Two questions about using Preferences > keyboard > shortcuts to rename an existing shortcut (for textedit and pages):
1) How do I know the "Menu Title" for an existing shortcut? Is there a reliable listing of shortcut titles?
2) How do I enter "ctrl+delete" into the "Keyboard Shortcut" field? Right now it is just ignoring it.
Thank you!
larry
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2), null
Hey larryfromwashu,
Here are some resources for creating keyboard shortcuts in Yosemite. The answers to your questions are in bold.
OS X: Keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support
http://support.apple.com/en-is/HT201236
OS X Yosemite: Create keyboard shortcuts for apps
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18418
OS X Yosemite: Create keyboard shortcuts for apps
Assign your own shortcuts to menu commands in any app or in the Finder
Assign your own keyboard shortcuts to menu commands in any OS X app, including Finder. This might be useful if a global shortcut, which works the same with most apps, conflicts with a specific app shortcut. In this case, you could assign a different key combination.
You can only create keyboard shortcuts for existing menu commands. You cannot create keyboard shortcuts for general purpose tasks such as opening an app.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Keyboard.
Click Shortcuts, select App Shortcuts, then click Add (+).
Click the Application pop-up menu, then choose an app. If you want to set the same key combination for a menu command that appears in many apps, choose All Applications.
If the app you want to select doesn’t appear in the list, choose Other, then locate it using the Open dialog. Some apps may not allow you to set keyboard shortcuts.
Type the menu command for which you want to set a keyboard shortcut in the Menu Title field.
You must type the command exactly as it appears in the Application menu, including ellipses and any other punctuation. To type an ellipsis, use three periods without spaces.
Click in the Keyboard Shortcut field, press the key combination that you want to assign to the menu command, then click Add (+).
You can’t use each type of key (for example, a letter key) more than once in a key combination.
Quit and restart any apps you’re using for the new keyboard shortcut to take effect.
If you assign a keyboard shortcut that already exists for another command or another app, your new shortcut won’t work. Find the menu command that’s using it, then reassign the keyboard shortcut for that item.
To remove a customized shortcut, click Delete (–).
Last Modified: Nov 18, 2014
OS X Yosemite: If a keyboard shortcut doesn’t work
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH18424
See and change keyboard shortcut assignments in Keyboard preferences
It’s possible to have keyboard shortcuts for one app that conflict with another app. For example, Command-Space bar opens the Spotlight menu, but in another app it might be used for switching between different input methods.
Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Keyboard.
Click Shortcuts. A yellow warning triangle appears next to conflicting keyboard shortcuts. Click the shortcut, then change it.
Last Modified: Nov 18, 2014
Have a great day!
- Judy
Hi, Judysings!
Thanks for your response. I'm afraid I was not quite clear enough about my questions.
My first question was how I know the "Menu Title" for an existing shortcut. I should have been more specific. There are some short cuts, for example, forward-delete-word in textedit, that do not show up in a menu. Do you know how we find out what the correct "Menu Title" is for such a shortcut? It is quite possible that text editing commands (like forward or backward delete word) are stored at an operating system level rather than at an application menu ... anyone have any thoughts about that?
My second question was related to the fact that there are certain keystroke combinations that the Keyboard Shortcut Field simply will not accept. I think you gave me an answer to why a shortcut, once entered, might be ignored. But my question is, why are some shortcuts (like "fn+delete") simply not accepted by the field? I was expecting that somewhere I would find something equivalent to the "control-V" mechanism in linux, or else a way to directly enter keycode numbers. Another possible way to enter these codes would be in the preference's plist. In the plist there is a field for shortcuts, but I do not know the full code that is used there. For example, the "@" side is used for "command". But I don't know how to signify the "fn" key or the delete key. Does anyone out there know?
Thanks!
larry
Change shortcut for delete word forward
