It might seem fairly obvious, but it might be a good idea to assign a keyboard shortcut to Notification Center on the Mac. Perhaps you already have, or maybe you still haven’t. I hadn’t, at least not up until a few days ago when a reader suggested that I do so, and I honestly can’t come up with a reason as to why I waited so long. I think it’s because I just never thought about doing it.
Assigning Notification Center to a keyboard shortcut just makes sense. It especially makes sense if you use a keyboard and mouse combination on your Mac, instead of a trackpad. Granted, MacBook users might not be so easily convinced, because invoking Notification Center can be accomplished via an effortless two-finger swipe on the trackpad.
But if you’re working on an iMac, or if you’re using a traditional mouse and keyboard combination with your MacBook, as I am, then I definitely recommend that you follow this uber-simple tip.
How to use a keyboard shortcut to launch Notification Center
Step 1: Open System Preferences → Keyboard.
Step 2: Click the Shortcuts tab and click Mission Control in the sidebar.
Step 3: Check the box next to Show Notification Center and input a keyboard shortcut combination
I opted to use the following combination for invoking Notification Center: ⌃+⌘+`, that is, Control+Shift+Backtick. Going forward, using this keyboard shortcut combo allows me to quickly open and close Notification Center on my Mac.
You may have also noticed that there is a Turn Do Not Disturb On/Off keyboard shortcut available as well. We already posted a tip on how to quickly toggle Do Not Disturb using a click of the Notification Center menu bar button while holding the Option (⌥) key, but having a keyboard shortcut assigned to the function makes it even easier.
How do you currently invoke Notification Center on your Mac? Do you use a trackpad swipe gesture? Do you simply click the Notification Center button? Or do you do like I do, and use a keyboard shortcut? Sound off down below in the comments section and let me know.