Pressing it again sucks the tray back into the Mac. If you have a Mac whose media tray pops out (as you would on a Mac Pro) pressing this key causes exactly this popping. In many cases if you see a window that includes a Cancel button, you can simply press Escape to cancel rather than click on the button.Įject (⏏): If you have a Mac with a media drive (for CDs and DVDs) and you have a disc in the drive, pressing Eject will usually eject the disc. If you’re using an application with a metric ton of commands, you’re likely to see all kinds of key combinations when you visit these applications’ menus.Įsc: This is the Escape key. There are only so many keys you can combine with Command. And for this reason you’ll want to become familiar with each command’s symbol so that you can recognize it in your applications’ menus.Īnd don’t be surprised if you see combinations of modifier keys in these menus. But some applications use far more keyboard commands. So, regardless of which application you’re using, Command-S will always save the document you’re working in just as Command-Q will quit the application. One great thing about the Mac OS is that these common key commands are used by nearly every application you’ll work with. For example, Command-Shift-S invokes the Save As command in some applications. Shift (⇧): Although the Shift key is most often used to capitalize letters or choose the punctuation characters above the number keys and other punctuation keys, it can also be used in combination with another modifier key. If you’re just starting out on any computer, these are commands that apply to the context of your current activity. If you’re a Windows user you know these as the menus that appear when you right-click something. Press fn along with F12 on a Mac running Mountain Lion and your Mac’s display shifts to something called the Dashboard environment (something we’ll look at in a future column).Ĭontrol (⌃): The Control key is most often used to invoke contextual menus. For example, if you press the F12 key all by itself, then the Mac’s audio volume increases. If you press the fn key and then press one of those keys, the Mac reacts differently. I just mentioned that the very top row of function keys perform certain operations by default. It is on today’s Apple laptops and wireless keyboards, but some older keyboards still in use (and many third-party keyboards) don’t have a Function key-at least not in this position. You can use one modifier key with a “regular” key to invoke one of these shortcuts or commands or use multiple modifier keys along with another key.įn (Function): It’s possible that the first key you see on that bottom row isn’t marked fn. When you press keys to make the Mac do something other than type a letter, number, or hunk of punctuation, you’re said to be invoking a keyboard shortcut or keyboard command. ![]() They’re called that because, when pressed, they modify the behavior of other keys you press at the same time. All of these except the Arrow keys (the ones with the triangle symbols) are termed Modifier keys. These are keys that, when pressed, cause the Mac to perform one trick or another-make your Mac’s screen brighter or increase the Mac’s sound volume, for example.Īt the bottom of the keyboard you’ll find not only the space bar but a few keys to either side. Above that row are Function keys or F keys. Above the letters are the numbers 1 to 0. A Mac keyboard-whether it’s built into a laptop or ships with a desktop Mac such as an iMac-uses the traditional QWERTY typewriter layout in the United States.
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