Mac keyboard shortcuts for Apple Notes: The ultimate guide

Apple Notes is an easy-to-use note-taking app for keeping and organizing your thoughts and ideas on a Mac. If you use it extensively, you must take advantage of its various keyboard shortcuts to elevate your note-taking experience. These shortcuts let you edit, format, and organize notes faster, saving you the hassle of navigating menus for simple tasks.

Below, we’ve curated a list of essential Mac keyboard shortcuts for Apple Notes. We’ll also show you how to create custom shortcuts for Apple Notes on a Mac. Keep reading to find out!

Table of Contents

Best keyboard shortcuts for Notes app on Mac
Customizing keyboard shortcuts for Apple Notes on Mac

Best keyboard shortcuts for Notes app on Mac

While you can find keyboard shortcuts for most functions in the Apple Notes menu bar, we’ve rounded up some of the most important ones for easy reference.

Basic shortcuts for everyday use in Apple Notes

Create a new note: Command+N
Create a new Quick Note: Fn+Q (works anywhere on your Mac for quick access to Notes, as long as you haven’t changed the keyboard settings)
Duplicate a note: Command+D
Create a new folder: Shift+Command+N
Show or hide folders/sidebar: Command+Option+S
Show the main Notes window: Command+0 (Zero)
Move between the sidebar, notes list, and search field: Tab (this doesn’t work if you’re currently editing a note)
Show notes in a list: Command+1
Show notes in gallery view: Command+2
Show attachments: Command+3
Attach a file: Shift+Command+A
Link a note: >>
Print a note: Command+P
Delete a note: Command+Delete (click the note you want to delete before using the shortcut)
Quit the Notes app: Command+Q

Note editing and formatting shortcuts

Formatting

Apply Title format: Shift+Command+T
Apply Heading format: Shift+Command+H
Apply Subheading format: Shift+Command+J
Apply Body format: Shift+Command+B
Apply Monostyled format: Shift+Command+M
Apply Bulleted List format: Shift+Command+7
Apply Dashed List format: Shift+Command+8
Apply Numbered List format: Shift+Command+9
Apply Block Quote format: Command+’
Apply Checklist format: Shift+Command+L

Font size and color

Show Fonts window: Command+T
Bold text: Command+B
Italic text: Command+I
Underline text: Command+U
Increase font size: Command+Plus sign
Decrease font size: Command+Minus sign
Show Color window: Shift+Command+C

List

Increase list level: Command+] or Tab
Decrease list level: Command+[ or Shift+Tab
Add a line break (soft return) to a list item or checklist: Shift+Return
Insert a tab character in a list item: Option+Tab
Mark or unmark a checklist item: Shift+Command+U
Move a list or checklist item up in the list: Control+Command+Up Arrow
Move a list or checklist item down in the list: Control+Command+Down Arrow

Other formatting shortcuts

Create a link: Command+K
Select an emoji: Control+Command+Space
Copy style: Option+Command+C
Paste style: Option+Command+V
Show spelling and grammar: Command+Shift+: (the Shift key is included in this shortcut to press : instead of 😉
Zoom in on note’s contents: Shift+Command+>
Zoom out on note’s contents: Shift+Command+<
Change size of note’s contents to default: Shift+Command+0 (Zero)

Searching and filtering

Find in currently opened note: Command+F
Find in all notes: Option+Command+F
Find next: Command+G
Find previous: Shift+Command+G
Use selection for find: Command+E
Jump to selection: Command+J

Table shortcuts

Insert a table: Option+Command+T
Add a row above the current one: Option+Command+Up Arrow
Add a row below the current one: Option+Command+Down Arrow
Add a column to the right: Option+Command+Right Arrow
Add a column to the left: Option+Command+Left Arrow
Move down a row or create a new row at the bottom: Return
Move up a row or exit the table when at the first row: Shift+Return
Go to the next cell on the right: Tab
Go to the previous cell on the left: Shift+Tab
Insert a new paragraph inside a cell: Option+Return
Insert a tab character in a cell: Option+Tab
Select cells across a row: Shift+Left Arrow or Shift+Right Arrow
Select cells across a column: Shift+Up Arrow or Shift+Down Arrow
Highlight the content of the current cell: Command+A
(If not inside the table, this shortcut selects the entire note.)
Highlight the entire table: Command+A (press twice)
(If not inside the table, pressing Command+A selects the entire note.)

Customizing keyboard shortcuts for Apple Notes on Mac

Some functions in the Notes app, like the Lock Note menu or the Check Spelling While Typing menu, don’t have keyboard shortcuts by default. However, you can create your own keyboard shortcuts for these. Here’s how:

Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your Mac and select System Settings.
Select Keyboard from the sidebar, scroll down, and click Keyboard Shortcuts.
Choose App Shortcuts from the left, then click the + icon under All Applications.
Click the drop-down button next to Application and select Notes as the app you want to create a shortcut for.
In the Menu Title field, type the exact command leading to the menu you want to assign a keyboard shortcut for as it appears in the Notes app. For example, if you want to create a shortcut for the Check Spelling While Typing menu, you need to enter: Edit->Spelling and Grammar->Check Spelling While Typing. Remember to use a hyphen before the ‘>’ symbol with no spaces in between each menu, and ensure the menu title matches exactly as it appears in the app.
Click the Keyboard Shortcut field, press the key combination you want to assign, and then click Done.

Similarly, you can also customize existing shortcuts if the default options aren’t convenient for you.

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Ultimate Guide to Mac Option Key—This comprehensive guide covers all the hidden features and shortcuts of the Mac option key, helping you use it like a pro.
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Signing off…

The shortcuts above should have you covered on most fronts and reduce dependence on the mouse or Trackpad in the Notes app, especially for trivial actions. So go ahead and develop a command over them to improve your workflow in the Notes app on your Mac.

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