Key Controls Guide for MacOS

General OS-level keyboard shortcuts

These shortcuts work in any app on your Mac.

  • Cmd + C: Copy
  • Cmd + V: Paste
  • Cmd + X: Cut
  • Cmd + Z: Undo
  • Shift + Cmd + Z: Redo
  • Cmd + A: Select All
  • Cmd + S: Save
  • Cmd + O: Open
  • Cmd + N: New document or window
  • Cmd + W: Close the current window
  • Cmd + Q: Quit the current app
  • Cmd + F: Find
  • Cmd + P: Print
  • Cmd + ,: Open app preferences/settings
  • Cmd + Space: Open Spotlight search
  • Shift + Cmd + 5: Screenshot and screen recording options

See the full list of macOS shortcuts on Apple's support page.

Window management shortcuts

These shortcuts help you navigate between apps and manage windows.

Switching apps and windows

  • Cmd + Tab: Switch between open apps
  • Cmd + `: Switch between windows of the current app
  • Cmd + M: Minimize the current window to the Dock
  • Cmd + H: Hide the current app
  • Opt + Cmd + H: Hide all other apps

Full screen and Mission Control

  • Ctrl + Cmd + F: Toggle full screen mode
  • Ctrl + Up or F3: Open Mission Control (view all windows and desktops)
  • Ctrl + Down: Show all windows of the current app

Side-by-side window tiling

On macOS Sequoia (version 15) and later, you can tile windows using keyboard shortcuts:

  • Globe + Ctrl + Left: Tile window to the left half of the screen
  • Globe + Ctrl + Right: Tile window to the right half of the screen
  • Globe + Ctrl + Up: Tile window to the top half of the screen
  • Globe + Ctrl + Down: Tile window to the bottom half of the screen
  • Globe + Ctrl + F: Fill the screen (maximize)
  • Globe + Ctrl + C: Center the window
  • Globe + Ctrl + R: Return to the previous window size

The Globe key is the Fn key on most Mac keyboards.

On earlier macOS versions, hold the green button in the top-left corner of any window to access tiling options, or use a third-party tool like Rectangle.

Text editing shortcuts

These shortcuts work in most text fields and editors on your Mac.

  • Cmd + Left: Jump to the beginning of the line
  • Cmd + Right: Jump to the end of the line
  • Opt + Left: Jump to the previous word
  • Opt + Right: Jump to the next word
  • Cmd + Up: Jump to the beginning of the document
  • Cmd + Down: Jump to the end of the document

Selection

Add Shift to any navigation shortcut above to select text while moving. For example:

  • Shift + Cmd + Left: Select from cursor to the beginning of the line
  • Shift + Cmd + Right: Select from cursor to the end of the line
  • Shift + Opt + Left: Select the previous word
  • Shift + Opt + Right: Select the next word

Deleting text

  • Delete: Delete the character before the cursor
  • Fn + Delete: Delete the character after the cursor (forward delete)
  • Opt + Delete: Delete the word before the cursor
  • Fn + Opt + Delete: Delete the word after the cursor

Code editing shortcuts

These shortcuts work in Cursor and other VS Code-based editors.

Essential editing

  • Cmd + /: Comment or uncomment the selected lines
  • Cmd + Shift + K: Delete the current line
  • Opt + Up: Move the current line up
  • Opt + Down: Move the current line down
  • Shift + Opt + Up: Copy the current line up
  • Shift + Opt + Down: Copy the current line down

Find and replace

  • Cmd + F: Find in the current file
  • Opt + Cmd + F: Find and replace in the current file
  • Cmd + Shift + F: Search across all files in the workspace
  • Cmd + Shift + H: Find and replace across all files

Multi-cursor and selection

  • Cmd + D: Select the next occurrence of the current selection
  • Cmd + Shift + L: Select all occurrences of the current selection
  • Opt + Click: Add a cursor at the clicked location
  • Cmd + P: Quick open a file by name
  • Cmd + Shift + P: Open the command palette
  • Cmd + B: Toggle the sidebar
  • Ctrl + `: Toggle the integrated terminal
  • F12: Go to definition
  • F2: Rename symbol

See a comprehensive, printable list in the VS Code macOS keyboard shortcuts PDF.

Cursor-specific shortcuts

These shortcuts are specific to Cursor's AI features.

AI Chat and Composer

  • Cmd + L: Open AI Chat
  • Cmd + I: Open Composer (multi-file AI edits)
  • Cmd + Shift + L: Add selected code to Chat as context

Inline editing

  • Cmd + K: Open inline edit prompt (works in editor and terminal)
  • Cmd + Enter: Accept AI-generated changes
  • Cmd + Backspace: Reject or cancel generation

AI autocomplete

  • Tab: Accept the autocomplete suggestion
  • Cmd + Right: Accept only the next word of the suggestion

See more shortcuts in the Cursor keyboard shortcuts documentation.