Keyboard shortcuts and gestures in Photos on Mac

See photos in Years, Months, or All Photos views

Command-1, Command-2, Command-3

Open an individual photo

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

Close an individual photo and see more photos

Double-click the photo, 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

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

Command-Up Arrow

Start or stop playing a video

Option-Space bar

Show or hide thumbnails below an open photo

Option-S

Find photos

Command-F

Open or close a selected photo in editing view

Return key

Adjust a photo

A

Apply a filter

F

Apply a style

S

Crop a photo

C

Clean up a photo

R

Rotate a photo

Option-Command-R (clockwise), or Command-R (counterclockwise)

Automatically 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

Delete selected photos without confirming

Command-Delete

Play or pause a Live Photo or video

Option-Space bar

Zoom between the current zoom level and 100 percent

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 a photo, or tap it 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 nonadjacent 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

Deselect specific photos in a group of selected photos

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

Deselect 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 a photo thumbnail, or select a thumbnail and press the Space bar. Double-click 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 favorite

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 slideshow

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

Pause or resume playing a slideshow

Space bar

Move through slides in a slideshow 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 settings

Command-Comma (,)

Close a window and quit Photos

Command-W

Minimize the Photos window

Command-M

Hide the Photos app (without quitting)

Command-H

Quit Photos

Command-Q