A few weeks ago, I decided (finally) to embrace some custom keyboard shortcuts on my Mac. I’ve tinkered a bit over that time, but I’ve landed in a place where I’m happy with the results. I’m going to detail every custom keyboard shortcut I’ve created and the apps required to make them work.

Required Apps

I use 3 apps to create my shortcuts, but no single keyboard shortcut requires more than a single one of these.

The vast majority use only Raycast. Once you have it installed (I recommend using it instead of Spotlight), you’ll need to enable Hyper Key.

Hyper Key

Hyper Key is way to remap a single key to multiple modifier keys. In our case, we’ll remap the Caps Lock key to act like a combination of Ctrl+Option+Shift+Command (⌃⌥⇧⌘). This accomplishes 2 important things:

  1. Allows you to create keyboard shortcuts that will not interfere with system or app shortcuts.
  2. Allows you to easily trigger those keyboard shortcuts with only 2 keys (Caps Lock + Other)

There are multiple apps that will enable this for you, but I suggest using Raycast (especially if you’re using it for any other reason). Open Raycast Settings :> Advanced. Enable Hyper Key and set it as Caps Lock. Include shift in it as well. I recommend making Quick Press do nothing.

Now when you press the Caps Lock key, the system will think you’re pressing all of ⌃⌥⇧⌘.

Custom Shortcuts

Now for the actual shortcuts. The possibilities are virtually limitless, but you can easily get carried away. If you make too many, you’ll get lost in the weeds. My recommendation is keeping the number below 20 and keeping a cheat sheet handy until you’re confident you’ve memorized them.

Clipboard History

Raycast comes with a first party clipboard history tool. Within Raycast, I set Hyper Key + C to open it.

Color Picker

As a graphic/web designer, I frequently need to grab a very specific color from an image or website. Fortunately Raycast has a built in tool for this. Hyper Key + P triggers it for me.

New Raycast Note

Raycast also has a built-in Notes feature that I use as a sticky-note/scratchpad of sorts. It’s not my main notes app, just a quick and dirty I-need-this-info-in-10-minutes type of thing. The keyboard shortcut to trigger it is Hyper Key + N.

Emoji Picker

Mac has a default emoji picker, but Raycast’s is better. Hyper Key + E pops it open.

Snippet Manager

Sticking with Raycast, the built-in Snippet Manager (think Text Expander) is more than enough for my needs. To toggle it, I use Hyper Key + S.

Todoist Godspeed Quick Add

My ToDo app of choice is Todoist Godspeed. You could accomplish this with similar apps as well. Within Godspeed (not Raycast), I set up the Quick Add shortcut to be Hyper Key + T.

Passwords Menu Bar App

For the first time, we move to a different keyboard shortcut app, Supercharge. Using it, I set up Hyper Key + W to automatically toggle the Passwords (the Apple app) Menu Bar drop down.

Open/Close Finder

Sticking with Supercharge, this simply allows me to show/hide Finder using a keyboard shortcut Hyper Key + F.

Clear Notifications

Using Supercharge, Hyper Key + / will clear all notifications from Notification Center instantly.

Window Management

Now we move to Keyboard Maestro. By using Hyper Key + 3 when I’m at my desk (with external monitors connected), it will automatically move and arrange apps to my preferred places. Safari on my main screen, message on another screen, etc. Not only does it place them on the correct screen, but it resizes and positions them precisely as well. This is one of my favorites.

Download Youtube Video and Audio

My work has an active YouTube channel. Every week, we download the content for archival/backup purposes. While this does require setup (YT-DLP, ffmpeg), it works flawlessly once configured. I simply go to a YouTube video, copy the URL, and hit Hyper Key + V or Hyper Key + A (depending on if I want video or audio). Keyboard Maestro does all of this for me:

  1. Opens Terminal.app
  2. Takes the YouTube URL and adds it to the proper code snippet
  3. Inserts the new code snippet into Terminal and presses enter

The file is then downloaded to the correct folder on my system.

Paste and Match Style

I make a lot of Keynotes. A lot. Often, I’m copying/pasting content from documents. This can sometimes be a headache when aiming for certain styles/formats in the presentation. While Mac offers a “Paste and Match Style” keyboard shortcut, it’s a tough shortcut to type and it can’t be changed at the system level. Using Keyboard Maestro, I created Hyper Key + V to trigger the convoluted default keyboard shortcut (⌥⇧⌘V).

That’s All Folks

That may seem like a lot, but many of them are easy to remember. But just in case, I printed out a cheat sheet that I keep at my desk (there’s also a digital copy on my desktop). I’m already at the point where I rarely reference it. If you’d like help setting up any of these shortcuts, I’d be glad to help. If you’ve got shortcuts of your own, let me know.