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7 Tips and Tricks for Using Your Mac

Are you a Mac user? I remember when I switched from using my PC to a Mac and how frustrating it was to make this switch. Now that I have learned some tips/tricks on how to use my Mac I love it so much more! In 1990, Apple used the slogan “The Power to be Your Best”. These tips and tricks will help fuel that power and get you using your Mac more efficiently, effortlessly and effectively!

Trackpad Settings:

Did you know that you can adjust your trackpad settings? Under your system preferences, click on “trackpad”. This opens up a menu that has three parts.

Having a Mac means you are a step ahead in the technology world, but do you know how to use it effectively, efficiently and effortlessly? This blog posts contains tons of tips and tricks for using your Mac! Did you know there are three ways to take a screenshot?

The first one is Point & Click. In this menu you can set the clicking options to tap to click, secondary click (your typical right click option), look up and three finger drag.

The second part is Scroll & Zoom. This is pretty self explanatory (and it has supporting videos for you). You can select which direction you want to scroll and how you want to zoom in and out. You can also check the rotate box which allows you to rotate with two fingers!

The last part is More Gestures. I think this is my favorite bit about the trackpad! There are tons of quick trackpad gestures. Here are my favorites:
Mission Control: Swipe up with three fingers.
Show Desktop: Spread with thumb and three fingers.
Swipe between full-screen apps: Swipe left or right with four fingers.
Launchpad: Pinch with thumb and three fingers.

Application Switcher:

Are you someone (like me) who has tons of applications open at once? I can have PowerPoint, Chrome, folders, my notes app and Word open all at the same time! Craziness happening over here I tell ya. Well, using just two simple keys, you can toggle between any open applications.

Having a Mac means you are a step ahead in the technology world, but do you know how to use it effectively, efficiently and effortlessly? This blog posts contains tons of tips and tricks for using your Mac! Did you know there are three ways to take a screenshot?

Press command + tab to open your application switcher and toggle between your apps. Simply continue to press the command and click tab to select which app you want to open. Once you have the one you want selected, release both keys. It is just that easy!

Add Folders to Finder Window:

Do you have specific folders you use on a daily basis? I am constantly going to my clipart folder and this handy tip saves me tons of time searching for the folder (even though it is on my desktop…).

Find your folder that you always use and click once and drag it over to your left finder bar. Boom. It is there permanently! Well, not permanently… you can delete it by simply clicking once and dragging it right off of your folder.

Having a Mac means you are a step ahead in the technology world, but do you know how to use it effectively, efficiently and effortlessly? This blog posts contains tons of tips and tricks for using your Mac! Did you know there are three ways to take a screenshot?

Incremental Adjustments:

This is just a little FYI that I haven’t really needed for any specific reason (except to get Adele’s album to just the right volume while I am working…). If you press and hold option & shift while you are adjusting your screen brightness, keyboard brightness or your volume- you will get incremental adjustments. Which is basically just a fancy term for it will go up/down a little at a time. 

Having a Mac means you are a step ahead in the technology world, but do you know how to use it effectively, efficiently and effortlessly? This blog posts contains tons of tips and tricks for using your Mac! Did you know there are three ways to take a screenshot?

Force Quit: 

I hope that there is NEVER a reason for you to need this tip, but let’s face it. The spinning wheel of death (that little rainbow “busy” signal) happens, and when it does you *might* just need to force quit your application. You can use the simple keyboard shortcut of Command + Shift + Esc to automatically open your Force Quit Applications menu.

Screenshot:

This is something that took a little getting used to! Taking screenshots can be a big help when you are working on projects, or trying to remember something you saw online. There are three main ways you can take a screenshot… who knew!

Option 1: Screenshot a specific selection on the screen. Command + Shift + 4

Option 2: Screenshot the entire screen. Command + Shift + 3When you take a screenshot using either Option 1 or 2, it will save to your desktop automatically. 

Option 3: Screenshot and save to your clipboard. Add Control to the original commands ^^^.Your clipboard… (the hidden place where you can paste into a document from. You will have no actual file for your screenshot, so only use this when you know, for sure, you are going to immediately paste it into a document.How exciting!

Spotlight Application: 

Ever notice that cute little magnifying glass in the upper right corner of your screen? This is your spotlight application. It has lots of purposes! 

Having a Mac means you are a step ahead in the technology world, but do you know how to use it effectively, efficiently and effortlessly? This blog posts contains tons of tips and tricks for using your Mac! Did you know there are three ways to take a screenshot?

The spotlight application can be used to search for specific terms in ALL of your documents. For example, working on perimeter during your next math unit? Type in perimeter and find all your documents containing that term. Need to convert between measurements or currencies? Type them into your spotlight application to immediately see the conversions! 

Spotlight will also search for an address or the web too! Best part about the spotlight application? As soon as you open a document, webpage or photo (by either double clicking or selecting and pressing return) your spotlight window disappears… there is no folder hanging out in the background. 

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