Robin Williams Mac OS X Book, Jaguar Edition, The

Contextual Menus

The Finder has contextual menus: hold down the Control key (not the Command/Apple key), click anywhere, and a menu pops up. These are called “contextual” menus because the context of the menu varies depending on what you click upon: an application icon, a folder icon, a document icon, a disk icon, a blank spot inside a window, a blank spot on the Desktop, etc. What you see in these menus might also change as time goes by and more features are added.

Practice: Hold down the Control key and click on a folder, a blank spot in a window, a disk icon, a document, or an application. To put away a contextual menu, just click anywhere outside the menu.

This is a contextual menu for a disk.

This is a contextual menu for an application ...