I need your support and hope that someone has a solution to my problem. Due to my job, I have to use Windows, while I work with macOS privately and in my side job. I've already made many adjustments and installed apps on both systems to make them operate similarly. Now, I also want to adjust the behavior of the "Enter" and "Backspace" keys in Finder to create a more unified experience.
On Windows, pressing "Enter" opens folders in Explorer, and "Backspace" navigates back to the previous folder. I would like to replicate this functionality in macOS Finder.
For this, I have set up the following actions in BetterTouchTool:
"Enter" → "CMD + Down Arrow" (to open folders)
"Backspace" → "CMD + Up Arrow" (to go back)
However, I have encountered two issues:
1. Renaming Folders:
When renaming a folder and confirming with "Enter," the folder opens immediately.
Pressing "Backspace" to delete a character cancels the rename mode and navigates to the previous folder.
2. Spotlight Search:
Confirming an input with "Enter" does not execute the search but opens a folder.
Deleting a character with "Backspace" makes Finder jump to the previous folder.
I have already read in the BetterTouchTool forum that Finder and Spotlight Search are difficult to differentiate in macOS. It seems that a script might be needed to detect the status of Spotlight Search.
Does anyone have a solution to adjust the key mappings so that "Enter" and "Backspace" retain their default macOS behavior when renaming files and using Spotlight, while still performing my desired actions in Finder?
@xidiot I recently discovered a method that (sometimes) works better or faster in certain apps than determining the text fields. You probably already know this , so just a quick note.
Sometimes it is enough to determine whether the cursor is in a text field or not, the name doesn't matter. If so I look for a menu item that is not active when the cursor is not in a text field. For example, “paste”. This can be used to create a condition that works very reliably for me. Andreas has written a script for this. Very useful
Unfortunately, it’s not working as expected—I suspect I made a mistake somewhere. Could you help me with this?
I created a CAG with the condition: bundleIdentifier == "com.apple.finder" AND focusedElementRole != "AXTextField"
and named it "Open Folder." Then, I selected the newly created CAG on the left side (blue-marked window). On the right side, you can see the CAG inside the green rectangle. Finally, I added a trigger for the Enter key with "CMD + O."
Do I also need to create a separate trigger in Finder (yellow-marked window), or should it already work as is?
Where is my mistake? It would be great if you could explain it to me step by step with screenshots so I can set it up correctly.
The app Supercharge might help you, allows you to open folder with enter go back with backspace and stuff like this (the way it should be! at least to people coming from windows). This stuff is quite hard to hack yourself I've found and I've moved to Qspace which allows this long time ago anyways but this new app by Sindre Sorhus is great with these Finder hacks.
It's an interesting coincidence that I came across this app today after watching videos on the topic "15 Apps that Make Life as a Windows User Easier on Your Mac." A big thank you to xidiot for the effort and to asgeirtj for the helpful tip!
If nothing is shown under "Recently used" I guess the CAG is not activated. Here's my exported CAG, could you please try to import it from the Presets menu:
preset works and is. a good start. To complete desired keyboard navigation look on the leftsiide list. of apps and CAGs and find FINDER CAG. Click it. Should be one action already there-enter. action evoking Open Directory,
To finish, you can add more navigation but. for this example ill keep. it short.Add a new action (backspace aka the delete key) that triggers go back to enclosing directory so input cmd+UP.
That should help you can add more navigation with back or forward etc. let. us know how. i goes
thank you all for your support and effort! I was able to solve my problem using Supercharge, and it works perfectly.
However, I’ve encountered another issue or rather a feature request. Maybe someone knows a solution using BetterTouchTool or a third-party app? I’d really appreciate your help by visual Highlighting of Pasted Files on macOS with BetterTouchTool?
Since I am required to use Windows for my main job, I switched to macOS for personal use and my second job about a year ago. On Windows, pasted files (CTRL + V) are visually highlighted until another action is performed. On macOS (CMD + V), this behavior does not seem to exist.
My question:
Is there a way to replicate this function using BetterTouchTool or another third-party app on macOS? I have already tried several scripts, but none have worked successfully.
The problem:
For example, my music folder contains 300 songs with different creation and modification dates (2015–2025). If I add 10 more songs, some of which might have older creation dates (e.g., 2022), the script does not recognize them as "new" and does not highlight them visually.
However, when I select 10 files and move them manually via drag and drop, they are visually highlighted in the system accent color (which I have set to red). Ideally, I would like the same behavior for copied and pasted files (CMD + C → CMD + V).
Is there possibly an Apple script that can be triggered via BetterTouchTool to achieve this functionality? If not, as mentioned earlier, I would appreciate recommendations for any third-party apps that can replicate this Windows behavior on macOS.
, so just a quick note.
at least to people coming from windows). This stuff is quite hard to hack yourself I've found and I've moved to Qspace which allows this long time ago anyways but this new app by Sindre Sorhus is great with these Finder hacks.
I was able to solve my problem using Supercharge, and it works perfectly.