The essential five
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⇧⌘. (Shift+Cmd+Period) | Toggle hidden files (dotfiles, ~/.config, etc.) |
| Space | Quick Look — preview any file without opening the app |
| ⌘⇧G | "Go to folder…" — type a path directly (accepts ~ and /) |
| ⌘I | Get Info — sizes, permissions, extensions, tags |
| ⌘⌫ | Move to Trash |
Navigation
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘↑ | Go up (parent folder) |
| ⌘↓ | Open selected folder / open file |
| ⌘[ / ⌘] | Back / forward (history) |
| ⌘⇧H | Go to Home folder (~) |
| ⌘⇧D | Go to Desktop |
| ⌘⇧O | Go to Documents |
| ⌘⇧A | Go to Applications |
| ⌘⇧U | Go to Utilities |
| ⌘⇧C | Go to Computer (top-level) |
| ⌘⇧R | Go to AirDrop |
| ⌘⇧K | Go to Network |
| ⌘⇧I | Go to iCloud Drive |
| ⌘⇧L | Go to Downloads |
View modes
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘1 | Icon view |
| ⌘2 | List view |
| ⌘3 | Column view |
| ⌘4 | Gallery view (Cover Flow replacement) |
| ⌘J | Show view options (icon size, grid spacing, sort, etc.) |
| ⌘/ | Show/hide status bar (file count + free space at bottom) |
| ⌥⌘P | Show/hide path bar |
| ⌥⌘S | Show/hide sidebar |
| ⌘T | Show/hide tab bar |
| ⌘⇧T | Show/hide tab overview |
Selection
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘A | Select all |
| ⌘⇧A | Deselect all |
| ⇧Click | Extend selection to clicked file |
| ⌘Click | Add / remove single file from selection |
| Type letters | Jump to first file starting with those letters |
| ⇥ | Cycle selection alphabetically forward |
| ⇧⇥ | Cycle selection alphabetically backward |
File operations
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘D | Duplicate selected file(s) |
| ⌘L | Make alias (symlink-like) |
| ⌘C then ⌘V | Copy → paste |
| ⌘C then ⌥⌘V | Copy → move (the closest Mac gets to "cut") |
| ⌘R | Reveal original of an alias / show file in Finder from other apps |
| Return | Rename (NOT open — that's ⌘↓ or double-click) |
| ⌥⌘Y | Full-screen Quick Look slideshow |
| ⌘E | Eject selected disk |
| ⌘Y | Quick Look (alt to Space) |
| ⌘⇧⌫ | Empty Trash (with confirmation) |
| ⌥⌘⇧⌫ | Empty Trash without confirmation |
| ⌥⌘I | Show Inspector (info panel that updates as you select) |
Search + tags
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘F | Search this Mac / current folder |
| ⌘⌥N | New Smart Folder (saved search) |
| Control 1-7 | Toggle color tag on selected file(s) |
| Control 0 | Clear all tags on selection |
Sidebar and windows
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| ⌘N | New Finder window |
| ⌘T | New tab |
| ⌘W | Close current tab (or window if only one tab) |
| ⌘⇧W | Close window (regardless of tabs) |
| ⌃⇥ / ⌃⇧⇥ | Next / previous tab |
| ⌘, | Finder Preferences |
Power moves
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|
| Drag with ⌥ | Copy instead of move (across the same volume) |
| Drag with ⌘⌥ | Make alias at destination |
| Drag file onto folder + hold | Spring-loaded — folder opens after ~1 second |
⌘⇧G then ~/Library | Access the hidden Library folder without toggling hidden files |
| Rename → type ⌘⇧+"." | Make a file dot-prefixed (hidden by default) |
| Screenshot to clipboard: ⌃⌘⇧4 | Adds Control to keep it out of Desktop and copy to clipboard |
Related shortcuts
All keyboard shortcut cheat sheets — Windows Explorer, VSCode, Excel, Photoshop, and more.
