Mac Full Screen App Shortcut

I am at loss of words when I have to describe the awesome-ness of WhatsApp because it’s such an amazing, useful, and simple app. Be it a child or an elderly person, it's easy for everyone to learn this app and start using and that's a big reason why it has become so popular.

Drag that app or shortcut on top of another. Lift your finger. To add more, drag each one on top of the group. To name the group, tap the group. 'Remove' takes an app off your Home screen only. 'Uninstall' takes it off your phone. Organize Home screens Add a Home screen. Touch and hold an app, shortcut.

To make it more simple and easy to use, WhatsApp supports a number of shortcuts. While some of them are available on Android and iPhone as well, most of them are for desktop. These shortcuts can be accessed from the keyboard and reduce the number of clicks.

Without any further ado, let’s get to know these WhatsApp web and desktop shortcuts.

On the next screen, tap the ellipsis button in the upper-right corner once again.; There are a few options on this menu, but our focus is on the top half of the screen. To rename the shortcut, tap. Many apps on your Mac support full-screen mode—an app fills the entire screen—so you can take advantage of every inch of the screen and work without desktop distractions. On your Mac, move the pointer to the green button in the top-left corner of the window, then choose Enter Full Screen from the menu that appears or click the button.

1. Change Focus

Similar to any other webpage or app, pressing the Tab key on both WhatsApp web and desktop changes the focus. It first goes to the search area, then to chat followed by the emoji button and finally the typing area.

2. Focus Emoji Button

Instead of pressing the Tab key thrice, you can directly focus on the emoji button using the Shift + Tab shortcut. When you press these two buttons, a small blue box will highlight the emoji button. Press the Enter key to open the emoji panel.

Then either start typing the name to search for emoji or navigate them with the arrow keys. Again, use the Enter key to add an emoji to your text. Finally, press Esc key to close the emoji panel.

3. Add Emoji Using Colon Shortcut

WhatsApp provides yet another way to add emojis. Instead of opening the emoji panel, you can search for emojis directly using the colon shortcut. When you type the colon : followed by the emoji name, WhatsApp will show related emojis. All you need to do is press the Enter key to insert it. You can navigate between the emojis using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

For instance, if you want to add the mask emoji, type :mask. The results will start showing when you enter two characters at least.

4. Text To Emoji Shortcut

Remember the good old days when we used to type text emojis or smileys like this : ), :* ? Well, the same is available on WhatsApp. When you type characters like these, WhatsApp will automatically convert them to emojis.

Here are some of the smileys that you can use:

5. Search Chats

Apart from the Tab key to focus on the search area, you can press the Ctrl + F keys. Once you do that, the blinking cursor will move to that box. You can then start typing your search term.

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6. Text Format

The usual text formatting features of WhatsApp are available on desktop as well. You can change the font, make your text bold or italic using the shortcuts.

Here are the available shortcuts:

1. Put text in asterisks to bold it. For instance, *hello*

2. Place underscore on both sides to italicize the text. For instance, _Guidingtech_

3. Use tilde on both ends to strikethrough your message. Example: ~GT~

4. To change the font, place three backticks on both sides of the text. Example: ```Hey```

Note: The above shortcuts worked on WhatsApp web and desktop apps. The below-mentioned shortcuts are available for WhatsApp Windows and Mac app only. They will not work on WhatsApp web.

7. Start New Chat

In Chrome on Windows PC, if you press the Ctrl + N shortcut, it opens a new window. You can start a new chat in WhatsApp using the same shortcut. On Mac, use Command + N shortcut. When you press these two buttons, the New chat window will appear. Then select the person whom you want to text.

8. Create New Group

Similarly, you can create a new group with the help of Ctrl + Shift + N shortcut. In case of Mac OS, use Command + Shift + N shortcut. You will then be asked to add the group participants.

9. Move Between Chats

If the focus is on the chat thread, you can use the arrow keys to move between them. However, if the focus is somewhere else, use the following two keyboard shortcuts on Windows PC:

1. Ctrl + Shift + ] : Go to next chat

2. Ctrl + Shift + [ : Go to previous chat

On Mac devices, use Command instead of Control i.e. the shortcut will become Command + Shift + ] .

10. Archive Chat

The archive is a nice and quick way to hide chats in WhatsApp. Instead of using the menu button to archive chats, you can use the Ctrl + E shortcut on the Windows app to do so. The same can be accomplished by using Command + E buttons on Mac.

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11. Mute Chat

We all know how annoying some chats can be. What better option than to mute them? You can use the Ctrl + Shift + M shortcut on WhatsApp windows app to mute a particular chat. Just open that particular chat and hit these three buttons. Similarly, use Command + Shift + M on Mac devices.

12. Change Read Status

Sometimes, after reading a message we want to mark it as unread. Normally, you would have to open the menu to do so. However, with the help of the keyboard shortcut, you can do that in just one step. Simply hit Ctrl + Shift + U buttons on your keyboard and the status of the currently opened chat will be changed to unread.

By now, you might know that on Mac OS devices, all you need to do is replace Control by Command button i.e. Command + Shift + U.

13. Delete Chat

In order to delete a chat, you can use the Ctrl + Backspace (Windows) or Command + Backspace (Mac OS) shortcuts.

