I recently got ahold of a nice MacBook Pro and I'm using it as my primary Windows box at work. It's nice and snappy and I like it, but I'm having trouble getting used to the keyboard, let alone the one-button mousepad. I thought I'd use this post to collapse several google searches into one location. I'll likely add to this list as I learn more tricks.
| Windows Shortcut | MacBook Pro Equivalent | Function+Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alt+PrintScreen | fn+F11 | copy screen capture of entire desktop to clipboard |
| Ctrl+PrintScreen | fn+option+F11 | copy screen capture of current window to clipboard |
| Insert | fn+bottom enter key (next to arrows) | overstrike mode |
| Shift+Insert | ctrl+v | paste clipboard |
| Shift+Delete | ctrl+x | cut selected |
| Backspace | Delete | delete character to left of caret |
| Delete | fn+Delete | not backspace, but delete character to right of caret |
| Home | fn+left arrow | put caret at beginning of line |
| End | fn+right arrow | put caret at end of line |
| PgUp | fn+up arrow | page up |
| PgDn | fn+down arrow | page down |
| Ctrl+PgUp | no equivalent | Go to top of document |
| Ctrl+PgDn | no equivalent | Go to bottom of document |
| Function keys | fn+Function key | Various things. You can switch this behavior in Control Panel > Boot Camp if you want, I recommend this |
| Right-click Mouse | put two fingers on mousepad and press button | Bring Up Context Menu |
And finally, some flamebait questions:
- Why in God's name are there duplicate enter and Apple keys?!?
- Does anyone REALLY think the MacBook right-click equivalent is simpler than putting two #@!$ buttons on the pad?!? That button is huge-ass!
I xmodmap’d my layout to have two backspace keys, one for left hand and 1 for right hand, so I don’t have to drop the mouse to backspace.
About Apple keys, don’t Windows keyboards have two Windows keys too? (my left windows key is the aforementioned backspace)
Two finger right click rocks. Better than any windows solution.
ctrl+pgdn(windows) = fn+ctrl+pgdn (apple)
@Mya: Actually I’ve noticed that this seems to be a per-application thing. For instance, Excel lets me use Alt+Ctrl+PgUp/Dn as you suggest. However, TextPad requires me to use Alt+PgUp and Alt+PgDn to go to top and bottom of the document. However, Outlook or Word does not support either shortcut 🙁
how do you get to Cntr+Alt+Delete on the Macbook Pro?
Thanks for the quick cheat sheet.Two finger right click rocks. Better than any windows solution.
Nice quick cheat sheet. Thanks for sharing your tricks. I will try this shortcut keys to my cousin’s windows on a macbook pro.
What about the F12(save as), this shortcut key should be included in your list.Anyway, thanks for sharing.