See what is actually filling your disk
Storage settings break the disk down app by app, and explain that mysterious System Data entry.
macOS Tips
A collection of macOS tricks tagged by device, category and profile. Filter, search and copy.
16 tips
Stop the desktop appearing every time you click the wallpaper
By default a click on any visible scrap of wallpaper sweeps all your windows aside. You can restrict it.
Put the controls you use most in the menu bar
Bluetooth, AirDrop and the rest can sit permanently at the top right instead of two clicks deep.
Make the Finder sidebar and toolbar yours
The Finder is where you will spend the most time: put your folders one click away and add the buttons you need.
Set up the Dock the way you want it
Hide it when you are not using it, keep only the apps you open, and stop minimised windows piling up on the right.
Force quit an app that has stopped responding
The Mac equivalent of Ctrl+Alt+Delete for a single frozen app.
Install and uninstall apps that are not in the App Store
There is no installer wizard: you drag the app into a folder, and you delete it by dragging it out.
Your login password is not your Apple ID password
macOS asks for two different passwords at different moments, and confusing them costs a lot of failed attempts.
The menu bar belongs to the app, not the window
On a Mac the menus live at the top of the screen and always belong to whichever app you are using.
Watch CPU, memory and temperature from the menu bar
Activity Monitor tells you what is happening now; Stats keeps the numbers visible all the time.
Open anything with Spotlight
One shortcut to launch apps, find files and do quick conversions, without touching the Dock.
Switch between open apps with the keyboard
The Mac equivalent of Alt+Tab switches apps, not windows — which is why it sometimes seems to skip things.
Tile windows from the green button
The three coloured dots do more than close, minimise and maximise — hold the green one.
Set up a Time Machine backup
Point macOS at an external disk once and it keeps hourly versions of everything by itself.
Set up right-click and tap-to-click on the trackpad
There is no second button, but there is a right click — and you can stop physically pressing the trackpad down.
Rewrite and proofread text in any app
Writing Tools are not limited to Notes: they work in any text field, and they have a shortcut you can always reach.