Learn how to use the Tab key to move your focus between controls on the Mac.
This is one of my favorite features of the Mac – moving the focus between controls using keyboard navigation. When we enable this, what we can do is move what is select in dialog boxes or apps just by using the keyboard. We do not need to use a mouse to trackpad to select a control, such as where a file it saved. See how and why I like to turn this feature on – Move the focus between Controls using Keyboard Navigation on the Mac.
Video TranscriptI have it down here in my dock. When I open this up, what happens is, is this search here is highlighted automatically. This is the focus. This focus is on this control, the search being a control. Let’s go and open up a text, edit document. I have texted it here down in my doc. We’re going to open up a new doc.
And let’s go and save this. When I save this, we have this blue bar around where I name it. This blue bar is the focus and it’s on the control save or save as so. Now all I need to do is just start typing and it’ll name this document because that focus is on that control. What we can do is we can move that focus around to different controls using keyboard navigation.
So let’s say I wanted to change the file format. The only way that I can do that is by using the track pad or a mouse, I have to move my cursor down here to rich text document, click on it, and then select something. This is a control, but the only way that I can change the focus to this control is by using the track pad or the mouse, let’s say I wanted to cancel this.
What I have to do is I have to move my cursor or mouse to. Well, what we can do is we can set up our Mac to move between these different controls using keyboard navigation. So now let’s turn that on and we’re going to come back to this and I’ll show you how this works. So I’m going to cancel this and let’s close this.
We’re going to go back over to our System Preferences. This is where we turn it on. We need to go under keyboard here. When I go to. We go over to shortcuts under shortcuts. You’re going to see down towards the bottom use keyboard navigation to move focus between controls. This is going to be deselected by default.
So let’s go ahead and select it and now see how this works. So I select a here. Now let’s go back over to my text. Edit. I’m going to create a new doc. We’re going to save this. Let’s move it over here a little bit. And I’m going to save this. We have my focus here on this control save as so nothing has changed so far, but now let’s say I wanted to change the tag, or I want to change where it is safe.
Well, instead of using my mouse or track pad, I can now use keyboard navigation. So I never have to move my hand away from the keyboard to navigate between these different controls. So how do we move them over? The tab key. So when I hit the tab key on my keyboard, watch what happens to this control is going to move over to tags.
I hit the tab key and we can see it’s over and tags here. So it moved that control over to tags. Now, what I’m able to do is use the arrows on my keyboard to select a tag. So we’re going to go with. I want to move that focus again. Maybe I want to change where it is located. I can do this again without using the track pad or the mouse.
I hit the tab key, and now we can see that focus is down here, underwear. How do I select where I hit the space-bar and now I use an arrow key and I can select where I want to save it. So let’s go with iCloud. Maybe I want to change the file format. How do I do that? I moved the focus with the tab key, and now I hit the space bar to select it.
And then I use the arrow keys to change the document type. So you can start to see a pad in here. Tab moves the focus, the space-bar selects it. And then the arrow key allows you to make a selection within a dropdown menu as an. We can also use shift tab to move the focus. That’ll go backwards. So let’s say I no longer want to have this in iCloud Drive.
I need to change this again. Shift tab brings me back. Let’s go ahead and escape here. Shift tab brings me back to iCloud Drive and what I’m able to do is select what I want using the arrow keys. I hit return and now it’ll save it in my applications folder. What about cancel? Well, cancel is a control as well.
So I can escape out of here. And then I tab until cancels highlighted. I hit the space bar and it just canceled that. So that’s how we can use keyboard navigation to change the focus between controls. It sounds a little geeky there, but basically when you save something or when you select something or when you’re working within any app, what you have is a folder.
That focus can be changed by using keyboard navigation. We use the tab key to move it around. We use a space-bar to make a selection, and we can also use the arrows to change our selection. To enable this. All you have to do is go over to your System Preferences, and then you go to keyboard under shortcuts.
You’re going to see an option to enable. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I do like using keyboard shortcuts. I love using keyboard navigation to move it around. Then I don’t have to lift my hands up off of the keyboard. I don’t have to move to the track pad. I don’t have to move to the mouse. And a lot of cases, I can just do this by using the tab key, along with the space-bar just tab, tab, tab space-bar tab tab tab, space-bar hit returned to make us whole.
So that’s how we can use our keyboard to change our focus between controls on the Mac.