-
Want an Event List in Apple’s Calendar App? Try This Trick
Along with day, week, month, and year views, most calendar apps offer the option of a simple chronological list of events, which can be a handy way to see what’s coming up. Apple’s Calendar app on the Mac is unfortunately not among those apps. However, there is a trick you can use to get it to show all your upcoming events in a scrolling list. Click in the Search field in the upper-right corner... Read more -
Tips for Working with Mac Display Resolutions
You can change the resolution of your Mac’s screen—how many pixels appear—to make text and graphics larger and easier to see or smaller to fit more content onscreen. In System Settings > Displays, Apple shows thumbnails for five likely possibilities. Hover the pointer over a thumbnail to see its numeric resolution underneath. If you prefer the traditional list of numeric resolutions, Option-... Read more -
Use the Command Key to Rearrange and Remove Menu Bar Icons
Is your Mac’s menu bar overwhelmed with icons? They’re helpful little critters, but finding one can be difficult when you have too many and they’re in no particular order. The hidden trick to cleaning up your menu bar relies on the Command key.- Rearrange the menu bar icons in an order that makes sense to you by Command-dragging them around. You can’t move the Control Center icon or... Read more
-
Did You Know Text Entry Boxes in Web Browsers Are Easy to Expand?
Have you ever noticed the shading in the corner of text area fields in Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and most other Mac Web browsers? These “handles” let you resize the field—always vertically and sometimes horizontally. That’s handy when the website designer has provided only a small text box and you want to enter more text than will fit. Just drag the handle to make the text box the size you need.... Read more -
How to Search Directly in Your Favorite Websites from Safari’s Search Bar
We’re all accustomed to searching the Web generally in Safari by typing in the search field and pressing Return or tapping Go. Most of us are also familiar with the search suggestions that Safari shows below the search field as we type. But did you know that Safari has a feature that lets you use the search field to search directly within your favorite websites, so you don’t have to wade thr... Read more -
Too Many Windows Open? Close Them All Quickly with These Tricks
Have you ever selected a bunch of files and accidentally opened them all by double-clicking one? Or perhaps inadvertently pressed Command-I to get info, ending up with oodles of open Info windows? Here’s a quick way to recover. You can close all the windows in any well-written app with judicious use of the Option key. Press it while clicking the File menu and Close Window becomes Close All Wind... Read more -
How to Merge Two Similar Folders in the Mac’s Finder
You’ve ended up with two folders whose contents—hundreds of files or more—are similar but not identical. Perhaps you’re recovering from a sync failure, or maybe you pulled an old version of the folder from a backup and aren’t sure what’s different. Regardless, here’s how you can merge them in the Finder. Make sure the folders are named identically and are in two different locations on your Mac.... Read more -
In Your Face App Guarantees That You Notice Appointment Alerts
It’s easy to get caught up in what you’re doing and miss an alert for a Zoom meeting or a reminder to leave for an appointment. The Mac app In Your Face ensures that will never happen again by taking over the entire screen for notifications and requiring that you click a button to dismiss or snooze it. It can also play sou... Read more -
Tips for Getting Back to Work Faster After Restarting Your Mac
All too often, Mac users put off installing updates because of the bother of having to set everything up again afterward. We get it—you’re busy, and it can take time to relaunch apps, reopen documents, and repopulate Web browser tabs. There’s no avoiding some downtime when installing a full macOS update, which is why we recommend starting such updates at the end of the day or before you leav... Read more -
Convert Image Formats Directly in the Finder
If you need to convert images to JPEG, PNG, or (unlikely) HEIF, try this hidden Finder feature: Control-click an image in one of those formats or other common image formats like TIFF, GIF, or PSD, and choose Quick Actions > Convert Image. A dialog lets you choose the destination format, the image size, and whether you want to preserve metadata. For straight conversions, stick with Actual Siz... Read more