Navigate Mac Menus Without a Mouse

One thing that makes the Mac so easy to use is the mouse. You can use it to move and open files and folders and navigate menus. Still, when you're in the middle of composing an email, report or story, moving your hand from the keyboard to move the mouse can be enough to break your train of thought. Certainly, it causes a pause as you reach for the mouse, do what you need to do with it, and move your hand back to the keyboard again.

Fortunately, if its a menu item you need to choose, Mac OS X gives you a way to navigate menus without your hands having to leave the keyboard.

Press Function-Control-F2. (On older keyboards, press Control-F2.) You'll see the Apple logo in the top left corner of the screen highlight. Press Return to show the Apple menu.

Press the left and right arrow keys to show another menu. Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate up and down the items in a menu.

When you get to the menu item you want, press Return. It works as if you had clicked the menu item with a mouse.

By the way, you can use the keyboard to select text, too, without using the mouse. Check out this article: Move the Cursor and Make Selection in a Document Without Using a Mouse.