IT support walkthroughs: show users exactly which keys to press
In an IT support walkthrough, users most often get lost at the keys. Show them exactly which keys to press by naming each one the way the Mac labels it (Command, Option, Control, not “Alt” or “the Windows key”), and by showing it on a keyboard shaped like theirs. macOS’s own recorder can mark your clicks, but it does not show keys, so for help desk videos and live sessions, run a keyboard overlay such as Typebar: each key lights up as you press it, and each shortcut is named on screen.
Below: the keys users mix up, how to match the keyboard on screen to the one on their desk, how to make clicks as clear as keys, and how to run recorded and live sessions without showing a password.
The keys users mix up
Most failed instructions come down to modifiers. A user who has just moved from Windows presses Control where you meant Command. Someone told to press “Alt” looks for a key that says Alt and does not find one. The symbols in menus (⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ⇧) mean nothing to most people until someone shows them which key is which.
| Key | Symbol | What users confuse it with |
|---|---|---|
| Command | ⌘ | Control, because Ctrl does that job on Windows |
| Option | ⌥ | Alt, which some keyboards print on the same key |
| Control | ⌃ | Command, and the caret ^ in text |
| Shift | ⇧ | The Up Arrow key, when the symbol is shown on its own |
| fn or Globe | fn 🌐︎ | Control, since it sits right beside it on a MacBook |
| Delete | ⌫ | Forward delete: on a Mac, Delete removes the character to the left, and fn-Delete removes the one to the right |
On a MacBook, the bottom-left corner runs fn (with a globe on recent models), then Control, Option and Command. Full-size keyboards with a number pad lay out some of these differently, which is one more reason to show users the keyboard they actually have.
Spell out every shortcut in words as well as symbols. “Press Option-Command-Esc” lands better than “⌥⌘⎋”, and better still is “hold Option and Command, then press Escape” while the screen shows those three keys lighting up together. Mac keyboard symbols explained is a good page to send users who want the full list.
Show a keyboard shaped like theirs
Apple keyboards come in three standard shapes. ANSI is common in the US. ISO is common across Europe, with a taller Return key and an extra key between the left Shift and Z. JIS, for Japan, adds 英数 and かな keys on either side of the space bar. Tell a UK user to press “the key left of Z” on an ANSI picture and they will press the wrong one.
Layouts matter too. On a German Mac keyboard, @ is Option-L. On a French AZERTY one, A, Z and M are in different places, and the number row types symbols unless you hold Shift. If your organization has offices in more than one country, your walkthroughs need to show the right board for each.
Typebar draws a MacBook, a Magic Keyboard with or without a number pad, or a tenkeyless keyboard, in ANSI, ISO or JIS. The keys follow your input source, so QWERTZ, AZERTY and other layouts show the right legends. Switch your Mac to the user’s input source and the board follows it. Then hold Option for a moment and the keys relabel with the characters each one types, a quick way to show a user where @ or € lives on their layout.
For users who are not sure which keyboard they have, ANSI, ISO and JIS Mac keyboards: how to tell which you have walks them through it.
Make clicks as clear as keys
Clicks cause their own confusion. Many users do not know that Control-click is a right click, or that on a trackpad you click with two fingers (set in System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click > Secondary click). Command-click to select several files in Finder is invisible on a recording: the viewer sees files highlight, not the key held down.
macOS’s Screenshot toolbar has a Show Mouse Clicks option in its Options menu, which marks each click in the recording. For walkthroughs where the kind of click matters, Typebar’s Mouse settings go further:
- Click ripples give left, right and middle clicks each their own shape.
- Show clicks in the pill names them as Click, Right Click or ⌘ Click, next to the keys.
- Drag trail shows the path of a drag, so “drag the app to Applications” is easy to follow.
- Cursor halo keeps a circle around the pointer, so users can find it on a busy screen.
- Spotlight dims every display except a circle around the pointer, with its own shortcut, for the moment you say “click here”.
Show right clicks and drags clearly in a tutorial video covers the recording side in more detail.
Recorded walkthroughs for the knowledge base
Recorded videos get watched for years, so some care when you record pays off:
- Record on a test account with a plain desktop, so no ticket details or internal names show.
- Say each shortcut before you press it, then press it slowly, holding the modifiers for a beat so the keys stay lit long enough to see.
- Show the pill as well as the board. The board shows where a key is; the pill names the shortcut with the name the app’s own menus give it, such as “⇧⌘4 Screenshot Selection”, so users can find the same command in the menu later.
- Plan for what you cannot record. Startup keys happen before any recorder runs. To reach startup options on a Mac with Apple silicon, the user shuts down, then presses and holds the power button until “Loading startup options” appears. Film that with a phone, or use a still picture.
Admin passwords come up constantly in support videos. When macOS marks a field as secure, Typebar shows nothing typed there, and the pill says “Typing hidden in a password field”. Typing is also hidden while 1Password, Bitwarden, Keychain Access or Passwords is in front, and you can add your own apps, such as a remote support tool. Show keys in a recording without leaking a password has more.
Live sessions on Zoom, Teams or Meet
On a live call, the same rules apply with two additions.
Share your whole screen, not a window. The overlay is its own window, so a share of one app’s window leaves it out.
Keep it quiet when you are not teaching keys. Choose Pill Only from the Show submenu in the menu bar menu while you talk, and switch to Keyboard and Pill when you reach the steps. “Hide letters” shows shortcuts and special keys while letters appear as dots, useful when you type a user’s details into a form. Pause, from the menu or its shortcut, stops everything until you resume.
Show or hide the overlay at any time with Control-Option-Command-K (⌃⌥⌘K), or by tapping fn three times. If you would rather it appear by itself, turn on “Show when a screen recording starts” in Settings > Recording: screen sharing counts too.
Typebar is $9 once for up to 5 Macs, with a 24-hour free trial.
Questions
What is the Mac version of Control-Alt-Delete?
Option-Command-Esc opens the Force Quit window, where the user can close an app that has stopped responding.
How does a user right-click on a Mac?
Hold Control and click, or click with two fingers on a trackpad. Secondary click options are in System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click.
Does the macOS screen recorder show keys?
No. Command-Shift-5 can show mouse clicks, but not the keys you press. For keys, you need a keyboard overlay running while you record.