Free tool · runs in your browser
Mac keyboard shortcut tester: is that shortcut already taken?
Press a key combination with this page in front. The tester writes it the way macOS does (⌃ Control, ⌥ Option, ⇧ Shift, ⌘ Command) and says whether it's one of the standard macOS shortcuts. If you press something and the page doesn't change at all, macOS or another app caught it first, so it's already taken.
Press a shortcut
Hold modifiers (⌃ Control, ⌥ Option, ⇧ Shift, ⌘ Command) and press a key, with this page in front.
Picking a shortcut that won't clash
- Combine at least two modifiers with a letter, such as ⌃⌥ or ⌥⌘: single-modifier shortcuts are mostly taken by apps.
- Avoid ⌃ with arrows: macOS uses ⌃↑, ⌃↓, ⌃← and ⌃→ for Mission Control and moving between desktops.
- Check the app you use most: press the combination there too. A shortcut that does something in your editor will lose to it.
Where macOS lists its own shortcuts
System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts lists the system ones by area (Mission Control, Screenshots, Spotlight and more), and you can switch any of them off there. App shortcuts are in each app's menus.
Going further: How to move a window to another screen on a Mac with a shortcut.
Questions
Why does nothing happen when I press Command Space?
- Spotlight takes it before the browser sees it. Any shortcut the system or a running app owns never reaches the page, which tells you it's taken.
Which symbol is which?
- ⌃ is Control, ⌥ is Option (Alt), ⇧ is Shift and ⌘ is Command. macOS always writes them in that order.
Does it know every app's shortcuts?
- No. It knows the standard macOS ones and the common app shortcuts like ⌘S and ⌘P. For a specific app, try the combination in that app.
Is anything I type recorded?
- No. Keys are read in your browser to show them and never stored or sent.