Do you own a Mac and are unsure of how to make your life easier when using it for workl? Click here to learn about the hacks to using a Mac.
Apple didn’t become a $1 trillion company for no reason!
This enormous brand is known and loved globally. It has legions of loyal fans who identify with the Apple image and appreciate the industry-leading products it creates.
Throw in the icon that was Steve Jobs, a reputation for disrupting industries and design excellence, and it’s no wonder that Apple’s attained such heady heights of success.
Of all the products it’s known for though, it was the Mac that really put Apple on the map. But did you know that a wide array of Mac hacks exist that few people ever utilize? That’s right, the MacBook on your desk right now boasts a host of functions that you (and countless others) might not even know about!
Want to change that? Let us help! Keep reading to discover 6 incredible Mac shortcuts and hacks.
- Screenshot Individual Segments
You don’t need to be a MacBook expert to know how to take a screenshot! It’s as easy as hitting ‘Command, Shift, 3,’ right?
Correct! But that’s only helpful when you want to take a snap of the whole screen.
Did you know that you can just as easily capture individual segments of the screen instead? That could come in handy in all sorts of ways. Suddenly, you can save particular areas of interest, such as sections of text, GIFs, or aspects of images.
To do it, you simply hit ‘Command, Shift, 4.’ This will bring up a crosshair on the screen that you can adjust to cover the area you want a screenshot. Hit enter and voila, you’ve got a copy of the section you need.
- Message Your Contacts
Need to send a text but your iPhone battery’s run flat?
Not to worry. Your Mac’s got your back. You can send text messages straight from the desktop instead (assuming they use an iPhone as well).
All you need to do is open Messages, sign in with your Apple ID, and write your message. From there, you enter the recipient’s phone number in the ‘To’ field (or add them directly from your contact list if it’s been synced) and hit send! Your message will show up in the recipient’s message section as normal.
Oh, and don’t worry if you ever want to text people who don’t use Apple products.
It’s not as straightforward, but it’s perfectly possible if you enable ‘Text Message Forwarding’ in your iPhone settings. Having done that, you should be able to send messages from your Mac via your mobile.
- Open Dictionary
There’s nothing more annoying than coming across a word that you don’t know or understand.
In the past, you’d have to scour the bookshelf, find the dictionary, and flick through its pages until you found the definition you needed. Even today, most people have to open up a new tab on their computer or phone in order to use an online dictionary.
But not if you have a Mac!
Whenever Mac users find a word they want to define, they can call upon Spotlight for help. All you do is hover over the confusing word and use three fingers to tap the touchpad. You’ll be shown an instant definition with synonyms from a thesaurus too.
- See How Much Storage Space Is Remaining
Running out of space on your Mac is never fun. It slows everything down and makes working on the computer far more laborious. Thankfully, Apple makes it easy to a) check how much storage space you have remaining and b) free up space on Mac.
Start by clicking on the Apple logo on your desktop and hitting ‘About This Mac’ from the dropdown menu. Next, navigate to the ‘Storage’ tab in the window that appears. This will tell you (in color-coded format) how much space you’re taking up on your Mac and how much is remaining.
The final step is to decide how to clear some room! Click the ‘Manage…’ button and assess your options.
You can either move files to iCloud, empty your Trash, review your files, or optimize storage. Read through what’s involved and proceed accordingly.
- Dictate Your Thoughts
Did you know that you can use Siri to dictate your thoughts?
That’s useful for a wide number of reasons. For one thing, it means you no longer have to type everything out! If you’re in a hurry and haven’t quite mastered touch typing, you can just talk into your Mac instead.
Thanks to impressive developments in dictation software, Siri will register your words and write them down on your behalf. Set it up by heading to System Preferences in the Apple Menu. In the ‘Keyboard’ section, you can then turn on ‘Dictation’ and set it up as you see fit.
Then, whenever you want to dictate something, you can open up a document and double-tap the Fn key (FYI, you can change this keyboard shortcut in the settings!). Tap ‘Done’ when you’re ready to stop and you’ll have successfully dictated using your Mac.
- Change the Volume
Once again, it doesn’t take a pro to know how to adjust the volume on your Mac! The volume controls on the keyboard will do it in moments whenever you want any audio to be louder or quieter.
The trickier part is when you want to adjust the volume with greater precision. After all, those keyboard controls are great, but each tap results in significant alterations. Want a smaller change?
Try holding ‘Shift + Option’ at the same time as tapping the volume keys. That should do the trick.
Remember These Hacks If You Own a Mac
Countless people around the world own and love Apple products. And you can’t blame them! This company lives up to its reputation for creating incredible, well-designed technology.
Unfortunately, though, many of us rarely get full value from the Apple gear that we buy. Macs provide a perfect example. There’s almost always some MacBook functionality that we never learn about, but that could make life 10 times easier.
Hopefully, the Mac computer hacks in this post have been enlightening in this regard.
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