100 Tips #22: Hold Down Option For More… Options

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20100812-optionsymbol.jpg

This is the Option symbol, which you’ll see quite a lot of as you use Mac OS X.

Depending on the age of your Mac or your keyboard, the key itself might have all sorts of different things on it. It might just have the option symbol. It might have the word “Alt” on it, or the word “Option”; or both; or some combination of one of those words and the symbol.

This can make things confusing for newcomers. To make it easier, remember that Option = Alt = ⌥, and that the key you need is adjacent to the Command key.

Just as the Mac Command key is similar to the Windows Control key, so the Mac Option key is similar to the Windows Alt key, or the AltGr key. Hold it down while pressing other keys, to make them do different things. It’s a modifier.

Option is often used in keyboard shortcuts, usually in conjunction with the Command key. So in Safari, holding down Command+Option+B shows the bookmarks manager.

If you press Option while looking at the screen – especially while looking at a menu on screen – you’ll see that it does things for you. It gives you more options.

Here’s an example with a Finder window open. Clicking on the File menu normally shows you this:

20100812-withoutoption.jpg

But if you click on the File menu and press Option, the menu items change on the spot, and now look like this:

20100812-withoption.jpg

See the differences? That’s just a quick example to show you what I mean. There are zillions of instances where holding down Option can give you extra options that you might not have expected to see. Give it a try every now and again, and see what you find.

(You’re reading the 22nd post in our series, 100 Essential Mac Tips And Tricks For Windows Switchers. These posts explain to OS X beginners some of the most basic and fundamental concepts of using a Mac. Find out more.)

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