Finder Navigation

[R.Youden]

Does anyone know the short-cuts for navigating finder windows? In Safari you can go back an forward using (Apple + left or right). There must be a way of doing this in the finder window but I cant work it out! If anyone knows I would be very greatful. Thanks.

 

[HexMonkey]

Back is command-[, forward is command-], and command-up arrow opens the enclosing folder.

 

[R.Youden]

Thanks. Why dont they tell people that! They probably did I just wasn't listening!

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

You can also enable lots of keyboard shortcuts in the Keyboard preferences, just rotating through Finder Windows (like you rotate through apps with cmd-tab) is cmd-<

 

[R.Youden]

I used that set-up in System Preference to try and make a short-cut to Word but it did not want to work! Any suggestions.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Did you log out and back in...? That sometimes helps (don't know if that's what it takes in this case, but always worth a shot when changing something in the System...)

 

[James Philp]

About the keyboard shortcut thing - it's a lot more complicated than creating a shortcut to open an app (god knows why!).
Have a gander through Mac Help, and you come across that you are actually replacing (or applying) one othe applications's functions with a shortcut of your choosing (mostly you would want to do this in case of conflicts or previous version shortcuts you've got used to!)
Never been able to get my head round it myself!
But for now, here's a list of ones from a book; "The Missing Manual: Panthe Edition" by david pogue;
command-shift-3 - take screenshot
control-m - open apple menu
control-d - highlight dock
command-~ - cycle through windows in current app
control-t - highlight toolbar (in most apps) and tab through buttons spacebar hits button
option-command-w - close all finder windows
option-command-eject - puts Mac to sleep
control-option-command-eject - shuts down
control-command-power - forces restart

Of course there's a ton of others, have fun discovering them!

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

[...]
Of course there's a ton of others, have fun discovering them!

Yes, and most are listed in System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard shortcuts where you can turn them on/off, add/remove or change them...

Adding a slightly different screenshot then I did above, to show more options...

 

[mad jew]

This is just another one of those features in OSX that I never really noticed, and have never taken advantage of. Thanks everyone for the tips.

 

[R.Youden]

I have been using OSX since it first came out and I cannot being to think of all those little features in there that I never use but would make such a difference to me if I knew about them. It would not surprise me if there are things in there that only Apple know about. Why they dont provide a detailed manual with all these little features and tips in I dont know.

 

[mad jew]

But Richard, half the fun's finding it out as you go along. It certainly keeps me interested, it'd be a bit boring otherwise.

On the other hand, it would be nice to know all these features from the start and be able to take advantage of them from the drop of the flag. There's a book called something like "Panther: The Missing Manual" which might be what you're looking for, but I've never actually seen a copy myself.

 

[R.Youden]

I agree it is fun finding them. I have seen books like missing manual but why can't Apple make them! Why does a third party have to do it? Ah well, someone is making money for not doing something there I think!

 

[Greencardman]

I bought the Missing Manual for my friend, and its an awesome book, I'd definitely reccommend it. Of course, she's switching from OS 9.2 to X, so its a little harder for her, but its an incredible book for shortcuts, and just generally knowing all the little things about your Mac apps you never knew before.

The same people also published one about switching to Jaguar from OS 9.2 thats absolutely amazing for knowing where stuff went/changed/moved from 9.2 to 10.2. Totally gets you up to speed. My friend was switching from 9.2 to panther, so I just went for the panther version, but they're both good.

Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0596006152/102-4485621-1180950?v=glance

 

[michaelrjohnson]

I agree with the group who is:
a) Excited when they find a new shortcut.
b) Gets frustrated that it took a mis-key to discover it.

I *really* wish there was an Apple-created list of all of the keystroke shortcuts. It frustrates me that I go so long being "non-productive".

PS Heres one that I just figured out.
Command + Shift + Tab
(While operating Cmd+Tab application selector, it selects the previous app)
(In Safari, it selects the previous text field.)