The whole copy-from-Mac-OS, paste-into-iOS thing (and vice versa) is incredibly cool, and I find more uses for it all the time. It… just works.
Miscellaneous stupid Mac tricks, cool Mac tricks, and stupid cool Mac tricks Thread
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That and iCloud Tabs have quietly revolutionized the way I use devices. When I'm at work where only my Windows PC is allowed to connect to the internal network, I'm always getting frustrated that there's no easy way to copy and paste, or to transfer a web page, between the PC and my phone.
Yeah. Increasingly, it feels like the way the wannabe SF-writer in the back of my head always thought this stuff should work. There is (for want of a better word!) a cloud of data around you relating to whatever you’re doing, and whichever device you have to hand is basically a window into that.
(This, TBH, is one of my (many) objections to Adobe’s “Creative Cloud” scam — it isn’t Cloud-y enough. Why am I limited to two installs? Why can’t I sit down at literally any machine with the CC apps installed, log into CC, and be presented with my workspaces, prefs, brushes, actions, fonts?)
PDF DRM (differing from encryption, DRM is when a password is needed for modifications, not to simply open it at all) seems to have gotten less common overall but can still be very annoying when it pops again. There used to be some handy tricks there like using ColorSync but Apple seems to have closed them all over the years. However, there's lingering old built-in stuff Apple has forgotten about that can still bypass it, including Automator. Using the Split PDF function and then recombining the pages with the Finder Quick Action "Create PDF" still works.
Although somewhat amusingly (and an example of losing track of projects) Apple actually broke the Automator Combine PDF functionality in Monterey (haven't tested Ventura), because while Split is a compiled binary Combine internally uses a python script to then make use of CoreGraphics and the CGPDFContext family of functions. But Apple removed native Python (to some furor/discussion), and forgot it'd break their own lingering python stuff. They presumably compiled in or otherwise replaced it overall, but this one slipped through the cracks! Using the quick action, writing an AppleScript, or even manually copying out the join.py and running it with your own python2 means it's not a huge deal, I just thought it was an interesting clear oversight. I wonder why they didn't do a scan of every single ".py" file at least included in the base OS when they removed Python.
Anyway, it's almost certainly easier to just install good old
Although somewhat amusingly (and an example of losing track of projects) Apple actually broke the Automator Combine PDF functionality in Monterey (haven't tested Ventura), because while Split is a compiled binary Combine internally uses a python script to then make use of CoreGraphics and the CGPDFContext family of functions. But Apple removed native Python (to some furor/discussion), and forgot it'd break their own lingering python stuff. They presumably compiled in or otherwise replaced it overall, but this one slipped through the cracks! Using the quick action, writing an AppleScript, or even manually copying out the join.py and running it with your own python2 means it's not a huge deal, I just thought it was an interesting clear oversight. I wonder why they didn't do a scan of every single ".py" file at least included in the base OS when they removed Python.
Anyway, it's almost certainly easier to just install good old
qpdf from MacPorts/Homebrew/manually and then a quick qpdf --decrypt <source pdf> <destination pdf>. But I like that macOS can still do it with a vanilla install using just GUI as well.
Don’t forget that that also works between multiple Macs too!
I have an Intel Mac mini that I use solely for running x86 Windows in Parallels alongside my 14” M1 MacBook Pro. With the shared clipboard, I can copy something from the MacBook Pro and immediately paste it into Windows on the Mac mini and vice versa. Two different computers running two different operating systems across two different architectures (!) and it’s completely seamless, as if it were all one machine. It’s pretty incredible!
Make Hot Corners not shit by holding cmd/option/ctrl while configuring them so you can still wield your mouse pointer like a wild person without triggering them. I'm a big fan of hot-cornering the lock screen and hitting escape to lock and sleep my machine while I'm walking away from my desk.
I did not know about this one, thanks! It will save some time when booting the computer, I won’t have to login and then immediately logout of the dedicated boot account.
