Finder Keyboard Shortcuts for Mac

Finder is an application in macOS used for exploring files, folders and documents. This is equivalent to Windows File Explorer in Windows 10. So it is important to understand the basics and keyboard shortcuts to improve your productivity on Mac. For example, you can press “Command + T” to open new tab in Finder or press “Command + W” to close a single tab Finder window.

Below is a complete list of Finder keyboard shortcuts for Mac. Use the search box to filter the results.

Shortcut Keys	Purpose
Command + 1	View as icons
Command + 2	View as list
Command + 3	View as columns
Command + 4	View as gallery
Command + ,	Open Finder preferences
Command + /	Show status bar at the bottom of Finder
Command + [	Go back to previous window
Command + ]	Go forward to next window
Command + `	Cycle through all open Finder windows
Command + A	Select all
Command + C	Copy the selected item to clipboard
Command + Control + 0	View as groups
Command + Control + 1	Group by name
Command + Control + 2	Group by kind
Command + Control + 3	Group by date last opened
Command + Control + 4	Group by date added
Command + Control + 5	Group by date modified
Command + Control + 6	Group by size
Command + Control + 7	Group by tags
Command + Control + A	Create shortcut or alias to the selected file or folder.
Command + Control + F	Open Finder in full screen, you can use the shortcuts to toggle.
Command + Control + N	Create new folder with the selected items. It will move the selected items to a new folder named as “New Folder With Items”. Press “Command + Z” to redo the action and put the file(s) back to original location.
Command + Control + Option + A	Show original
Command + Control + Spacebar	Open Character Viewer to insert emojis and symbols.
Command + Control + T	Add select file or folder to Finder sidebar. You can then right click on the item and remove from the sidebar.
Command + D	Duplicate a selected file or folder. New file or folder will be created with a name “original name copy”.
Command + Delete	Move the selected item to Trash.
Command + Delete	Delete and send the items to Trash
Command + Down Arrow	Open selected item
Command + E	Eject the external drive, if connected.
Command + F	Open search or find options within Finder.
Command + H	Hide Finder when multiple windows are open
Command + I	Open “Get Info” dialog box to get the properties of the selected file or folder.
Command + J	Show view options for customizing Finder view
Command + K	Open “Connect to Server” dialog
Command + L	Rotate the selected image preview to left.
Command + M	Minimize Finder
Command + N	Open new Finder windows
Command + O	Open selected file with default application. You can also select multiple files of different types.
Command + Option + C	Copy desktop pathname to clipboard
Command + Option + F	Focus search box in Finder
Command + Option + L	Go to Downloads folder
Command + Option + P	Show path bar at the bottom
Command + Option + R	Rotate the selected image preview to left.
Command + Option + S	Show or hide sidebar
Command + Option + Spacebar	Open Finder search, this works on all applications.
Command + Option + T	Show or hide toolbar and sidebar, works only on one tab.
Command + Option + V	Move the file from clipboard from original location to current path
Command + Option + Y	View Quick Look slideshow of selected items
Command + P	Print the selected item, you should have a printer connected to your Mac.
Command + R	Rotate the selected image preview to right
Command + Shift + 3	Save screenshot of full screen
Command + Shift + 4	Save selected portion as screenshot
Command + Shift + 5	Open Screenshot app
Command + Shift + \	Show all tabs with an option to open a new tab
Command + Shift + A	Go to Applications folder
Command + Shift + C	Go to Computer
Command + Shift + Control + 3	Copy full screen view to clipboard
Command + Shift + Control + 4	Copy selected portion to clipboard
Command + Shift + Control + T	Add selected item to dock, you can right click and remove from dock from “Options”.
Command + Shift + D	Go to Desktop folder
Command + Shift + Delete	Empty Trash with confirmation
Command + Shift + F	Go to Recents folder
Command + Shift + G	Open “Go to the folder” dialog
Command + Shift + H	Hide all other open applications except Finder
Command + Shift + H	Go to Home folder
Command + Shift + I	Go to iCloud Drive
Command + Shift + K	Go to Network folder
Command + Shift + L	Go to Library folder
Command + Shift + Left Arrow	Show next tab
Command + Shift + N	Create new folder with the name as “untitled folder”.
Command + Shift + O	Go to Documents folder
Command + Shift + Option + Delete	Empty Trash without confirmation
Command + Shift + P	Show or hide preview of selected item
Command + Shift + R	Go to AirDrop
Command + Shift + Right Arrow	Show previous tab
Command + Shift + T	Show tab bar on single tab
Command + Shift + U	Go to Utilities folder
Command + Shift + Up Arrow	Open startup disk
Command + Shift + W	Close Finder, with single or multiple tabs.
Command + Shift + Z	Redo the last action
Command + T	Open new tab
Command + Up Arrow	Open enclosing folder, useful to find original path of items in Recents folder.
Command + V	Paste the item from clipboard
Command + W	Close the current tab of Finder
Command + X	Cut the selected item to clipboard
Command + Y	Open Quick Look to preview the selected item
Command + Z	Undo the last action
Control + Shift + Tab	Show previous tab
Control + Tab	Show next tab
Enter	Rename the selected item
Function + Function	Start dictation, not useful in Finder. You should open a text file to start the typing with voice dictation.