{"id":19605,"date":"2017-11-20T16:36:34","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T21:36:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=19605"},"modified":"2017-11-27T14:17:06","modified_gmt":"2017-11-27T19:17:06","slug":"mac-modifier-key-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/20\/mac-modifier-key-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Mac Modifier Key Order"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

In combination keystrokes, use hyphens to signify that the user should hold down the first key or keys while pressing the last key. Don’t use a hyphen if each key should be pressed and released separately. Be sure to explain this convention on first use.<\/p>\n

Control-Shift-N<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

If there’s more than one modifier key, use this order: Fn (function), Control, Option, Shift, Command.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Shift-Command-Tilde<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Shift-Command-Question Mark<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Dr. Drang<\/a> (tweet<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\n

The order is similar to how you see them down at the bottom left of your keyboard. […] The oddball is the Shift(⇧) key, which sneaks in just in front of Command.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Jason Snell<\/a> (tweet<\/a>):<\/p>\n

I absolutely do not follow this style. It seems completely backward to me, in fact. It’s not “Shift-Command-3”, it’s “Command-Shift-3.” Command is the commander! Command is the monarch of all keys! Command always comes first, in my book.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

It seems backward to me, too, and I wonder if perhaps Apple’s preferred style has changed. I seem to recall Command always coming first. The documented order does have the advantage of matching the order shown in menu items.<\/p>\n\n

Update (2017-11-21): Andy Lee<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Xcode deviates in its display of some keys. Command-Shift-[ is displayed as ⌘⇧[ in System Preferences, Keyboard Maestro, and BBEdit, but as ⌘{ in Xcode. In all cases, though, it’s ⇧⌘3, not ⇧#.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Update (2017-11-27): See also: Upgrade<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Dr. Drang<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

It’s not just having the ⌘ symbols aligned. The additional modifier symbols go in front because<\/em> ⌘ is king and must sit next to the N or the W. The importance of the modifier decreases as you move away from the letter.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Having said all this, and despite agreeing with Apple’s symbol ordering, my ear for shortcut ordering works just like Jason’s and John’s. The main reason I use keyboard shortcut symbols in my posts instead of words is that I can read ⌥⇧⌘W and not be bothered because I don’t “hear” it as I read the symbols. “Option-Shift-Command-W,” on the other hand, gets sounded out in my head, and it sounds wrong.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple: In combination keystrokes, use hyphens to signify that the user should hold down the first key or keys while pressing the last key. Don’t use a hyphen if each key should be pressed and released separately. Be sure to explain this convention on first use. Control-Shift-N […] If there’s more than one modifier key, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[164,30,1529],"class_list":["post-19605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-documentation","tag-mac","tag-macos-10-13"],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19605"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19638,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19605\/revisions\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}