I like to use ‘smart’ quotes (aka typographer’s quotes) but I find default macOS keyboard layout counter-intuitive.
Quote marks come in pairs of left and right. They’re typed using the [
and ]
keys.
So I put the left quote marks on the left bracket [
, and the right quote marks on the right bracket ]
.
- To type single quotes, use
alt
+[
and]
. - To type double quotes, use
shift
+alt
+[
and]
.
- Copy
British keyboard layout with custom quote marks.bundle
to:~/Library/Keyboard Layouts/
to install it for just your user account/Library/Keyboard Layouts/
to install it for all accounts on your computer
- Open System Preferences ▸ Keyboard ▸ Input sources
- Add British with custom quote marks
- Remove British if you like (sometimes the OS switches back to it randomly)
I made a custom keyboard layout and exported the installer using Ukelele.
If you don’t want to install this, you can still type typographer’s quotes on a default macOS keyboard layout. I just think my shortcuts are nicer.
- To type an left single quote, use
alt
+]
- To type a right single quote, use
alt
+shift
+]
- To type an left double quote, use
alt
+[
- To type a right double quote, use
alt
+shift
+[