MacOS – Mac equivalent of Ctrl + Space to select an item on a list

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I want to select non-consecutive items on a list, without using a mouse/trackpad – there should be no clicks involved.

In Windows and Linux (at least Ubuntu) an item can be selected using Space/ button, which, in combination with arrows and Ctrl key allows me to select multiple items in any environment (file manager, IDE etc.) – e.g.

Enter a directory -> hold Ctrl -> down arrow twice -> press Space -> down arrow twice -> press Space.

Now I should have items 1, 3 and 5 selected.
Is there a way to do the same thing in OS X?

PS. Sorry for such a verbose description, but so far every answer I encountered advices using Command + Click, and this is something I don't want to do.

Best Answer

I don't think there's a native way to do this, but if you install Shortcat you can:

  • select the first item using arrow keys
  • activate Shortcat and type enough to focus on the next item you want
  • hold Command and press Return

By the way, if you're as keyboard-centric as I am, you should also look at Karabiner Elements.

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