- In Mac OS X, to type many common diacritics and accent marks, you can use the Option key. For others, you may need to switch keyboard layouts or install additional fonts. You can use the Keyboard Viewer with both methods to see what characters you can currently ty.
- These refurbished Macbook computers are fitted with international English keyboard layouts. Browse our line of international QWERTY keyboard laptops!
Mission Control key (F3): Press to view what’s running on your MacBook Air, including all your spaces and open windows. Launchpad key (F4): Press to instantly see all the apps on your MacBook Air. Click an app to open it. Keyboard illumination keys (F5, F6): Press or to decrease or increase the brightness of the keyboard. These refurbished Macbook computers are fitted with international English keyboard layouts. Browse our line of international QWERTY keyboard laptops! English (UK) keyboard covers safeguard your keyboard from dirt, spills and wear and tear, allowing you to protect your investment in your Mac. The English (UK) keyboard covers.
Macbook International English Keyboard Shortcuts
This is the ultimate guide for working with MacBook keyboards, including accessing special functions, characters, accents, and using keyboard shortcuts in Mac OS system. Click on the list below to jump to an appropriate section.
MacBook Keyboard Diagram / Map
MacBook keyboard has few distinctive sections: Function keys (in light blue), which provides access to various functions in MacBook itself or Mac OS system. By combining them with the FN key, you'll get access to F1 - F12 keys, which can be associated with particular application features (useful in Photoshop for example).
The second section is the modifier keys (in light yellow). Shift allows to type uppercase letters and other additional characters. Command and Alt/Option are used in keyboard shortcuts, as well as the Control key, which is used almost exclusively by Mac OS X and Apple programs.
Return and left Shift has two variants, one used in the US and Eastern Asia (horizontal Return and long Shift), and second, used in Europe, Middle East and Africa (vertical Return and short left Shift). On the diagram, this is shown by dashed lines. Of course, MacBook keyboards have lots of localizations, the most common - US English - is shown above. Gimp software for windows 7 free download. If you're unsure about the localization you have, go and check it with this guide.
MacBook Air 11' has slightly different keyboard, with smaller top and bottom row keys to accommodate smaller laptop size. Newest MacBooks Pro with TouchBar don't have upper F keys row, instead, they have a touchscreen which changes displayed options based on context.
MacBook Keyboard Symbols Chart
Symbol | Meaning | Notes |
Screen brightness down | ||
Screen brightness up | ||
Launches Mission Control | Icon available on MacBooks Unibody | |
Launches Mission Control | Icon available on MacBooks pre-unibody | |
Launches Dashboard | Icon available on MacBooks Unibody | |
Launches Dashboard | Icon available on MacBooks pre-unibody | |
Keyboard backlight down | ||
Keyboard backlight up | ||
Rewind | ||
Play / Pause | ||
Fast Forward | ||
Sound: mute | ||
Sound: volume down | ||
Sound: volume up | ||
Eject | Available on MacBooks with CD/DVD drive | |
Power | Available on MacBooks without CD/DVD drive | |
Command | On MacBooks 1st generation this is replaced by Apple logo | |
Alt / Option | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Tab | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Backspace | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Shift | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Caps Lock | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Return | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts | |
Enter | Available on European/ISO keyboard layouts, accessed with FN key | |
Delete | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Clear | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Home | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing. Can be substituted by CMD + up arrow shortcut. | |
End | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing. Can be substituted by CMD + down arrow shortcut. | |
Page Up | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Page Down | Not on MacBooks, but worth knowing | |
Arrows | Used to move things or pointer |
MacBook Keyboard Special Characters and Accents Map
If you want to type special characters or accents, change your keyboard language to US International PC (thanks, Steve!) and use the map below to get them. You can also check out our solution to the two languages on one keyboard problem.
![Macbook International English Keyboard Macbook International English Keyboard](https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/pl_PL/keyboards/dutch_notebook.png)
![Setup Setup](https://support.apple.com/library/content/dam/edam/applecare/images/it_IT/keyboards/british_notebook.png)
Where is the Print Screen Button?
Unlike PC keyboard, there is no Print Screen key on MacBook keyboard. This functionality is accessed by keyboard shortcuts and - on Mac - you have greater flexibility:
- Command + Shift + 3 - captures entire screen;
- Command + Shift + 4 - captures selected region. Your cursor turns to crosshair and by clicking and dragging you can specify which area you want to capture;
- Command + Shift + 4 + Space - captures selected window. First press the shortcut from above, then - when you have crosshair - hit Space. The cursor will turn to the camera and the active window will have a blue overlay. Click on it to get it captured.
In some apps, like Photoshop, you need to add Control into the mix, to paste the screenshot into the app.
