Use gestures with Photos

You can use trackpad gestures to browse and work with your photos.

Note:  To use the tap or double-tap gestures in the table below, you must have “Tap to click” turned on in Trackpad preferences. To change your trackpad settings, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Trackpad.

View photos and albums

Action

Gesture

View the photos in a moment, collection, or year

Tap or pinch open on the year, collection, or moment

Zoom out of a moment or collection to see more photos at a time

Pinch closed

Scroll up or down through the photos in Photos view or an album

Swipe up or down with two fingers

Open an individual photo

Double-tap the photo

Zoom in or out while viewing an individual photo

Pinch open or closed

Close an individual photo and see more photos

Pinch closed

See the next or previous photo in a moment or album

Swipe left or right with two fingers

While using split view, select a photo to view in the row of thumbnails

Tap the photo

Open a shortcut menu for a photo to rotate, duplicate, delete, share, and more

Tap a photo with two fingers

Export a photo

Drag the photo to the desktop

Scroll up or down through your projects and albums

Swipe up or down with two fingers

Open an album or project

Double-tap

Edit photos

Action

Gesture

While in edit view, copy or paste adjustments to a photo

Tap a photo with two fingers

Work on projects

Action

Gesture

Open a page in a project

Double-tap the page

Select a page or an item on a page

Tap

Open a shortcut menu to work with a photo or display the Photo Options or Layout Options window

Tap a photo or gray area on a page with two fingers

Open the Photo Options or Layout Options window

Double-tap a photo or text area on a page