Seven Handy Mac Tricks You Might Not Know

[BaccaBossMC]

Or you could just hit Command + Shift + 5 then Options and pick a new folder.

Well, yeah, you could, but my way is totally cooler. And back when I started doing it, CMD+Shift+5 wasn't a thing and I'm a bit of a purist.

 

[JosephAW]

Command + Control + Shift + 4, Then Spacebar to capture the window the mouse cursor is hovering over.

 

[Luba]

• Password Protect a Folder - Your Mac is protected by a password, but you can add an extra layer of security by password protecting any folder. To do it, open up Disk Utility, select "File" from the menu, choose "New Image" and then "Image from Folder." From there, select the folder you want to protect and create a password. Delete the original folder, and you'll need to enter a password when opening the new folder.

Good lord this is convoluted. Why not "Password Protect" when you right click on a folder? WTH does "image" have to do with a folder when all you want to do is PW protect it? The "intuitiveness" of apple software features has gone downhill...just like the bloated and unintuitive iTunes over time. And why hide things like "Save As" in the Mac OS File menu and "Repeat Song/Album" in iTunes? I mean "Shuffle" is right there and not hidden. At least be consistant. And why not put a time limit on the iOS timer/alarm so the user determines how long it runs? It is almost like Apple was started by geniuses and is now run by moron emoji designers.

Is the folder only password protected? Do the files in the folder get encrypted?

 

[rochford]

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.

 

[DrScott]

• Slide show - click command-A then option-space to view images as a slide show

 

[Tech198]

Good article. It's always handy to see a clear summary of handy features like this.

Particularly when you otherwise would have you search online what they even would do. Sometime ago locked myself but with a custom message saying ""*** off"

Nasty !!

 

[BGPL]

Great article, I picked up a few tips and I've been using Macs for decades. Thanks

 

[doctor-don]

Small detail on the screen shot feature:

You can start the capture without holding control and still will be able route it to the clipboard by pressing/holding control once you press the shutter/let go of the selection rectangle.

The clipboard feature also works with full screen captures (cmd-ctrl-shift-3), but there you have no delay and actually have to start the command with holding the control at the same time.

Also, cmd-shift-5 now brings up a neat capturing dialog in Mojave.

Additionally, if the selected image is not what the user had in mind - or if he changes his mind, escape will stop it.
On my keyboard, I have defined key f16 to take a screen shot so I don't have to press multiple keys in order to save an image of what I have been doing. It also is convenient to preserve images while clicking on a button or viewing a menu that appears only while selecting that option.

Now - if only I could get PDFs that are exactly like what I see on my screen instead of looking as though someone stacked several transparencies on top of each other.

 

[pharleff]

I miss iChat Theatre....

 

[canonical]

Option VolumeDown (F11 on some keyboards) - Brings up the Sound preferences panel (instead of having to go through System Prefs). Also works with Option VolumeUp button

 

[0388631]

I agree. It would be better if we could access it via right click and create the password etc. Very convoluted right now.

Might forever be. Features like that are convoluted because not many use it or ask for it. I'm sure if enough people brigaded Apple with suggestions it be easier to use, then they'd do it.

 

[JamesMay82]

For password protecting a folder.. can’t disk images corrupt overtime?

 

[brdeveloper]

Except continuity camera has never worked on my imac...........

I had issues before I've upgraded wifi adapter from my early-2013 MBP 15". It seems that only wifi-ac/bt4+ adapters get a decent performance with continuity camera.

 

[decafjava]

Well this article and thread have been very useful for me, thanks!!

 

[tw1ll]

I had issues before I've upgraded wifi adapter from my early-2013 MBP 15". It seems that only wifi-ac/bt4+ adapters get a decent performance with continuity camera.

Interesting - my iMac dates from 2013 - maybe Apple's charming, customer-centric philosophy of progressively hobbling older kit is at play here. In over 30+ years of using IT hardware it's only ever been Apple kit I have had to replace for obsolescence rather than reliability. Apple kit seems to go on forever which makes their policy of dropping support under the pathetic pretence of "user experience" even more annoying. After 10 years of Apple kit I am progressively making the switch to Windows again - a task made all the easier because of Apple planned obsolescence.

 

[brdeveloper]

Interesting - my iMac dates from 2013 - maybe Apple's charming, customer-centric philosophy of progressively hobbling older kit is at play here. In over 30+ years of using IT hardware it's only ever been Apple kit I have had to replace for obsolescence rather than reliability. Apple kit seems to go on forever which makes their policy of dropping support under the pathetic pretence of "user experience" even more annoying. After 10 years of Apple kit I am progressively making the switch to Windows again - a task made all the easier because of Apple planned obsolescence.

Yes, I was just discussing planned (or not planned, but at least tolerated or stimulated) obsolescence on the PowerPC forum. If I was afraid of opening my Macbook, it would probably be pushed to the obsolete status. After upgrading its WiFi card and the SSD, it's a good laptop for more 3 years. If RAM was upgradeable, it could last even more.

 

[Classie]

Thanks! Keep making/posting these kind of tips!

 

[Shaggymax]

Like another poster mentioned, Quinn over at Snazzy Labs usually has some good MacOs Tips:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO2x-p9gg9TLKneXlibGR7w

 

[stevealdrich]

Great tips as always.

It might be worth noting that emoji's aren't the only thing accessed with cmd-ctrl-space. The Character Viewer window that appears contains a wealth of special characters including stars; arrows; currency, musical, math & code symbols, and accented & foreign language characters. If you don't see what you're looking for, click the gear and select Customize List, then try some of the many categories found there.

 

[meson]

Here is one that I use regularly.

Smaller Volume Steps: Option + Shift + Volume Control (F11 or F12)

It's perfect for when I want background music while I'm working, but don't want it to be a distraction.



It works for Brightness as well.

Smaller Brightness Steps: Option + Shift + Brightness Control (F1 or F2)

 

[happygodavid]

In Grapher.app delete y= and then enter x squared and press enter.

You're welcome.

My friend, you just gave me a good chuckle during a terribly boring staff meeting. I almost lol'd.

 

[seinman]

For password protecting a folder.. can’t disk images corrupt overtime?

Not any more or less likely than any other file corrupting over time.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

Thanks for sharing! There were actually a couple that I wasn't aware of. The screenshot shortcut without saving to desktop was helpful.

 

[brdeveloper]

Showing Wi-Fi additional info: press option key before left-clicking WiFi icon at the menu bar.

 

[arkitect]

[*]Copy Paste Screenshots - You can take and share a screenshot without cluttering up your desktop using the hidden screenshot copy paste feature. Hold Command + Control + Shift + 4, select what you want to screenshot, and it's copied to your clipboard. From there, you can paste it within any app, and there's no screenshot on your desktop when you're done.

Thanks.
Great shortcut.