Yep, same trick works in many places in macOS and is often useful. Like for Mission Control, can add any combo of modifier keys. Or for that matter always worth checking them in menus even, since many items will change when shift or option are held down. Just in the Finder File menu all sorts of stuff is right there with option or shift.
I'm not running Ventura but assume this is still the same. While it has more traditional unix tools for listing and dealing with networks like
netstat and route, the 1st party blessed tool has long been networksetup, and it has some useful powers that I can't find exposed in the GUI. One I just needed was to add a permanent static route: my main Mac workstation has 4 physical network connections along with a bunch of virtual ones, 2x 10G, 1x built-in ethernet, and WiFi. One of the 10G connections is supposed to be the primary network link, the second used exclusively for iSCSI, and the ethernet and WiFi are for special purposes and making use of iDevice connection stuff like AirDrop. They're in the right service order, and macOS is generally pretty smart about automatically picking the right routes. One exception though apparently is that it will always prefer accessing a network resource in the same subnet as an interface is assigned, which again is normally the right choice, but here I have a network SMB share on the same subnet as the WiFi but the primary 10G connection is not. So I was getting very slow speeds there. Easy to see since turning the WiFi off then routed the traffic over 10G which was a lot faster even with L3 translation. Rearranging the network could in principle be done but would be irritating right now. Just doing a static route to the NAS dealt with it easily. networksetup -setadditionalroutes followed by network interface name and a destination/mask/gateway tuple.Oh, just thought of a good iOS one seems like not many people know about - if you send your flight number over imessage, it turns into a clickable link that pops up a native flight tracker you and the recipient can click on.
edit: are iOS tricks kosher - the thread does seem to specify MacOS to an extent....
edit: are iOS tricks kosher - the thread does seem to specify MacOS to an extent....
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If only it wasn't so buggy in 13.x. Leaving iCloud Safari tabs enabled on my Mac leads to a weird bug wherein if I try to reopen a recently-closed tab, it'll open it and then immediately close it again.
So frustrating because the idea, like you said, is really fantastic. The reality, though, at least for me, is aggravating in the extreme.
I hate that I actually HAVE clicked on it in iMessage for MacOS, even in Big Sur and didn't remember to think of it in those terms
Thanks!
Not Mac specific, but I just discovered on the iPhone you can press on the album artwork from the lock screen while music is playing to make it full size.
I only discovered this because it had accidentally happened while in my pocket and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get rid of it or how it occurred...
I only discovered this because it had accidentally happened while in my pocket and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get rid of it or how it occurred...
Works if you’re playing video on your AppleTV, too, which is neat.
This is such a useful thread, I'm going to experiment with pinning it to keep it from disappearing off the bottom of the first page and hopefully encourage even more Stupid Cool Mac Tricks. Pinning never really worked with the old forum software since pinned threads weren't set apart in any meaningful way, whereas they get their own little section in the new software, so let's see how it works. If it ends up being more of an annoyance than a help, I'll put it back the way it was.
Seeing the hot corners tip reminded me of this MacRumors article with 10 MacOS tips from a few weeks back. Worth the read if you haven’t seen it already
Not so much a trick as just a general power user feature. The
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defaults command features in a number of various tricks, but it's quite powerful and actually somewhat explorable. As Apple says:There are a lot of preferences that exist in macOS but aren't exposed through the included GUI, some of which are pretty cool. Tools like TinkerTool stick a GUI on some of them, but there are still more.
