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There are tons of hidden features and shortcuts for Macs that Apple has built into macOS over the years, ranging from shortcuts to keyboard commands to other little hacks to make Mac usage just a bit simpler. In our latest YouTube video, we highlighted several of these tips and tricks, and some of them might just be new to you.


  • Transfer Files Fast - If you hold down "T" when your Mac is booting up, you can enter Target Disk Mode. In this mode, use a Thunderbolt 3 cable to transfer large files at fast speeds between two Macs.
  • Paste With Style Matching - When pasting something, if you use Option-Shift-Command-V instead of just Command-V, you can transform the pasted content into the style of the content that already exists in a document. If you have a block of text that's bold, for example, and then want to paste in text from the web and make it bolded too, you can use this keyboard shortcut.
  • Turn a Website Into a Dock App - You can add any website to your dock by dragging the URL bar over to the bottom section of the dock that houses open and recently used apps. Adding a website to the dock makes it quicker to open because you can click from that spot alongside all your apps.
  • Quick Print Shortcut - If you go to the Printers and Scanners section of System Preferences and drag the icon for your favorite printer to your desktop, you can then drag and drop files onto the printer icon to print them automatically.
  • Screen Sharing in Messages - In a Messages conversation with someone, click on the "Details" link and then click on the icon that looks like two screens together to initiate screen sharing with the person who you're talking to. This is super handy for troubleshooting problems for less tech savvy family members from afar, provided you can get them to click the screen sharing option.
  • Preview Files From the Dock - In the Downloads or Documents folder on the Dock, hover your mouse over a file and then press the space bar to see a preview. This also works for selected files in Finder.
  • See Where Files are Stored - If you have a Downloads or Documents folder on your dock, you can hold Command and click on a folder or file to display its location in Finder.
  • Move Files Quickly - To move files from one location to another using keyboard shortcuts, just use Command-C to copy the files you want to move and then Option-Command-V to move those files to a new spot.
Know of other useful Mac tips and tricks that we didn't cover here? Let us know in the comments and we might highlight them in a future video.

Article Link: 8 Mac Tips and Tricks You Might Not Know
 

Christopher Layton

macrumors newbie
May 18, 2020
9
16
Hood River, OR
These are actually pretty good tips! I haven't used target disk mode since it was firewire only, but it used to be the best way of moving a ton of files relatively quickly.

The problem with 'Past With Matching Style' is that the shortcut isn't consistent or always available (and requires finger gymnastics). :(

I'm not sure who would want anything but this aside from special circumstances. Sucks that it is so difficult (by comparison to Command-V).

I always add a keyboard shortcut so Command-Shift-V is Paste and Match Style to make it an easier keyboard combination to use. Works in most apps. Frustratingly, not Microsoft Word, where I need it the most.
 

PBG4 Dude

macrumors 601
Jul 6, 2007
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I love hitting the spacebar to preview files. Keeps me from firing up an app more than half the time. Probably the biggest macOS feature I miss on my work PC. Keep hitting the spacbar on my Dell and wondering why nothing is happening.
 

SteveW928

macrumors 68000
May 28, 2010
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Victoria, B.C. Canada
I always add a keyboard shortcut so Command-Shift-V is Paste and Match Style to make it an easier keyboard combination to use. Works in most apps. Frustratingly, not Microsoft Word, where I need it the most.

Yeah, I guess that would be a bit better. I just wish I could swap them out so Command-V was Paste and Match Style. I'm pretty sure I've run across some non-standard shortcuts in some other apps, too.

I often just copy / paste to a plain text document (I've got TextEdit defaulted to plain text, so it's quick to get at), and then cut/paste from there to the destination. Sometimes I want to do slight clean-up anyway, so the intermediate step isn't always a complete waste.

I suppose some day I'll get smart and setup some kind of automation with a text-cleaner step in there and then just assign it to a more simple key-command. Hmm.... I wonder if TextExpander could do something like that?

I love hitting the spacebar to preview files. Keeps me from firing up an app more than half the time. Probably the biggest macOS feature I miss on my work PC. Keep hitting the spacbar on my Dell and wondering why nothing is happening.

Yeah, I accidentally do that all the time on a PC too. It has become second-nature.

