# How to Open an App with a Keyboard Shortcut on Mac

Updated: November 12, 2026

Supercharge: Price: $20, one-time purchase, plus tax where applicable. Platforms: macOS. Get it from: [Setapp](https://go.setapp.com/stp181?refAppID=742&utm_medium=vendor_program&utm_content=button), [Gumroad](https://sindresorhus.gumroad.com/l/supercharge?wanted=true). Free trial: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/supercharge#trial). Requires macOS 26.4 or later. Free older versions for macOS 15: [download](https://sindresorhus.com/supercharge#older-versions).

URL: https://sindresorhus.com/guides/keyboard-shortcut-to-open-app-mac

macOS has no setting to open an app with a keyboard shortcut. In [Supercharge](https://sindresorhus.com/supercharge), add the app in the “Shortcuts” settings, and press the shortcut that you want. Without an app, make a shortcut with the “Open App” action in the Shortcuts app, and give it a keyboard shortcut.

## With Supercharge

1. Open the settings of [Supercharge](https://sindresorhus.com/supercharge), and click “Shortcuts”.
1. Scroll to “Launch app”, near the bottom, and click the add button.
1. Choose the app, like Safari.
1. Click the field next to the app, and press the keyboard shortcut that you want, like Control+Option+S.

Press the shortcut from anywhere to open the app, or to bring it to the front when it is already open. Press it again to hide the app and go back to the app that you used before, so one shortcut shows and hides the app.

To use shortcuts with only one extra key, like Caps Lock+S, [make Caps Lock a Hyper key](https://sindresorhus.com/guides/hyper-key-mac).

## Without an app

The Shortcuts app can run a shortcut from a keyboard shortcut:

1. Open the Shortcuts app, and click the add button to make a new shortcut.
1. Add the “Open App” action, and choose the app in the action.
1. Click the details button in the sidebar, click “Add Keyboard Shortcut”, and press the keys.

[Apple’s instructions.](https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts-mac/apd163eb9f95/mac) This works, but you must make one shortcut for each app, and it only opens the app: a second press does not hide it. Spotlight is also fast without any setup: press Command+Space, type the first letters of the app, and press Return.