If you’re a Mac user looking for a simple and effective day planner, consider this trio of native macOS apps: Calendar, Reminders, and Notes.

Once you set up these apps to your liking, you have a fuss-free system to manage your schedule, tasks, and notes. Plus, if you learn how to control them with keyboard shortcuts, so much the better. And what’s more, you can discover various useful keyboard shortcuts for these macOS productivity apps in the cheat sheet below.

The cheat sheet contains shortcuts for navigation and search, view management, formatting, and more in Calendar, Reminders, and Notes.

FREE DOWNLOAD: This cheat sheet is available as a downloadable PDF from our distribution partner, TradePub. You will have to complete a short form to access it for the first time only. Download Keyboard Shortcuts for Calendar, Reminders, and Notes on Mac.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Calendar, Reminders, and Notes on Mac

Calendar

Cmd + N

Add new event

Option + Cmd + N

Add new calendar

Shift + Cmd + N

Add new calendar group

Option + Cmd + S

Add new calendar subscription

Cmd + F

Highlight search box to search for events

Cmd + 1

Switch to Day view

Cmd + 2

Switch to Week view

Cmd + 3

Switch to Month view

Cmd + 4

Switch to Year view

Cmd + Right Arrow

Go to next day, week, month, or year

Cmd + Left Arrow

Go to previous day, week, month, or year

Cmd + T

Switch to today’s date

Shift + Cmd + T

Open popup for switching to specific date

Cmd + + (Plus)

Increase text size

Cmd + - (Minus)

Decrease text size

Cmd + R

Refresh all calendars

Cmd + E

Edit selected event

Esc (when event is open)

Close event editor without saving changes

Return (when event is open)

Commit changes to event and close event editor

Cmd + I

Show Info popup for selected event(s)

¹Option + Cmd + I

Show Inspector popup for selected event

Arrow Keys

Select event (if available) in adjacent row/column in relevant direction

Control + Option + Up Arrow

Day/Week View: Move selected event 15 minutes earlier Month View: Move selected event one week earlier

Control + Option + Down Arrow

Day/Week View: Move selected event 15 minutes later Month View: Move selected event one week later

Control + Option + Right Arrow

Day/Week/Month View: Move selected event one day later

Control + Option + Left Arrow

Day/Week/Month View: Move selected event one day earlier

Shift + Cmd + A

Toggle Availability panel

Reminders

Cmd + N

Create new reminder

Shift + Cmd + N

Create new list

²Cmd + ]

Indent reminder to create subtask

²Cmd + [

Outdent reminder

Cmd + E

Show all subtasks

Shift + Cmd + E

Hide all subtasks

³Cmd + I

Show Info popup for selected reminder

Cmd + F

Highlight search box to search for reminders

²Shift + Cmd + F

Set/clear flag for selected reminder(s)

Control + Cmd + S

Toggle sidebar

Notes

Cmd + N

Create new note

Shift + Cmd + N

Create new folder

Shift + Cmd + A

Open dialog for attaching file

Cmd + K

Create link

Cmd + F

Highlight search box to search current note

Cmd + G

Highlight next search result in current note

Shift + Cmd + G

Highlight previous search result in current note

Option + Cmd + F

Highlight search box to search all notes

Shift + Cmd + T

Apply Title format

Shift + Cmd + H

Apply Heading format

Shift + Cmd + J

Apply Subheading format

Shift + Cmd + B

Apply Body format

Shift + Cmd + M

Apply Monospaced format

Shift + Cmd + L

Apply Checklist format

Shift + Cmd + U

Mark selected checklist items as checked/unchecked

Control + Cmd + Up Arrow

Move current list/checklist item up in list

Control + Cmd + Down Arrow

Move current list/checklist item down in list

Cmd + B

Emphasize selected text

Cmd + I

Italicize selected text

Cmd + U

Underline selected text

Cmd + + (Plus)

Increase size of selected text

Cmd + - (Minus)

Decrease size of selected text

Cmd + Shift + [

Align selected text flush left

Cmd + Shift + \

Center selected text

Cmd + Shift + ]

Align selected text flush right

Cmd + [

Decrease indent level of selected content or line where cursor is placed

Cmd + ]

Increase indent level of selected content or line where cursor is placed

Control + Return

Add line break (soft return) to list/checklist item

Option + Tab

Insert tab character in list item

Option + Cmd + C

Copy style of selection

Option + Cmd + V

Paste copied style to selection

Cmd + T

Show Fonts window

Shift + Cmd + C

Show Colors window

Option + Cmd + T

Create table

⁴Return

Move cursor to row below

Tab

Move focus to next cell on right

Shift + Tab

Move focus to next cell on left

Shift + Left/Right Arrow

Select cells one by one in relevant direction current row

Shift + Up/Down Arrow

Select cells one by one in relevant direction in current column

Option + Return

Add new paragraph in current cell

Option + Tab

Add tab character in current cell

Option + Cmd + Up Arrow

Add new row above current row

Option + Cmd + Down Arrow

Add new row below current row

Option + Cmd + Right Arrow

Add new column to right of current column

Option + Cmd + Left Arrow

Add new column to left of current column

Cmd + 0

Show main Notes window

Cmd + 1

Switch to List view for notes

Cmd + 2

Switch to Gallery view for notes

Cmd + 3

Switch to Attachments Browser

Return (when note is selected in List view or Gallery view)

Open or switch focus to selected note to begin typing

Cmd + Return

Open or switch focus from current note content to previous notes view i.e. List view or Gallery view

Option+ Cmd + S

Toggle Folders sidebar

Shift + Cmd + . (Period)

Zoom in on note content

Shift + Cmd + , (Comma)

Zoom out of note content

Shift + Cmd + 0

Change note content to default size

⁵Cmd + A (When cursor is in table)

Select content of active cell OR Select table if active cell is empty

Common Shortcuts

Cmd + Z

Undo previous action

Shift + Cmd + Z

Reverse undo

Cmd + X

Cut selected item

Cmd + C

Copy selected item

Cmd + V

Paste cut/copied item

Delete

Delete selected item

Cmd + A

Select all items

Cmd + P

Open Print dialog

Cmd + , (Comma)

Open app preferences

Control + Cmd + F

Toggle Full Screen mode

Cmd + M

Minimize window

Option + Cmd + M

Minimize all windows of current app

⁶Cmd + W

Close current window

Option + Cmd + W

Close all windows of current app

Cmd + H

Hide current app

Option + Cmd + H

Hide all apps except current app

Cmd + Q

Quit app

¹Shortcut does not work with multiple events, but if you switch between events when Inspector is active, its contents are updated accordingly. ²Shortcut may not be available if iCloud is not enabled. ³If multiple reminders are selected, Info popup for last selected reminder is displayed. ⁴If cursor is in last row, shortcut adds new row to table. ⁵When active cell is populated, press shortcut twice to select table. ⁶In Reminders and Notes, shortcut quits app after closing window.

Bullet Journaling With Mac Productivity Apps

The default productivity apps on macOS are not only easy to use, but also quite flexible. You can use them to bring offline note-taking methods online. For example, you can create a Bullet Journal on your Mac with Calendar, Reminders, or Notes.

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