All You Need is the Command-L Keyboard Shortcut

Updated March 29th, 2016.

According to the Beatles, All You Need is Love. If I had been a Beatle I would have suggested All You Need is Command-L because Command-L does so many things for a Mac user.

First, this Quiz:
Question: how can you tell when someone’s a long-time Mac user?
Answer: because he calls that crazy cloverleaf/open apple key on either side of the space bar “the Command Key.” You can call it anything you want, but technically it’s a Sevärdhet, an ancient Viking symbol used today by Scandinavian road-sign makers to signify “point of interest.” Apparently, you can be driving in Scandinavia and all of a sudden there’s a big Command key on a post on the side of the road. Sounds like fun to me. Read all about it.

So, what can Command-L do for you? Well let’s see…

In the Apple Address Book, Command-L toggles between the Editing view and the non-Editing view. Faster and easier than reaching for the mouse and clicking “Edit.”

In Preview, Command-L rotates the document to the left.

&In Safari, and in Firefox, Command-L sends focus to the address bar (the place where you normally click to type “www.christianboyce.com” or possibly some other site). It also highlights everything in the address, so all you have to do is start typing. This is going to save you a LOT of time. Next time you want to load up some new web page, do Command-L, type the address, and hit Return. Bingo.

(Note: you can save even more time by NOT typing “http:///www.” You can save a bit more by not typing “.com” or dot-whatever. So, when you want to go to “http://www.apple.com” you can simply do Command-L, then type “apple” and then Return. If that DOESN’T work for you it’s all because of your internet service. Send me an email and I will help you fix that problem, for free if you tell me you saw it on my blog.)

Know any other Command-L tips? Add them here by clicking the “Comments” button.



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Copyright 2008-2023 Christian Boyce. All rights reserved.

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Want some some quick iPhone how-tos?
Visit me at iPhoneinaminute.com.

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See my One-Minute Macman website!



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