Want to Learn About Keyboard Shortcuts?  Check Out KeyCue!

November 24th, 2008 at 10:45 AM - Columns and Opinions by John F. Braun

Product Link : KeyCue 4.3 (Shareware $27)
Company Link : Ergonis

As many Mac users know, one doesn't always need to use the mouse to operate your Mac. If you're on a roll entering data on the keyboard, it can slow you down to suddenly have to reach for the mouse to take a certain action. Fortunately, there are many keyboard shortcuts that you can use. Although many are standard across applications (such as Command-C for copy, and Command-V for paste) even the geekiest Mac user can't remember all the shortcuts for all their applications. Enter KeyCue...

Once you have installed KeyCue (and make sure you have set "Enable access for assistive devices" in Universal Access System Preferences) just hold down the Command (clover) key. After a short delay, you'll see an entire list of the shortcuts available to you, along with what key(s) you need to press to activate each shortcut. Shortcuts that are available with the current modifier key(s) you are holding down will be highlighted in yellow. On the following screenshot, the shortcuts available for Command-Shift in the Finder are shown.

You can configure many aspects of KeyCue, such as when it should display the shortcut table, which actions should cause the table to disappear, what the table should look like and which shortcuts it should contain. To change these aspects, press the Command key and wait until the shortcut table appears. The last item shows a keyboard shortcut for opening the KeyCue Settings. One notable setting is the delay before the KeyCue screen comes up; depending on your typing style, you can adjust this anywhere from 0 to 2 seconds.

So get a handle on your keyboard shortcuts, and give KeyCue a try. Have any other Gadgets that help you use your Mac? Send an email to John, and he'll give them a try.

John is a software engineer who works in the corporate R&D group of a Fortune 500 company, focusing on imaging and printing technologies. He has AS, BS and MS degrees in various computing disciplines, so his friends and colleagues are somewhat surprised that he’s a Mac enthusiast.  After spending the day developing in an environment comprised largely of PCs, and watching colleagues wrestle with the horror that is Windows, he’s glad to come home to a MacBook Pro and PowerMac G5 at the end of the day.