The 10 Best Mac Tips, Tricks and Timesavers

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There are a lot of Mac tricks and timesaver workarounds that can make your life easier. We don’t even pay attention to many of the tricks that Mac offers and it will be fun for you to explore. The best part of Mac is you don’t have to download third-party apps to perform so many tasks. The native software on Mac offers a variety of tasks like combining pdfs, photo editing, or sign documents for which you don’t have to install other tools. So it’s important to know your Mac thoroughly and to get the full benefit out of your MacOS. Here is a list of best Mac tricks that you should know and take advantage of.

1.Talk To Your Mac

Image Source- How-To Geek

Your Mac’s ability to talk and listen to your way back in 2016 was impressive enough but since the arrival of Siri, it has changed the game totally. You can click on the Siri button on your dock or hold command and spacebar for a few seconds to activate Siri. If you have the newer version like 2018 MacBook pro then you just need to say ‘Hey Siri’ and like your iPhone, she will be activated. Apart from asking questions about weather, Siri for MacOS Mojave and Catalina can toggle Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and other system functions. She can even open up files that are stored on your system if you explain the file properly. Siri can open applications for you so just start asking to find all the fun things she can do for you.

2. Windows

Image Source- Mac How 2

Sometimes you might just feel like using windows as it comes handy while playing games or to run some software that has no equivalence to Mac. You can easily run windows alongside your MacOS by using an app like VMware Fusion or VirtualBox. 

Also Read: – What Is Other Storage on My Mac and How to Remove It

3. Screenshot Of Various Sizes

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Taking a screenshot on Mac is easier than on windows. You just have to press shift+command+3 altogether and the screenshot will be found on your desktop. Even if you want just a portion of the screen then just press shift+command+4 and voila! It’s done. Taking a screenshot of an individual window requires pressing shift+command+4 then hitting space and clicking on the window you are trying to take a screenshot of. 

4. Menu Bar Hide Or Show

Image Source- OSX Daily

The menu bar has been an essential part of Mac ever since it was launched but after OS X EI Capitan, you can choose to hide the menu bar. Just open the system preferences and go to general and click on ‘automatically hide and show the menu bar’. When you hover your mouse arrow on the top of the screen, the menu bar will reappear after ticking the box off.

5. Exotic Characters

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One of the best MacBook tips is the variety of special characters it offers for you to use. Just go to the edit menu of most of the apps and you will find special characters there for you to type. There is a wide variety of symbols that you can simply drag on your files or documents.

6. Unit Conversions In The Spotlight

Image Source- The Mac observer

You can do unit conversions like stones to pound on the spotlight apart from the usual basic calculations. This is included in the best Mac tips after macOS high sierra. It includes currency conversions and you don’t have to download different tools for that. This makes it quite a useful trick to be included in the list of Mac tricks and timesavers.

7. Type Emoji

Image Source- OSX Daily

This is included in the best tips for the MacBook pro list because it is super fun. Just go to the menu bar and click on edit and then emoji & symbols. Here you will find a box with emojis. You can add any of them to the file you are working on or you can just use the shortcut from your keyboard which is control+command+space.

8. Split Screen

Image Source- 9 to 5 Mac

You can easily work on two apps side by side and don’t have to worry about resizing them either. For your macOS Catalina, in the upper left corner of a window just hover your mouse or click and then hold the green button.  Here you can choose ‘tile window to left of the screen’ or ‘tile window to the right of the screen’ from the given menu. This way the window will fill the chosen side of the screen. Hit the ESC key to get out of the split-screen view. If you are using a version older than macOS Catalina, split screen might not work on your computer. You may want to invest in a new Macbook and consider recycling your old one. Click here to know more.

9. Keyboard Shortcut

Image Source- How-To Geek

You can create keyboard shortcuts for any menu option of your choice. Open system preferences and then keyboard after which shortcuts and app shortcuts. Here click the ‘+’ icon which will show a box displaying applications for you to choose from along with menu command and the keyboard shortcut. After making your choice just tap add and that’s all.

10. Volume Adjustment

Image Source- iDownload

Sometimes the music or the podcast goes too loud to too quiet in one tap as the difference between each volume step can be more than you think. For smaller increments in the volume just hold the option+up arrow as you hit the decrease or increase volume key. This will show up the soundbox to let you change the volume on a more granular basis.

We have mentioned above the best Mac tips, tricks, and timesavers that will help you to customize your Mac in your own way. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to mention them in the comments section below.

Author Bio: – Chandra Shekhar Choudhary is working as an SEO analyst and technical Content Writer. His potential of writing is PC tips, Android and Mac tricks, Mac cleaner software and he is anxious in writing other technical blogs. You can also find Chandra Shekhar on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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