Mac Tips and Tricks: What Every Mac User Needs to Know

There are many capabilities of a Mac computer that make getting work done fast and efficient. Many people switch to a Mac and are pleased with the operating systems without knowing exactly how they operate. Once you dive deep into the macOS system, you’ll learn the best ways to get your work done!

Mac Tips and Tricks Every Mac User Needs to Know

Mac Tips and Tricks

This guide on Mac tips and tricks lists what every Mac user needs to know. Get your notebook out, or better yet, try these tricks on your Mac now. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by just how much you can learn.

1. Force Quitting Apps

One of the biggest benefits of having a Mac is knowing that you can control it if things get wonky. You will rarely have an unresponsive app, but when that does happen, you’ll want to know how to force quit them. On Windows, you would need to type Ctrl + Alt + Delete, but the Mac shortcut for quitting is a bit different.

The keyboard combo for this is Cmd + Opt + Esc or command, option, and the escape key. Once you use this combo, a “Force Quit Application” menu will appear as a floating window. Next, you can select which app is unresponsive and hit the Force Quit button.

If this keyboard combo is difficult for you to remember, there’s an alternate method. Hit the Apple Menu option at the top left corner. Then select the Force Quit option.

2. Quick Look

Quick Look is one of the most frequently used tips for Mac users. You can make this shortcut a habit and eliminate half of the time it takes to open files. Most times, you won’t need to open any files since this feature allows you to see the content of any file without opening it.

To utilize the Quick Look option, simply select your file and hit the space bar once. If you want to select a PDF, for example, click the space bar to quickly scan what’s on the PDF without opening it. However, this feature does have limited features.

The Quick Look preview will only function with certain files. If it’s an image file, Quick Look allows you to see all of the content on the file. However, if you’re trying to open an eBook or a folder, it will only show you information such as the last modified date and the file size.

Once you know what to do with a Mac, the Quick Look feature can come in handy.

3. Using Spotlight for Weather, Calculations, and More

Spotlight continues to develop and serves as a great search mechanism for Mac. You can also use it to perform many other functions. You can use Spotlight, for example, to carry out currency and unit conversions.

This means that you can use it every day to convert currency, measurements, and more. You can also utilize Spotlight to perform mathematical calculations such as addiction, subtraction, division, multiplication, and more. You can also use it to get information on the weather of any city around the world.

Simply type the word “weather” followed by the city’s name to see the current weather conditions. You can also locate word definitions using Spotlight. Type the word then hit Command + L for the keyboard shortcut to define the word.

4. Search for Apps Faster With Search in Spotlight

This quick and handy tip should be on everyone’s list of Mac tips and tricks. If you want to search for an app using Spotlight, simply type the initials to bring up the results faster than typing its entire name. For example, if you want to check out some of the most popular apps on the App Store, you can simply type the letters “a” and “s.”

Making this a habit can help you search for apps faster and save you time by using fewer keystrokes.

5. Accessing the Emoji Keyboard

If you enjoy using emojis, there’s a much easier way to get them onto your keyboard. Click the keyboard combo Cmd + Ctrl + Space, and you’ll see the emoji keyboard appear.

From there, you can scroll down to find the emoji you’d like to use. You can also do a search to find the one you’re looking for as well. No more wasting minutes searching for the right way to end a message — send an emoji using this shortcut instead!

6. The File Path in Finder

When using macOS, you’ll notice that the user interface is very clean and simple. Unfortunately, this sometimes hinders usability for you. For example, you’ll never see the file path on macOS by default.

If you’re searching for a file using Spotlight and opening its location, you won’t be able to see how to reach that location. Luckily, there is a keyboard shortcut that will enable the file path. To see a file’s location path, click Cmd + Opt + P, and the file path will appear.

7. How to Screenshot on a Mac

You can instantly capture your screen by using a few keyboard shortcuts. To capture your entire screen, you’ll need to hit Cmd + Shift + 3. This takes a screenshot of your entire screen and saves it to your desktop as a PNG image.

If you’d rather screenshot a portion of your screen, you’ll need to click Cmd + Shift + 4. This shortcut changes the cursor to a crosshair, which you can use to click and drag across the portion of the screen you want to be captured. You can learn more screenshot Macintosh tips by heading to https://setapp.com/how-to/screenshot-on-mac.

8. Remembering the Word

When you’re struggling to remember a word because of the spelling, this is the tool for you. You can type the word and simply right-click on it to see if the system recognizes what you’re typing.

You can also Google the word you’re looking for. However, an easier way would be to type the spelling as much as you remember. Then click Fn +F5, and a list of words will appear for you to select which you’d like to use.

Recommended Article

Mac Tips and Tricks Easy Enough for Anyone

Mac devices have plenty of shortcuts, so be sure to use our tips and experiment a bit. You’ll be a pro in no time.

Explore the other areas of our site, and you’re bound to discover more Mac tips and tricks to save yourself time. Feel free to check out more of our content today!