How to Change the Spotlight Keyboard Shortcut on Mac

Spotlight has owned Cmd+Space for two decades, but nothing forces it to stay there. Whether you want a different combo, need Cmd+Space free for Raycast or Alfred, or the shortcut has mysteriously stopped working, it's all one Settings pane. The steps below are identical on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma, and 15 Sequoia.

Change the shortcut

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard.
2. Click Keyboard Shortcuts…
3. Select Spotlight in the sidebar. You'll see two entries: Show Spotlight search (Cmd+Space) and Show Finder search window (Option+Cmd+Space).
4. Double-click the shortcut column next to Show Spotlight search — it turns into an input field.
5. Press your new combo, then click Done.

Good replacement candidates: Option+Space (comfortable, rarely taken) or Ctrl+Space if you don't use multiple input sources (see the conflict section below). Avoid anything an app you live in already uses — a quick way to check is to watch whether the combo appears next to a command in that app's menus. The change takes effect immediately — no restart.

To undo: come back to the same pane and either re-enter Cmd+Space or click Restore Defaults. Note that Restore Defaults resets every shortcut in the selected pane, not just Spotlight.

Hand Cmd+Space to another launcher

If you're switching to Raycast, Alfred, or another launcher, don't reassign Spotlight — just turn its shortcut off so Cmd+Space is free:

1. In the same Spotlight pane, untick the checkbox next to Show Spotlight search.
2. Open your launcher's own settings and claim Cmd+Space as its hotkey.

Spotlight itself keeps working — the magnifying glass in the menu bar still opens it, and search inside Finder is unaffected. You've only unbound the key. Re-tick the checkbox any time to get it back.

While you're in the pane, consider the second entry too: Show Finder search window on Option+Cmd+Space. Most launcher users never open it deliberately, and freeing the combo gives your new launcher a natural secondary hotkey. Untick it the same way.

Note that some launchers can grab Cmd+Space even while Spotlight still holds it, which leaves the two apps racing for the keystroke — you get whichever responds first. Always untick Spotlight's checkbox rather than relying on the launcher to win.

Fix the input-source conflict

The classic Spotlight-shortcut headache: you assign a combo and a yellow warning triangle appears next to it, or the shortcut half-works. That means the keys are claimed twice. The usual collision is with input-source switching, which lives in the same dialog under Input Sources:

• Select the previous input source — Ctrl+Space by default.
• Select next source in Input menu — Ctrl+Option+Space by default.

If you use only one keyboard layout, untick both and every Space-based combo becomes safe to use. If you genuinely switch layouts, give one side different keys — the triangle disappears as soon as no two active shortcuts share a combo. macOS marks every conflicting pair with the triangle, so scan the panes for any others before you close Settings.

One last stumble to avoid: if pressing your new shortcut types a character into the field instead of registering as a shortcut, click directly on the existing shortcut text first so it highlights, then press the combo.

Make Spotlight worth its shortcut

If you're keeping Spotlight, teach it some manners: it can do math, convert currency, and search with operators — see Spotlight search operators. And if it feels slow or stale, rebuilding the index usually fixes it.