How to create your own keyboard shortcuts on a Mac

2 min read · 6 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Any command that is in an app's menu can get its own key combination. That is useful for commands you use many times a day that have no shortcut, such as Export as PDF.

These steps are for recent versions of macOS, where the settings app is called System Settings. The pictures are our own screenshots from macOS Tahoe 26 on a MacBook Pro.

Step by step

1. 

   Open System Settings and click Keyboard

   Click the Apple menu, then System Settings. Keyboard is near the bottom of the sidebar.

   Done

2. 

   Click Keyboard Shortcuts

   The button is on the right of the Keyboard page.

   Done

3. Click App Shortcuts, then the add button

   App Shortcuts is in the list on the left of the window that opens. The add button is the plus.

   Done

4. Choose the app

   Use the Application menu to pick one app. Choose All Applications if the command exists in many apps.

   Done

5. Type the menu command exactly

   In the Menu title field, type the command exactly as it appears in the menu, with the same capital letters and punctuation. If the command ends with three dots, type three full stops without spaces.

   Done

6. Press the key combination and click Done

   Click in the Keyboard shortcut field and press the keys you want. Then click Done and try it in the app.

   Done

Good to know

A shortcut does not work if another command in the app already uses the same keys. Choose a different combination.

For a command inside a submenu, Apple's example is Format->Font->Ligatures->Use Default. The arrow is typed as a hyphen followed by the greater-than sign.

To remove a shortcut you created, select it in the list and click the remove button, which is the minus.

Shortcuts that are already built in: how to take a screenshot on a Mac and how to copy and paste on a Mac.

In short: Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, App Shortcuts, plus, app, exact menu name, keys, Done.