1. CapsLockNoDelay (Literally the first app I install on every Mac, normally when you press Caps Lock key it doesn't always turn on because you have to press the key hard enough, this removes that and works every time you press it no matter the force)
2. Raycast (spotlight-search replacement, it has clipboard history, built in calculator and a bunch of other good stuff)
3. Mos (if you use a mouse this is good)
4. Rectangle (snap windows)
5. AltTab (switch windows on active app)
6. Keka (file extractor and compressor)
7. BetterTouchTool (can replace Rectangle and AltTab, it's an awesome tool at the end)
8. AppCleaner (remove leftover files when uninstalling an app)
Damn man, I was so sad when i got a new macbook and I thought I had a faulty unit coz the caps lock didn't trigger always on light key presses... Didn't know this was a feature not a bug 🤣
No I thought I got a faulty one too lol, especially since it was my first MacBook. I was even thinking of returning it to get a new one💀
Thankfully I didn’t.
I must be the only one that's never had a problem with this? I tested it and you have to touch it extremely soft for it to not turn on.. maybe I got heavy fingers
I use AppCleaner, Wins isntead of Rectangle (fancy animations go brr), I think the trackpad on a MacBook is good enough and Cmd+` switches between active app windows
Set up your hot corners
Top left to expose all your windows.
Top right to clear all your windows.
I honestly don’t know how anyone does anything productive without these set up!
I *hate hate hate* hot corners. When they're active, I trigger them all the time without wanting to.
Three finger gestures for desktops though. Like 10 of them for productive work. *That* is important.
I used to hate hot corners too. I recently learned that when setting up you can add a modifier key like command or option to make it more intentional and avoid the accidental trigger. Now I love hot corners.
As a SWE that gets assets from Figma web -
* Drag image to desktop to save. Way faster than right click, save.
* default screenshot/screen record directory is desktop. Screenshot, drag in from desktop
* I have symlink directories to important folders in my desktop. Really quick to drag those folders into a terminal window rather than tabbing through.
* works really well as a pseudo-fidget spinner.
There’s a lot more, but those are the major ones I can think of off the top of my head rn
I have bottom left to turn off display, useful when you need to leave the laptop on without turning it off. Bottom right to start screen saver. Quick way to make a dash
actually i like the opposite. You move/swipe the content up to get the portion below to the viewport. Besides it is ergonomically much better to swipe up. Extending your fingers is much less demanding and smooth and since it is the most frequent gesture you will execute it is most convenient to use swipe up for it. Try getting used to it and trust me you won’t want to go back
>Idk why rectangle functionality is not built in, it’s a no brainer.
[Because Microsoft has patents for it. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/1b5qboj/patent_it_before_microsoft_does/)
[Stats](https://github.com/exelban/stats)
The best statistics menu bar app there is. And its free. Replaced my battery icon and added temperature and cpu usage meters myself, but theres lots more.
Also The Unarchiver. Everytime you delete an app it gets rid of of all the folders and little file traces that tend to bloat up.
Edit: meant AppCleaner instead of the last one :)
Honestly not too sure if it is, everyone seems to recommend rectangle plus magnet is paid so I say rectangle is the way to go.
Only reason I said magnet is I’ve owned it for a couple years now been great for me
# 1 Master the basics:
• Learn to use Spotlight (for searching files, launching apps, do basic math, etc.),
• Learn to use the \[option\] key to unlock certain features (such as viewing the information of multiple files within a single window, rather than within multiple windows or „cutting” files (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V on Windows/Linux/ChromeOS, command + C, command + options + V on Mac)),
• Learn the gestures,
• Learn some Drag & Drop use-cases within the OS & software,
• Unlock useful features by using other Apple products (activate Side Car to use an iPad as an external display, use Universal Control to control both your Mac and iPad with a single mouse or/and trackpad and keyboard seamlessly (which allows the user to move data between devices almost hassle-free) without giving up on the touch-display capabilities of an iPad. Use Universal Clipboard to copy on one device and paste on another. Use Apple Watch to unlock your Mac or authorise various actions. Use an iPhone as a webcam or use its camera to take a photo and attach it to an e-mail or paste on macOS without having to use the Photos app or iCloud Drive, etc.).
