# Deleting photos on Mac - Arrow key doesn't work



## Lightma (Oct 2, 2017)

I recently switched from Windows to Mac and noticed that I can't use the arrow keys to choose 'Delete from disk'. Is there any way I can select 'delete from disk' confirmation after clicking delete? Note that I like the delete confirmation I just don't want to use my mouse.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 2, 2017)

You can use the TAB key to go through buttons in a dialog box.


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## Lightma (Oct 2, 2017)

Did you try that on the Mac? Doesn’t work for me.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 2, 2017)

Yes, I tried it and it worked for me. I don't normally use it, though.


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## prbimages (Oct 2, 2017)

On Windows, you can also hit "D" for delete or "R" for remove. I don't have a Mac so not sure if the same thing applies there ...


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## Lightma (Oct 3, 2017)

Both tab and d don’t work for me on Mac. I’m using High Sierra MacOS. Is it working for anyone on that MacOS?


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 3, 2017)

Well, it turns out there is an inconsistency. Tabbing _does_ show the buttons getting highlighted one by one, but if you press 'Enter' the default button is still the one that gets activated (probably because that button is hardwired to this key). You have to hit the *spacebar* to activate the button you've selected with the tab key. I tried it and that works, also in High Sierra.


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## Lightma (Oct 3, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> Well, it turns out there is an inconsistency. Tabbing _does_ show the buttons getting highlighted one by one, but if you press 'Enter' the default button is still the one that gets activated (probably because that button is hardwired to this key). You have to hit the *spacebar* to activate the button you've selected with the tab key. I tried it and that works, also in High Sierra.


Tabbing doesn’t show up as highlighted nor does space bar work either. I’m using the LR cloud version. As I’m new to macs I have no idea why this could be happening. Anyone else have this issue?


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 3, 2017)

Maybe you don't see the highlight even though it's there? You can set the color and the intensity in the Mac System Preferences, under General. Set the color to blue if you are using Graphite now, perhaps that helps.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 3, 2017)

By the way, this is not a Lightroom issue, it's a MacOS X issue. The tab/space bar key should work in all dialogs, no matter what application you are using. That's because the dialogs are drawn by the OS, unless you use an application written in Java or something like that.


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## Jim Wilde (Oct 3, 2017)

Interestingly, I'm not able to tab between the various options in that dialog, and the space bar also doesn't do anything. I guess it's a system preference that I've not got set correctly.


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## Johan Elzenga (Oct 3, 2017)

Yes, I suddenly realised that you do have to activate this or can deactivate it. Go to System Preferences - Keyboard - Shortcuts. Check 'All controls'.


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## Lightma (Oct 4, 2017)

JohanElzenga said:


> Yes, I suddenly realised that you do have to activate this or can deactivate it. Go to System Preferences - Keyboard - Shortcuts. Check 'All controls'.
> 
> View attachment 9913


Aah, that did it, thanks! Much easier now.


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## Jim Wilde (Oct 4, 2017)

Thanks, Johan.


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