Top Terminal Mac Shortcuts Everyone Should Know

If you find using the terminal more intriguing than using the simple graphic interface, then you are at the right place. Although you can easily navigate through different sections on your Mac using your mouse, there is something about the terminal window that attracts more users. It’s the ability to create tasks just by using commands. These command shortcuts are different from the traditional key sets. So, no matter if you are switching from Linux or Windows or learning to use Terminal on Mac for the first time, here we are going to list some basic terminal Mac shortcuts to get you going.

For Accessing the Terminal Windows and Tabs Using Keyboard Shortcuts-

There are some terminal shortcuts that will help you navigate and perform tasks with the windows and tabs on your Mac computer. Here are the shortcuts:

1. To open a new: Press Command +N
2. To open a new window with the current Command: Control + Command + N
3. Use Command + T, and a new tab will appear on the same window
4. If you want to open a new tab with the current Command, apply Control + Command + T
5. Press Shift + Command + T together to see the tab bar
6. Press Shift + Command + \ (backslash) together to see the tab overview
7. Use Command + I (capital letter “i”) command to show the inspector
8. To navigate to a new window, press Command + ` (grave accent) keys on your keyboard
9. Press Command + Shift + ~ (tilde) together to go to the previous window
10. To navigate to the next tab, press Control + Tab
11. To go back to the previous tab, press Control + Shift + Tab
12. To close one tab, press Command + W
13. To close all tabs together, press Option + Command + W
14. Close one window with Shift + Command + W
15. Close all windows with Option + Shift + Command + W

These keyboard shortcuts are for performing quick actions on your Mac OS. However, if you want to navigate quickly within a window or tab, there are some other shortcuts for that.

To navigate within the Windows and Tabs

First, we gave you some keyboard shortcuts to help you open and close tabs, windows, etc., but now, how will you access different elements within a tab without using shortcuts? Let’s find out.

1. If you want to scroll at the top of the window or tab, press Command + Home (Fn + Left Arrow) together.
2. To reach the bottom of the page, press Command + End (Fn + Right Arrow) together.
3. If you are viewing a document or browsing the web, you can use Command + Page Up (Fn + Up Arrow) to go to the top of the page or the previous page of the document.
4. Command + Page Down (Fn + Down Arrow) helps you reach the bottom of the search page or document.
5. To line up texts in a document, press Option + Command + Page Up (Fn + Up Arrow).
6. To line down, press Option + Command + Page Down (Fn + Down Arrow).

When you are done with these navigation shortcuts inside of your windows and tabs on the Mac, you can scroll down and find some command line shortcuts that will make your life easier.

Command-Line Shortcuts in Mac OS

These shortcuts will help you complete tasks faster and with more accuracy. If you are using the command line, then these keyboard shortcuts will be helpful in many ways.

1. Open a new command using Shift + Command + N.
2. Move the insertion point with Option + Move the pointer
3. Move the insertion point to the start of a paragraph or line using Control + A
4. Move the insertion point to the end of the line using Control + E.
5. To move the point forward, press the right arrow on your keyboard.
6. To move it backwards, press the Left Arrow on your keyboard.
7. You can move the insertion point forward by one word by using Option + Right Arrow.
8. You can also move it backwards by one word by using Option + Left Arrow.
9. To delete the start of the line: Control + U and at the end of the line, Control + K
10. You can use the Delete button to delete a character.
11. Or if you want to delete one character forward, use Fn + Delete.
12. To delete one word forward, delete Option + D.
13. Delete the backwards one-word using Control + W.

Look, these keyboard shortcuts are not easy to memorize. So, it is recommended that you bookmark this blog post because there is more to come.

Text Keyboard Shortcuts

When you are working on the terminal window, you can work on the text using some keyboard shortcuts. We have listed them below for your easy reference.

1. To select a word, double-click on it.
2. To select a line of text, triple-click on it.
3. While selecting the file path or URL, Shift + Command + double-click on it.
4. To select all, A + Command
5. Cut a text or paragraph. X (Command+X)
6. Copy a text or paragraph: Control + C
7. Paste the copied text: Command + V
8. To search for something within the document, use Command + F.
9. To find something next, press Command + G.
10. Command + shift + G will bring up the previous texts.
11. If you have selected a text and want to find something inside the document, use Command + E.
12. To move to the selected text, command + J
13. Export the text with Command + S
14. Export the selected text using Shift + Command + S

When you are editing the text in a terminal window, you can add or remove bookmarks, and do more using some shortcuts.

Shortcuts for Mark and Bookmarks

You can mark a text, unmark a text, clear the line, remove bookmarks, and more using a set of commands. Here are the keyboard shortcuts in a nutshell:

1. To mark a text, use Command + U.
2. To mark a bookmark, use Option + Command + U.
3. You can mark the text again using Shift + Command + U.
4. Use Option + Shift + Command + M to put a bookmark with your name on it.
5. Clear the previous mark using Command + L.

Conclusion

You can do most of the work on your Mac’s terminal using these commands, and they will help you get the job done more quickly than ever. There might be some other Mac terminal shortcuts that we have forgotten to mention in this post. Do remind us in the comment section underneath.