This Mac tip is provided by Mark Greentree and was originally posted on Mark’s blog – Everyday Mac Support. For more of Mark’s tips visit his site, follow him on Twitter, or browse his archive of posts here.
How to: Navigate Folders In The Finder By Keystrokes
The Finder makes navigating through directories on your Mac seamless. Although, if you don’t wish to remove your hands from the keyboard, you can also use a series of keystrokes to navigate the file structures.
When in a particular directory you may wish to go back to a folder you have previously had open. To do this simply press Command + [ (Open Square Bracket). The more times you press the [ (Open Square Bracket), the further back in previously view folders you will go, until such time as you are in the original directory that you opened in the Finder.
You can also reverse this technique by using Command + ] (Close Square Bracket).
Both of these navigational techniques perform identically to how you would navigate backwards and forwards within a web browser.
Should you wish to go back to the enclosing (parent) folder within the file structure you can press Command + Up Arrow (Cursor Key). You can also use the Down Arrow (Cursor Key) to go in the reverse order.
These commands are also available in the Finder from the Go menu, in the Menu Bar.
