I'm still a new Mac owner, and I've struggled with the message windows / boxes / popups that sometimes appear and ask me to choose an option, like "save" "don't save" and "cancel" in TextEdit's case. I noticed I can't use the arrow keys to navigate these buttons, but pressing Enter will choose the default option and ESC will choose the "cancel" option. Is there any way to control this with the keyboard? Or are the Apple engineers forcing me to use a mouse / trackpad?
Macos – OS X: using the keyboard to select an option in a message window / box
keyboardkeyboard shortcutsmacos
Related Solutions
You can use Command+Down Arrow to open a folder.
- Command+Up Arrow will take you to the parent folder.
- Command+Right Arrow or just Right Arrow will expand (toggle the triangle chic) the folder.
- Command+Left Arrow or just Left Arrow will retract the folder.
Also good to know is Command + any of 1, 2, 3 or 4 will toggle between the different view types (icon, list, columns, cover flow respectively).
To fix iTerm 2's behavior, go to Preferences > Profiles > Keys and set the left (and/or right) Option key to act as "Normal":
That way you'll be able to enter key combinations for umlauts, accents, etc.
If you have several profiles defined, you'll have to make the change for each one.
Best Answer
This is really annoying I can tell, but you can tab through dialog boxes.
Go to "System Preferences" > "Keyboard & Shrotcuts".
At the very bottom there will be an option saying about "full keyboard access". Check the radio button that says “All Controls” and here you go