The default settings do not always make everyday work with the operating system as convenient and efficient as possible. In this material we have collected 30 useful tips By macOS setup, which can be useful for both new and experienced Mac users.

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Steve Jobs spent a large part of his life trying to make Mac computers as easy as possible to use – but many truly useful “tricks” still remained unobvious.

1. Turn on the right mouse button and change the movement speed

By default, the right mouse button in macOS is completely disabled, which is very surprising for new Mac users, and the speed of cursor movement leaves much to be desired. In order to configure both of these parameters, go to  → System Settings… → Mouse → Select and click.

Here we put a tick next to the second item “ Simulate right button (click on the right)", and below there is a movement speed regulator, turning it to the right, we simply get the reactive speed of the cursor on the display.

By default, the Dock is located at the bottom of the display, but you can use your workspace more productively by moving the panel to the left or right side of the display. This will increase the working part of the window in many applications, for example in Safari, the width of the page is not as important as the height.

For Dock settings go to  → System settings... → Dock and in the column " Location on screen» place a dot opposite « Left" or " On right».

If at some point while working with an application you need to minimize it, then in the upper left part of the window click on yellow button between the cross and unfold. The program thumbnail will collapse to the right side of the Dock with a nice animation. But in this case, the program will not collapse into its own icon, but an additional miniature will be created. If you are not satisfied with this situation, then everything can be fixed.

Go to  → System settings... → Dock and check the box next to “ Hide a window in the Dock into a program icon».

After that, click on the button " Collapse", the thumbnail will not be created if the program icon is already in the Dock.

4. Spotlight – macOS search engine

The easiest way to do everything on Mac is faster– use Spotlight search. Just press the keyboard shortcut ⌘Cmd + Space(some may have Ctrl + Space), and you can instantly find files, open applications, search the Internet (yes, you don’t have to open the browser for this) or throughout your entire computer.

Spotlight can also be used as a calculator or currency converter. For example, enter in search bar Spotlight request “1000 usd”. The search engine will instantly display the current rate.

You can read more about search capabilities on Mac.

5. Lost your cursor?

Just quickly move your mouse left and right and look at the screen at the same time. The cursor will automatically increase in size, and it will be very difficult not to notice it. If desired, this function can be disabled ().

6. Similar to Ctrl + Alt + Delete on Mac

This combination from Windows does not work on Mac, but there is a great alternative - click ⌘Cmd + ⌥Option (Alt) + Esc, and immediately gain access to a menu to forcefully close frozen programs ().

If you are looking for an analogue Task Manager from Windows on Mac, it tells you how to find it.

7. Deleting files using hotkeys

Still deleting files on your Mac by dragging them onto the icon Baskets? There is a way to do the same thing a little faster - ⌘Cmd + Delete.

8. Taking a screenshot on Mac is easier than on Windows

To take a screenshot of the entire screen, tap ⌘Cmd + ⇧Shift + 3 to select a specific area - ⌘Cmd + ⇧Shift + 4. By the way, these and many other key combinations on Mac can easily be changed “to suit you” in the settings (section Keyboard → Keyboard shortcuts).

With the exit macOS Mojave operating room Apple system For desktop computers received new tool to take screenshots.

If you don't need the shadow on the screenshots, then open Terminal (via Spotlight search or by going to Finder along the path Programs → Utilities), enter following commands and press the key Return(Enter) after each line:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

killall SystemUIServer

The shadow won't bother you anymore.

P.S.: To return everything to initial position replace true on false.

9. Move app windows in the background

To move an application window that is in the background without affecting the active program window in the foreground, press the key while dragging ⌘Cmd + left button mice.

10. Startup on Mac

You can set a set of applications that will load as soon as your Mac turns on. To do this, go to the address System Settings → Users and Groups → Login Items tab and uncheck/uncheck ().

11. How to type the letter “е” if it is not indicated on the keyboard

If you need a letter "e"– just press and hold the Russian letter on the keyboard "e", and after you see the hint window, press the number on the keyboard "1".

Eat reliable way Check to see if music randomly starts playing from your Mac's speakers. To do this, just click on the sound icon in the right top corner screen (this is called the status menu, and the entire bar at the top of the screen is the menu bar). You'll see (a check mark next to the device name) whether your headphones are connected to your Mac right now.

Speaking of the menu bar, if it bothers you (for example, you don't like that it takes up valuable space on the screen), you can configure it so that it appears only when necessary. To do this, go to the address System Settings → General, and check the box next to the item Automatically hide and show menu bar .

