What are the short-cuts to click buttons on a MacOS message box? On Windows you can use the TAB key to switch between which button has focus then press space to click the focused button.

However, on MacOS, when presented with the dialog in this screenshot, I cannot seem to use tab to switch between the buttons I want to click. I can only hit RETURN to click the Save button, or ESC to click Cancel. But I have no idea how I can click the "Don't Save" button using just the keyboard.

How can I navigate/click buttons in a MacOS message box using just the keyboard (not the TouchBar, Mouse or TrackPad)?
Actually, you can achieve the same behaviour in macOS!

First, you need to do as follows:


Go to Apple > System Preferences > Keyboard
Select the Shortcuts tab
Tick the All Controls radio button (see below)





Now exit System Preferences


Once you've done this, you can use the Tab key to navigate the various options (incl. buttons) in Dialog boxes. In the screenshot below I've selected the Don't Save button.



Once selected, just press the space bar as you would in Windows!