Updated : Dec 23, 2020 in Write for us

Mac Tips and Tricks

Mac is a really good choice for a laptop, and it could do wonders other laptops can’t. While the surface of it already looks and performs well, there are other hidden tricks you could do with it and other things you could do to improve it. Have you ever seen anyone who’s so good with using Mac or OS X?

The first thing that comes to our minds is, “how did they do that?” How could they make images appear out of nowhere, windows to move, and apps launch, and all kinds of cool stuff? Surely they don’t use magic wands like Harry Potter, do they? It all seems magical and interesting, but it really is not magic, it is just a few tricks you could do with software and other stuff to do cool things on your Mac.

Now here are a few quick tips and tricks to help you take your first steps to become a Mac wizard.

But first, as a future Mac wizard, you must first learn how to take care of your Mac and treat it like it’s your familiar. One of the things you can do is get rid of apps that you don’t use much and free some space. You can use mac uninstallers to do that, check it out here https://macpaw.com/how-to/best-uninstallers-for-mac and try it out on your Mac.

Now let’s get to the good stuff.

1. Shift-Click Maximize Button

The shift-click maximize button trick is to fill the screen. If you are a Mac user, you do know that the red button means close, the yellow means minimize, and the green button means maximize. (If you’re not a Mac user, now you know). You also know that some apps do not fill the screen when you open it. There are always a few gaps that you could see on the sides when you open apps like Google or Word. Most of the time, it’s fine and really doesn’t bother your work, but sometimes, that gap is just so annoying to the eyes, you just want to grab the window and drag the sides to the corners of the screens to fill it. Well now, here’s the trick for that. Click the shift key and press it down while you click the maximize button. And there you have it, a filled screen.

2. Big cursor

Now, this trick is from Business Insider. Have you ever had an experience where you get lost in a sea of icons or texts or whatever that’s bombarding your screen, and then you couldn’t see your cursor anywhere? There’s a solution for that. Shake your mouse, and your cursor will automatically enlarge. There’s no need for magic tricks and spells. All you need is to shake.

3. Command-Space

Want to look for something? Every Mac user knows that the Spotlight is used to find things you can’t see outright. This feature is very helpful, especially if you want a quick way to access your files, apps, and emails. There is a quicker way, however, to launch this feature, and that is by quickly tapping command – space to open up Spotlight on the menu bar for you to start typing.

4. Remove icons on the menu bar

Icons are quite important to us in order to jump to an app or program with just one click; however, sometimes it gets a bit crowded and messy up in the menu bar. There’s a quick way to fix that. After all, some icons, mostly system-related ones, are not much needed on a daily or regular basis. You can get rid of some icons by holding down the command key and clicking on the icon and drag it out of the menu bar. 

5. Drop files to the dock

Preview is usually the app that we use for opening up images since it’s fast and easy to launch when you need to look at something. But when you want to edit the image on another app such as Acorn, you don’t have to launch it by going to the File menu. All you need to do is put Acorn on your dock, and drag an image file and drop it down the dock where Acorn is.Acorn then automatically launches and fills the screen; from there, you could edit and do what you want with it.

6. Screenshot

Taking a screenshot on your phone is quite easy; however, it’s a different story when it comes to taking a screenshot when you’re on a laptop, especially if you do it on windows. On Mac, however, it is quite simple. All you gotta do is hit Command + Shift + 3 to take a screenshot of the full screen or hot Command + Shift + 4 to take a screenshot of a custom portion of your screen. 

7. Always Remember To Keep Your Mac Safe

And while trying out and adapting all these new tips you’ve learned today, always remember that no Mac will function well in the long-term if you don’t invest in proper malware. If you skip this step, your email account might get hacked and files deleted or stolen. So always make sure your computer is safe.

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