Since switching from PC to Mac three years ago, probably the single most annoying user-interface feature on Mac has been the loss of flexibility in using Tab and Shift+Tab to move focus: to buttons and menus in web browsers, and between buttons in pop-up dialogue windows.
Thanks to Tony Spencer, I am now able to do this! It’s a simple setting: in System Preferences, select Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts. At the bottom of the window there will be a button for changing Full Keyboard Access from Text boxes and lists only to All controls. Selecting the latter will give you full flexibility of changing focus with Tab and Shift+Tab.
One other crucial tidbit: on pop-up windows, when you have moved focus to a non-default button, in order to select that button you need to press Space rather than Return/Enter.
Amazing that it took me three years to figure this out…!
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