In this post, I will be sharing why you should ditch the mouse and take the time to pick up and master keyboard shortcuts.
As a software engineer, efficiency is of the essence, especially when dealing with many mundane tasks and/or meeting tight deadlines. For any work setup, majority of the time is spent moving between the keyboard and mouse.
Fortunately for us, this precious time can be saved by learning keyboard shortcuts that can perform the same functions.
Below is a compilation of shortcuts (Mac and Windows) that I will recommend for speeding up your workflows in web browsers, the Terminal and VSCode.
Shortcuts (Mac)
Basic
Command + A Select all
Command + C Copy
Command + F Find keyword
Command + Option + F Replace keyword
Command + Q Close application
Command + S Save
Command + V Paste
Command + W Close active window
Command + X Cut
Command + Z Undo
Command + ` Toggle between application windows
Command + Shift + Z Redo
Command + Ctrl + F Fullscreen
Command + Up/Down Move cursor to start/end of document
Command + Left/Right Move cursor to start/end of line
Command + Option + D Show Dock
Command + Option + Space Open Finder
Command + Mission Control Show/Hide opened apps
Command + Shift + 3 Print full screen
Command + Shift + 4 Select area and print screen of selected area
Command + Shift + 5 Screen recording
Command + Shift + Up/Down Select all characters from cursor to the top/bottom of the document
Command + Shift + Left/Right Select all characters left/right of the cursor
Command + Space + 'Type your search' System search
Command + Tab Toggle applications
Ctrl + Up View all applications from desktop
Shift + Up/Down Select characters above/below the line
Shift + Left/Right Select characters left/right of the cursor
Option + Up/Down Move current line above/below it
Option + Left/Right Move cursor to the start/end of wordsBrowser
Comamnd + D Bookmark current tab
Command + L Move cursor to address bar
Command + R Reload page
Command + T Open new tab
Command + W Close active tab
Command + Shift + T Open recently closed tab
Command + Shift + W Close all active windows
Command + Left/Right Navigate to previous/next page in history
Control + Tab OR Command + Option + Left/Right Toggle between tabs
F12 Open web consoleVSCode
Command + L Select line
Command + P Search for file
Command + N Work on a new file
Command + W Close active tab
Command + Shift + F Find keyword in directory
Command + Shift + K Delete line
Command + Shift + P Open command palette
Command + Shift + V Preview Markdown file on the side
Command + Option + Up/Down Add cursors to multiple lines at the same horizontal positon
Command + Option + Left/Right Toggle tabs
Command + \ Split code editor/Terminal
Command + / Comment line of code
Ctrl + ` Open/close Terminal in code editor
Ctrl + Shift + ` Open new Terminal in code editor
Option + Shift + Up/Down Copy and paste current line above/below it
Option + Shift + Left/Right Select words to the left/right of the cursor
`Select keyword` + Command + D Add cursor to all found keywords one at a time
`Select keyword` + Command + Shift + L Add cursor to all found keywordsBash/Terminal
Command + D Split Terminal vertically
Command + Shift + D Split Terminal horizontally
Command + T Open new Terminal tab
Command + W Close active Terminal tab
Command + Shift + W Close all active Terminal tabs in the same session
Command + Left/Right Toggle between Terminal tabs
Command + Option + Up/Down/Left/Right Toggle between split Terminals in the same tab
Command + Shift + I Broadcast input to multiple Terminal tabs in the same session (iTerm)
Ctrl + A Move cursor to start of line
Ctrl + E Move cursor to end of line
Ctrl + H Clear character before cursor position
Ctrl + D Clear character after cursor position
Ctrl + U Clear line before cursor position
Ctrl + K Clear line after cursor position
Ctrl + L OR `clear` OR `cls` Clear screen
Ctrl + W Delete previous word
Ctrl + C Cancel program
Ctrl + Z Stop program
`history` Show history of commands
Option + Left/Right Move cursor between words
Up/Down Cycle history of commandsShortcuts (Windows)
Basic
