15 Mac Finder Shortcuts That Save Hours (Cheat Sheet)
I used to think I was fast in Finder. Then I timed myself.
I used to think I was fast in Finder.
Then I watched a friend clean up a messy Downloads folder in about 20 seconds without touching her mouse. No dragging. No right-click menus. Just keys. I sat there feeling very slow.
I timed myself after that. I was losing minutes every day to things Finder can do in one keystroke. Minutes, every day, for years. That adds up to something stupid.
Here are the 15 I actually use now. Not the full list from Apple’s support page, just the ones I kept. Learn five today, the rest will follow when you’re ready. I still forget half of them some weeks.
The ones that move you around
1. Cmd + Shift + G — Go to Folder. Type ~/Downloads or /Applications and you’re there. This alone replaces most of my clicking.
2. Cmd + Shift + H — Home. Cmd + Shift + D — Desktop. Cmd + Shift + O — Documents. Three keys, three places I live in.
3. Cmd + [ and Cmd + ] — Back and forward, like a browser. I use this more than I expected.
4. Cmd + Up Arrow — Go to the enclosing folder. Cmd + Down Arrow — Open the selected item. No double-clicking.
The ones that change how you see files
Cmd + 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 — Icon, List, Column, Gallery view. Column view (Cmd + 3) is the one I live in when I’m hunting for a file.
Cmd + J — View Options. Sort by date, size, kind. Set it once per folder and Finder remembers.
Cmd + Shift + . — Show hidden files. Useful the moment you need to see ~/Library.
Space — Quick Look. Preview a PDF, image or video without opening anything. Space again to close it.
The ones that do the work
Cmd + C, then Option + Cmd + V — Move, don’t copy. Most people copy, paste, then go back and delete the original. This skips the second trip.
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Cmd + Shift + N — New Folder. Then type the name and hit Enter. No right-click.
Cmd + Delete — Move to Trash. Cmd + Shift + Delete — Empty Trash (it asks first).
Cmd + I — Get Info. Cmd + Option + I — Get Info for everything selected, in one window.
Cmd + F — Search this folder. Add criteria with the + button: kind is PDF, date is this week.
Cmd + A, then Cmd + Click — Select all, then deselect the one file you don’t want. Faster than Shift-clicking a long list.
Cmd + Shift + 4, then Space — Screenshot a window, cleanly, with its shadow. The one I use for every screenshot in this series.
The shortcut I stopped needing
Here’s the honest part. Even with all 15, I still couldn’t find files when I couldn’t remember their names.
“That invoice from last month.” “The screenshot with the blue chart.” Finder search wants a name, a date, a folder. I had a sentence.
So I built Peekaboo. You type the sentence you’d say out loud, and it turns it into filters you can actually check, then it finds the files. One app, not a search engine.
It also does the cleanup version of this list. Find the big, old, duplicate files and let you Trash them with undo. Undo, because I’ve deleted the wrong file before and I’m not doing that again.
€9.99 until Nov 13, then €14.99 until Nov 30, then €24.99. Free 14-day trial, no account, nothing uploaded.
Keep this one
Save this article. Try five shortcuts today. Start with Cmd + Shift + G, Space, Cmd + Option + V, Cmd + Shift + ., and Cmd + 3.
If you save an hour this week, tell me which five did it. I’m testing new Mac workflows every week, and I’d rather hear what worked for you than guess.
I’m Vishva, an independent Mac developer. I make Peekaboo, a Mac app for finding files in plain English and freeing space with undo, and Notchy, a Dynamic Island for your Mac. Follow for more on making the Mac nicer to live with.
