Boot in Safe Mode

Press and hold the Shift key just after hearing startup tone. Eventually (and it might take awhile if something's wrong) you'll see a splash screen mentioning Safe Mode and you will be running Apple software only (essentially).

Startup from optical drive, CD

Holding the "C" key with a bootable CD in optical drive will cause startup from the Operating System on the CD.

Startup from optical drive, DVD

Holding the "D" key with a bootable DVD in place allows startup from the System on the CD.

Startup from any available volume

Press Option key at startup tone, hold until volume icons appear in the Startup Manager. Wait until cursor turns into an arrow, select a startup volume by clicking a volume icon (button), then click R-H arrow to continue startup. To rescan boot volumes, click loop-arrow.

Boot in Target Disk Mode

Pressing "T" during startup will make most Macs operate as an external hard drive (a Y-shaped FireWire icon moves onscreen). When connected to a host machine via FireWire, target drive will appear on desktop as a FW volume.

Startup from first (top) partition

Assuming you have multiple partitions with more than one Operating System installed in more than one partition (normally not a good idea).

Startup from network

Aka, NetBoot.

Two-step boot from CD/DVD (maybe)

Holding down the Option Key at startup allows selection of available boot volumes (as above). If you press Command+Period while this screen is visible, the optical drive should open/eject (assuming eject key won't), allowing you to insert a CD.

 

Insert bootable OS disk, then click loop-arrow to rescan startup volumes which should now include the OS CD/DVD.

Eject disk on startup

Holding the mouse button down during startup should eject CDs and DVDs. May take a moment, so be patient.

Eject disk/open drive the hard way

Boot in Target Disk Mode (above). At the prompt, type "eject CD" and press Enter or Return key. Drive should open. To then resume startup, type "mac-boot" then press Return or Enter key again.

Preserve Setup Assistant (new, first-run Macs only)

Useful only when testing upgrades to brand-spankin' new machines; preserves Setup Assistant functions for later use by client (new owner).

Zap the PRAM (parameter RAM)

Zapping (erasing) the PRAM deletes some System prefs (notably date/time) and sets others back to default. Press this key combo during startup until you hear startup tone at least two times, then release keys and allow machine to startup normally.

 

You will have to restore date/time setting and possibly other prefs as well.

Single-user mode

To exit single-user mode, type "reboot" at the prompt. (Open Firmware password option must be disabled.)

Verbose mode

To exit verbose mode, type "reboot" at the prompt. (Open Firmware password option must be disabled.)

 Keyboard Click.

Firstof these has to be the "default button" shortcut: When confronted with a dialog box, a default (preferred) choice is usually presented on the right, usually blue (and possibly throbbing). Pressing either the Enter or Return key will activate that default button.

 

Exceptions include license agreements which present "unbiased" buttons with no default choice and no keyboard activation.

 Save.

The other first-choice shortcut is, of course, saving your work (and saving it often) by using Command+S keys.

Cycle thru open applications

Brings up icons of all open applications. With Command key down, use Tab key to move thru app icons, then release Command key.

Cycle backwards thru applications

Why would you want to go backwards? Dunno, but if you do, you can.

Tile open windows (sorta)

One of the all-time great keyboard shortcuts, Apple's Expose´. All open windows are revealed by shrinking and spreading out. Click one to bring it forward. (Tip: Using Shift+F9 changes animated function to slow motion. Oooo, ahhh, cool!)

Tile application windows

Another Expose´ trick, F10 operates as above except that only windows associated with the currently active application are presented. (Slo-mo is also available with Shift key.)

Go straight to desktop

Expose´ moves all windows aside, revealing the desktop beneath. As with F9 and F10 above, these F keys can be tapped once or held down. Try it! (With Shift key = slo-mo.)

Cut, Copy and Paste (in order)

Cut = Command-X, Copy = Command-C, Paste = Command-V.

 

These keyboard shortcuts probably get more use than any others (getting a workout here, by the way). Select target by dragging cursor across it (text, graphic, photo, whatever), then Cut or Copy from keyboard.

 

Click at desired location, then Paste.

Screen dump

Command+Shift+3 creates a snapshot of the entire screen. You'll hear a camera shutter sound as screen shot is recorded onto your startup volume. Document name will be Picture 1 (or 2, 3, 4, etc.)

Select area screen dump

Command+Shift+4 operates as above except that cursor turns into crosshairs, allowing you to select a small area instead of the entire screen.

Adjust window in background

+ drag/resize window

If an open window in the background gets in the way, dragging it (by title bar or frame) or resizing it (bottom-right corner) without having to bring it forward is easy: Just use Command key.