14. How to change the arrangement of icons on the menu bar

If you want to change the arrangement of elements in the status menu, press and hold on the keyboard ⌘Cmd, and then drag the desired elements with the mouse. By the way, unnecessary elements can be deleted.

15. Split View mode, or how to quickly place two program windows on the screen at the same time

Do you need two programs at the same time to work? No problem - at the top of the window, press and hold the far right (most often green) button for 2 seconds. Select a second program from among those already open - and enjoy working in a “clean” interface without distracting details.

16. Hot Corners on Mac

Function Active angles allows you to hover your mouse over a specific corner of the screen and instantly do things like minimize all open windows, open Mission Control , Command centre or put the display into sleep mode. Tune active angles can be found in the menu of the same name ( System Settings → Mission Control).

17. Use the Viewer to view and edit images

Standard program View allows you not only to view images, but also to change the size, add comments, etc.

It can also be used to import a digital copy of your signature if you need to sign a document digitally.

18. QuickTime Player lets you record video and audio from your Mac screen without third-party apps

The built-in media player QuickTime Player has the ability to record an audio or video file that is currently playing on your screen, i.e. There is absolutely no need to look for third-party software for the same purposes ().

Starting with macOS Mojave, to record video from Mac screen There is another way that we talked about.

19. Precisely adjust volume and screen brightness

If you want to reduce the sound volume on your Mac just a little bit, press the F11 or F12 key while changing the setting ⇧Shift + ⌥Option (Alt). This will reduce the sound more slowly than with normal adjustments. Fn+F11 or F12. The same trick can be done with screen brightness ()..

21. How to rename several files at once

To rename several (for example, a dozen) files or photos at once in the Finder, select them, click right click mouse and select an option Rename objects(number of objects).

You can also create keyboard shortcuts for applications. To do this, go to System Settings, Choose a section Keyboard, Further Keyboard shortcuts.

Add the program to the list of applications (if it is not there) using the icon «+» , then enter the name of the command for which you want to assign a keyboard shortcut (it should be written exactly the same as in the program itself, including the symbols “..."). The last step is assigning a keyboard shortcut for an action in the program ().

23. Voice search using Siri

Of course, talking to your computer in public is a strange thing. But if no one bothers you, then a voice request is great way search for information on the Internet, find photos, messages and other files on your Mac. Find multicolored icon voice assistant Siri (the search works through it) can be found on the right side of the menu bar.

With examples of useful Siri team on macOS can be found here.

Getting Started with Mac OS X: First Steps

Article one: the beginning of the beginning

So you've made the decision to switch to Mac. However, among users Microsoft Windows There is an opinion that the operating room Mac system OS X is difficult to learn and use. Many people believe that Mac OS X has many pitfalls and requires a huge amount of knowledge. Fortunately, this is not the case at all. My series of articles entitled “Getting Started with Mac OS X” will help you master this system and within a few days you will appreciate the simplicity and ease of use of it.

In this article we will talk about the latest version of the operating system at the time of writing this article from Apple, which is called Mac OS 10.4 "Tiger".

Part one: Interface and system management basics

Once the system starts, you will see something like this:

Let's take a closer look at each of the elements in this figure:

1. Actually, the desktop on which you, just like in other operating systems, can place your files and shortcuts (in Mac OS X the shortcut is not called shortcut, A alias).

2. Joined in this moment information carriers. Their role can be logical removable and non-removable hard drives, CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blue Ray drives, Flash media including flash media on various devices, such as digital cameras, players, etc. This area also displays mounted disk images (iso, dmg, etc.). You can read what disk images are in the article.

3. Menu bar active application. Unlike many operating systems, Mac OS X displays it at the top.

4. Dock panel. It contains icons for applications and files that the user needs quick access to, as well as icons running applications. The strip located slightly to the left of the trash can separates application and file shortcuts.

To change position and size dock panels There are three ways on the screen:

a) The easiest way to the panel settings is the "Dock" remote control in the system settings ("System Preferences") There are all the settings for this panel, including size, magnification, position on the screen, the effect of minimizing windows to the dock, etc.

b) The second way is to change this setting from using Apple menu. By the way, it also contains almost all the dock settings and Fast passage to the dock control panel.

c) The third way to configure the dock is to use a vertical separator strip.

In order to place a shortcut to an application or file in the dock, you just need to drag it there. Accordingly, to remove a shortcut from the dock panel, simply drag it out of the panel and release the mouse button.

