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How To Refresh | On Mac Keyboard

Finding books (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays), movies, news, magazines, literary journals and more for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual/ally and more!) interests and research

You can. Here’s the secret handshake: Hold down the key (bottom-left corner, next to the globe or Control key) and then press F5 .

To refresh a webpage, a Finder window, or even a preview in many apps:

You’ve just switched from Windows to a Mac. Your fingers, trained by years of muscle memory, reach for the top-right corner of the keyboard. You expect to feel the familiar F5 key. Instead, you find a key with a strange symbol: a square with an upward arrow. Or perhaps a key labeled F5 with a cryptic icon.

Panic sets in. "How do you refresh on a Mac?" you whisper. Your browser window is stuck showing yesterday’s news, a stale email inbox, or a frozen webpage.

Hold down and Option (the key next to Command), then press R .

Welcome to one of the first great cultural shifts of the Mac universe. The story of "refresh" isn't about a single key—it’s about a philosophy. On a PC, F5 is the undisputed king of refresh. Hit it on the desktop, and icons blink. Hit it in a browser, and the page reloads. It’s a hammer. Simple, direct, mechanical.

Last Updated: Feb 17, 2026 7:35 PM
URL: https://guides.rider.edu/lgbtqia
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How To Refresh | On Mac Keyboard

You can. Here’s the secret handshake: Hold down the key (bottom-left corner, next to the globe or Control key) and then press F5 .

To refresh a webpage, a Finder window, or even a preview in many apps: how to refresh on mac keyboard

You’ve just switched from Windows to a Mac. Your fingers, trained by years of muscle memory, reach for the top-right corner of the keyboard. You expect to feel the familiar F5 key. Instead, you find a key with a strange symbol: a square with an upward arrow. Or perhaps a key labeled F5 with a cryptic icon. You can

Panic sets in. "How do you refresh on a Mac?" you whisper. Your browser window is stuck showing yesterday’s news, a stale email inbox, or a frozen webpage. Your fingers, trained by years of muscle memory,

Hold down and Option (the key next to Command), then press R .

Welcome to one of the first great cultural shifts of the Mac universe. The story of "refresh" isn't about a single key—it’s about a philosophy. On a PC, F5 is the undisputed king of refresh. Hit it on the desktop, and icons blink. Hit it in a browser, and the page reloads. It’s a hammer. Simple, direct, mechanical.

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