Alt + F4 Close active window
Alt + Tab Toggle applications/View all applications from desktop
Alt + Shift Change Language/Keyboard
Alt + Shift + Up/Down Move current line above/below it
Ctrl + A Select all
Ctrl + C Copy
Ctrl + F Find keyword
Ctrl + H Replace keyword
Ctrl + S Save
Ctrl + V Paste
Ctrl + X Cut
Ctrl + Z Undo
Ctrl + Shift + Z Redo
F11 Fullscreen
Ctrl + Left/Right Move cursor to the start/end of words
Ctrl + Home/End Move cursor to start/end of document
Home/End Move cursor to start/end of line
Shift + Up/Down Select characters above/below the line
Shift + Left/Right Select characters left/right of the cursor
Shift + Home/End Select all characters left/right of the cursor
Shift + Page Up/Page Down Select all characters from cursor to the top/bottom of the document
Windows Show Start Menu
Windows + `Type your search` System search
Windows + D Show/hide desktop
Windows + E Open File Explorer
Windows + Alt + R Screen recording
Windows + Print Screen Print full screen
Windows + Shift + S OR Print Screen Select area and print screen of selected areaBrowser
Alt + D Move cursor to address bar
Alt + Left/Right Navigate to previous/next page in history
Ctrl + D Bookmark current tab
Ctrl + R Reload page
Ctrl + T Open new tab
Alt + F4 OR Ctrl + F4 OR Ctrl + W Close active tab
Ctrl + Shift + T Open recently closed tab
Ctrl + Shift + W Close all active windows
Ctrl + Tab Toggle between tabs
F12 Open web consoleVSCode
Alt + Left/Right Toggle tabs
Alt + Shift + Up/Down Copy and paste current line above/below it
Ctrl + L Select line
Ctrl + P Search for file
Ctrl + N Work on a new file
Ctrl + W Close active tab
Ctrl + \ Split code editor/Command Prompt
Ctrl + / Comment line of code
Ctrl + ` Open/Close Command Prompt in code editor
Ctrl + Alt + Up/Down Add cursors to multiple lines at the same horizontal positon
Ctrl + Shift + ` Open new Command Prompt in code editor
Ctrl + Shift + F Find keyword in directory
Ctrl + Shift + K Delete line
Ctrl + Shift + P Open command palette
(Ctrl + K) + V Preview Markdown file on the side
Ctrl + Shift + Left/Right Select words to the left/right of the cursor
`Select keyword` + (Ctrl + D) Add cursor to all found keywords one at a time
`Select keyword` + (Ctrl + Shift + L) Add cursor to all found keywordsPowershell/Command Prompt
Alt + Enter Fullscreen
Home Move cursor to start of line
End Move cursor to end of line
Backspace Clear character before cursor position
Delete Clear character after cursor position
Ctrl + Home Clear line before cursor position
Ctrl + End Clear line after cursor position
Esc OR `clear` OR `cls` Clear screen
Ctrl + Backspace Delete previous word
Ctrl + C Cancel program
Ctrl + Z Stop program
Ctrl + Left/Right Move cursor between words
`history` Show history of commands
Up/Down Cycle history of commandsOther ways to shortcut your workflow
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Learn to touch-type, which incorporates all fingers to access your keyboard optimally. With sufficient practice, you will be able to save time by typing without glancing on the keys.
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Use tabs for autocompletion in the Terminal, especially when your file paths are long/unknown.
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When inputting text in multiple input boxes, use tabs instead of moving the mouse to proceed to the next input.
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Use aliases to execute long/complex commands
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alias
nrs=npm run start(Executesnpm run startwithnrs) -
alias
gps=git push(Executesgit pushwithgps)
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Broadcast input to multiple Terminal tabs in the same session if the same executions need to be done on multiple replica servers - a nice feature of iTerm2.
Conclusion
After being exposed to these shortcuts, I learnt how excruciatingly painful it is to have wasted time using the mouse or performing repetitive work.
For those who just received your laptop or are new to shortcuts, I recommend trying these out to boost your productivity!