Someone asked about this today – it’s useful stuff that’s not obvious, so I figured I’d share it here. If there are navigation keys or shortcuts that I’ve missed, please comment.

There are a number of keyboard navigation keys that are standard in all Open and Save dialogs, but they vary a bit depending on the view mode you’ve got selected.

In List View:

• Up and down arrows move up and down the file listing
• ⌘+Right-Arrow displays the contents of a folder without opening it (it turns the little twisty-arrow next to the folder)
• ⌘+Up-Arrow goes up to the parent folder
• ⌘+Down-Arrow opens the selected item

In Column View:

• Up and down arrows move up and down the file listing
• Left and right arrows traverse left and right in the column listing
• ⌘+Up-Arrow goes up to the parent folder (when you’ve gotten all the way to the leftmost column)
• ⌘+Down-Arrow opens the selected item

In Icon View:

• Up, down, left and right arrows traverse among files
• ⌘+Up-Arrow goes up to the parent folder
• ⌘+Down-Arrow opens the selected item

And of course, when keyboard focus is on the file list, typing the first few letters of a file or folder’s name selects it. Note that in Save dialogs, this requires tabbing 3 times (usually) to get the keyboard focus from the filename edit box to the file list.

There are also some command key shortcuts, I’ve borrowed this list from http://www.productivityorchard.com/keyboard-shortcuts-for-mac-os-x-open-save-dialog

• Spacebar – View the selected item in Quick Look
• ⌘+D – changes focus to your Desktop
• ⌘+Shift+A – Changes focus to your Applications directory
• ⌘+Shift+H – changes focus to your Home directory
• ⌘+Shift+N – Creates a new folder.
• ⌘+Shift+Period (.) – Toggle hidden files & folders on and off.
• ⌘+Shift+G – Brings up Go To Folder window
• Tab – Tab key auto-completes paths and file names from the aforementioned Go To window
• ⌘+R – Reveals the file in Finder
• ⌘+F – Move the cursor to the Find field
• ⌘+Period (.) – Close the Open/Save dialog window

From time to time I get requests to make Default Folder X automatically type the date or some other information into new filenames in Save dialogs. While this may be a good idea for a handful of people, the complexity and number of variations I’d have to support would result in a lot of additional settings in Default Folder X’s already crowded preferences.

Not only would it add complexity to Default Folder X, but there is already an easy solution to this – text macro utilities. I personally add the date to some filenames using Typinator, a “text expander” application from Ergonis Software. I just type “dt” and it automatically expands to the current date – and not just when I’m typing a name for a file in a Save As dialog – it’ll expand that shortcut wherever I type it on my Mac.

If you need this sort of shortcut when you’re saving files – or writing emails, filling in web forms, taking notes, etc – check out one of these tools (there are others – these are just a few of the major ones):

Typinator
TypeIt4Me
Keyboard Maestro
TextExpander

If you’ve got others you think should be added here, don’t hesitate to post a comment or give me a shout @stclairsoft

- Jon