Hidden powers of the å key

Unlock special shortcuts that speed up common actions

The Alt key ( å) – or, in proper Mac parlance, Option, though it isn’t labelled as such on all Mac keyboards worldwide – is literally your key to a world of shortcuts

and alternative behaviours. You might have a sense of this already from our Genius Tips troubleshooting advice; the first step in solving some software problems is to hold the key to reveal a link to your user account’s Library folder (where you can carry out certain maintenance tasks) in Finder’s Go menu.

Similarly, you may have encountered the key’s powers elsewhere, by accident, when idly tapping it and other modifier keys ( ß, ≈ and ç) while you explore the contents of menus. Here you’ll discover some of the å key’s uses in macOS and a few of the apps that come with it. When you’ve finished reading these tips, it’s worth opening other apps you use a lot and working your way through their menus, pressing and releasing the key to see what changes, if anything, and how it may make your Mac life easier.