14. Open Profile Window

To change your profile picture, name, or about, you can directly open the profile window using the Ctrl + P shortcut (Command + P on Mac OS).

Mac Full Screen App Shortcut Download

Mac Full Screen App Shortcut

15. Exit App

Finally, to exit the app, you can use the ALT + F4 shortcut. This will close the WhatsApp app on your system. To open the app, you need to launch it again.

Mac Full Screen App Shortcut
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Simplify Things

If you are a regular WhatsApp web user, these WhatsApp shortcuts will make your daily life easy by saving a bunch of clicks. Have fun!


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextTop 17 New WhatsApp Tips & Tricks on AndroidAlso See#Read other similar WhatsApp posts #shortcuts

Did You Know

The founders of WhatsApp, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, were both rejected by Facebook and Twitter in interviews.

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The full-screen mode on many native Mac applications is great. It takes full advantage of most Mac Retina displays, and it gives you the maximum working space. It also diminishes distractions by hiding the Dock and the status bar. If this is a look you like, you can follow the steps below to make sure some applications always open in full-screen mode on your Mac.

Step 1: Enabling Resume

Macs actually have a featured called “Resume” that allows apps to save their state on close. When reopened, the application will launch itself in the same state. This means reopening any documents you had open and placing windows in the same location as they were on close. This will also capture window settings like full screen mode settings and other options.

Make sure the box next to “Close windows when quitting an app” is unchecked. This will allow Resume to function, permitting the app to reload its previous status.

Mac Full Screen App Shortcut

Step 2: Configuring Apps to Open in Full Screen Mode

Once that’s set, you can set up the apps that you’d like to have open in full screen mode. For example, if you want to have Safari in full screen, you would do the following.

1. Open Safari.

2. Set Safari’s window to full screen by clicking the green button in the upper-left of the window.

3. Quit Safari without closing the window you just set to full screen mode. It’s very important that you don’t close the application window before quitting the app. You can quit an app from the menu bar, by right-clicking on the app’s Dock icon, or by pressing Command+Q.

When you reopen Safari, it should still be in full-screen mode. If you want other applications to also open in full-screen mode, you’ll need to open those applications separately and follow the same steps there.

This setting will only hold for Mac apps that open in Full Screen mode, not simply apps that make their windows larger. For example, Photoshop doesn’t have a full screen mode: instead, it makes the window take up the available monitor space. Safari, on the other hand, has a true Full Screen mode, hiding the menu bar and creating its own Space for the application to occupy. You can tell the difference by looking at the green button’s icon. If it has two arrows, as above, that’s a true Full Screen app. If it has a plus symbol (+), that’s just maximizing the app’s size.

You’ll also want to adjust how to quit applications. If you close windows before quitting an application, then those windows will not be saved. Some users, especially those that migrated from Windows, may have developed the habit of closing application windows before quitting the application. Make sure you stop doing this.

Step 3: Opening Apps at Startup with Login Services

You can also launch applications at login so that they’ll be full screen and ready for you when you open your Mac. Of course, you may also have to navigate out of the windows if your last application opened in full-screen mode. Give it a try and see how it works for you. If it imposes a lengthy startup time on your Mac, you may want to limit the number of apps starting at launch.

1. Open System Preferences.

2. Select the “Users & Groups” pane.

3. Click the “Login Items” tab.

Mac Full Screen App Shortcut Mac

4. Click the “+” button at the bottom of the list of applications.

5. Select the application you wish to have launched at startup.

Step 4: Quitting Correctly

For these changes to actually matter, you’ll want to make sure that you’re shutting down your Mac and closing your applications correctly.

You also have the option to reopen all the applications you have open at the time you shut down your Mac or log out. At the shutdown confirmation window, be sure to check the box that says “Reopen windows when logging back in” before clicking Shut Down or Log Out.

When quitting apps, don’t close the application’s windows before quitting. Leave the windows open, then quit the application via your preferred method. When you reopen the application, it will open with the same window state. This means that full screen mode will be engaged. It will also open the documents that were open previously, allowing you to quickly pick up where you left off.

Also: Setting Up Spaces for Multi-Monitor Users

In addition to the steps above, you’ll also want to optimize your workspace for full screen applications. If you have more than one monitor, that means you’ll need to set up separate Spaces for each monitor. Otherwise, you’ll end up blacking out the other monitor when you set an application to Full Screen, which probably won’t improve your productivity.

1. Open System Preferences.

2. Choose “Mission Control” from the top row.

3. Check the box next to “Displays have separate Spaces.”

Mac Screen Recording Shortcut

This won’t have any affect if you don’t have more than one monitor. But for dual monitor users, it will prevent you from blacking out your second screen when you set an application to full screen mode. Instead, you’ll be able to continue working with other apps on the adjacent monitor or monitors.

Mac Full Screen App Shortcut Windows 10

Setting Each App

The first setting, regarding closing windows when quitting apps, will affect every application on your Mac. However, it won’t automatically make every app open in full-screen mode. You’ll need to set that up individually within each app. Other apps will, however, open in the last state you left them in. If you don’t like this behavior, you can close windows before quitting certain apps. This will allow you to set some applications to open in full screen mode as you desire, rather than applying a global system preference.

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