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[Pro Tip] My best macOS custom keyboard shortcut for web development

Posted onMarch 8, 2021 Edit on by Nico Watine

TL;DR

  • My favorite shortcut for use between Sublime Text and Sketch is simple to set up and greatly speeds up my workflow

Keyboard Shortcuts for the win

The ability to create custom keyboard shortcuts that function system-wide is one of my favorite features of Mac OS X.  Unique key combos can be set up for any action in any program.

I have over 80 custom keyboard shortcuts set up on my machine. It might seem difficult to recall any of them on-demand, but the trick is to duplicate key combos for similar actions across apps. Coming up, I’ll cover my most frequently used combo for Sublime Text and Sketch.

Goto Anything & Run

This shortcut is specific for use between Sublime Text and Sketch, and it is definitely my most used shortcut. For it to function, though, the Sketch plugin Runner must be installed. To get the most out of Sketch Runner and this shortcut, a premium Pro license needs to be purchased. The free version is useful, as well, but this shortcut will not be as effective without the Pro license. 

In Sublime Text, you can quickly open any file in your project directory via an instant fuzzy search box. This menu action is called Goto Anything… and it can be pulled up with Command-P (⌘P). Similarly, the Runner plugin also can be used to navigate to any Page or Artboard in a fuzzy search box with the menu action Run. By default the plugin uses Command-/ (⌘/) for Run, but I set this command’s keyboard shortcut to (⌘P) to replicate the similar action in Sublime Text. 

Demonstrating the similarity in function and keyboard trigger between Sublime Text & Sketch
(If any of the Youtube videos fail to load, just refresh the page)

Setting up the custom shortcut

Like many programs, the Runner plugin has its own window for setting its shortcuts, but I prefer specifying them via System Preferences. This helps me keep all of my shortcuts manageable and in one place. Since not all programs have this option natively, I find it most efficient to set everything up within the Keyboard panel of System Preferences. 

How to create keyboard shortcuts in System Preferences

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/create-keyboard-shortcuts-for-apps-mchlp2271/11.0/mac/11.0

A note on the Sketch Runner plugin

Only Run and Install are available in the free version of Runner, but with a premium license, Runner can also be used to Insert Symbols, Apply Styles, and most importantly, Goto anything. In my opinion it is worth the one-time purchase. 

In sum

This simple keyboard shortcut, shared between Sublime Text and Sketch, is such a time saver. I hope you find it helpful, too. 

Resources

I’m a web developer by trade and Mac enthusiast at heart. If you ever need help with either of those things you can always reach me at nico@studioncreations.com.

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