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On Windows, every dialog box includes underlined letters that you can activate using the Alt key. I use these "Alt" keyboard shortcuts all the time; I'm missing them as I'm trying to switch to OSX.

On OSX, all I can find is Tab navigation, which requires you to press Tab seven or eight times to get anywhere in most dialog boxes. (And even that is hidden by default: you have to enable "Full keyboard access" in the "Keyboard & Mouse" control panel to be able to Tab between buttons.)

Is there some way I can get something like the Windows Alt accelerators for OSX dialogs? I'm willing to write Automator code, download/purchase software, etc.

Specifically, I'm imagining maybe something where you do some shortcut command and then start typing the name of the button, and hit Enter to push the button...?

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Nearly identical question: superuser.com/questions/29660/… – Andrew Grimm Jan 1 '10 at 4:36

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In OSX there's no such thing as the "_" for dialogs like in Windows. However, you have:

esc → defaults to no/cancel

cmd + del → don't save (cmd + d before OS X Lion)

enter → save/OK

spacebar → click selected button (use tab to move).

A quick Google search for "osx keyboard shortcuts" will teach you way more than you can memorize in one day, but you should; there are dozens and some are very valuable.

You can always add more/change some existing ones by going to System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts, exactly where you activated "all controls".

But as far as I know, there's no "underscore" thing in OSX.

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Also note the "keyboard navigation" section in the "keyboard shortcuts" tab of the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, specifically the item "move focus to the menu bar". Not exactly what you wanted, but this allows you to navigate the menu bar and its menus using only the keyboard. – hasseg Aug 19 '09 at 13:33
up vote 3 down vote

In addition to Martín's essential list of shortcuts (which work almost everywhere), you should know that in a File Open or File Save dialog you can press / or ~ to jump straight to a popup sheet that will let you type in a folder path. This is great for if you are a super fast typist, or if you want to go to a hidden folder like ~/.ssh.

That field even does Tab Completion, sort-of—the catch is if there are zero matches, or more than one match, when you press Tab, instead of doing any kind of completion Tab will just jump you out of the text field.

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