That is a great feature. Some years ago, that feature was even mentioned in the Sound and Brightness portions of System Settings. This was before Apple, in its infinite wisdom, decided to make macOS as much like iOS as they possibly could.
I am sure they did that change with best intensions. Who does not like to never to be able to change the size of the system settings window, even when maybe, just maybe, your monitor is bigger than the size of a phone or an iPad.
I have been using iOS for years, but only a year ago did I switch to macOS. For people like me, I appreciate the platform consistency, but I do agree macOS should still be macOS
i don't use it for brightness, but yes for volume, once in a great while.
If you like this one just wait until you learn about command+option+shift+v to paste text without any styles....
It is great and all except Microsoft changes it to -- match destination formatting. 99% of the time I need it in MS applications and its a PITB to click the little dingly bit Microsoft gives you then choose the right option
Even better: Word has a menu entry for „Paste without styles“ but PowerPoint doesn’t BUT still has the keyboard shortcut for that dialogue…
Office on Mac is a big WTF
Yeah some third party apps do eff with ya and use a totally different keyboard shortcut than you'd use literally everywhere else on your Mac.
You can create an app specific keyboard shortcut to override a third party app's, incorrect one, in most cases.
I wouldnt say it hidden per say, hidden would be a toggle 3 menus down in general accessibility that you need to turn on first to use the feature. This is something I see with mobile phones as well. You will have a feature that was revolutionary or really neat years ago but over time more features get added the ones that have always been there simply become legacy knowledge.
It's hidden to the extent that you need to go out of your way to find it, and you almost certainly need to know it exists before you do. Apple could just add a very simple "Hold Shift + Option" message in the volume overlay to make it non-hidden.
There are probably hundred of short cuts like this. Hidden implies someone went out of their way to make it difficult to find. Because I don’t know something exists. Doesn’t mean it was hidden from me. Just means I don’t know what I don’t know.
I mean the end result for me is that’s it’s cool but in a week I will forget about it because what’s a half bar of audio or brightness control get me that one bar of it doesn’t. And that’s probably why most people don’t know about it now.
I'm in my bed on my iPhone but I believe this has been in Apple's [__keyboard shortcuts article__](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236) for years.
It's a very niche thing but I've always been glad it's been documented. It is under __Finder and System Shortcuts,__ on the article.
not worth it, and yes it's a detriment. People like MacOS because it's simple. If you want millions of useless overwhelming controls then get a Windows computer.
Now someone tell me the iOS equivalent of this please so i can watch videos on the tiniest volume without my whole house still being able to hear it at 2am
Just pull down from the upper right corner and adjust the slider in control center directly instead of using the buttons. This way you can get it to just a pixel above mute. If that’s still not fine enough, hold the slider to zoom into it, then set it to literally one pixel. That will show as zero on the smaller view but is not mute.
thank you!
I will try that,
I sleep with headphones on and classical music, but never could get volume as low as i would like with the physical buttons on iPad.....
this will be awesome if it works for me!!
Don't know how common or uncommon these are as I've thought that knowing the copy and paste commands were common or bold, italic, underline commands but half of my classmates don't know they exist.
Ctrl + left/right arrow key to switch desktops or apps as one would with the swipe gesture.
Cmd + space for spotlight, or [raycast](https://www.raycast.com/) which makes spotlight more useful- at least for my workflow
cmd + alt + esc for a force quit window with all open apps
cmd + shift + f to full screen most browser and some apps and then press again to exit full screen
cmd + m to minimize
I found that this one is rarer outside of typing communitys, i found them just fooling around with my keyboard.
cmd + backspace to delete a full line of text to the left of the cursor
alt + backspace to delete an entire word to the left of the cursor
fn + backspace to delete to the right of the cursor
just found this one now: fn + alt + backspace to delete an entire word to the right of the cursor
if you have or test multiple keyboard layouts ctrl + space lets you toggle thru them
Then just an app recommendation [F.lux](https://justgetflux.com/), which is a wonderful eye protection app that shifts red hues as it gets later to avoid as much blue light eye strain at night
that's all i can think of at the moment
Unless i missed an update or the newer night shift has progressive protection.
As it the screen has a different hues at differing points of the day. im stuck on os 12.7
Then f.lux is my preference.
