command+Delete should work. That is the default. If you go to the Finder menu, and look for "Move to Trash" you should see it as Command+Delete.
Are you using the right Delete key? Some keyboards have two: a regular delete key two rows above the return key and to the right of the = key, plus a "forward delete" key above the arrows. Make sure you use the one near =. Some older keyboards may call it "backspace."
Vicki B.
13 years ago
I printed out your list of shortcuts, but it seems like the Apple Web site has even more than that. There was at least 3 pages of them.
The guy who helps me with my computer found them for me, so now I have two lists.
Right. I compiled a list of what I considered the most useful on a single page. Since you can create your own, and third-party apps add even more, the list can go on almost forever.
Kathy Cunningham
13 years ago
Thanks so much for your video and detailed explanation. What a time saver... this is extremely helpful!!!
Mojtaba
13 years ago
thankssss
Jamie
13 years ago
Hey there- I am trying to create a keyboard shortcut to close a message that is open in mail. In windows if i hit the escape key the message closes- i tried to set this up with a command key and a few different options and no luck- any suggestions? thanks Jamie
What do you mean by "closes?" If you have it open in a window, then command+W closes your current window. Or do you mean something else, like archiving the message? That's Message, Archive. So just assign a shortcut to "Archive."
Samuel
12 years ago
I'm trying to create a shortcut to "Arrange>Align Objects>Center" in iWeb, but it keeps creating the shortcut under "Format>Text>Center". Is there any way around this? It's driving me crazy having to use the drop down menu every time I want to Align objects. Thanks in advance.
Why not just put it in your Dock? Or an alias on your Desktop?
John
12 years ago
I mean the actual "Pictures" menu. I use it so frequently that it would be nice to have a keyboard shortcut. Tried dragging the Pictures menu to the dock but didn't work.
Pictures MENU? Not sure what you mean by that. I thought you meant the Pictures folder. There is no Pictures menu in the Finder. Perhaps you mean something else? Or, perhaps you really do you mean the Pictures folder (in your user folder). Or, maybe you mean the Pictures item you may have in the Finder window sidebar?
John
12 years ago
Sorry Gary. Ultimately, I want the fastest access to my list of folders in my Pictures folder.
I have searched (on and off) for years on a shortcut for inserting comments into a Numbers cell. Thanks to you, I just created my own, plus a shortcut for hiding it. This will save me IMMENSE amounts of time. Thank you, thank you.
Mr cassenoisette
12 years ago
In mountain lion I wanted to create a shortcut for ''Show All tabs'' in safari. So I went in System Preferences, keyboard, application shortcut, took safari in the list and created my own shortcut. ''Ctrl ⇧ S'' for instance. Does not work .. Am i missing something ? Or is there already a shortcut for it ?
There is already a shortcut for that. I see it as Shift+Command+\
Mr Anthony Cotton
12 years ago
I have never used keyboard short cuts apart from Photoshop. When i am on the internet i can take a full screen shot or select the part you want you want. I can`t see the point of a shortcut unless you have to type in a lot of numbers using the Command,Alt,Ctrl,and Options,then i would agree.When this guy was learning me the system i asked when he clicked a shortcut. He said it`s up to you if you want. This guy was that clever he could operate Photoshop by just using the Keyboard alone,and never touch the mouse.
This was great, I already use your tip on making a keyboard shortcut to "Mac
Speech," from your Mac Answers podcast. :-)
i can't get this to work i called my apple tec & still can't help gary ???i went over this time & time again i have a 20'' Mac all up dates are good also any thoughts? on something i should do ?
Which part, specifically, is not working? If you follow the steps in the video, at what point do you see something different happen?
Thanks for the tip!
However, I was wondering if there is a way to make a shortcut for a particular action within a program. For example, there is a short cut for "Special Characters..." in text/edit.app, but I would like to create a shortcut for particular characters that I use often (e.g., the em-dash, the paragraph, and the section symbol).
Any advice?
To create shortcuts for special characters, you could use text substitutions. Check out episode 289.
http://macmost.com/using-text-substitutions-in-snow-leopard.html
Great ! Now I reboot in a snapshot with my custom ctrl+shift+cmd+R shortcut !