Close all Finder windows

+ click close button

With Option key held down, a click on any close button will simultaneously close all Finder windows. (Close button is the red one, top-left of all Finder windows.)

Stop ongoing process

This command depends entirely on whether the active app is designed to allow it; in other words, it might work, might not. (One sign of a top-quality application is the implementation of this keyboard command.)

Quit Application

Same as choosing "Quit" from the File menu.

Access debugger window

Type "G" to exit debugger and return to regular programming. Some machines also have a button for this and for accessing firmware.

Reconfigure AV monitor

If it works, let me know.

Toggle Full Keyboard Access

Also available in System Preferences' Keyboard and Mouse pane, this allows use of arrow keys, Tab and other keys for selecting text and many other shortcuts (most listed in Keyboard prefs).

Toggle Display Mirroring

If this function is enabled, the F7 key may allow mirroring to an external monitor, handy if troubleshooting a disabled display (notebooks mostly).

Force Quit (Application)

Produces Force Quit dialog box in OSX. If an application is not responding to input for too long, select app in Force Quit dialog, click Force Quit button, then try relaunching the app. You will lose any recent changes, of course, but at least restarting the computer is not necessary. (Note: OSX only. Sends classic mode and older Systems into a coma.)

Force Shutdown

Hold power button down for at least five seconds. Best to wait ten seconds more before restarting.

Force Restart

This combo will probably not work on all machines, and a shutdown is preferable in most cases anyway.

Sleep

Hold power button down for at least five seconds. Best to wait ten seconds more before restarting.

Forced Fast Shutdown

Not recommended (short of a laptop fire). Best to wait 30 seconds or longer before restarting.

Rebuild the Desktop

Press and hold the Command and Option keys during startup until the appropriate dialogue box appears. Do this on a regular basis (monthly?) - better yet, get a new Mac.

Disable System Extensions

Press and hold the Shift key during startup; only vital OS extensions will load - don't be surprised if some devices and functions are missing or different because their System Extensions are MIA.....

Disable Virtual Memory on startup

Remember Virtual Memory?

Open Extensions Manager on startup

Get right to Extension Manager CDEV before any extensions load. Handy if troubleshooting extension conflicts in the old days.

Startup with Finder windows closed

Why would this be necessary?

Startup from CD drive

Holding the "C" key with a bootable CD in place will cause startup from the System on the CD.

Startup from available network

Aka NetBoot.

Eject disks on startup

Holding the mouse button down during startup ejects floppies, Zips, CDs and most other removable media.

Startup from nearest device  

This keyboard startup will look for an operating system on external drives and startup from the first one it finds. (May be prevented by some Startup Disk control panels.)

Startup from SCSI device (I.D. number)

+ SCSI Number

This key combo selects a SCSI drive by its I.D. number for startup. All Macs had SCSI drives back in the day, one of the reasons they were so fast compared to PCs. SCSI ID numbers are 0 thru 7, with 7 reserved for CPU and 0 usually being the boot volume.

Preserve Setup Assistant (new, first-run Macs only)

Useful only on brand-new Macs that have never been run. Preserves Setup Assistant functions for new owner.

Boot from ROM ("Classic" only)

Probably refers to the Mac Classic model only. Never tried this one.....

Zap the PRAM (parameter RAM)

Zapping (erasing) the PRAM deletes most System preferences and may require reloading drivers for certain peripherals. Press this key combo during startup until you hear a few "bongs," then release the keys and let the machine startup normally (with zero PRAM).

Reset Screen

Only works on certain PowerBooks models.

Identify Boot ROM version (1989 and later Macs)

The normal (best) way to determine boot ROM revision is to use the Apple System Profiler. However, this info may not appear in certain circumstances (under OS 8.5 is one). Using this key combo on startup will display boot ROM at the top of screen. To continue startup, type "bye" then hit the Return Key.

Sleep

Sleep functions are best setup using "hot corners" from your System Preferences' screen saver pane.

Reset Screen

Only works on certain PowerBook models.

Eject disk from internal drive

This command might best be saved for use with early keyboards without F keys.

Eject disk from external drive

This command might best be saved for use with early keyboards without F keys. (Who needs F keys?)

Force Quit Application

In the event of a program freeze or hang, this should be the first attempt to escape. A dialog box will appear with a "Force Quit" button; if you're lucky the button might work, quitting the application and returning you to the Finder. Odds are something close to 50-50 that the button won't work, however, and you'll have to try a forced restart (next entry).

Force Machine Restart

Here's the other "three-finger salute" which forces machine to restart.