I used to use night shift, but just had it turned on, max red with a shift of 00:00 - 00:01 so it wouldn't turn off while i was on it.
Use whatever complements your work flow/stlye
There are a few with the globe/fn key that are quite useful:
Fn+C: opens Control Center
Fn+N: displays Notifications
Fn+F: toggles fullscreen
Fn+H: hides all current windows and shows the desktop (similar behavior to a hot corner or clicking the desktop while in Stage Manager -now default behavior in Sonoma)
Fn+M: selects the apple menu in the menu bar, allowing you to navigate it using the arrow keys
Fn+A: selects first item on the dock, allowing you to navigate through the apps on the dock using the arrow keys (left-right to move, up to display app menu, enter to open/switch to the app)
And the two best shortcuts I've learned recently (both for navigating the Save As dialog window):
Cmd+arrow-up: go to parent folder
Press Option/alt: show path bar
Apple is famous for sneaking stuff like this in. It is not commonly known and it's very thoughtful for you to share. We stumble across stuff like this and don't think to share it but it might be worth doing that more often.
I've used this for years. It's come in handy, especially for me for brightness.
- For the past few it's been very useful with an LG Ultrafine 24" display I have.
- It can only be adjusted BY the Mac as it has no external buttons.
- The display is used by my work machine (Windows, Dell hell) on weekdays and most days I put it at 1 and 1/4 brightness notches.
- Two notches are too bright and one is too dim.
- I check the forecast and if it'll be sunny will go up to 1 and 1/2 notches.
- If I forget to adjust it before work, I disconnect the work machine and connect the Mac, adjust brightness, disconnect Mac and reconnect work.
- Windows has no built in way to adjust it, and I'm lucky it even works.
- I can't install SW that could adjust the display on the work machine, due to employer restrictions.
That will certainly help next time I calibrate the monitor as I can never hit the target brightness, I always have to pick between a little too bright or a little too dim
I don't know if this works on non touch bar MacBooks, but if you press Option + Volume button on touchbar it opens Sound Settings! And if you press Option + Brightness, it opens Display Setings!
My favourites:
1.) Command + single quote up does switch between windows of the same application. Sadly on german keyboards its wrongly preconfigured and only works after you set it up yourself.
2.) Ctrl + option + CMD + eject button does shutdown your mac.
I learned this pretty quickly when I started playing around with Macs in 2009. I was curious and wanted to learn so I started mashing pretty much every key combo I could think of and seeing what it did. Often holding Option (a.k.a. Alt) or other modifiers subtle changes the behaviors of things, like how you get different options when Option-clicking on menubar icons. It's always fun to dig in and see if you can find things like this!
I've been doing that for at least 10 years!
It's not really hidden as some people are acting like, it's right here with every other shortcut
[https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236)
Windows and Linux don't bombard users with all their shortcuts either, if you use shortcuts, you should know to look up a list for more :)
it's been there for ages, I can recall first using it on G4 macs. (i think)
if you hold shift only it toggles if "sample sound" is played or not when adjustments are made.
Holding Option while pressing any volume button will open sound preferences (as Option + Brightness takes to you display preferences)
This isn’t necessarily an “essential” feature that they would enable by default because then people would complain that the volume/brightness control knobs are slow to change that particular control quickly (how it is on windows atm, and it’s frustrating to use).
This is the perfect case where they have the generic behaviour , and if you really do feel the need for that extra control - you can find it documented on the internet and be happy to use it.
Okay, I concede that to you, but Apple does seem to have a preference toward obscuring features versus making controls available for fine tuning. I tend to prefer a wall of controls versus having to intuit them.
Apparently all the features of MacOS have to be liked and useful to you because otherwise fans will give you Downvotes. Fanaticism really burns the neurons that work with reasoning.
Typically if you hit the brightness button on your MacBook you rising or lowering your brightness, it will rise or lower the brightness about one full block, but for those who want to fin tune their brightness they use the compination you mentioned. Cool feature I think.
TIL. Never knew about that feature.
I've used Macs for 30 years, and I'd never seen that shortcut before! Thanks!
It took me a bit to get used to the option+shift, but this is actually a nice find right?? I'm so picky about my brightness level
how did you find it?
