Get Easy Keyboard Access to Dock

There is a great shortcut for easily launching applications, folders, files, or the trash while using only the keyboard. Simply press Control-F3 (press Fn also if your keyboard has volume or brightness assigned to the F3 key). That brings the focus to an icon on the dock. Then, just use the arrow keys and enter to select what you want to open.
I couldn’t figure out how OS X decides which icon to select first, so feel free to share in the comments if you know.

Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, Dock, Launch Applications, Launch Files, Launch Folders, Open Trash, Keyboard Shortcut, Keyboard

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I Like This Tip!

Written by Omer Zach on October 11, 2007 at 9:51 pm - Get Easy Keyboard Access to Dock has 10 comments - Categorized in Easy Tips, OS X Tips, keyboard shortcuts

10 Responses to “Get Easy Keyboard Access to Dock”

1. 
   Trackback
   GadgetGadget.info - Gadgets on the web » Get Easy Keyboard Access to Dock

   [...] unknown wrote an interesting post today!.Here’s a quick excerptThere is a great shortcut for easily launching applications, folders, files, or the trash while using only the keyboard. Simply press Control-F3 (press Fn also if your keyboard has volume or brightness assigned to the F3 key). … [...]

   October 11th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
   
   
2. 
   Brian
   Then press Alt plus arrow up/arrow down to move an icon around. October 12th, 2007 at 1:58 am
   
   
3. 
   omerzach
   @Brian: I think you meant Option (Alt)+Left/Right Arrow, not up/down. Nice pointer though, I never knew about that.
   
   I figured out how it decides which icon to put the focus on first. It simply goes to the icon you left off at the last time you used this trick. October 12th, 2007 at 2:17 am
   
   
4. 
   Brad
   Good tip, never knew about this :) October 13th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
   
   
5. 
   Trackback
   Truco: Activar el Dock desde el teclado

   [...] Via l MacTips [...]

   October 15th, 2007 at 3:59 am
   
   
6. 
   danceclimber
   Thank you for the tip. Fn-Control-F3 works great with my macbook pro. But it does Control-F3 does not work with Apple's new wired external keyboard. When using these commands with Apples new wired external keyboard, it does the Expose command "Application Windows". If one if F3 without hitting the Control button, it does the Expose command "All Windows".
   
   Is there any way of getting keyboard access to the Dock while using Apple's new wired external keyboard? October 15th, 2007 at 11:26 am
   
   
7. 
   omerzach
   I don't have one of those keyboards, but one thing you could try is going to the "Dashboard & Exposé" section of the "System Preferences" application and seeing if one of the Exposé shortcuts is overriding the one for accessing the dock. October 15th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
   
   
8. 
   Trackback
   Get Easy Keyboard Access to Menubar - MacTips

   [...] I showed how to Get Easy Keyboard Access to Dock. Gaining access to the menu bar is done in a very similar way. Simply press Control-F2 and the [...]

   October 19th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
   
   
9. 
   fonemstr
   You can also type the first letter or letters of the application you want to launch instead of using the arrow keys to move the focus. October 30th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
   
   
10. 
    Seth Milliken
    The default key mappings for the "Move focus" suite of features are not very convenient at all, but if you remap some of them to more accessible shortcuts it can completely change the way you use your Mac. You can change all of these from System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts -> Keyboard Navigation.
    
    I remap "Move focus to the Dock" to Shift-Control-' (and Caps Lock is *always* mapped to Control via System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Modifier Keys...), so I can keep my fingers on the home row, bring up the dock with a keystroke, type-ahead-find the app I want, and hit return to bring it to the foreground. If I want a particular window, I hit Up Arrow with the app selected, then type-ahead-find the window name and hit return.
    
    Meanwhile, I also have "Move focus to the menu bar" mapped to Shift-Control-; so I can easily navigate menus via the keyboard as well.
    
    It'd be cool if you could use type-ahead-find and window selection on the Command-Tab overlay. December 26th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
    
    

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