Mac Keyboard Symbols: What Every Key and Icon Means
Tap any key to see what it does. Every Mac symbol, from ⌘ to ⎋, is below the keyboard.
Command⌘
The main shortcut key on a Mac, used the way Ctrl is on Windows. ⌘C copies, ⌘V pastes and ⌘Q quits the app.
Modifier keys
The keys behind the symbols you see next to almost every menu item. On their own they do little; held down, they change what the next key does.
Typing and editing
Keys for entering, deleting and moving between text, and the symbols that stand for them in menus.
Arrows and moving around
Moving the cursor and scrolling, including the page keys a Mac laptop keyboard leaves out.
Top row on current Macs
What the icons on the F1 to F12 keys do on current MacBook Air and MacBook Pro keyboards and the Magic Keyboard. Hold Fn to use them as plain F1 to F12 keys instead.
Keys on older Macs
Icons you may still see on an older MacBook or Apple keyboard.
Reading a shortcut
Hold the symbol keys, always written in the order ⌃ ⌥ ⇧ ⌘, then press the last key.
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