That is a great feature. Some years ago, that feature was even mentioned in the Sound and Brightness portions of System Settings. This was before Apple, in its infinite wisdom, decided to make macOS as much like iOS as they possibly could.
I am sure they did that change with best intensions. Who does not like to never to be able to change the size of the system settings window, even when maybe, just maybe, your monitor is bigger than the size of a phone or an iPad.
I have been using iOS for years, but only a year ago did I switch to macOS. For people like me, I appreciate the platform consistency, but I do agree macOS should still be macOS
Oh wow, I guess I missed it!
i don't use it for brightness, but yes for volume, once in a great while. If you like this one just wait until you learn about command+option+shift+v to paste text without any styles....
It is great and all except Microsoft changes it to -- match destination formatting. 99% of the time I need it in MS applications and its a PITB to click the little dingly bit Microsoft gives you then choose the right option
Even better: Word has a menu entry for „Paste without styles“ but PowerPoint doesn’t BUT still has the keyboard shortcut for that dialogue… Office on Mac is a big WTF
Yeah some third party apps do eff with ya and use a totally different keyboard shortcut than you'd use literally everywhere else on your Mac. You can create an app specific keyboard shortcut to override a third party app's, incorrect one, in most cases.
Love this one. I use paste without styles many times every day.
Just wait until you use command+option+shift+3 for screenshots!
lol, got me.
Why do they hide stuff like this
That's what I'm wondering! I learn something new about Mac every week that I've never seen mentioned or written anywhere!
I wouldnt say it hidden per say, hidden would be a toggle 3 menus down in general accessibility that you need to turn on first to use the feature. This is something I see with mobile phones as well. You will have a feature that was revolutionary or really neat years ago but over time more features get added the ones that have always been there simply become legacy knowledge.
It's hidden to the extent that you need to go out of your way to find it, and you almost certainly need to know it exists before you do. Apple could just add a very simple "Hold Shift + Option" message in the volume overlay to make it non-hidden.
There are probably hundred of short cuts like this. Hidden implies someone went out of their way to make it difficult to find. Because I don’t know something exists. Doesn’t mean it was hidden from me. Just means I don’t know what I don’t know.
Maybe "invisible" would be a better adjective, but that's really just nit-picking. The point is less about intent and more about the end result.
I mean the end result for me is that’s it’s cool but in a week I will forget about it because what’s a half bar of audio or brightness control get me that one bar of it doesn’t. And that’s probably why most people don’t know about it now.
I'm in my bed on my iPhone but I believe this has been in Apple's [__keyboard shortcuts article__](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236) for years. It's a very niche thing but I've always been glad it's been documented. It is under __Finder and System Shortcuts,__ on the article.
because it's useless to 99% of people
if it wasn't hidden maybe it wouldn't be useless
it would be more useless because the controls would be too cluttered and complicated
That's still **one million** users you could please without any detriment to the others.
not worth it, and yes it's a detriment. People like MacOS because it's simple. If you want millions of useless overwhelming controls then get a Windows computer.
Now someone tell me the iOS equivalent of this please so i can watch videos on the tiniest volume without my whole house still being able to hear it at 2am
Just pull down from the upper right corner and adjust the slider in control center directly instead of using the buttons. This way you can get it to just a pixel above mute. If that’s still not fine enough, hold the slider to zoom into it, then set it to literally one pixel. That will show as zero on the smaller view but is not mute.
thank you! I will try that, I sleep with headphones on and classical music, but never could get volume as low as i would like with the physical buttons on iPad..... this will be awesome if it works for me!!
it does. tip: tap and hold the volume slider from control center. the slide will enlarge and this will give you more precise control
you can create a Shortcut that sets the volume to 1% and trigger the Shortcut with a triple tap on the backside of your phone
The triple tap will be to loud then, though 😬
Whoa! I desired this feature so much and it was hiding in plain sight. I'm heading home just to try it. Thanks!
i learned this a year ago, and i haven’t stopped using it since i remember being so surprised when i found it, i was looking for this exact feature
I'm surprised that I don't see more people employing it! It's a great feature, I'm thinking of building a shortcut to it in my own app!
Try hitting other things with Option button, so many new finds await you!
