Mac modifier key symbols and the characters documentation uses for keys. What each one means and where it came from.

The Mac modifier keys

Apple’s documentation uses symbols rather than words, and so does every menu on macOS. The four that matter:

Symbol	Key	Name
`⌘`	Command	Cmd
`⌥`	Option	Alt
`⇧`	Shift	Shift
`⌃`	Control	Ctrl

A shortcut is written by stacking them in a fixed order — Control, Option, Shift, Command, then the key:

⌘S        Save
⇧⌘S       Save As
⌥⌘I       Web Inspector
⌃⌥⌘8      Invert display colours

No plus signs, no spaces. Writing ⌘+S is a Windows habit; Apple’s own style has never used the plus.

Where ⌘ came from

The Command symbol is a Bowen knot, and in Scandinavia it is the sign for a place of cultural interest — it appears on Swedish and Finnish road signs pointing to castles and monuments. Susan Kare picked it for the original Macintosh after Steve Jobs objected to using the Apple logo for every menu shortcut, on the grounds that it was cheapening the logo.

⌥ is the option switch symbol from electrical schematics, showing a track branching. ⇪ is a stylised padlock over an upward arrow.

The other key symbols

Symbol	Key
`⎋`	Escape
`⏎` `⌤`	Return, Enter
`⌫`	Delete backwards — Backspace
`⌦`	Delete forwards
`⇥` `⇤`	Tab, Back-tab
`⇪`	Caps Lock
`␣`	Space
`⇞` `⇟`	Page Up, Page Down
`⇱` `⇲`	Home, End
`⏏`	Eject

⌫ and ⌦ are worth distinguishing carefully in documentation, because the key labelled “Delete” is the first on a Mac keyboard and the second on a PC keyboard. Writing the symbol removes the ambiguity that writing the word creates.

Windows and Linux

There is no equivalent symbolic convention. Windows documentation spells the keys out and joins them with plus signs:

Ctrl+S          Save
Ctrl+Shift+S    Save As
Win+L           Lock

⊞ is sometimes used for the Windows key. It is not an official symbol — it is U+229E, “squared plus”, borrowed for the purpose — so it will not always render as expected and spelling out Win is safer in anything that has to be reliable.

When to use symbols and when to use words

Context	Prefer
macOS-only documentation	symbols — matches every menu the reader sees
Cross-platform documentation	words, or both — `⌘S` means nothing on Windows
Accessibility	words; screen readers handle `⌘` inconsistently
Plain-text and terminals	words; the symbols are outside most monospace fonts

That last row is the practical limit. Many monospace fonts have no glyph for ⌘, so a shortcut written symbolically in a README or a terminal help screen has a good chance of rendering as a box.

Other symbols in the set

⏻ is the IEC power symbol, ⏯ is play/pause, and ⌨ is a keyboard glyph. These come from the standard control-picture blocks rather than from any one platform, and are the right characters for describing hardware buttons in general.

Keyboard symbols