RibbonHow to use a Mac without a mouse
Five things make a Mac keyboard-friendly: Spotlight for launching (⌘Space), the Help menu search for any menu command (⌘⇧/), Keyboard Navigation so Tab reaches every button, a link-hint extension in the browser, and window shortcuts so you never drag a title bar. Turn those on and the trackpad becomes optional.
1. Launch anything
⌘Space opens Spotlight. Type a few letters of an app, file, setting or calculation and press Return. ⌘Return reveals a file in Finder instead of opening it.
Raycast (free for personal use) goes further: window commands, clipboard history, snippets, and actions on the selected result, all from the keyboard.
2. Reach every menu
- ⌘⇧/ opens the Help menu with its search field focused. Type part of any menu command's name, arrow down to it, press Return. This works in nearly every app and is the single most useful keyboard trick on a Mac.
- ⌃F2 moves focus to the menu bar (add Fn if your top row is media keys). Then use the arrows, or type a menu's first letter.
- ⌃F3 focuses the Dock. Arrows move, Return opens.
3. Tab to every control
By default, Tab in dialogs only moves between text fields. Turn on Keyboard navigation in System Settings → Keyboard, and Tab reaches buttons, checkboxes and pop-up menus too. Space presses the focused control; Return presses the default (blue) button; Esc cancels.
For more, Full Keyboard Access (System Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard) lets you reach and operate every part of the screen, with a visible focus ring. It's designed for people who can't use a pointer, and it's thorough.
4. The browser
The web is the hardest part, because pages are full of links. Link-hint extensions label every link with a letter or two; type them to click:
- Vimium (Chrome and other Chromium browsers) and Vimium-FF (Firefox): press F for hints, plus Vim-style scrolling and tab commands.
Built-in shortcuts cover the rest: ⌘L for the address bar, ⌘T and ⌘W to open and close tabs, ⌃Tab to cycle tabs, ⌘[ and ⌘] for back and forward. Safari has fewer link-hint extensions than Chrome and Firefox, so keyboard-heavy users often pick one of those.
5. Finder
Finder is quite usable from the keyboard: type a name to select it, ⌘↓ opens, ⌘↑ goes to the parent folder, Space previews with Quick Look, Return renames, ⌘⇧G jumps to any path.
6. Windows, without dragging
This is where most keyboard workflows fall down. Built in, you get ⌘Tab, ⌘` and, on macOS 15 and later, Fn⌃ plus an arrow to tile. There's no key to focus "the window on the left" or to move a window one slot over.
A keyboard-driven window manager fills that gap. In Ribbon, windows sit as columns on a horizontal strip, and every action is ⌃⌥ plus one key:
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌃⌥H / L (or ← / →) | Focus the window to the left or right |
| ⌃⌥⇧H / L | Move the window left or right |
| ⌃⌥1–9 | Jump to a window by position |
| ⌃⌥R | Cycle the window's width |
| ⌃⌥N | Send it to the next display |
New windows are placed automatically, so there's nothing to arrange with a pointer. Try the keys in the live demo; Ribbon is $9.99 once.
FAQ
How do I click a button on a Mac with the keyboard?
Turn on Keyboard navigation in System Settings → Keyboard. Tab then moves to buttons and Space presses them. Return presses the default button.
How do I open the menu bar with the keyboard?
⌃F2 (with Fn on keyboards set to media keys), or ⌘⇧/ to search the menus.
Can I control windows from the keyboard on a Mac?
Partly. macOS 15 has tiling shortcuts, and ⌘Tab and ⌘` switch apps and windows. A window manager adds focus-left, focus-right and move shortcuts.