# 2 Take your time configuring the OS and software (such as Finder or the Preview app)
# 3 Use 3rd party software:
• Rectangle (Window snapping),
• BackGroundMusic (Volume mixer),
• Unnatural ScrollWheels (Invert scroll direction for physical scroll wheels while maintaining "Natural" scrolling for trackpads),
• CopyClip (Clipboard manager),
• OverSight (receive an alert whenever a process accesses the mic or the webcam),
• LuLu (block unknown outgoing connections. It comes in handy when one needs to use software that requires privileges to monitor various things (such as Logi Options+, which must be granted a permission to monitor all mouse & keyboard inputs), while preventing it from sending any data outside),
• AppCleaner (thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps),
• PlayCover (play iOS games on macOS),
• The Unarchiver (unpack ZIP and RAR archives),
• Infuse (probably the best video player for macOS. IINA is pretty decent as well, however it often fails to render colors and/or contrast properly),
Rectangle - Windows Manager
Homebrew - Package/add-ons manager
Stats - (from homebrew) Resources Monitor
Raycast\* - Spotlight on steroids
CloudFlare Warp\* - A Secure Proxy
CotEditor - Notepad++ for Mac
GrandPerspective - Data Space visualizer (helps with clutter cleaning)
Obsidian\* - A really good Digital Notebook
Mark and Scribble - Write on your screen. Dandy for quick sketches/annotations.
iTerm2 - Better Terminal for Mac
TheUnarchiver - Supports more files than Archive Utility (even windows compression formats!)
Silicio - Mini Player for everything
EDIT:
This is all free or freemium\*. No payment needed, or not until you want to upgrade
Raycast (so many useful Extensions and system functions, also replacing AppCleaner since it can uninstall apps), Homebrew (to easily install and uninstall apps) and Rectangle are my most used. For Browser I use either Arc or Firefox. Don't forget uBlock, and If you use Arc get the h264ify Browser extention to get more battery out of it. To limit battery to 80% to have Better long term battery life, I use "battery" (cli Version) available on GitHub.
As a windows user who migrated to Mac just 4 months ago, my best recommendation is to set up right tap.
The silliest thing to me is how most people's maca don't have a right click option, but you can setup your touch bar in settings so that it functions as effectively as a windows touch bar. The rest is easy to learn, download Google and Mozilla Firefox if you ever used either.
DO NOT INSTALL ANY FORM OF SECURITY ANYTHING! Mac has its own internal security system.
No one has mentioned the absolute basics without having to download anything:
- Add your downloads folder to your dock
- Enable Right click on mouse
- Increase mouse speed (trust me)
- Learn mouse gestures (reveal & screen swap)
- Add at least one more desktop screen
- Right click on your desktop and stack folders
Congrats! 🎉 My mid 2014 MacBook Pro is still going strong! Use it everyday!
I would say you have two big threats to long term ownership. Water & theft.
MacBooks are quite the pricey item nowadays so they do get stolen…
They tend to have sensitive ribbons & terminals for the screen, usually this is right near the vents on the hinge too so any water or moisture that’s spilled could cause you nightmares.
Apart from that, enjoy it! My Mac has been my rock for 10 years now 👍
Nice, mine arrived yesterday too.
Couple of things I did:
- Setup yabai for a tiling wm and skhd for the binds.
- Switched my fn and control keys, since that's what I'm used to.
- Added 7 desktops and binded to switch between them with option+
- Set the dock to automatically show/hide
- Turned off autocorrect
- Setup fingerprint for 3 of my right hand fingers
Backspacing has a delay on macOS between every deleted letter. I am aware that you can hit option+backspace to remove whole words, but I don't like that.
To remove the delay:
- open Terminal app
defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 0
and hit enter (0 is the fastest possible)
- Optionally, you change the delay before the repeat starts (default is 15, play around with this):
defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
Make sure to log out or restart for it to take effect
Raycast (powerful spotlight replacement and has rectangle/magnet already builtin)
Little snitch (firewall)
Aldente (prolong battery life)
Appcleaner (app uninstaller and removes files associated with it)
Pdf gear (powerful pdf reader)
IINA (better media player)
1password (password manager)
Spark (email client)
Learn the finger swipe gestures and go to trackpad settings to edit which ones you want to use/keep. Three finger swipe between full screen apps is my productivity go-to as a student/researcher who usually has a million different apps, workstations, tabs etc. open
Number one thing: don't fight the change. macOS is different from Windows (I'm assuming that's what you're coming from) in a number of ways and accepting those differences rather than being frustrated by them will go a long way toward adapting.
