Record a new shortcut
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Open Settings › Shortcuts
Click the Flick icon in the menu bar, choose Settings, then click Shortcuts. The field is in the Search Mode group and shows while Enable search shortcut is on.
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Click the field and press the keys
Hold the modifiers you want and press the key. The shortcut has to include ⌘, ⌥ or ⌃; with ⇧ alone, Flick beeps and keeps listening. Esc cancels and keeps your old shortcut, Delete puts back ⇧⌘Space, and Tab moves on without changing anything.
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Try it
It works straight away; there's no Save button. Press it again while you're searching and Flick closes.
Flick's own shortcuts pause while you record, so your keys reach the field and nothing else. Reset to Default, next to the field, brings back ⇧⌘Space. The welcome window's Straight to search screen offers the same choice when you first set Flick up.
Shortcuts Flick warns about
When the keys you record are already used for something, a note appears under the field. A note that asks you to choose another shortcut means the keys can't work for search. The rest are warnings, and Flick keeps the shortcut.
| Keys | What happens |
|---|---|
| ⌥Tab ⌥⇧Tab | They open the switcher, so the shortcut won't work. With the ⌘Tab trigger, the same goes for ⌘Tab and ⇧⌘Tab. |
| ⌘Tab ⇧⌘Tab | Unless Flick has ⌘Tab, the macOS app switcher uses them, so the shortcut won't work. |
| ⌘` or ⌥` | While Switch between the front app's windows is on, your trigger and ` belong to it, so the shortcut won't work. With ⇧ added it works, but then opens search instead of going back through the app's windows. |
| ⌘Space | It usually opens Spotlight, and while Spotlight's shortcut is on, Spotlight keeps the keys. To give ⌘Space to Flick, deselect the Spotlight shortcut in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Spotlight. |
| ⌃Space ⌃⌥Space | They usually switch keyboard input sources. To give them to Flick, deselect them in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › Input Sources. |
| ⌘ or ⇧⌘ with a letter or digit | Many apps use these for menu commands. Flick takes the shortcut over in every app. |
| ⌥ or ⌥⇧ with a letter, digit or punctuation key | While you hold ⌥ in the switcher, letters and punctuation type into the search and digits pick a row, so the shortcut only works while the switcher is closed. With the ⌘Tab trigger, the same applies to ⌘ and ⇧⌘. |
A warning isn't a blockFlick keeps a shortcut it warns about. Taking over a menu shortcut works straight away. For ⌘Space, ⌃Space and ⌃⌥Space, also turn off the macOS shortcut, as the table explains. A note that tells you to choose another shortcut means the keys can't work for search.
When ⇧⌘Space does something else
If ⇧⌘Space opens something other than Flick, or nothing happens, another app or a macOS shortcut has the keys. The quickest fix is to record a different shortcut in Flick.
- Another app registered it first. Then Flick can't use the keys, and the menu bar menu and the top of Settings › Shortcuts say “⇧⌘Space is in use by another app”. Quit that app or choose another shortcut. Flick tries again when an app quits, and whenever you open its menu bar menu or Settings › Shortcuts. More in Shortcut conflicts.
- A macOS shortcut uses the same keys. In System Settings, click Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts, and look through the categories. Record a different shortcut in Flick, or deselect the macOS one there, as Apple explains in Use macOS keyboard shortcuts.
- Still nothing? Check that Flick is running and that Enable search shortcut is on. Search Windows in the menu bar menu does the same thing, so it tells you whether the keys are the problem.
More on tracking down clashes in how to fix a keyboard shortcut conflict on Mac.
Turn it off
Turn off Enable search shortcut in Settings › Shortcuts › Search Mode. Flick stops listening for those keys at once, and turning the switch back on restores your recorded shortcut.
Keep one way inIf you also turn off Enable switcher shortcut, Flick has no shortcut left. You can still open it with Search Windows in the menu bar menu, as long as the icon is showing.
Other ways to start a search
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌥Tab, then type | Searches while you hold ⌥. Let go and Flick switches to the selected result. |
| ⌥Tab, then Return | Starts a search that stays open after you let go of ⌥. |
| ⌘1 to ⌘9 | In a search opened with the search shortcut, switches to that result. |
With the mouse, choose Search Windows in the menu bar menu, or click Enter to search in the panel. Search your windows explains what search matches, and Flick's keyboard shortcuts lists every key.
Questions
Can I use a single key, such as F5?
Not on its own: a shortcut without a modifier would take that key from every app. Add ⌘, ⌥ or ⌃, as in ⌃F5.
Does the search shortcut work when ⌥Tab is turned off?
Yes. Enable switcher shortcut and Enable search shortcut are separate, so you can use Flick for search alone.
Does Reset All Settings change my search shortcut?
Yes. Reset All Settings… in Settings › About turns it back on and sets it to ⇧⌘Space. See Flick's settings.
Still stuck?Email [email protected] with your macOS version, your Mac and what you've tried, or visit the Support page.
Sources
Checked on .
- Use macOS keyboard shortcuts, Mac User Guide, Apple (the same steps in the macOS 14 version of the guide)
- Mac keyboard shortcuts, Apple Support (⌘Space for Spotlight; ⌃Space and ⌃⌥Space for input sources)
- Using Cmd + Space as Alfred hotkey, Alfred Help (another app gets ⌘Space only after you turn off Spotlight's shortcut and check Input Sources)