5. Spotlight Menu - new technology search integrated into Mac OS X 10.4. To search for any information on your computer, simply call up the Spotlight menu and write a word about what you are looking for. For example, when I typed “MakTsentr”, in less than a second I saw all the files whose name or content contained the word “MakTsentr”.

6. Quick user change. A very convenient feature that allows you to change users without terminating the session. In bold name is displayed at the top current user. To resume (or start) another user's session, simply click on the name at the top and select the desired user from the list. The ability to quickly change users is installed in the “Users” console of the control panel. In the "Login options" section, use the "Enable fast user switching" checkbox.

7. Indicator area. This area displays miniature indicator icons. They can be swapped or removed from the panel altogether very simply: hold down the command key and drag the icon to the desired location, or drag it outside the panel, thereby removing it altogether. To restore the icon, use the appropriate remote control in the control panel.

8. Apple Menu. This menu contains a number of commands and settings:

About This Mac - allows you to get information about your computer and operating system (operating system version, processor, number of installed random access memory, boot disk). Also from this window you can get more detailed information about your computer by clicking the "More info..." button and update the software by clicking "Software update", in fact, for this there is a command in the Apple menu with the same name.

Software Update... - the item is responsible for updating the software installed on your computer. For his successful implementation Internet connection required. This will search updated versions programs, as well as the operating system itself. After that, to update, just mark the programs you need and click "Install".

Mac OS X Software... takes you to the Mac section of Apple.com.

System Preferences... - this item will simply open the control panel, with which you can fine-tune any system parameters.

Dock - setting up the dock panel, which is described above.

Location - very convenient function. Its essence is that if you work in different places and in each of them you use various settings network, then for each location you can use your own settings package. Actually, such settings packages are called Locations. To create/change them, you can use the “Network” remote control of the control panel. From the Location menu you can quickly switch between created packages.

Recent Items - a menu that displays programs, documents, servers that you have recently used. Using the "Clear list" item you can clear this menu.

Force Quit... - useful feature, which consists in forced termination of the program. This item is necessary in cases where the program freezes (which happens extremely rarely in Mac OS X) or does not respond for a long time. To do this, by calling this item in the appropriate window, simply select the name of the program that is not responding (its name may also be accompanied by the text “not responding”) and click “Force Quit”.

Sleep - puts the computer into sleep mode.

Restart... - restarts the computer.

Shut Down - shuts down the computer.

Log Out<Имя пользователя>... - end the session and go to the change user window.

9. Finder Window

Sources: MakTsentr

Every macOS user spends the lion's share of time in the standard Explorer, as the main tool for managing files. So it wouldn’t hurt to master a dozen important tricks that will help you achieve maximum performance and spend less time on certain tasks.

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Make the most of Quick Look mode

You probably often use the quick file viewing feature, which in macOS is called Quick Look. Just select any file and press the key space, and the file preview will instantly start.

And if you select several files and click ⌥Option (Alt) + Space, then all files will open in mode full screen viewing slide show. You can switch between files using the arrows on the keyboard or on the display.

Switching to the viewing mode for all files is carried out by pressing the button " Index sheet».

To exit full-screen viewing, press the key on your keyboard Esc or at cross V Quick mode Look.

Quickly customize side menu items

The Finder sidebar helps you quickly navigate between your folders and storage devices. It is possible that there will be elements that you simply do not use. To quickly add or remove them, you need to press the combination on your keyboard ⌘Cmd + “comma” (⌘ + , ) and go to the “ Sidebar».

Here you can add or remove favorites, public access, devices or tags.

Show status bar and path

Status bar displays at the bottom of the Finder the number of items in the selected folder, as well as the number free space on your hard drive. It also has a slider to reduce/enlarge the available icons.

Path Shows the path to the selected folder or file in Finder.

Both lines are important and are enabled by the following key combination:

• Status bar - ⌘Cmd + /(slash);
• Path - ⌥Option (Alt) + ⌘Cmd + P.

Moving menu bar icons

If the menu bar contains great amount application icons, then it’s time to put things in order - move some, and remove some from there altogether.

To move icons around the menu bar, simply hold down the key Command (⌘ ) and drag the icons to the right or left with the mouse. It should be noted that this trick mostly concerns system applications and services. Badges third party applications most likely they won’t give in and you’ll have to use it third party utilities like .

If you want to remove any icon from the menu bar, also hold down the key Command (⌘ ) and drag the icon of interest closer to the middle of the screen with the mouse. The object will disappear into a cloud of smoke.

