Various Useful OS X Shortcuts

A few random shortcuts I use on a daily basis…¹

• You can specify a unix path with the go to folder command in Finder? ⌘-⇧-G

• Using ⌘-1 through 9 in Safari will take you to your Bookmarks Bar bookmarks. Folders will be ignored in the numbering

• If you’re in a file selection dialog you can use ⌘-D to go to Desktop. Similarly ⌘-⇧-A works for Applications, ⌘-⇧-C for computer view, ⌘-⇧-H for home, and ⌘-⇧-I for idisk (automounts)

• If you have a save/don’t save dialog up you can select don’t save with ⌘-D

• ⌘-click on a window’s title bar (in Finder, Safari, and other apps) to see a hierarchical menu

• Drag/drop the icon in the title bar of document windows in nearly any application to perform drag/drop operations. For example, you can drag a Word/Excel doc to Mail.app or Entourage to immediately open a new email with that doc attached.

• Hold ⌥ and drag a file in the Finder to copy it to a new location.

• Hold ⌥-⌘ and drag a file in the Finder to create an alias at the new location.

• In cocoa applications you can use emacs shortcuts.

• When browsing lists in the Finder type the first few letters of the file you’re going to and it will immediately scroll to the first occurrence of the characters alphabetically.