About the Option Key on Mac

Are you aware of the functions of the Option key on your Mac keyboard? It conceals a tonne of additional options and shortcuts and is actually one of macOS's best hidden features. Let's examine it more closely.

Is the Function of the Mac Keyboard's Option Key?

A modifier key is the Option key on a Mac keyboard, which is frequently referred to as "Alt" on older versions. When paired with other keys, it offers shortcuts and modifies the options available in different menus.

Many people find it by accident since Apple doesn't do a good job of explaining what it does. Press the Option key when a menu appears at the top of your screen to see how it operates. You will see some of the menu selections alter in real time.

This occurs in numerous programs as well as across macOS. Experimentation is the simplest approach to discover things. Press the Option key when you have menus open, including context menus from right-click, and see what occurs.

Here are some tips to get you started:

Some Basic Useful Keyboard Shortcuts 

You may be surprised to learn that the Option key has even more keyboard shortcuts. To see what you can discover, it's worth trying.

Option+Command+Backspace, which immediately removes a file without going via the Trash, and Option+F3, which shortcuts to System Settings, are two helpful examples.

Instead of deleting a character at a time in a text app, Option+Backspace removes a word at a time. Additionally, you can type special characters with the Option key.

You can view which characters are mapped to which keys by using the Keyboard Viewer tool. Select "Edit" under Text Input in System Settings > Keyboard, then turn on "Show Input menu in the menu bar." Click the icon for the Input Menu now, and choose "Keyboard Viewer." To view all of the special characters you can type, press the Option key.

It's astonishing how well Apple conceals the option key's usefulness in macOS given how helpful it is. I've mentioned a few of the shortcuts that I think are most helpful, but you can probably find a lot more.

Gain Complete Control Over Brightness and Volume

In macOS, the volume controls are divided into 16 steps. The leap from one step to the next can occasionally be a bit more than you would want. However, the number of steps rises to 64 if you press the volume keys while holding down Shift+Option. It allows you to manage the speakers on your Mac with much greater precision.

Although it may not be as helpful, it is still worthwhile to be aware that you can accomplish the same thing with the brightness adjustments.

Restart and Shut Down Quickly

When menu items have an ellipsis (three dots) at the end, it indicates that clicking will take you to the next step. Usually, you will be asked to confirm that you wish to proceed with the action you have chosen.

Therefore, the Restart, Shut Down, and Log Out options all have these dots beneath the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen. When you click on them, a dialogue box asking for confirmation will appear.

However, the dots vanish when you use the Option key. Now, you may click once to shut down, restart, or log out, avoiding the warning.

Force Quit Apps

Typically, you can right-click on an app's Dock icon and choose "Force Quit" to end the app when it crashes.

However, occasionally an application hangs, stops responding altogether, and the Force Quit option is not visible. To end a process that hasn't crashed, sometimes all you want to do is force quit an application. Holding down the Option key while right-clicking the icon in the Dock will make it happen. Now that "Quit" has changed to "Force Quit," you can end it.

Open the "Save As" menu.

"Save As" is a typical File menu option that is absent from many Mac apps. The "Duplicate" option, which produces a copy of the file you're working on that you may save separately, is typically what you receive instead. There are a few more stages involved, but the idea is similar.

If you're accustomed to using Windows, choose "File," press the Option key, and "Duplicate" will become "Save As." Now you may easily save your file in a new file type or with a different name.

Get Info About Several Items

To view a file or folder's size or other associated attributes, right-click on it and select "Get Info." If you select more than one file, you will see distinct information boxes for each file.

To view the combined size of several files or folders, select them, then right-click while holding down the Option key. When you select "Show Inspector," instead of "Get Info," a single "Multiple Item Info" window appears.

Close Multiple Windows at Once

You must click the red button in the top corner of each window if you have many windows open within the same application and you wish to close them all while leaving the app open. To go right to the point, you can select "File" and hit the Option key. This will cause "Close Window" to change to "Close All."

Cut and Paste Files

In macOS, cutting and pasting files or directories is not always clear. Although it's greyed out, Edit > Cut should do it.

Alternatively, you can use the Command+C keyboard shortcut or Edit > Copy to select the file and copy it to your clipboard. To paste it, navigate to the desired area. After choosing "Edit" and pressing the Option key, "Paste" will become "Move Item Here."

To move the files, click this. It works similarly to a cut-and-paste. Do you want to move files and folders in Finder with ease? Use the free Command X program to add Windows-style cut and paste.

Quickly Duplicate Files

You can swiftly duplicate a file or folder by selecting it (you can choose multiple files), holding down the Option key, and then dragging and dropping it to a different folder or the same place. A green "+" icon will show up to indicate that you are making a copy.

Change the Default App for File Types

You can right-click on a file and select "Open With," then pick the app from the list to open it in an app that isn't your default app for that file type. By right-clicking on the file and holding down the Option key, you can permanently change "Open With" to "Always Open With."

Change the Window Tiling Options

To view tiling and window arrangement options in macOS Sequoia, move your mouse pointer over the green icon located in the upper left corner of a window. A new set of tiling options will appear when you hold down the Option key.

Additionally, the green button's full-screen mode is changed to a "maximise" option by pressing the Option key, which causes the app to adjust to the screen's height.

Increase the size of text on websites (without zooming in)

Zoom In and Zoom Out options in the Safari View menu allow you to adjust the size of everything on the page. These settings can be changed to Make Text Bigger and Make Text Smaller by holding down the Option key. These alter the font size without significantly altering the graphics or other UI components. If you like larger print, it's an easy approach to make pages easier to read.

It's worthwhile to test your apps' Option key as well. In addition to the standard macOS shortcuts, some may feature app-specific shortcuts. Simply push the button once whenever you see an option to see what occurs.