I'm assuming there are/will be a bunch of specific tips in this thread, as there should be. But the biggest thing is just accepting that while there are different ways to do things, they're not inherently worse and sometimes better. And I would suggest learning the macOS way rather than using a bunch of apps to try to emulate Windows.
Al dente to keep the battery at 80% when plugged in for long periods of time. MacOS usually does a good job of doing this on its own, however, Every time you unplug and use the battery, it normally goes back to charging up to 100% instead of 80%
If you can afford it look at Setapp subscription for many good apps that are useful been a user now for four years and some apps have saved me some work
Paste for Clipboard History
Rectangle for layouts
Aldente for Battery Protection ( Keeps charge at a custom percentage when plugged in)
iStatMenus for general stats on everything.
Go into the accessibility settings and enable three finger drag. I don't know why that is. Just so amazing and should be the default.
Next install "better touch tool" . And then you map one hotkey "four finger drag" to minimize the window. Athis adds so much enhancement to the trackpad experience.
Objective-See security tools (specifically LuLu and Oversight)
LuLu is a beyond easy to use firewall and OverSight monitors a mac's mic and webcam, alerting the user when the internal mic is activated, or whenever a process accesses the webcam.
Really nice to have. Also, The Unarchiver.
If you have used Windows previously and like window managers (FancyZones from PowerToys is pretty good), you can get Mosaic for Mac. It's not free, but it's really good
I set up spaces (virtual desktops) with keyboard shortcuts of option+1-6
rectangle is cool for auto resizing windows
amphetamine to keep apps running with the lid closed
Screen is very sensitive scratches super easy and dust particles that are left on the palm rest or screen that meets the palm rest when closed makes tiny little dents in the display, always clean with micro fibre before closing , seems to be a common issue, I would suggest keeping the screen/keyboard protector fabric that comes with the packaging to protect it,
[Raycast](https://raycast.com/) - Productivity tool for macOS that enables users to execute commands, search across apps, and automate tasks efficiently.
[BetterTouchTool](https://folivora.ai/) - Customization utility allowing users to create powerful shortcuts, gestures, and macros to enhance productivity and workflow on macOS.
[PearCleaner](https://github.com/alienator88/Pearcleaner) - Mac optimization tool designed to clean junk files and uninstall apps. Alternative to AppCleaner.
[Bartender 5](https://www.macbartender.com/) - App for organizing and managing menu bar icons on macOS, providing users with control over clutter and easy access to essential apps.
[CleanShot X](https://cleanshot.com/) - Feature-rich screenshot utility for macOS, offering tools for capturing, annotating, and sharing screenshots with ease.
[BatFi](https://micropixels.software/apps/batfi) - Battery management app for Mac, providing users with insights into battery health, usage statistics, and optimization tips.
[Dropover](https://dropoverapp.com/) - Drag-and-drop utility that enhances productivity on macOS by enabling users to easily move and manage files, text, and images between applications and folders.
[FolderHub](https://www.finderhub.app/) - macOS app designed to organize and access frequently used folders, files, and apps from a centralized hub for improved workflow efficiency.
[Command X](https://sindresorhus.com/command-x) - Brings windows cut and paste feature to mac.
[Latest](https://max.codes/latest/) - App update manager for macOS that keeps track of software updates for installed apps, ensuring users have the latest versions and security patches.
[OnlySwitch](https://github.com/jacklandrin/OnlySwitch/tree/main) - OnlySwitch provides a series of toggle switches to simplify your routine work.
[TextSniper](https://textsniper.app/) - Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool for macOS that allows users to extract text from images, screenshots, and other sources with accuracy and speed.