MacBook Keyboard Tricks
There's a lot you can do in Mac OS by using the keyboard only. Here's a list of highly useful and not-so-useful keyboard shortcuts:
Shortcut | Action |
Command + W | Quickly closes the active window in Safari or any other browser. Works also with many applications, like Pages, Numbers, Photoshop. Great way to quickly close something when your boss is coming around :) |
Command + H | Hides the active application. Useful for hiding something quickly ;) |
Option + Shift + F11/F12 | Makes tiny changes in volume level instead of standard jumps. |
Control + Option + Command + 8 | Reverses colors on the screen. |
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | When watching YouTube video, this will advance you to 10%, 20%, 30%.. of movie completion. |
Option + Delete | Deletes whole word in text editors |
Control + Command + V | Pastes copied text without formatting. Useful when copying something from Pages and pasting into eg. Wordpress :) |
Control + Command + Option + Eject/Shutdown | Shuts down the MacBook without the need to provide username and password. |
Command + Shift + A | Opens the Applications folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + U | Opens the Utilities folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + D | Opens the Desktop folder in Finder. |
Command + Shift + I | When in Safari, this shortcut copies the URL, opens Mail app and creates a new email with the copied URL pasted as a link in a message. |
Command + Option + M | Minimizes all open windows, showing Desktop. |
Command + Option + Shift + Esc | Hold for 3 seconds to force quit any app. |
Command + Tab | Cycle through opened apps from left to right. |
Command + Shift + Tab | Cycle through opened apps from right to left. |
Command + ` | Cycles through active app windows. |
Command + Q | Quit active app. |
Command + T | Opens a new tab in Finder. Opens a new tab in a web browser. |
Command + N | Creates new Finder window. |
Command + Shift + N | Creates new folder in Finder. |
Command + Space | Launches Spotlight. |
Command + Option + Space | Switches to next keyboard language (if you have more than one). |
Command + Control + Space | In some websites and apps this will give you the emoji keyboard. |
Command + Delete | Sends selected files/folders to trash. |
Fn + Delete | Deletes text from left to right. |
F10 + Shutdown | Hold while launching MacBook to get a silent start. |
Command + up arrow/down arrow | Jump to the beginning or end of a page. This is equivalent to PC's Home and End keys. |
Command + up arrow + L | Highlights the address bar in a web browser. |
If this article was helpful or you simply like what we do, please use buttons below to share this article with the world :-) Thanks!
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.You may also be interested in..
I Hated MacBook Cases, Here’s Why I Changed my Mind..
If you asked me about MacBook cases or iPhone silicone covers 5 years ago, I would probably cry and then say one big fat 'noooo'! Why? I had my reasons, mostly because I got my MacBook almost killed by using them, not even counting how many times its life was in serious danger. If you're thinking about getting a MacBook case, make sure to read this article first.Read more
16 Questions About Keyboard Stickers You Always Wanted to Ask and One Extra Surprise at the End
You probably heard of multiple advantages of having your keyboard covered with decorative or specialized keyboard decals. Want to get your first keyboard stickers but still not sure how these work? Then check out these 16 questions (and answers of course) we prepared for you to clear up all doubts!Read more
9 Reasons to Get Keyboard Stickers Instead of Silicone Cover
Ahhh.. keyboard stickers versus silicone covers - it's like Mac vs Windows, each side has its own believers and haters. By the headline you already know where we stand - and we do it with a reason.Read more
Most recent
This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.
In Mac OS X, to type many common diacritics and accentmarks, you can use the
Option
key. For others, you mayneed to switch keyboard layouts or install additional fonts. You canuse the Keyboard Viewer with both methods to see what characters youcan currently type.Option key combinations
This table shows the most common keystrokes for typing accentedcharacters. Keystrokes with the
[letter]
placeholderrequire two sets of keypresses; first, type the Option
keycombination, and then type the letter you want to modify.Keystroke | Character |
---|---|
Option-e [letter] | acute (e.g., á) |
Option-` [letter] | grave (e.g., è) |
Option-i [letter] | circumflex (e.g.,ô ) |
Option-u [letter] | |
Option-n [letter] | tilde (e.g., ñ ) |
Option-q | oe ligature ( œ ) |
Option-c | cedilla ( ç ) |
Option-Shift-/ (forward slash) | |
Option-1 (the number 1) | upside-downexclamation point ( ¡ ) |
Keyboard layout configuration
To configure additional keyboard layouts in Mac OS X 10.5 or later:
- From the Apple menu, select System Preferences...
- In System Preferences, from the View menu, select Language & Text (10.6 and later) or International (10.5).
- From the Input Sources tab (10.6 and later) or Input Menutab (10.5), in the list of languages and keyboard layouts, check theones you would like to use. If you would like to use the KeyboardViewer, check it near the top of the list. For details, see Using the Keyboard Viewer.
- Close System Preferences.
Once you have chosen other keyboard layouts, a flag will appear on theright side of the menu bar representing the current layout. To use adifferent layout, click the flag, and then select it from thepull-down menu. In 10.6 and later, if you click Keyboard & CharacterViewer, but no additional languages, it will display theCharacter Viewer icon instead of a flag.
Using the Keyboard Viewer
You can use the Keyboard Viewer to see how modifier keys and differentkeyboard layouts affect the characters you type:
- From the Apple menu, select System Preferences...
- In System Preferences, from the View menu, selectLanguage & Text (10.6 and later) or International (10.5).
- Select the Input Sources tab (10.6 and later) or InputMenu tab (10.5), and then check Keyboard & CharacterViewer (10.6 and later) or Keyboard Viewer (10.5). A flag or theCharacter Viewer icon should appear in the menu bar in theupper right corner of your screen. The type of flag you see depends onthe default language you select.
- Click the new icon in the menu bar, and from the menu that dropsdown, select Show Keyboard Viewer.
The
Keyboard Viewer
windowcontains a virtual keyboard that shows the characters associated withdifferent keys. Here, you can see what characters are created when youhold down modifier keys like Option
, Shift
,and Command
. Macbook International English Keyboard Shortcut
Many fonts in OS X contain special characters for additionaldiacritics. To access these special characters:
- Within the application you are currently using, open the Fontpanel (usually from a Show Fonts option in the application'smenus).
- Click the gear widget button:
- From the menu that appears, select Characters...