defaults help gives the rundown but you can dig into all the plist settings on your system with the read and domains subcommands. I've been starting to work on using it to formalize and automate a lot of my preferred initial setup, so I can just run a script and be good to go. I honestly should have done that, well, decades ago (holy moly it's been a long strange journey with Macs), because it's all too easy to make some change on first setup then completely forget since one may not touch it again for ages!Even if temporary, neat! Was surprised to see it there
.Agreed, certainly some useful ones there. As well as pointing to the admonition to "try option with everything"
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Print mailing labels, envelopes and contact lists in Contacts on Mac
I just found out about this yesterday.Can't find the pointer on your screen? Shake your mouse or wiggle your finger on the trackpad to make it bigger
I use this occasionally. It's very useful indeed - especially on large or multiple screens. BUT, you have to turn the feature on, first: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchlp2920/mac
That’s one of my favorite Apple features ever. It’s a perfect example of making the computer adapt to you rather than the other way around. The programmer-style solution would be to press a key combination to highlight where the pointer is; the Apple-designed solution is “people naturally shake their mouse back and forth when they can’t find the pointer, so we’ll just make it more visible when they do that.”
Option-clicking on the date/time thingy in the upper-right menu bar makes it dimmed... (on Ventura, maybe it was like that in earlier versions, I have no idea...)
In Big Sur opt+click on date put's the machine into DnD, so yay! lol
That's what it does in Ventura too. I'm not sure what BadtzMaru was suggesting - it dims because it's in DnD mode.
Ah, you're right! I never use DnD so I thought it was only dimming the menu. (Visible to me because I have a dark menu bar on a dark background... I option-clicked on it accidentally.) Thanks for enlighting me, I immediately switched it off.
Was just setting up a new Ventura install on a new Mac, complete with my preferred keyboard shortcuts for everything (didn't use migrate assistant, needed to start fresh without old accumulated crap), when I saw fn-Q in there as a "Quick Note".
Given that System Preferences forbids manual binding of fn ("globe") key combinations, I was quite intrigued. Turns out there is a whole bunch of function key system shortcuts I didn't even know about – was that added around the release of iPadOS keyboard support or what?
Especially useful when you remap your Caps Lock to function as function key when held (the full‑size wired keyboards had fn just above del on the right, harder to reach). List I found somewhere
fn-A = Move focus to Dock (navigate with arrow keys, or (shift+)tab, spacebar, enter)
fn-D = Enable Dictation [doesn't work for me for some reason edit: seems like Dictation is just bugged in Ventura, sometimes turning off – when it works fn-D works too]
fn-F = Enter/Exit Full Screen
fn-H = Show/Hide Desktop
fn-E = Open Character (emoji) viewer [remembers last state, i.e. floating or normal window, navigation by arrow keys, great for common unicode symbols like № or ℃]
fn-C = Control Center (can't figure out how to navigate with keyboard)
fn-N = Notifications (can't figure out how to navigate with keyboard)
fn-M = Menubar (navigate with arrow keys, or (shift+)tab, spacebar, enter)[doesn't work for me] [edit: works, d'oh]
fn-Q = Quick Note [yay! that one is a winner!]
plus the obvious ones from laptops:
fn‑Up/Down = PageUp/Down
fn‑Left/Right = Home/End
Any others?
And speaking of customising keyboards, you can still create custom keyboard layouts that work systemwide, either by hand, or with something like the Ukelele app for a complete bundle with custom icon and everything. For even more control, including multi‑keys and whatever, there is still the ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict way, but that's a lot more work.
Given that System Preferences forbids manual binding of fn ("globe") key combinations, I was quite intrigued. Turns out there is a whole bunch of function key system shortcuts I didn't even know about – was that added around the release of iPadOS keyboard support or what?
Especially useful when you remap your Caps Lock to function as function key when held (the full‑size wired keyboards had fn just above del on the right, harder to reach). List I found somewhere
fn-A = Move focus to Dock (navigate with arrow keys, or (shift+)tab, spacebar, enter)
fn-D = Enable Dictation [
fn-F = Enter/Exit Full Screen
fn-H = Show/Hide Desktop
fn-E = Open Character (emoji) viewer [remembers last state, i.e. floating or normal window, navigation by arrow keys, great for common unicode symbols like № or ℃]
fn-C = Control Center (can't figure out how to navigate with keyboard)
fn-N = Notifications (can't figure out how to navigate with keyboard)
fn-M = Menubar (navigate with arrow keys, or (shift+)tab, spacebar, enter)
fn-Q = Quick Note [yay! that one is a winner!]
plus the obvious ones from laptops:
fn‑Up/Down = PageUp/Down
fn‑Left/Right = Home/End
Any others?
