Quick reference for Mac shortcuts and commands?

When I need to remember how time formatting works, I go to the incredibly concise and helpful Python strftime reference (Private).

I wish there were something similar for Mac commands, shortcuts, etc. I just had to look up how to choose the startup disk on startup (hold down the option key). To remind myself of the correct answer, I wound up scrolling down an incredibly bloated, ad-filled “article” on some website.

If you’re like me, you have some of these memorized, and a bunch that you use infrequently that you have to look up. Does anyone know of a good, lightweight quick reference along these lines? If not, maybe it’s time to start one. It might include the keys to hold down for whatever zapping the P-RAM is called these days. And where the *&#^$ folder display preferences live (System Preferences? Finder Preferences? View > View Options?)…

1 Like

KeyCue reveals shortcut key combinations for nearly all apps and macOS itself. I say “nearly all” because a few apps use non-standard menus and KeyCue doesn’t always find shortcuts for them. It has a “learning mode” that is supposed to overcome that but I’ve had mixed results with it.

There’s also CheatSheet, but I don’t have any experience with that.

Sorry, I can’t help with the preferences problem, although I, too, experience it. Apple keeps moving stuff around, which doesn’t help.

1 Like

You can always go the the source:
Mac Startup Key Combinations
and
Mac keyboard shortcuts

I also use CheatSheet, but it isn’t perfect. At least it is free.

1 Like

+1 for Cheatsheet
It’s not 100% perfect indeed, but free and has served me well for years

2 Likes