Hot Mac OS Tips Posts
How To: Tired of Chess? Here's How You Find the Secret Games Hidden on Your Mac
I can definitely say that my MacBook is one of my best friends, but I was still very disappointed when I realized that the only game my laptop came with was chess. For starters, I'm not very good at chess. I haven't even beat the computer once, which really grinds my gears. But, it has come to my attention that chess isn't the only pre-installed game on my Mac—there seems to be some hidden gems that I simply wasn't cool enough to know about. For some of you, this may be old news, but for me, ...
How To: Organize Your Cluttered Mac Desktop with Desktop Groups' Clean Fence-Like Folders
My desktop usually looks like this... Cluttered as hell. As someone who needs to take screenshots all of the time, my desktop starts looking more and more like my college dorm room. It's also annoying because I misplace certain files and find myself downloading three of the same thing. This not only takes up visual space, but memory space.
How To: Stop Your iPhone from Switching Tracks While in Motion
Whenever I listen to music on my iPhone while walking, the song skips to the next track from the movement. Little did I know, there's a quick fix in settings. Check it out.
How To: Make New Tabs & Windows in Safari Faster So You Can Type in Searches & URLs Without Any Lag or Missing Keystrokes
If your Safari browser is lagging when opening new tabs or windows on your Mac, there's an easy fix that will speed things back up to how they're supposed to be.
How To: Mute Your Mac's Microphone Automatically When Typing During Zoom Meeting Calls
You're in a Zoom meeting, and you're click-clacking away at your keyboard, typing important notes from the call. More realistically, you're doing something unrelated to the meeting, such as browsing the web, playing a game, or messaging friends. Whatever it is you're typing, if your microphone is on, everyone on the Zoom call will be able to hear the sound of you typing.
How To: Protect Yourself from macOS High Sierra's Glaring Empty-Password Security Flaw
There's a new macOS vulnerability that hackers within physical reach of your computer can use to gain root access to your system and accounts. Just by using "root" as the username and a blank password on a privilege escalation prompt, someone can install malware on your computer, access hidden files, reset your passwords, and more. Root access gives them the ability to do anything they want.
How To: 11 Ninja-Level Quick Look Hacks for Your Mac
Quick Look, first introduced in 2007, is an instant preview feature on the Mac operating system that lets you view files and folders without opening them up. Just highlight a file, like a picture or text document, then press the spacebar on your keyboard to get a speedy preview of it.
How To: Record Your Mac's Screen for Free Using QuickTime
When a friend asks me what screen recording software is best to use, I always say the same thing—you don't need any! Even though it's been around since 2009, many Mac owners do not realize that they have a powerful screen recording software built right into OS X.
How To: Permanently Silence Your Mac's Annoying Notification Center
When Apple wanted to bring their Notification Center to Mac OS X, I loved the idea. But after using it since its integration in Mountain Lion, it's been more annoying and distracting than anything. More and more apps incorporate notifications, so I'm constantly getting sound alerts and banners in the top right corner that I don't want.
How To: Access Recently Used Apps & Documents Faster on Your Mac
Apple makes it easy to access your favorite and most recently used applications and documents in Mac OS X. You can simply add your favorite apps and folders to the dock, and you can always visit the Apple menu from the menu bar to see a list of your most recently used apps and docs.
How To: Get Your 'Damaged' Mac Apps Working Again
If you're seeing "damaged" apps on your Mac, you're not alone. A huge digital rights management blunder in Apple's Mac App Store on Wednesday, November 11th has rendered some apps unusable. When opening certain apps, the following message could be displayed:
How To: Get Apple TV's New Aerial Screen Saver on Your Mac
When an Apple TV remains idle, it will eventually trigger its majestic video screen saver that includes aerial views New York, San Francisco, China, Hawaii, and more. Now, thanks to developer John Coates, you can have the exact same screen saver on any Mac running OS X Mavericks and above.
