One of the great things about using a Mac is the number and variety of shortcuts available. We're still learning new ones and most of us have been using these devices for years. This week we wanted to share a few of those lesser known shortcuts with you.

Typing Special Characters

On your iOS devices you're able to easily type in special characters by pressing and holding the letter you want and a menu will pop up. Did you know that it works the same way on your Mac? Press and hold a key on your keyboard and wait for the special character menu to pop up. When it does, just press the number of the corresponding character you'd like to type and voila!

Command + Delete

Did you know that it is possible to delete documents without manually dragging the files to the Trash? Instead you can select the document or files you'd like to get rid of and then click Command + Delete to send them to the Trash. No more repetitive dragging and dropping!

FN + Delete

If you've ever used PCs then you know one of the buttons missing on your Mac is the Delete button. Sure, there is a Delete button on your Mac, but it's function is the equivalent of the PC's backspace. What you really want is to be able to get rid of the letters or characters in front of your cursor and not just behind it. By pressing FN + Delete, you can do just that. Another great feature to know about is that clicking Option + Delete will delete the last word you typed.

Shift + Option + Brightness

Ever wanted to fine tune the brightness of your screen? Well now you can. By holding Shift + Option + Brightness, the increase and decrease buttons will only move a quarter of what they normally do and you finally get your display just how you like it (if you were dissatisfied before). This also works to control your changing your volume in smaller increments!

Command + Shift + V

Normally, when you copy text to paste, you do the latter by pressing Command + V. That's a great start, but what if you want to paste something without any formatting? You can do that by simply adding the shift key to your equation. Gone are the days of pasting and being annoyed at the two different types of formatting in your document and having to redo them manually. Now you can simply paste without any formatting and move on with your day.

Option + _______

The option key seems like one of those little used keys, but we argue that's because people don't know about the opportunities it offers. For instance, when using the menu bar, you can option click a number of the icons to learn information that is not available with just a plain click. Option + Clicking the Volume Icon will show you a number of your audio settings such as your default input and output devices. Option + Clicking the Battery Icon will allow you to see the condition of your battery (often it will show Normal or Needs Replacement). Option + Clicking the notification center icon on the far right side will turn on Do Not Disturb mode for your Mac enabling you to get that report finished without being interrupted by emails and text messages.

Command + Control + Space

Ever wanted to use an emoji when tweeting or texting from your desktop? Well now you can. By using Command + Control + Space, the emoji keyboard will appear and allow you to insert whatever smiley goodness you desire into the document or message of your choosing.

Command + Shift + 4

This nifty little shortcut will make your mouse icon into a crosshair that you can drag with your mouse to take a screenshot of an area of your choosing. You can make your screenshot as large or as small as you like.

Command + Space

Want to use spotlight, but don't want to drag your mouse across the screen to click the magnifying glass in your menu bar? Command + Space immediately opens spotlight where you can do simple calculations, search for documents from last week, check the weather for your area, find out how your sports team did the night before, and even open an application. This is one of our most used shortcuts.

Option + Shift + K

We included this one just because. Hit Option + Shift + K and you'll immediately see this:  It comes in handy more than you'd guess and we love it.

 

Got questions? Better yet, do you know of any other great shortcuts? Share them with us in the comments. We'd love to hear from you!