And speaking of customising keyboards, you can still create custom keyboard layouts that work systemwide, either by hand, or with something like the Ukelele app for a complete bundle with custom icon and everything. For even more control, including multi‑keys and whatever, there is still the ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict way, but that's a lot more work.
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Wow, had no idea about Fn-M. That really bridges the gap nicely between the fussy Full Keyboard Access and the classic interface without good keyboard menu access.
I'd say very likely, I tried all of those on my iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard, and all of then except dictation and the emoji viewer worked exactly the same as described (and on iPadOS the emoji viewer is activated by pressing just Fn by itself, so not really surprising for that).
Fn by itself for the emoji viewer is now default on Mac OS as well, but it's the first thing I changed in the prefs – I hate it when it pops up when changing volume with fn‑F12. And since I tend to use it a lot for technical symbols, glad I found out fn‑E works too!
Small (or not so small) pet peeve for British English users – Mac OS Ventura (or Monterey) had changed a few localised names of some well‑known and grandfathered system settings names and folders.
I can live with System Preferences and Preferences changing into System Settings and Settings, even though it's a bit ugly change for no reason.
But Bin and Empty Bin? No way! As much as I like keeping my bins clean at home and prefer British English, I'd rather not be totally confused whether the Finder window shows me /bin, Trash, /usr/bin or whatever.
Thankfully, System Preferences allows you to set different localisations for different apps, including Finder and Dock. It's a bit convoluted – finding and dragging the Finder.app and Dock.app into the window in System Settings/General/Language & Region/Applications and setting them to English - English, but it works. I can live with that one Americanism of "Trash", since it's distinct from everything else that uses bin. Better than the confusion before.
I can live with System Preferences and Preferences changing into System Settings and Settings, even though it's a bit ugly change for no reason.
But Bin and Empty Bin? No way! As much as I like keeping my bins clean at home and prefer British English, I'd rather not be totally confused whether the Finder window shows me /bin, Trash, /usr/bin or whatever.
Thankfully, System Preferences allows you to set different localisations for different apps, including Finder and Dock. It's a bit convoluted – finding and dragging the Finder.app and Dock.app into the window in System Settings/General/Language & Region/Applications and setting them to English - English, but it works. I can live with that one Americanism of "Trash", since it's distinct from everything else that uses bin. Better than the confusion before.
Naming it "Bin" seems like poorly-thought-out, well, rubbish.
stupid Mac tricks, cool Mac tricks, and stupid cool Mac tricks
I would prefer "stupid Mac tricks, cool Mac tricks, and cool stupid Mac tricks.
Cool tricks aren't stupid, but stupid tricks can be cool. IMHO.
;-)
I would prefer "stupid Mac tricks, cool Mac tricks, and cool stupid Mac tricks.
Cool tricks aren't stupid, but stupid tricks can be cool. IMHO.
;-)
So they name the Trash to Bin, but can't name Control Center Control Centre.
Recently saw a video shared online showing UK version of Windows offering to "Postal" files instead of Zip...
Huh? It's "Control Centre" here on both Ventura and iOS – do you have the right locale set?
To be fair, I'm set to English (Canada), so I guess that's the difference. Our correct spelling is centre (and writing center in Firefox actually gives me the red squiggly line) but I guess Apple deems us close enough to the US to use their language pack.
Yup, someone clearly did an indiscriminate Find All/Replace All in a Windows Insider build for some reason. I saw it too because under Windows, all non-American English speaking countries are assigned the UK language pack. Thankfully, that mistake never actually shipped and was fixed rather quickly.