Mac Keyboard Shortcuts Not Working? 8 Fixes

When Cmd+C or a favorite shortcut suddenly does nothing — or does the wrong thing — the keyboard is almost never broken. It's nearly always one of eight software culprits, and they're quick to check in order. Start at the top; the first three fix most cases.

1. Check which app is actually broken

First, narrow it down: does the shortcut fail everywhere, or in one app? Try it in TextEdit or Finder. If it fails in only one app, open that app's menus and look for the command — the shortcut printed next to it is the ground truth. If the menu shows different keys than you expected, the app (or one of your own customizations) rebound it. If the menu item is greyed out, the shortcut is fine — the command just isn't available right now.

2. Check your input source

A wrong keyboard layout silently moves keys around, and shortcut combos move with them. If you've ever added a second layout, check the input menu in the menu bar (or System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input). Symptoms: shortcuts involving punctuation or brackets fail while letter shortcuts work. Remove layouts you don't use — and note that Ctrl+Space or Ctrl+Option+Space may be switching layouts behind your back; those live under Keyboard Shortcuts… → Input Sources.

3. Look for conflicts in Keyboard Shortcuts

Open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts… and scan the panes for yellow warning triangles — each marks two shortcuts claiming the same keys, and whichever fires first wins. Change or untick one side. While you're there, click through App Shortcuts too: a forgotten custom entry (yours, or from following a tutorial once) overrides the app's own binding. Remove entries with −. As a last resort, Restore Defaults resets the selected pane.

4. Check for a stuck or remapped modifier

Two variants. A physically sticky modifier makes everything weird — typing 'c' acts like Cmd+C. Tap each modifier key a few times, and check System Settings → Accessibility → Keyboard: if Sticky Keys or Slow Keys got enabled, modifiers latch or presses get ignored. Second variant: remapped modifiers. Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts… → Modifier Keys lets Command and Control be swapped per keyboard — worth a look if you use an external (especially Windows) keyboard.

5. Find the third-party app eating your keys

Launchers, clipboard managers, window managers, screenshot tools, and remapping utilities all register global hotkeys, and a global hotkey silently beats an app shortcut. If a shortcut died recently, ask what you installed recently. Quit your menu bar utilities one by one and retest — when the shortcut comes back, you've found the thief; change its hotkey in that app's own preferences.

6. Give the app's own settings a look

Many big apps (browsers, editors, Office, Adobe) keep their own shortcut systems that override or ignore macOS conventions — and some, especially Electron apps, don't respect App Shortcuts customizations at all. Check the app's preferences for a Keyboard or Shortcuts section, and try its “reset shortcuts” option.

7. Restart the app, then the Mac

Unglamorous, effective. Quit and relaunch the affected app first. If shortcuts are broken system-wide, log out and back in, or restart — this clears wedged event handlers that no setting can reach.

8. Test in a fresh user account

Still broken? Create a temporary user in System Settings → Users & Groups and try the shortcut there. Works in the new account: something in your account's settings or login items is responsible — revisit fixes 3–5 more aggressively. Broken there too with the same keyboard: now, and only now, suspect the keyboard itself — try another one, or the on-screen Keyboard Viewer, to confirm.

If the keys themselves are dead

Shortcuts failing is software; keys not typing at all is a different diagnosis — see Mac keyboard not working? How to fix it for the hardware-side checklist.