Using Tab to Select Dialog Box Buttons in Mac OS X
From the keyboard of Paul on December 14th, 2007Tagged with: Mac OS X, tab key
Filed under: Mac, Mac OS X, Technology.
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One of the things that has annoyed me about Mac OS is the behaviour of the Tab key. When presented with a dialog box with multiple buttons, pressing the Tab key will not allow you to shift focus from one button to the next. Thankfully this default behaviour can be changed.
Figure 1: Dialog box with Tab key disabled
In System Properties, open the Keyboard & Mouse settings and click on the Keyboard Settings section. At the bottom of the screen is an option for Full Keyboard Access.
Figure 2: System Properties - Keyboard & Mouse - Keyboard Shortcuts
In this section there is the option for using the Tab key to move focus between a) Text boxes and lists only, or b) All controls. Click the radio button for the second option, and the Tab key will now allow you to tab between all the available dialog box buttons. On a MacBook you can also use the following shortcut key to turn on/ off this behaviour: ^fn F7
Figure 3: Dialog Box with Tab Key Enabled
Once this option has been enabled you should be able to use the Tab key to highlight any of the available buttons. One word of caution though: if you select a different button than the already highlighted default, then you must use the spacebar to “press” it. Using the Enter or Return keys will always “press” the default button.
December 14th, 2007 at 12:03
[...] I was playing around with the Keyboard Shortcuts for the previous post, I noticed that there’s a shortcut for adjusting the contrast on my MacBook. I’ve been [...]
January 23rd, 2008 at 14:56
THANKS!
This has annoyed me to no end for the longest time, and this is the first good explanation I’ve seen on the subject. Glad to have found you (via Google)!
peace,
Tormod
January 23rd, 2008 at 20:43
No problem. I spent ages looking for this. Coming from a Windows background, I was so used to using the keyboard to navigate that this was a major frustration!
Cheers,
Paul.
March 25th, 2008 at 14:04
I had seen this system preference option earlier and even played with it, but I never made the connection to press spacebar rather than enter. Thanks a lot.
I have noticed that some programs allow you to type cmd-(key) key being the first letter of the unselected button, to choose different options. This works in Photoshop Elements 2 and I think TextEdit, but there are a lot of programs where it doesn’t work.
Thanks again.
April 27th, 2008 at 22:14
[...] Tab Button in dialog boxes in OS X digg_skin = ‘compact’; digg_window = ‘new’; Posted in April 27th, 2008 by liquidpooled in Apple, Leopard, Macbook Pro The default behavior for the tab key on your keyboard in OS X when a dialog box appears is do… NOTHING. This is one of the strangest behaviors to adapt to (coming from a Windows world. A good post on how to modify your settings so the tab key works in a sane manner can be found here. [...]
May 3rd, 2008 at 22:05
Thank you VERY MUCH for this tip! I too am used to Windows keyboard shortcuts but do most of my music production on the Mac now. I always prefer to leave my hands off the mouse whenever possible — keyboard shortcuts are more productive.
Tom
May 31st, 2008 at 12:55
Thx! Been searching for this for ages!
June 23rd, 2008 at 07:49
Thank you very much!!
July 13th, 2008 at 16:39
nice one mate. selecting the actuall button once it had been tabbed to had me stumped and your the only person who bothered to add the all important note at bottom “spacebar to select” many thanks.
July 13th, 2008 at 23:08
No problem, making the move from Windows to a Mac isn’t that hard, but it’s small thing like this that catch even the most experienced power users!
Cheers,
Paul.
July 22nd, 2008 at 22:07
Tabbing around on a mac has been driving me nuts!!! One step closer to abandoning the mouse.
July 26th, 2008 at 19:48
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! This has been plaguing me for years, having to use the mouse to press a non-default button rather than being able to use the keyboard. With Apple’s tremendous ability to design intuitively, it’s surprising that they made this one difficult. Thanks!!!!
August 1st, 2008 at 10:39
Thank you - saved me!
August 1st, 2008 at 23:03
My pleasure Dan. Thanks for the comment!
August 10th, 2008 at 21:37
Am i missing something or does it still not make the ’shutdown dialog’ - the one that comes up with the options to shutdown, restart or sleep when you press the power button on a macbook - be able to be tabbed??
August 12th, 2008 at 12:48
I just checked it on my MacBook and it works fine for me. Anyone else having this problem?
August 22nd, 2008 at 23:24
Man u Rock. This used to be a big problem for me and now I can leave the mouse finally. :)
Thanks for the great tip.