12 keyboard shortcuts for working with text in macOS

Cheat sheet for those who have just switched to Mac and realized that the familiar keyboard shortcuts do not work.

Before the seats on the Mac, I really enjoyed working with the text without a mouse, moving and making changes only using the keyboard. And now I think this skill is indispensable for the developer, writer, and even more so for the classical samurai office.

Navigation on the text

1. Go to the beginning of the line - ⌘ + ← (Command + left arrow).
2. Go to the end of the line - ⌘ + → (Command + right arrow).
3. Go to the top of this word - ⌥ + ← (Option + left arrow).
4. Skip to end of the current word - ⌥ + → (Option + right arrow).
5. Go to the top of the text - ⌘ + ↑ (Command + arrow).
6. Skip to end of text - ⌘ + ↓ (Command + down arrow).

Adding the Shift key, we get six combinations for quick selection of lines, words, and the whole text.

Text selection

1. Select the text from the current position to the beginning of the line - ⇧ + ⌘ + ← (Shift + Command + left arrow).
2. Select the text from the current position to the end of the line - ⇧ + ⌘ + → (Shift + Command + right arrow).
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3. Select the text from the current position to the beginning of the word - ⇧ + ⌥ + ← (Shift + Option + left arrow).
4. Select the text from the current position to the end of the word - ⇧ + ⌥ + → (Shift + Option + right arrow).
5. Select the text from the current position to the beginning of the text - ⇧ + ⌘ + ↑ (Shift + Command + arrow).
6. Select the text from the current position to the end of the text - ⇧ + ⌘ + ↓ (Shift + Command + down arrow).

These combinations work in all versions of MacOS, based in Cocoa applications, including Safari, Chrome, TextEdit, Pages, and the whole package of iWork, as well as in the majority of applications and text editors for the Mac. What is more remarkable, the same keyboard shortcuts work on iOS devices, with a keyboard that is connected via Bluetooth or a dock connector.

see also

• 8 different text editors for different platforms →
• Why and How to edit the text: with examples of leadership →
• 70 hot Google Chrome shortcuts that everyone should know →