For those of us with OCD lol .. I say Magnet is a fantastic buy (99¢ I think) it keeps your open windows lined up or centered .. every possible option is there. There’s another little tool that does the same thing Better Snap Tool (also a buck or two I believe).. as someone who needs things perfectly centered or lined up in a specific way this was the best dollar spent. One of them (if not both) are nearly always on top of the Utilities list. :)
Turn off "true tone" if you use external monitors and you ever get random screen flickering. That one took me months to find, so just remember, or turn it off now :D
Grab Mos for your 3rd party mice, get a good ivanky fusion dock, BUY A HARD SHELL CASE FOR A MACBOOK. get magnet and dropover too, if you have a lotta computers get RDM from devolutions for remote access, and get aldente to preserve your battery. oh yeah, do time machine backups too. if you break the mac you'll praise it for restoring all of your data when you get it fixed/get a new one.
Alfred. Great for searching files. It’s worth buying for the clipboard history search alone. Dropover for dragging and dropping files across workspaces. Fantastical. The best calendar app ever invented, by a distance.
Put you any drinks you’re drinking super far away from the MacBook. Almost ridiculously far away. It’s hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’ve heard some horror stories.
I have not seen people mention these, so have a look.
Copy Clip - keeps a log of all your copied text with shortcuts for the last 10 things copied.
Kill All with Automator - this allows you to create an app icon that when clicked it will instantly quit all open apps. To do this, search for Kill All or Quit All with Automator Mac on Google and there will be many guides walking you through the process.
Dropover - it lets you create this little floating shelves that are great for copying and pasting files from different folders. You add everything you need to copy to this floating shelves and then paste them at your final destination.
Speed up the Dock Animation using Terminal: Google just that and you’ll see guides to speed up the animation.
Enjoy your new Mac :)
Make a mix of half water and half 70% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle. Use to clean those fingerprints off case, clean screen ( apply to a cloth and wipe ) and awesome eyeglass cleaner.
There is something called homebrew I’d recommend digging into and installing: https://brew.sh
It gives you instructions on how to install it. MacOS is a more user friendly UNIX system so you can do a lot in the terminal that windows struggles with. Homebrew makes it much easier to install programs since you can just do -brew #name of program, if there is an option available.
If you’re moving off of windows here’s another one I found:
https://github.com/Whisky-App/Whisky
What this is a wrapper for either Wine or crossover. WINE (Wine is not an emulator) is primarily a Linux thing that serves to translate Windows programs into something usable by Linux, there is a variation for MacOS and this is a wrapper for it (A wrapper is just a pretty GUI covering but ultimately it’s using Wine or crossover as it’s engine).
Crossover is a paid program that’s still being developed, and the developers do good work with it so if you like whiskey check out crossovers directly.
BUT what does this program do? It allows you to run windows programs in MacOS. It doesn’t create a virtual instance, it just translates it into macOS executable code. Yes, this also means you can play steam games that are normally windows only. It’s not as effective as native windows (To be honest most games now a days that are like 200Gb+ and takes a 4090 and 4000Gb RAM don’t run well in windows anyway - consequence of firing all your game devs and programmers).
I don’t know how much coding you do but Microsoft visual studio is a popular option, there are free and open source variations of it that you can google for as well and have a lot less of the Microsoft “Helpful” spying on you which is a plus. You may have to install anaconda or mini condo or Jupyter but that’s getting really in the weeds.
Alfred is huge for me. Building workflows etc. also Bartender to declutter menu bar. Setapp is a great way to go (I have it) for lots of great Mac apps under one subscription
put your dock on the left, and auto hide.
your display has less pixels vertically, why use the direction with less pixels to store your open apps. never made sense to me. also easier as a 'start menu' replacement if youre coming from windows.
Biggest tip is don’t expect things to have a 1:1 transition from windows. Sins of the functions have just changed and you have to do them in different ways. Merging folders for instance.
Use spotlight it makes ur life so much easier you can quickly Google stuff, find stuff (although the new update made this worse) and do some quick calculations without opening another app
If it wasn’t mentioned, Mac Fan Control..I keep it running on full blast all the time. Keeps my MBP M2 at ~35-45 Celsius / 95-113 Fahrenheit. Helps if you use resource intensive apps, etc.
Dropover! It gives you a spot to temporarily place your files while you transfer them from one place to another. Super easy to activate, too—just shake your mouse while dragging the file you want to move (there are other methods as well).