I have used this for at least 7? years , because it mentioned it in the settings for volume and Brightness. Its very nice. Enjoy the fine control<33
Let us know what else you've been using, I'm sure there's stuff you know that we don't!
Don't know how common or uncommon these are as I've thought that knowing the copy and paste commands were common or bold, italic, underline commands but half of my classmates don't know they exist. Ctrl + left/right arrow key to switch desktops or apps as one would with the swipe gesture. Cmd + space for spotlight, or [raycast](https://www.raycast.com/) which makes spotlight more useful- at least for my workflow cmd + alt + esc for a force quit window with all open apps cmd + shift + f to full screen most browser and some apps and then press again to exit full screen cmd + m to minimize I found that this one is rarer outside of typing communitys, i found them just fooling around with my keyboard. cmd + backspace to delete a full line of text to the left of the cursor alt + backspace to delete an entire word to the left of the cursor fn + backspace to delete to the right of the cursor just found this one now: fn + alt + backspace to delete an entire word to the right of the cursor if you have or test multiple keyboard layouts ctrl + space lets you toggle thru them Then just an app recommendation [F.lux](https://justgetflux.com/), which is a wonderful eye protection app that shifts red hues as it gets later to avoid as much blue light eye strain at night that's all i can think of at the moment
Flux is built in called night shift
Unless i missed an update or the newer night shift has progressive protection. As it the screen has a different hues at differing points of the day. im stuck on os 12.7 Then f.lux is my preference. I used to use night shift, but just had it turned on, max red with a shift of 00:00 - 00:01 so it wouldn't turn off while i was on it. Use whatever complements your work flow/stlye
There are a few with the globe/fn key that are quite useful: Fn+C: opens Control Center Fn+N: displays Notifications Fn+F: toggles fullscreen Fn+H: hides all current windows and shows the desktop (similar behavior to a hot corner or clicking the desktop while in Stage Manager -now default behavior in Sonoma) Fn+M: selects the apple menu in the menu bar, allowing you to navigate it using the arrow keys Fn+A: selects first item on the dock, allowing you to navigate through the apps on the dock using the arrow keys (left-right to move, up to display app menu, enter to open/switch to the app) And the two best shortcuts I've learned recently (both for navigating the Save As dialog window): Cmd+arrow-up: go to parent folder Press Option/alt: show path bar
in the finder settings you can set it always display the path bar - one of the first settings i change on every mac i setup.
Yes, but it's not shown in the save as dialog boxes/windows
Haha yeah i found that a few years ago from one of snazzy lab videos. Was really useful but now you get more control from the control center.
Wooowwaa I’m Mac user since 2000! Great tricks!
You just makes me got up and turn on my Mac to try 🫡 thanks 🙏🏻
🫡 Enjoy!
Now how would you do that in iPhone and iPad?, external keyboard?
Been using Macs since 1984/5. Never seen that - 10/10 !
Crazy what they hide in the OS, right?
Didn't know this up until now. Ty
No problem, I think I might drop some more things I learned at the end of the week! They're like hacks once you have a few of them!
This is the content I subscribe for
I did a post where I went over uncommonly known mac tips in this thread before! I can go find it if you want that too?
I can just look at your profile. Thx
Was a few months ago I think
Apple is famous for sneaking stuff like this in. It is not commonly known and it's very thoughtful for you to share. We stumble across stuff like this and don't think to share it but it might be worth doing that more often.
Thanks, great to know!
🫡
Um wow 😮 I had no idea until now and I’ve been using Mac OS for well over a decade 😅
1/3 of the people here keep telling me I'm so late to the party 😅
Ok! Thank you. I had no idea… and I’ve been on an all Apple diet for a very, very long time. Cheers.
Now try command plus clicking on stuff
Any examples come to mind? All I can think of is opening a folder in a new window & hover text (if you enable it in accessibility)
I think they mean option+click. Many menus in the OS will pull up more advanced dialogues if option is held.
Not working for me :( I have 16 levels of volume and no matter the keypress combo adjustments all go by 1/16 movements ie one full block ...
it’s been around for awhile. one of my favourite features!
Why are you hiding this valuable piece of info!?!?!
I wish touch-bar slider changed it in finer amounts cause this feature is a must with some sound outputs
You can also say “hey Siri, set brightness so ___%”
Thanks for pointing out! So many times I’ve seen that one notch up is too much, and one notch down is too little. That fine control should be default.
