Keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes?

[bernhard]

Hello,

when a dialog box (I hope this is the right expression) comes up and demands for example "Do you want to save changes to this document before closing?" then I can choose, by mouse click, "Don't save", "Cancel", "Save".

I love keyboard shortcuts. Is there a way to choose the option with such shortcuts?

Best,

Bernhard

 

[barhar]

Typically ...

"Don't save" - 'Command d',
"Cancel" - <esc> or 'Command .', and
"Save" - <return> or <enter>.

 

[dmetzcher]

Or, you can turn on full keyboard access, so that you can use the Tab key to move from one button to another. Open System Preferences, and then the Keyboard and Mouse pane. Once there, click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab at the top of the pane. At the bottom of this screen, click the radio button labeled "All controls".

 

[barhar]

If one follows the suggestion of dmetzcher, with respect to selecting the 'System Preferences' 'Keyboard & Mouse' utility's 'Keyboard Shortcuts' 'All controls' radio button - remember, when 'tab'ing around controls, it is the 'spacebar' you press to process the 'non-default' selected item; not the <return> or <enter> key. Pressing the <return> or <enter> key will still process the (pulsing blue) default button.

 

[dmetzcher]

If one follows the suggestion of dmetzcher, with respect to selecting the 'System Preferences' 'Keyboard & Mouse' utility's 'Keyboard Shortcuts' 'All controls' radio button - remember, when 'tab'ing around controls, it is the 'spacebar' you press to process the 'non-default' selected item; not the <return> or <enter> key. Pressing the <return> or <enter> key will still process the (pulsing blue) default button.

Yes, sorry. Should have mentioned that. It's second nature to me, so I never even thought about it. Could be a very bad thing to press Return instead of Spacebar, depending on the situation.