How do I change the Spotlight search command?

Answered by Douglas Hiatt

To change the Spotlight search command on your Mac, you can follow these steps:

1. Click on the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and select “System Preferences.” Alternatively, you can use the Spotlight search itself by pressing Command + Spacebar and typing “System Preferences.”

2. In the System Preferences window, click on the “Keyboard” icon. It is usually located in the third row from the top.

3. Once you are in the Keyboard settings, click on the “Shortcuts” tab at the top of the window.

4. In the left sidebar, you will see a list of different categories. Scroll down and click on “Spotlight.”

5. Now, on the right side of the window, you will see the available Spotlight shortcuts. To change the command for a specific action, simply click on the existing shortcut and enter your desired key combination.

6. If the shortcut you want to use is already assigned to another function, a warning symbol will appear next to it. In such cases, you can either choose a different shortcut or unassign the conflicting shortcut from the other function.

7. You can also create custom shortcuts by clicking on the “+” button at the bottom left of the window. This allows you to define a new keyboard shortcut for a specific application or menu command.

8. Once you have made the desired changes, you can close the System Preferences window.

It’s worth noting that changing the Spotlight search command will affect how you access Spotlight and its features. The default shortcut to open Spotlight is Command + Spacebar, but you can customize it to your preference using the steps outlined above.

In my personal experience, I found it useful to change the Spotlight search command when I frequently used certain applications or functions that had conflicting shortcuts with the default Spotlight command. By customizing the shortcut, I was able to streamline my workflow and access Spotlight more efficiently.

Changing the Spotlight search command is a simple process that can be done through the System Preferences on your Mac. Take some time to explore the available options and customize the shortcuts to suit your needs and preferences.