How to Set a Keyboard Shortcut to Open Spotlight

Easy steps to create a new shortcut to the Spotlight search app

Co-authored by Megaera Lorenz, PhD Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: December 12, 2024 Fact Checked

To quickly open the Spotlight search app on your Mac, all you have to do is press Command + Spacebar on your keyboard.^{[1]
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Research source} However, if you have that key combination assigned to some other command, you can create a new shortcut for Spotlight. In this article, we’ll talk you through how to create a custom Spotlight shortcut on your Mac.

How to Set a Spotlight Shortcut on a Mac

Open the Apple menu and select System Preferences. Click Keyboard to open the Keyboard menu. Choose the Shortcuts tab and select Spotlight from the left column. Click Show Spotlight Search and select the current shortcut. Then, type in the new combination of keys.

Steps

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On your Mac’s desktop, navigate to the Apple menu at the top left corner of the screen. Click it to open a dropdown menu.^{[2]
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This will open a new window on your desktop.^{[3]
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Depending on your operating system, you may find this option in the middle of the of the System Preferences menu or close to the bottom, in the same row as Software Update. Click the Keyboard button once to open the Keyboard window.^{[4]
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Click Shortcuts in the horizontal list of tabs at the top of the Keyboard window. This will display a list of utilities and apps and the keyboard shortcuts currently associated with them.^{[5]
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Click
Spotlight in the list of utilities on the left side of the Shortcuts window.^{[6]
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In the righthand column, select the top option, Show Spotlight Search. Once it’s selected, it will be highlighted in blue.^{[7]
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To the right of Show Spotlight Search, you’ll see the default shortcut combination, ⌘Space. Click on it to select it so you can type in a new combination.
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Type in the new shortcut you would like to use. Enter any combination of keys in the highlighted text input box. You’ll need to hold down all the keys at once, just like you would if you were using the shortcut command.^{[8]
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- You won’t be prompted to confirm your selection. As soon as you hold down the new combination of keys, the shortcut will be automatically updated.
- To reset the shortcut to the default key combination, click Restore Defaults at the bottom of the window.