To return the icon to its place, you need to go to  → System settings… and in the corresponding program put a tick next to the item “ Show... in menu bar", Where " … " - the name of the program.

Retro style display

If you're tired of all those flat macOS menus and want to get your display back like the good old days, then you need to use a contrast view.

Open  → System settings… → Universal access and check the box next to “ Increase Contrast" If necessary, you can change the monitor contrast settings by moving the corresponding slider.

Using Smart Folders

Renaming more than one file at a time

If you have a large number of files that need to be renamed, this can be done without any problems in the Finder. Just select the required files, right-click and select " Rename objects (…)", where the number of selected files is indicated in brackets.

All you have to do is replace/add text or apply a custom format to rename.

Restarting Finder

Sometimes it happens that even in such a reliable operating system as macOS, programs freeze. You can always restart your computer, but the first step is to restart the Finder itself.

To do this, make Finder the active window and press the keyboard shortcut ⌥Option (Alt) + ⌘Cmd + Esc or go to menu  → Force quit…. Next, select Finder in the list and click the “ Restart" This will most likely help in solving the problem and will an excellent alternative reboot your Mac.

Installing/uninstalling programs for MacOS is radically different from the procedures many are familiar with in Windows. The main difference is that in this operating system, performing actions is much faster, more convenient, and easier. Any beginner can do it easily. After studying the information, you can independently remove or install the program from MacOS. The instructions are useful for those new to working with PCs and users who have previously only worked with Windows.

Let's look at working with programs on Mac OS

On Windows, installing applications produced through special file with a specific extension, after activation of which the installation window opens and then enters into HDD. This process sometimes takes a lot of time and does not always work correctly.

The user needs to specify the installation location, select parameters, simultaneously install or refuse to add related products offered together with the one being installed. On a MacBook, just move the program to the desired folder.

Programs for Mac OS look like files with the extension .dmg. The abbreviation DMG stands for Disk Image. This is a format created for distributing programs between Apple devices. It is similar to a CD, flash drive, external hard drive, being their virtual analogue. It has the property of containing applications, games, documents, photos, etc. In essence, it is a container for transportation, a folder.

How installation works on MacOS

The algorithm is very simple. If you want to do everything manually, follow the steps below.

• Download the application (we recommend using official portals) or take a ready-made one on storage media (flash drive, HDD or other).
• The .dmg file needs to be “mounted” by double-clicking on its name. operating system will download the image using this command, create a new virtual disk without user intervention, and place an icon in the Finder section.

Please note: you should not run the application with virtual disk. This image is a shipping container. All that remains is to copy the application to your hard drive by copying it to the “Programs” folder. This is the installation process.

• When finished copying, delete virtual image. To do this, click on the triangle located opposite the disk name.
• Delete the .dmg file if desired.

Programs for Mac OS Don't drag it directly to the Dock. If you do this, a shortcut will be created, but the program itself will not move, it will remain where it was. The next time you access .dmg, a disk image will be mounted, which operates in read mode, without saving internal information.

Let's take for example Mozilla browser Firefox.

• Download a game or app. Go to the official website, find the .dmg extension there.
• Double-click on it to mount the disk image. In the window that opens after the installation process is completed, a window will be formed where the application with the .app extension will be placed, next to it there will be a shortcut to the “Programs” folder.

Creating a disk image

• Drag the application into this folder.
• After copying, unmount the image.
• Delete the .dmg file.

Here simple steps to work in Mac OS. Any user can perform them, even those who are superficially familiar with software computer. It will not be difficult for a beginner to do everything correctly, quite quickly, with virtually no personal participation in the process itself.

Windows installers copy files without any systematic pattern. Hard disks because of this, they are often filled with excess “husk.” Installing programs on a Mac does not have these disadvantages: the software components are saved in the .app package. Everything is stored in one place, neatly organized, and easy to find. required document. By removing something from a package, you immediately get rid of all unnecessary components.

The package.app looks similar to regular file, but works like a folder. To get, for example, a game, right-click on its name with the .app extension and click on “Show contents” in the menu.

App Store

Easy way to install programs for Mac OS- through App store Store.

Select what you need in the store, click the Free button or the price tag to start downloading, confirm your action. Programs for MacOS will be automatically copied directly to the Applications folder, without specifying the save path.

Removal

Uninstalling apps is even easier. Go to “Programs” and find the application you want to remove. Right-click on it and click “Move to Trash.”

As you can see, all the processes are easy, even a beginner can perform them.