> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.minimalmacropad.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # What a MinimalPad Key Can Do > A reference for every action you can put on a MinimalPad key — shortcuts, single keys, media and display controls, layers, lighting, and Bluetooth. This page covers what each kind of action actually does on the pad. It applies to both apps — where they differ, the table says so. For the step-by-step, see [Change a key in Studio for Mac](/mac/change-a-key) or [in the browser](/browser/change-a-key). ## The categories | Action | Studio for Mac | Studio for browser | | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------- | -------------------------- | | Shortcut — several keys together | **Shortcut** | **Shortcut** | | A single key | **Key** | **Single key** | | Playback, volume, brightness | **Media** | **Media & apps** | | Hold, toggle, or switch layers | **Layer** | **Layers** | | Bluetooth, lighting, USB output | **Pad** | **Device controls** | | Do nothing / fall through | **Nothing** / **Inherit** | **None** / **Transparent** | | Named app commands (Figma, Photoshop, 31 apps) | The app's own tile | — | | Open a Mac app, or bring it forward | **Open app** | — | | Mod-tap, sticky keys, caps word | — | **Advanced** | A shortcut sends several keys at once, the way you'd press them yourself: ⌘C, ⇧⌘Z, Ctrl+Shift+T. The pad sends a normal keyboard combination, so it works in any app that listens for that combination — nothing runs in the background and no accessibility permission is needed. **Modifiers you can combine:** Command (⌘) / Windows, Control (⌃), Option (⌥) / Alt, Shift (⇧). Left and right variants are available where an app distinguishes them. In Studio for Mac you can **record** a shortcut by pressing it, or **build** it from modifiers and a key. In the browser you build it. The pad sends the same codes regardless of the computer, so a shortcut built for macOS won't work on Windows if the modifier differs. If you use the pad on both, put each system's shortcuts on its own layer. Any individual keystroke you'd find on a keyboard: letters, numbers, function keys up to F24, arrows, navigation keys, symbols, Escape, Tab, Enter, Delete. F13 to F24 are useful here — most systems leave them unassigned, so they make good triggers for your own automation software. These work at the operating-system level, so the target app doesn't need to be in front. Play/Pause works from your editor, your terminal, anywhere. **Playback:** Play/Pause, Stop, Previous track, Next track, Rewind, Fast forward **Volume:** Volume up, Volume down, Mute **Display:** Brightness up, Brightness down **Browser:** Back, Forward, Refresh, Home, Search The exact list comes from your firmware. If an action isn't in the picker, your firmware build may not include it — see [Advanced customization](/firmware/advanced). A layer key changes which set of assignments is active. | Behaviour | How it works | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Hold** (momentary) | The layer is active only while you hold the key. Works like Shift. | | **Toggle** | Tap to turn the layer on, tap again to turn it off. | | **Tap/hold** (layer-tap) | Hold for the layer, tap for a normal key press. Browser only. | | **Switch to** | Jumps to that layer and stays. You need a key on that layer to get back. | If you use **Switch to**, make sure the destination layer has a key that gets you back — otherwise you'll need to reconnect to the configurator to fix it. More in [Layers on Mac](/mac/layers) and [Layers in the browser](/browser/layers). The pad has 16 RGB LEDs underneath producing an underglow. You control them with keys on the pad — press the key, watch the pad. | Action | What it does | | ---------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Toggle | Turns the lighting on if off, off if on | | Turn on / Turn off | Forces it one way | | Hue + / − | Shifts the colour through the spectrum | | Saturation + / − | More vivid, or more neutral | | Brightness + / − | Brighter or dimmer | | Speed + / − | Speeds up or slows the animation | | Next / Previous effect | Cycles through the lighting effects | **Automatic power saving.** After 30 seconds without a key press or dial turn, the lights fade out over 8 seconds and switch off. Press a key or turn the dial and they come back. Lights you switched off yourself stay off. A profile colour in [Studio for Mac](/mac/profiles) is different: it temporarily overrides the colour while an app is in front, and the pad's own colour and effect return afterwards. It won't turn the lights on if you've switched them off. Keys that manage which device the pad talks to. | Action | What it does | | ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | Select profile 1–5 | Switch to that paired device | | Next / Previous profile | Cycle through profiles | | Disconnect profile | Drop the connection without forgetting the pairing | | Clear profile | Forget the pairing in the current slot | | Clear all profiles | Forget every pairing — can't be undone | | Use USB / Use Bluetooth | Choose where the pad sends your keys | Full detail in [Bluetooth profiles](/configure/bluetooth-profiles). **Clear all profiles** is destructive and has no confirmation on the pad itself. Think twice before putting it somewhere easy to hit. An **Open app** key opens a Mac app, or brings it to the front if it's already running. You pick any app installed on your Mac, and the key works on Default and on every profile, over USB or Bluetooth. The pad only reports the key press. Studio for Mac does the opening, so the key needs Studio for Mac running — it lives in the menu bar, so that's normally always — and MinimalPad firmware **0.5.0 or newer**. With Studio for Mac quit, or on another computer, the key does nothing. The step-by-step is in [Change a key in Studio for Mac](/mac/change-a-key#open-an-app). **Nothing** means the key does nothing at all on this layer. Use it when you want a key deliberately dead. **Inherit** (called *Transparent* in the browser) means the key falls through to whatever the layer below does. This is the default for new layers, and it's why an app profile only needs the keys that actually differ. The dial has two inputs, and they're not equal: * **Pressing it** is a normal key position. Assign it like any of the 16 keys. * **Turning it** can be set for each layer in Studio for Mac: volume, a scroll, zoom, light brightness or colour, or two keys of your own — see [The dial](/mac/change-a-key#the-dial). Studio for browser shows it as read-only. On the default keymap the dial changes the volume and mutes when pressed. On the **Connections & LEDs** layer it changes the light brightness, and pressing it switches the lights on or off.