Press Esc twice: once to erase the field, and a second time to close it.
If your search was fruitless-or mistaken-it’s a good idea to erase the contents of the field before you close the menu so you can start fresh on a new search. The Spotlight menu often stores what you last typed in it unless you erase it so that you can make a second choice from the results list. If you want to erase what you’ve typed in the Spotlight menu’s search field, you don’t have to tediously delete it a character at a time: press Esc to instantly wipe the field clean so you can start again. Use the awkward Command-Shift-Tab to move backwards? Use the more convenient Command-tilde (~), still pressing the key repeatedly? No! While the Command key is still down, press Esc to return to the program you were working in before the premature press of Command-Tab.Ģ. You get halfway across the line of program icons and realize-whoops!-you forgot to copy the material that you wanted to bring with you. You press Command-Tab to switch to another application, pressing Tab several times (or just holding it down) because you’re moving to a program that’s far away on the Application Switcher’s bar. Take a shortcut back to your original application Here’s a handful of less-than-obvious but just-as-handy solutions the Esc key provides. (Esc is, after all, short for “escape.”) But those are only the obvious things. The Esc key has long been the “get me outta here” panacea for many things: canceling a dialog box, getting rid of a button-less splash screen, closing a menu that you clicked open.