How To: 9 Ways to Get by Without Photoshop on Your Mac
In 1987, two brothers, Thomas and John Kroll, began work on an image editing software, which was eventually acquired in 1988 and released to the world in 1990 by Adobe. That software was Photoshop 1.0, initially exclusive for the Macintosh platform. Over the years, Photoshop became a great wizard of image editing and gained application rockstar status.
How To: Set Up & Use Third-Party Extensions in Photos on El Capitan
For minor adjustments and color-correction, the Photos app is extremely useful, but its capabilities are limited to just the basics. Now, with Mac OS X El Capitan, Apple is opening the door for third-party extensions, meaning we can utilize additional, unique tools when editing pictures in Photos.
How To: The Best Tips, Tricks, & Hidden Features for Mac OS X El Capitan
Like the majestic mountain structure it's named after, Apple's latest version of OS X, El Capitan, goes a little deeper to expand on the foundation laid by Yosemite. While the update may not be as monumental as some have hoped, it is an improvement and includes tons of useful new features you don't want to miss.
How To: Record Streaming Music, FaceTime Calls, Skype Audio, & More for Free
Piracy, it can be argued, is the scourge of the internet. But when it comes to music, sometimes it's best to give a listen to a track or album before deciding to spend your hard-earned money on fully supporting it.
Energy Saver 101: How to Control When Your Mac Starts, Sleeps, & Shuts Down
Work, school, and everything in between keeps us pretty busy—so much so, that sometimes we run out of the house with our shirts on backwards, our headphones misplaced, and our computers running all day long.
How To: These 9 Tips Make Gaming on Your Mac Not Suck
When most people think of "gaming computers," they're probably thinking of Windows-based PCs. They offer a huge variety of devices with better equipped software and hardware for a cheaper price, and there are more available games than there are for OS X-based systems.
How To: Make Your Mac's Screen Saver the Apple Watch Clock Face
Most of us only see our screen savers in passing, as some sort of slide show or animation as we glance up at the screen or walk by the computer. Usually, anything is better than a boring blank screen—even the classic Pipes screensaver is better than nothing.
How To: Know When Apple Batteries Need to Be Serviced or Replaced
Not all batteries are created equal, but one thing's for sure—they all lose capacity over time. Thankfully, the advanced lithium-ion batteries in your MacBook and iPhone are meant to last for several years before they begin to lose their overall charge capacity.
Bulletproof Mac Backup: 5 Apps to Safeguard Your Data
You can beef up the security on your Mac all you want, but all the firewalls and antivirus apps in the world mean nothing when that can of soda tips over on your Macbook, destroying your laptop and all its data forever.
How To: Connect a PS4 Controller to Your Mac for Improved Gameplay
I'm a PlayStation 4 owner, but also enjoy gaming on my Mac. Though it may not be as synonymous with computer gaming as a Windows system, it's still a great experience. But what makes it even better is ditching the keyboard and mouse for my PS4's DualShock controller.
How To: Open Apps Faster on Your Mac Using Custom Keyboard Shortcuts
All of those keys on your keyboard can do much more than just help to update your Facebook status or fire off a scathing tweet. By learning all of the keyboard shortcuts for apps on your Mac, you can cut back on mouse or trackpad usage to perform actions faster and more efficiently.
How To: 6 Ways to Get More Out of Your Mac's Notification Center
You can check stock quotes, make quick calculations, see the weather forecast, get reminders, and view upcoming calendar events all from the Notification Center on your Mac. But if that's all your using it for, you're just barely scratching the surface.
How To: 8 More Menu Bar Apps Every Mac Power User Needs
We recently showed you 8 menu bar apps that ever Mac power user should have, covering apps that allow you to control iTunes, eject drives, organize screenshots, and more—all from that tiny strip at the top of your screen.
How To: Import Your Spotify Playlists into Apple Music
With iOS 8.4 and iTunes 12.2, we got our first look at Apple Music, Apple's new streaming subscription service. While it's a little late to the party, there is definitely an incentive for iOS and Mac OS X users to switch over from competitors due to its heavy integration with the Apple ecosystem.
