Shortcut Keys

Shortcut keys are combinations of keyboard keys that, when pressed, choose a menu command without displaying the menu. For example, the shortcut key for the Paste command under the Edit menu (Figures 5 and 7) is . Pressing this key combination chooses the command.

Tips

• All shortcut keys use at least one of the following modifier keys:

  Key Name	Keyboard Key
  Command
  Shift
  Option
  Control

  
  

• A menu command's shortcut key appears to its right on the menu (Figure 7).

• Many shortcut keys are standardized from one application to another. The Save and Print commands are good examples; they're usually and .

• Mac OS X introduced several new standard shortcut keys, including (Hide application) and (Minimize Window). Keep this in mind if you're a longtime Word user and used these shortcuts to access the Change and Indent commands in Word.

• Appendix A includes a list of Word's shortcut keys.

To use a shortcut key

1.	Hold down the modifier key for the shortcut (normally ).
2.	Press the letter or number key for the shortcut.

For example, to choose the Paste command, hold down and press the key.