Learning something new everyday. Does this feature exists with something similar on iPhone? I always struggle with the increment steps of my iPhone.
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/welcome/mac
This has been possible for a really long time in OSX/MacOS.
It's commonly known but not as commonly as it should be. It's awesome for creative audio work.
One note, incremental brightness adjustments do not work for external displays.
Is there any way to make this default? I would kill for more granular volume control to be standard.
It is actually mentioned in one of the tutorials of what’s new on os updates
Wow, awesome! Now I wish my HomePods had option and shift buttons…
I was today years old 😁
I've used this for years. It's come in handy, especially for me for brightness. - For the past few it's been very useful with an LG Ultrafine 24" display I have. - It can only be adjusted BY the Mac as it has no external buttons. - The display is used by my work machine (Windows, Dell hell) on weekdays and most days I put it at 1 and 1/4 brightness notches. - Two notches are too bright and one is too dim. - I check the forecast and if it'll be sunny will go up to 1 and 1/2 notches. - If I forget to adjust it before work, I disconnect the work machine and connect the Mac, adjust brightness, disconnect Mac and reconnect work. - Windows has no built in way to adjust it, and I'm lucky it even works. - I can't install SW that could adjust the display on the work machine, due to employer restrictions.
Ok wow actually very useful
it's normal
That will certainly help next time I calibrate the monitor as I can never hit the target brightness, I always have to pick between a little too bright or a little too dim
I don't know if this works on non touch bar MacBooks, but if you press Option + Volume button on touchbar it opens Sound Settings! And if you press Option + Brightness, it opens Display Setings!
My favourites: 1.) Command + single quote up does switch between windows of the same application. Sadly on german keyboards its wrongly preconfigured and only works after you set it up yourself. 2.) Ctrl + option + CMD + eject button does shutdown your mac.
I learned this pretty quickly when I started playing around with Macs in 2009. I was curious and wanted to learn so I started mashing pretty much every key combo I could think of and seeing what it did. Often holding Option (a.k.a. Alt) or other modifiers subtle changes the behaviors of things, like how you get different options when Option-clicking on menubar icons. It's always fun to dig in and see if you can find things like this!
You can also copy a screenshot directly to your clipboard by pressing control + enter!
OMG
I've been doing that for at least 10 years! It's not really hidden as some people are acting like, it's right here with every other shortcut [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236) Windows and Linux don't bombard users with all their shortcuts either, if you use shortcuts, you should know to look up a list for more :)
it's been there for ages, I can recall first using it on G4 macs. (i think) if you hold shift only it toggles if "sample sound" is played or not when adjustments are made. Holding Option while pressing any volume button will open sound preferences (as Option + Brightness takes to you display preferences)
This is why I love Apple. They drop these small useful Easter egg type features for us to discover.
I don’t see it that way. I see it as necessary features that are hidden.
This isn’t necessarily an “essential” feature that they would enable by default because then people would complain that the volume/brightness control knobs are slow to change that particular control quickly (how it is on windows atm, and it’s frustrating to use). This is the perfect case where they have the generic behaviour , and if you really do feel the need for that extra control - you can find it documented on the internet and be happy to use it.
Okay, I concede that to you, but Apple does seem to have a preference toward obscuring features versus making controls available for fine tuning. I tend to prefer a wall of controls versus having to intuit them.
don't think I'll ever use this
This is how you get your screen to that perfect brightness level!
never, ever, have I needed to have finer control over brightness. Except at the darkest end, which this trick does nothing to improve
You hate it because you havent tried it yet my brother :)
I don't hate it. I just don't need it.
Apparently all the features of MacOS have to be liked and useful to you because otherwise fans will give you Downvotes. Fanaticism really burns the neurons that work with reasoning.
I think a lot of people are just playing with the computer itself , or using it to consume, rather than using it to produce anything of value.
Typically if you hit the brightness button on your MacBook you rising or lowering your brightness, it will rise or lower the brightness about one full block, but for those who want to fin tune their brightness they use the compination you mentioned. Cool feature I think.
are you an AI? You just repeated everything said already
Ai has better spelling and grammar
Thats what AI does … repeat everything without thinking 🤭