Bryan Helmkamp

I always disliked the default keyboard shortcuts for Mac’s Exposé feature. The F9-F11 keys are in the top-right corner of the keyboard, but using Exposé requires you to have one hand on the mouse.

The result was either reaching all the way across the keyboard to hit the F keys with my left hand, or switching my right hand between the keyboard and the mouse as I used Exposé. Yes, I’m lazy enough where this irked me.

Thanks to a tip from my friend Dan, I learned it’s possible to assign alternate keyboard+mouse combination shortcuts for the Exposé. Not only is it possible, it’s downright fast.

I set All Windows to ALT+Right Click, Application Windows to CTRL+Right Click, and Desktop to CMD+Right Click.

Now, I can keep my right hand on the mouse when I’m switching windows, and toggle between Exposé actions by holding my left hand on the appropriate modifier key.

It take’s a little trick to set this up. After you open the right dropdown menu to set a mouse shortcut for one of these items, you’ll only see “Seconday Mouse Button” (a.k.a. right click), “Mouse Button 3”, and “Mouse Button 4” as options. In order to select a keyboard+mouse combination, you must hold down the modifier key(s) you want while the dropdown is open, and then make your selection.