Keyboard shortcuts and gestures in Photos on Mac

Go to an item in the sidebar (Library, Memories, People and so on)

Control-[number], where the number corresponds to the order in which the items appear in the sidebar. For example, press Control-1 to select Library, the first item.

Because items shown in the sidebar may vary, choose View > Photos to see the correct shortcut for each item.

View all photos (in Library view)

Command-4

View days (in Library view)

Command-3

View months (in Library view)

Command-2

View years (in Library view)

Command-1

View all memories (in Memories view)

Command-1

View favourite memories (in Memories view)

Command-2

View the photos in a day, month or year

Double-click the title, or tap or pinch open the day, month or year

Open an individual photo

Double-click or double-tap the photo, or select the photo and press the Space bar

Close an individual photo and see more photos

Double-click the photo or pinch closed, or press the Space bar or the Esc (Escape) key

Scroll through photos in the Photos window

Press the arrow keys, or swipe up or down with two fingers

See the next or previous photo in a day or album

Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key, or swipe left or right with two fingers

Stop viewing a photo, project, album, or shared album

Command-Up Arrow

Show or hide thumbnails below an open photo

Option-S

Open or close a selected photo in editing view

Return

Crop a photo

C or Command-3

Adjust a photo

A or Command-1

Apply a filter

F or Command-2

Rotate a photo

Command-Option-R (clockwise) or Command-R (anticlockwise)

Enhance a photo

Command-E

Show the original unadjusted photo while editing

Press and hold M

Show the unadjusted photo without additional editing changes, such as cropping or rotation

Control-M

Go to the next photo

Right Arrow (press and hold to scroll through photos quickly)

Go to the previous photo

Left Arrow (press and hold to scroll through photos quickly)

Delete selected photos

Delete

Play or pause a Live Photo or video

Option-Space bar

Find photos

Command-F

Zoom between the current zoom level and 100 per cent

Z

Zoom in or out

Command-Plus Sign (+) or Command-Minus Sign (–), or pinch open or closed

Hide a selected photo

Command-L

Adjust the view of a photo when zoomed in

Drag the photo

Undo the last action

Command-Z

Redo the last action

Shift-Command-Z

While in editing view or viewing thumbnails, open a shortcut menu to change or get information about a photo

Control-click or tap a photo with two fingers

Select a single photo

Click the photo

Select all photos

Command-A

Select all photos between the current selection and a nonadjacent photo

Press and hold the Shift key and click the non-adjacent photo

Select photos that are not adjacent to one another

Select the first photo, then press and hold the Command key and click additional photos

Select several photos located together

Click outside the photos and drag to enclose them within the selection rectangle

Unselect specific photos in a group of selected photos

Press and hold the Command key and click the photos you want to deselect

Unselect all photos

Shift-Command-A or click outside a photo

Create a new album

Command-N

Set a selected photo as the key photo for an album

Shift-Command-K

Create a Smart Album

Option-Command-N

Create a folder

Shift-Command-N

Change the size of photo thumbnails

Command-Plus Sign (+) or Command-Minus Sign (–)

Open or close a photo

Double-click or double-tap a photo thumbnail, or select a thumbnail and press the Space bar. Double-click, double-tap or press the Space bar again to close.

Move to the previous or next photo

Left Arrow or Right Arrow

Enter or leave full screen view

Control-Command-F

Show or hide titles

Shift-Command-T

Hide a selected photo

Command-L

Show or hide photo information in the Info window

Command-I

Duplicate a photo

Command-D

Cut a photo

Command-X

Copy a photo

Command-C

Paste a photo

Command-V

Make a photo a favourite

Period (.)

Show or hide the Keyword Manager

Command-K

Delete a photo or item from the library

Command-Delete

Remove a photo from an album (but not from the library)

Delete

Stop playing a slide show

Press the Escape (Esc) key or move the pointer to show the slide show controls, then click the close button (X)

Pause or resume playing a slide show

Space bar

Move through slides in a slide show manually

Right Arrow or Left Arrow

Import photos

Shift-Command-I

Export photos

Shift-Command-E or drag a photo to the desktop

Print

Command-P

Open preferences

Command-Comma (,)

Close a window and quit Photos

Command-W

Minimise the Photos window

Command-M

Hide the Photos app (without quitting)

Command-H

Quit Photos

Command-Q