The one thing I really hate that they changed about Spotlight, is that you used to get the path displayed and could pick part of it to get there... now you have to actually open the document, and then use the 'See Where Files Are Stored' trick above. I have no idea how they ever messed that up so badly. (Yeah, you can *see* the path, if short enough, by holding down Command, but it's pretty useless.)
 

HailstormX

Contributor
Nov 21, 2012
148
253
Target disk mode is great. Temporally turn off file vault? that sounds like terrible advice. You can enter in the password for the disk to access or transfer the contents. without disabling it
 

RumorConsumer

macrumors 68000
Jun 16, 2016
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Pretty sure that “move” implies that the original will he moved, not copied. You’re using two terms that mean very different things accompanied by common copy and paste commands that reveal your words as inaccurate as they wouldn’t even be true in a text document. Lord.
 
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Pakaku

macrumors 68040
Aug 29, 2009
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I always add a keyboard shortcut so Command-Shift-V is Paste and Match Style to make it an easier keyboard combination to use. Works in most apps. Frustratingly, not Microsoft Word, where I need it the most.
Some apps are weird, like Firefox, which I suspect is because they're designed to be multiplatform instead of for OSX

Otherwise, one of these useful tips articles should mention the keyboard shortcut customizing, if it hasn't been mentioned already
 

Sinequanon83

macrumors member
Oct 27, 2011
91
168
Pretty sure that “move” implies that the original will he moved, not copied. You’re using two terms that mean very different things accompanied by common copy and paste commands that reveal your words as inaccurate as they wouldn’t even be true in a text document. Lord.
I’m not at my Mac at the moment but that seems to be the implication. essentially Cmd+Opt+V = Move/Cut & Paste
 
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Christopher Layton

macrumors newbie
May 18, 2020
9
16
Hood River, OR
Some apps are weird, like Firefox, which I suspect is because they're designed to be multiplatform instead of for OSX

Otherwise, one of these useful tips articles should mention the keyboard shortcut customizing, if it hasn't been mentioned already

Indeed. One of the other keyboard changes I make is to turn off the caps lock key, because I accidentally turn it on and don't notice until I'm a sentence deep into yelling at my email recipient.
 

thedarkhalf

macrumors member
May 15, 2008
84
306
My only issue with Target Disk Mode is permissions. I had to do thsi today and it took hours to change the permissions on the home folder I needed access to.
 
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rochford

macrumors member
Dec 16, 2009
88
51
I posted this last year, may be useful here.

A few tips people may find useful, if you don't already know them. Hopefully we all know that Command + tab shows the open applications, and (while keeping your finger on command) using tab or left and right arrows to move between the applications. What's not so obvious is Apple added a number of other uses for this.
1 - while tabbing to an app you can quit the app by pressing Q, you can go through and quit every app if you want without going to the app. It's not a force quit, and you'll be asked if something needs saving. Similarly pressing H will hide a specific App.
2 - you can drop a file on the app icons to open with a specific app, if it can.
3 - The really handy one, which I use all the time, is when tabbing to a specific app press the up or down arrow key, at which point all the open windows in that app will be shown. If a window is in the dock it's a thumbnail at the bottom of the screen. Pick a window, and that window alone comes to the top. I usually have lots of windows open, so if I want to reference a window in another app, but going to the app brings all it's open windows to the top, this method only brings the one you want, not covering up the window you're working on.
 

2013.1

Suspended
Aug 28, 2014
392
425
Want to save a file from an app to an already open Finder window?
Just drag the folder icon from the Finder windows top bar into the save dialogue of your app.

Want to open a file currently shown in Preview in an other app like Word Acrobat or Photoshop?
Just drag the icon from the Preview windows top bar onto an apps Dock icon.
 

JoB4031

macrumors member
May 12, 2008
33
42
Delaware
I love hitting the spacebar to preview files. Keeps me from firing up an app more than half the time. Probably the biggest macOS feature I miss on my work PC. Keep hitting the spacbar on my Dell and wondering why nothing is happening.

QuickLook is an app on the Windows Store that replicates this function. Not as slick as OSX but it does have a document plug-in that covers MS files. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/quicklook/9nv4bs3l1h4s?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
 
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