The full screen shortcut on a Mac, and every way to exit full screen

What is the shortcut to exit full screen on a Mac?

Press ⌃ ⌘ F. The same shortcut enters and leaves full screen in almost every app. On Mac keyboards with a globe key, fn F (globe F) does the same.

How do I get out of full screen without the keyboard?

1. Move the pointer to the very top of the screen and hold it there. The menu bar slides down.
2. Click the green button at the top left of the window, or choose View (or Window), Exit Full Screen.

Why does Escape not exit full screen?

It does for videos and some apps, but not for a full screen window. Escape is left to the app, which may use it for something else. Use ⌃ ⌘ F instead, which works everywhere.

Where did my app go after full screen?

A full screen app becomes its own space, next to your desktops. Swipe left or right with four fingers, or press ⌃ ← and ⌃ →, to move between it and your desktop. See switching desktops.

Full screen or fill the screen?

Full screen moves the app to its own space and hides the menu bar. To make a window as big as the screen without that, hold the pointer over the green button and choose Fill, or drag the window to the menu bar. Current macOS lists that as Drag windows to menu bar to fill screen in Desktop & Dock. Full screen against maximize compares the two.

Checked on 16 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1, by reading its settings and the labels in System Settings. Nothing was changed.