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Welcome to Techsurvivors => Tech => Topic started by: kimmer on June 19, 2019, 11:57:50 PM

Title: F4 - what is this?
Post by: kimmer on June 19, 2019, 11:57:50 PM

I accidentally tapped the F4 key on my keyboard and this came up. When I google "F4 on a Mac" I get loads of links to stuff in microsoft excel. Not what I want. I just want to know what this is.

Title: Re: F4 - what is this?
Post by: jchuzi on June 20, 2019, 05:44:17 AM

At a guess, it looks like you activated Mission Control. Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts and select Mission Control. Does F4 appear as the shortcut?

Title: Re: F4 - what is this?
Post by: Paddy on June 20, 2019, 06:36:58 AM

F4 goes to Launchpad. Just another way of getting to your apps. (I prefer the alphabetical list I have in the Dock when I need to launch an app not ON the Dock - but with 184 apps, I may be an outlier)

See: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/switching-to-the/9781449372927/ch04s04.html for a good explanation.

Title: Re: F4 - what is this?
Post by: jchuzi on June 20, 2019, 07:59:20 AM

Oops! I confused Mission Control with Launchpad. Personally, I keep an alias of /Applications in the dock for quick access to apps, and I have them listed alphabetically. A great shortcut is to click on that dock alias and type the first few letters of the app. The app then is highlighted for easy access. Alternatively, Spotlight can work as an app launcher.

Title: Re: F4 - what is this?
Post by: Xairbusdriver on June 20, 2019, 08:36:58 AM

On my keyboard the default use is plainly indicated by the six tiny squares (two rows of three squares). Obviously an abstraction of that ever so useless Launchpad. :rolleyes:

Sounds like someone needs to take a few days to become familiar with the capabilities of the OS.  :p I would particularly recommend a thorough review and memorization of absolutely all keyboard shortcuts! :yes: :thumbup: Of course, that should be done after every major update of the OS since the default settings sometimes change... :wallbash: A day or two should be sufficient... :coolio: :scram:

Title: Re: F4 - what is this?
Post by: kimmer on June 20, 2019, 01:05:09 PM

Mistake or not, ;) I checked keyboard shortcuts and:

Launchpad is set for F9 -- which doesn't work. HAHA

While there I looked at Mission Control and there is NO shortcut enabled.

I'll trust Paddy that that's what's happening. If it's not enabled, I don't know how to un-enable it, so I'll be more careful with my fingers.

Thanks!

Title: Re: F4 - what is this?
Post by: Xairbusdriver on June 20, 2019, 06:37:52 PM

Quote

so I'll be more careful with my fingers

Always a wise behavior. :yes:

F4 certainly works correctly for me. :whistling: I might suggest you wipe your boot drive and do a netboot reinstall...

but I won't.
:scram: