Keyboard access to Application Menu

[jasimon9]

I remember seeing keyboard shortcuts such as Cmd-F2 that would allow access of the Application Menu. However, this does not work for me.

I have set the fn key to not be needed for function key access. That is, if I press f10, it acts as f10 rather than "mute."

How do I access the Application menu from the keyboard?

 

[angelwatt]

Not at my Mac so can't check, but I believe it's ctrl+F2. You can look under System Preferences > Mouse and Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts, to look them up.

 

[jasimon9]

Not at my Mac so can't check, but I believe it's ctrl+F2. You can look under System Preferences > Mouse and Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts, to look them up.

More specific amplification of original question: Ctrl-F2 and Cmd-F2 both do nothing. If I get mad and "hit them repeatedly and hit them hard" they still do nothing (except for the "no-action taken" thump sound).

So I decided to check into what keyboard settings I had. I saw a Ctrl-F1 setting for "turn full keyboard access on or off", an ambiguous description to be sure, but worthy of a test. I tried pressing that combination, and after that, Ctrl-F2 now works as I remembered it used to.

So it appears one has to be careful about the Ctrl-F1 key! And if the other Keyboard Navigation keys don't work, then try Ctrl-F1 first, as there is no visible indication of the "Ctrl-F1" state.

I am kind of wondering what the purpose of turning them off serves, as I could not see an alternate function that turning them off enables. Perhaps the purpose of Ctrl-F1 is to "eliminate extra junk because it confuses me too much." ;-)