How To: Make Drag & Drop Way More Useful on Your Mac
Managing files can be time consuming on your Mac, for the simple reason that keyboard shortcuts and right-clicks sometimes lack the effectiveness we need. But with a simple third-part app, you can expedite the process of sharing, moving, deleting, and overall managing files on your computer.
How To: Dual Boot Windows 10 & Mac OS X on Your Mac
While Windows 10 is still a few weeks away from a public release, that doesn't mean you can't enjoy its brand new features right now. Anyone with an Insider Preview account can install Windows 10 on their computer. And that doesn't just go for those that own a Windows PC—Mac users can get their hands on Windows 10 as well.
How To: The Single Most Useful Keyboard Shortcut Every Mac User Should Know
Keyboard shortcuts can make using your Mac faster and easier, and leave your mouse feeling archaic. With just a few taps, you can save files, open new tabs, or play a movie—all without using your mouse even once.
How To: Download OS X 10.11 El Capitan on Your Mac
For those unwilling to wait until the Fall for the official release of Apple's latest Mac OS X, El Capitan, you can sign up for the public beta today and get it sometime this summer. If that's still not soon enough for you, there is a way to get it on your Mac right now.
How To: Dual Boot Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan & 10.10 Yosemite
Since the new Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan is brand new, I recommend installing it on a separate partition on your hard drive. This will keep your current Yosemite system safe from harm, and will let you easily switch back to it should El Capitan become unusable for any reason.
How To: Get the Public Beta Preview of Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan
Apple announced the release of their newest Mac OS X version at this year's Worldwide Developer's Conference, and it's called "El Capitan." Like the majestic rock formation it's named after (located within Yosemite National Park), El Capitan promises to emphasize and expand on some of the great features we used on 10.10 Yosemite.
How To: The Easiest, Fastest Way to Free Up Space on Your Mac’s Hard Drive
It's nice that most apps ship with multi-language support, but if you only need to utilize one, those extra language packs are doing nothing more than taking up space on your computer. And when you're getting close to filling up your hard drive, every little bit counts.
Office for Mac 2016: See What's New & Try Out the Public Preview
If you've ever attended school or held a job, you're probably well familiar with Microsoft Office, whether you used it or not. It's the most popular office suite available, and has been for some time. Apple does have its own suite of productivity apps (iWork), but Microsoft Office has always been the industry leader for word documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
News: Try Out the New Photos App & Diverse Emojis with the Yosemite 10.10.3 Public Beta
Apple just recently launched its 10.10.3 Public Beta for Mac OS X Yosemite, and while it comes with mostly bug fixes for 10.10.2, it also includes a brand new Photos application that's meant to replace iPhoto and Aperture, as well as the inclusion of more diverse emojis.
How To: Customize the Login Window Background on Your Mac
Macs, like pretty much all Apple products, are notorious for not having a highly customizable UI. They do this to keep a consistent look and feel across all of their devices, but I've grown bored of it over the years.
How To: Take Window Screenshots Without Drop Shadows on Your Mac
There are many ways to take a screenshot in macOS (previously Mac OS X), but all of the well-known options give you a drop shadow in the picture when snapping application windows.
How To: Connect Your iPhone to Your Mac Like Never Before with Pushbullet
With Apple's Yosemite build of Mac OS X came Continuity, a feature that has allowed us to connect our mobile devices to our computers, letting us access apps, send text messages, answer phone calls, and more while seamlessly switching from one device to the other.
How To: Transfer Your Spotify Playlists to Google Play Music
When Google Play Music launched a few years ago, I ditched iTunes and began using the service as my one and only source for listening to my personal music library. While All Access is great, I still prefer the radio feature on Spotify, so I still use that to discover new music.
How To: Use Easy-to-Install Plugins to Customize Almost Any App on Your Mac
When you buy a Mac, you accept that you're giving up the customization found on Windows or Linux systems for a more fluid and secure machine. This is great for most consumers, but for those of us who'd rather opt for a tailor-made experience, there are always developers that can combine functionality with stability.