I really enjoy your vids, keep the good work. Cheers from a french guy in Madrid =)
Many of the keyboard shortcuts that are in System Preference don't work for me, including the send command in Mail, the sleep command systemwide, Google Search in Safari.
Are you sure you have assigned a key and turned them on (checkmark). Most of them have no keys assigned and some are turned off. Then, make sure you are in the right application to use them.
I have OS Lion and I would like to be able to delete files (from finder and/or desktop) using my keyboard. The delete key doesn't work, and either does command+delete. So I tried to create my own shortcut using command+delete, but it won't let me use the delete key in a shortcut. Any suggestions?
Command+Delete should work. That is the default. If you go to the Finder menu, and look for "Move to Trash" you should see it as Command+Delete.
Are you using the right Delete key? Some keyboards have two: a regular delete key two rows above the return key and to the right of the = key, plus a "forward delete" key above the arrows. Make sure you use the one near =. Some older keyboards may call it "backspace."
I printed out your list of shortcuts, but it seems like the Apple Web site has even more than that. There was at least 3 pages of them.
The guy who helps me with my computer found them for me, so now I have two lists.
Right. I compiled a list of what I considered the most useful on a single page. Since you can create your own, and third-party apps add even more, the list can go on almost forever.
Thanks so much for your video and detailed explanation. What a time saver... this is extremely helpful!!!
thankssss
Hey there- I am trying to create a keyboard shortcut to close a message that is open in mail. In windows if i hit the escape key the message closes- i tried to set this up with a command key and a few different options and no luck- any suggestions? thanks Jamie
What do you mean by "closes?" If you have it open in a window, then command+W closes your current window. Or do you mean something else, like archiving the message? That's Message, Archive. So just assign a shortcut to "Archive."
I'm trying to create a shortcut to "Arrange>Align Objects>Center" in iWeb, but it keeps creating the shortcut under "Format>Text>Center". Is there any way around this? It's driving me crazy having to use the drop down menu every time I want to Align objects. Thanks in advance.
Samuel
That's a problem if the menu has two menu items with the exact same name. No way to do it that I know of.
Hey Gary, is there a way to create a shortcut for opening "Pictures" in Finder on OS Lion?
Why not just put it in your Dock? Or an alias on your Desktop?
I mean the actual "Pictures" menu. I use it so frequently that it would be nice to have a keyboard shortcut. Tried dragging the Pictures menu to the dock but didn't work.
Pictures MENU? Not sure what you mean by that. I thought you meant the Pictures folder. There is no Pictures menu in the Finder. Perhaps you mean something else? Or, perhaps you really do you mean the Pictures folder (in your user folder). Or, maybe you mean the Pictures item you may have in the Finder window sidebar?
Sorry Gary. Ultimately, I want the fastest access to my list of folders in my Pictures folder.
Then I would drag that folder (right from your user folder) to the right side of the Dock. That's exactly what it is meant for.
Ok. Never done that before, thanks. Am I able to change the view from icons to list from this location?
You can do a lot -- read up on the Dock and using Stacks and such. http://macmost.com/using-stacks.html
I have searched (on and off) for years on a shortcut for inserting comments into a Numbers cell. Thanks to you, I just created my own, plus a shortcut for hiding it. This will save me IMMENSE amounts of time. Thank you, thank you.
In mountain lion I wanted to create a shortcut for ''Show All tabs'' in safari. So I went in System Preferences, keyboard, application shortcut, took safari in the list and created my own shortcut. ''Ctrl ⇧ S'' for instance. Does not work .. Am i missing something ? Or is there already a shortcut for it ?
There is already a shortcut for that. I see it as Shift+Command+\
I have never used keyboard short cuts apart from Photoshop. When i am on the internet i can take a full screen shot or select the part you want you want. I can`t see the point of a shortcut unless you have to type in a lot of numbers using the Command,Alt,Ctrl,and Options,then i would agree.When this guy was learning me the system i asked when he clicked a shortcut. He said it`s up to you if you want. This guy was that clever he could operate Photoshop by just using the Keyboard alone,and never touch the mouse.