The Option key is the unvalued submarine of the keyboard . Since the early day of the Mac , it has provided memory access to peculiar font role ; revealed alternate statement in menus ; and countenance you Option - drag to create a written matter of something , such as a Finder icon or a graphic selection ( fromMacPaintto Photoshop CS5 ! ) . Its capabilities have only increased with clock time , so it ’s always deserving press Option to modify a click or drag out , just to see what might occur . Here are five of my favorite choice - key whoremonger .
1. Reverse your scrollbar preference
Most of the fourth dimension , I click in a scrollbar — for example , in Apple’sSafariorMicrosoft Word — to move my prospect a full Sir Frederick Handley Page or screen at time . ( By nonpayment , when you click in a scrollbar , that ’s what go on . ) But sometimes — in a long document , for instance — I know that I want to go to a point about three - quarter of the way of life through the document . It ’s easier to click where I desire to go — three - tail of the way down on the scrollbar — than to hang back the scroller to get there .
you’re able to choose between these actions — stand out To The Next Page or Jump To The Spot That ’s Clicked — by setting the Click In The Scroll Bar To option in the General preference Zen . Or , have it both ways : choice - click in the scrollbar to temporarily overturn the setting you ’ve made in Preferences . So , if your setting is Jump To The Next Page , an Option - suction stop in the scrollbar will or else skip over you to a particular spot .
notice that unless you keep Lion ’s Show Scroll Bars fix to Always , you wo n’t see the scrollbar until your pointer is at the edge of the windowpane .
2. Open preference panes using function keys
You love the convenience of dimming or brighten your screen with a straightaway pressure of F1 or F2 , but sometimes you need to aline other aspect of your presentation . For illustration , you might need to temporarily change the cover settlement to test something . Would n’t it be nice if you could get to the Displays penchant pane as quickly as you’re able to change the screenland ’s brightness ?
Wish cede ! Hold Option while press either of the function name that controls brightness , and the Displays preference pane opens . This works with other function keys , too : hold pick while you press any of the volume role keys ( F3 - F5 or F10 - F12 , depending on your keyboard ) , and the Sound preference pane open . If you have your system of rules set up so that you take to iron the Fn key to trigger the particular feature on the function key ( the ace defend by image ) , then just bring the Option key to the mixture : Fn - Option - F1 , for representative .
3. Switch speakers from the menu bar
You need to swop from the internal verbalizer to your headphones for a Skype call , or you ’re the last one in the office so you need to pillory your iTunes play list through your outside speakers . If your Volume card is in the card bar , you do n’t have to spread the Sound preference pane to change over outturn devices : press Option before you enter the menu , and instead of get the mass slipper , you ’ll see a list of available stimulation and end product devices . ( To make the bulk menu appear in the first place , go to the Sound taste pane and select the Show intensity In Menu Bar choice . )
4. Option-click to open multiple Inspector palettes
You probably know that you may open multiple Inspector window in political platform such as Apple ’s Keynote and Pages by using the View - > New Inspector bid . But the new windowpane is unconvincing to open up to the specific Inspector you need , so you must then tick on the icon for the right one . Instead of using the carte command , choice - click directly on an icon in an existing Inspector palette to open a new Inspector for that class .
5. Choose a startup disk when booting
You ’re staring at your blank Mac silver screen ; you have two ( or more ) startup drive for your Mac , but you forgot to stipulate the one you want to use in the Startup Disk preference pane . You do n’t have to start up , change the setting , and restart : just hold down Option when you turn on the Mac and you ’ll see usable inauguration drive display on the screen . select the one you want and you ’re good to go .
jibe out Mac author Sharon Zardetto ’s current ebook , Take Control of Spotlight for regain Anything in Lion .
