How to: Create a keyboard shortcut

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How to: Create a keyboard shortcut

4 September 2009 5,719 views 7 Comments

Did you know that you can add a keyboard shortcut for nearly any menu item in any Mac application? That’s kind of amazing and, moreover, you will be amazed at how simple it is to create your own keyboard shortcuts. About the only caveat is that you can’t use a keyboard combination already in use by another shortcut.

I’m a pretty big fan of keyboard shortcuts and use several custom shortcuts, including OS X’s Show Character Viewer (a.k.a. KeyCaps) and Safari’s Private Browsing mode. Here’s how I set up a keyboard shortcut to invoke the latter.

Open System Preferences and then click on “Keyboard.”

1. Click on “Keyboard Shortcuts”
2. Click the “+” to add a new shortcut
3. Select Safari from the drop down menu
4. Type the Menu item exactly as it appears in the app
5. Press the keyboard combination you’d like to use
— In this instance, I used Command + Option + P

Again, you’ll need to type the menu item exactly as it appears in the app or your shortcut might not work. Also, if you attempt to use a keyboard combination already employed elsewhere, OS X will tell you and even highlight where you can find that shortcut. So, if it’s something obscure, you can disable the original usage and apply it where you want.

Gotta nifty OS X tip or trick? Share it in the comments below…

7 Comments »

How to: Trick websites to serve HTML5 video | FairerPlatform said:

[...] Changing User Agents should cause the offending page to reload and, if HTML5 video is available, it will be displayed. To take this little trick one step further, assign a keyboard shortcut and you can learn all about that here. [...]

# 15 November 2010 at 7:01 am

How to: Cycle all open windows in Exposé | FairerPlatform said:

[...] Gotta nifty Mac OS X Snow Leopard tip or trick? Share it in the comments below… More keyboard shortcuts: • How to: Typing special characters on the iPad keyboard • OS X keyboard shortcuts! Get yer shortcuts here! • Mac OS X ‘KeyCaps’ keyboard shortcut • LiteSwitch: The best Mac app switcher • How to: Create a keyboard shortcut [...]

# 2 March 2011 at 3:36 am

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[...] also: — How to: Create a keyboard shortcut — How to: Special character keyboard shortcuts in OS X — LiteSwitch: The best Mac app switcher [...]

# 17 March 2011 at 12:03 am

ClickToFlash 2.2 improves prefs, HTML5 replacement on Facebook | FairerPlatform said:

[...] it is a menu item, you can create a keyboard shortcut for fast access. What else is [...]

# 7 April 2011 at 8:47 am

Mac tip: Pages keyboard shortcuts | FairerPlatform said:

[...] Yes, Apple has published the Pages Keyboard Shortcuts support article. But, like Pages itself, this listing can be difficult at best to make heads or tales of. Yes, all (or nearly all) of the shortcuts are there, but keyboard combos for specific tasks are hard to find. See also: How to: Create a keyboard shortcut [...]

# 21 January 2012 at 12:00 am

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[...] together more than a couple tips on the subject: • How to: Text-to-speech keyboard shortcut • How to: Create a keyboard shortcut • How to: Special character keyboard shortcuts in OS X • F-key keyboard shortcuts for Leopard, [...]

# 1 April 2012 at 3:34 pm

Mac App Store keyboard shortcuts - FairerPlatform said:

[...] any menu item can easily be assigned to a combination of keys — see the Fairer Platform’s How to: Create a keyboard shortcut for more info. Related posts: — Hotkey EVE: Learn Keyboard Shortcuts — Create a Notification [...]

# 22 August 2012 at 1:58 am