Otterdock Keyboard Shortcuts: Open Any Dock Group Without the Mouse

In Otterdock Direct, each group gets a global shortcut, Control-1 through Control-6 by default, that opens its popup from any app. Inside the popup, type to search, use the arrow keys, press Command-1 to Command-9 to open an item by position, Command-A to launch every item, and Escape to close. The Mac App Store edition has no global shortcuts; its groups open as native Dock stacks or through the Shortcuts app.

The point of grouping your Dock is reaching the right item faster. Once groups exist, the keyboard is faster still: a global shortcut opens the group from whatever app is in front, a second keystroke opens the item, and your hands never leave the keys. This is a reference for every shortcut Otterdock supports, what each edition includes, and how to avoid conflicts with the apps you already use.

Global shortcuts: open a group from anywhere (Direct edition)

Every group in the Direct edition can have one global shortcut. The first six groups get defaults:

Press the shortcut in any app and the group's popup opens near the Dock, with keyboard focus on its search field. Press it again, or press Escape, to close.

Global shortcuts are system hotkeys. They do not require Accessibility permission and they work whether or not the group is currently in the Dock. The free tier includes two groups, so two shortcuts; Pro removes the group limit and every additional group can be given its own shortcut.

The Mac App Store edition does not include global shortcuts. Apple's sandbox allows system hotkeys in principle, but the App Store edition's groups open as native Dock stacks, which have no popup to summon. If keyboard access matters to you, this is one of the main reasons to choose Direct; the other differences are listed in Direct vs Mac App Store.

Inside the popup

Once a popup is open, these keys work whether you opened it with a shortcut, a click or a hover:

The numbers follow the group's current sort order, so put the items you open most at the top. Command-A is the "start my morning" key: for a group with a code editor, a terminal, a browser and a project folder, one press opens all of them.

Change or remove a shortcut

1. Open Otterdock and select the group.
2. In the group editor, click the shortcut field.
3. Press the combination you want. The field records it live; click confirm to keep it or cancel to leave the old one.
4. To remove a shortcut, clear the field.

If the combination is already assigned to another Otterdock group, the editor says so and refuses to save until you choose a different one. It cannot see shortcuts owned by other apps, so after recording, switch to the app you use most and press the shortcut once to make sure it reaches Otterdock.

Chord shortcuts

Instead of a single combination, you can record a two-step sequence such as Control-G, then D (for "Design"). Chords are easier to remember for many groups and almost never collide with other apps, because few apps use multi-key sequences. The first key still needs a modifier; the second is a plain key.

Picking shortcuts that do not fight other apps

Control-number combinations are rarely used by macOS itself, which is why they are the defaults. Watch out for:

• Browsers use Command-1 to Command-9 for tab switching. That is why Otterdock's item shortcuts are Command-number only *inside the popup*; they never fire globally.
• Mission Control can use Control-number to switch Spaces if you enabled that in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Mission Control. If you did, either disable those or move Otterdock's groups to Control-Option-number.
• Terminal and code editors often bind Control-letter combinations. Numbers are safer than letters for single-step shortcuts.

The system-wide list of macOS shortcuts is in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts, which is also where you can free a combination you want for Otterdock.

Keyboard access without Otterdock Direct

macOS itself lets you reach the Dock from the keyboard: Control-F3 (or Control-Fn-F3 on keyboards with media keys) focuses the Dock, the arrow keys move between icons, and Return opens one. It is slower than a direct group shortcut but works everywhere, including the Mac App Store edition. The full walkthrough, including VoiceOver, is in the Dock accessibility guide.

Both editions also expose two actions to the Shortcuts app, Open Group and Launch Group, which you can bind to a keyboard shortcut in Shortcuts itself. That route gives the Mac App Store edition a keyboard trigger for launching a whole group, at the cost of going through Shortcuts. How that works, and how to put a shortcut in the Dock, is in running Mac Shortcuts from the Dock or keyboard.