mac tips

Must-Know MacOS Tips For Beginner

If you are a newbie to Macs, you might not be fully aware of all the amazing opportunities of this device. In this article, you’ll find handy tips on how to take your Mac user experience to the next level.

Apple computers are outstandingly smart, fast, and productive. However, being not fully aware of their amazing opportunities, some owners don’t resort to hotkeys or other valuable options to make their Mac user experience more enjoyable. In this article, you’ll find handy tips on how to make your device even more user-friendly, save effort, and complete tasks quicker than before. You don’t need to be a geek to hone these skills, and once you memorize them, you’ll keep using them intuitively.

Manage Files Conveniently

Organize the desktop items by right-clicking on the working space and selecting Stacks. This works for macOS Mojave or newer. Mind that keeping the desktop constantly clogged drastically decreases the productivity of the device since it treats each item stored on the desktop as a separate open window. Clean up your Mac regularly to enjoy its full capabilities.

To create duplicates, right-click on an item, opt for Get Info and look into the Stationary Pad box. After this, once you open the file, its duplicate will automatically launch as well.

Normally, when erasing an item, you would send it to the garbage bin. Unfortunately, like this, the unsolicited file keeps occupying a certain part of the hard drive’s memory and will disappear completely only after you manually empty the bin. To eliminate trash once and forever, select the unwanted item and push Option + Command + Delete.

Manage Your Apps and Desktop Contents

To look for files, push Command + Space. The Spotlight interface will promptly locate items, solve math problems, and answer basic questions.

If several apps are running simultaneously and you would like to jump to the necessary one, hold down Command and push Tab to navigate through the open apps. Stop when you come across the wanted one. To terminate an app, you aren’t planning to use anymore during this session, push Q instead of Tab while holding down Command.

If several pages are open within one app (most likely, the Internet browser), switch among them with the help of Command + Tilde (~) almost in the same way as described above.

Moreover, thanks to the same procedure, you can cycle equally effortlessly between several desktops. For this, press either right or left arrows while holding down Command.

To stash a particular window on the desktop, push Command + H, and the app will fade into the background. To retrieve it, push Command + Tab or click on the respective icon on the dock. As soon as you push Option + Command + H, all the apps will fade into the background except the one that you are currently using.

Certain tasks and functions can be launched automatically when you send the cursor to a particular corner of the display. To enable the Hot Corners, proceed to the Mission Control section of the System Preferences. Select the process that you would like to start when the cursor reaches a particular area — this might be displaying the desktop, turning on Mission Control, etc. Supposing that the chosen function launches too often, this might sometimes disturb the user. To prevent accidental activation, hold down Option while modifying the settings of the Hot Corners. After that, Hot Corners will be triggered only when holding down Option.

Optimize the Usage of Safari Browser

Copying URLs with the help of a mouse might take a bit long. Instead, push first Command + L to highlight the link of the page that is currently open; second, push Command + C to copy it.

To keep watching a video while switching from one page to another, right-click any YouTube video twice and use the pop-up menu.

Make Screenshots

There are three ways to accomplish this task:

  • Shift + Command + 3 — make a screenshot of the whole display
  • Shift + Command + 4 — capture a selected area
  • Shift + Command + 5 — use an interface to record a certain fragment of the display or the whole of it

Using the second method, the one with the 4 buttons, feel free to turn the icon to a camera by pushing the spacebar.

Make Life Easier the Force Touch Trackpad

Change the names of your files and folders by Force-Touching them and introducing a new name. Force-Touching on the respective icons will show you the previews of these files or folders.

To preview a YouTube video or a site URL without quitting the app, you are currently browsing, Force-Touch it, and hold on.

Make the Most of the Apple Watch

The casual way of logging in to your computer account is to introduce the password manually. This shouldn’t be too tedious, but you might be pleased to find out about an alternative: logging into macOS Catalina with the Watch just in one second. What’s more, this gadget will unlock the computer after you enable the respective option in the Security & Privacy section of the System Preferences.

Quickly Enable the Don’t Disturb Mode

In the upper right corner of the menu bar, find the Notification Center icon. Click it, while holding Option. This mode comes in handy when the user is trying to focus on a top-priority task fully. The computer will temporarily stop notifying you about calls, messages, or other events but will save their logs so that you’ll check them once the task is completed.

Conclusion

All the above-mentioned tips are genuinely simple, and it would take a newbie only a couple of minutes to master them. Feel free to look for more tips online — this inventory is far from being complete, and dozens of helpful recommendations can be added to it. You can significantly enhance your user experience while working with AppStore, Touch ID and Apple Pay, screensavers, and background images as well as many other fascinating aspects. The exact list of shortcuts and their instructions might slightly differ depending on the particular device or macOS, but their essence remains identical. Explore the impressive opportunities of your Mac and work on your computer like a pro!

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