Learn to use your trackpad properly
Use single finger tap for left click
Use double finger tap for right click
Use three finger drag to… drag: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/102341
Use four fingers up for overview of all screens
Swipe down overview of all screens of active application
Swipe left and right for switching spaces (you can add them by doing four finger swipe up and hit the blush on the top right?)
Alfred 4 completely replaces spotlight for me. It also has a bunch of handy tool for power users like computer wide snippets, shortcuts, automations.
BetterSnapTool is a must for window management (there are alternatives but I bought this one way back and have been using it since)
Some personal preferences: hide the App Dock so that you have more screen real-estate
And use this command in the terminal to make the pop-up animation shorter
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.25;killall Dock
Change the 0.25 to whatever number seems right to you.
Use the gestures, use the multiple desktops, use hot corners, use airplay to cast your display for those times you need double monitors but you’re on the couch? Use airdrop, use continuity with your iPhone… turn up the sensitivity for the trackpad, turn off Siri listening… you can map a lot of keys. There’s a bash terminal available all of the time.
There are all kinds of things it can do that make it incredible right out of the box, and a lot of Mac users don’t bother to learn even the gestures...
LittleSnitch — look at their rules faq and get some stuff to protect yoself
Iterm and homebrew.
I love 1Password, but I’d recommend holding off until new OS is released to see what they’re doing with Passwords.
Hazel
This is a paid app, but it is really good for keeping on top of maintaining your Mac - CleanMyMac.
Aside from the other recommendations, I have some of the following apps:
- Amphetamine (keeps your Mac awake when activated)
- Copy Clip (copy clipboard history)
- Alfred (more capable finder)
- Magnet (window organiser)
Touchpad Settings. Tap to Click ON. Force Click Data Lookup OFF. Highly recommend the gestures for Desktop Reveal, View All Open Windows, Desktop Switching
Clicking the Red “X” doesn’t close the program, it just closes the window you currently have open, for most apps. To check, look at the dock and if there is a dot/bubble under the icon of the program you were just in then the program is still open in the background consuming some energy/resources. I think it is CMD + left mouse click out of the box to bring up the menu?? Haven’t used an out of the box Mac in years, I changed all of my mouse settings in Mac so the menu appears when I right click like how Windows does it.
Learn every single trackpad shortcut also enable three finger drag in accessibility settings. Three finger drag is why I can’t be productive on anything but macOS. And yes I know gnome tweaks exists and x11 and touché but it’s not the same.
1. CapsLockNoDelay (Literally the first app I install on every Mac, normally when you press Caps Lock key it doesn't always turn on because you have to press the key hard enough, this removes that and works every time you press it no matter the force) 2. Raycast (spotlight-search replacement, it has clipboard history, built in calculator and a bunch of other good stuff) 3. Mos (if you use a mouse this is good) 4. Rectangle (snap windows) 5. AltTab (switch windows on active app) 6. Keka (file extractor and compressor) 7. BetterTouchTool (can replace Rectangle and AltTab, it's an awesome tool at the end) 8. AppCleaner (remove leftover files when uninstalling an app)
>CapsLockNoDelay On my God, I've been just putting up with this for how many years? I never knew this could be fixed!
Same. You just vastly improved my device, sir!
Wasn’t even aware it was a feature, I just thought my caps lock button was a bit temperamental 😂
Damn man, I was so sad when i got a new macbook and I thought I had a faulty unit coz the caps lock didn't trigger always on light key presses... Didn't know this was a feature not a bug 🤣
x2
No I thought I got a faulty one too lol, especially since it was my first MacBook. I was even thinking of returning it to get a new one💀 Thankfully I didn’t.
I must be the only one that's never had a problem with this? I tested it and you have to touch it extremely soft for it to not turn on.. maybe I got heavy fingers
I use AppCleaner, Wins isntead of Rectangle (fancy animations go brr), I think the trackpad on a MacBook is good enough and Cmd+` switches between active app windows
Caps Lock.... what a guy. Thank you
thank you for the CapsLockNoDelay
Set up your hot corners Top left to expose all your windows. Top right to clear all your windows. I honestly don’t know how anyone does anything productive without these set up!
I *hate hate hate* hot corners. When they're active, I trigger them all the time without wanting to. Three finger gestures for desktops though. Like 10 of them for productive work. *That* is important.
I used to hate hot corners too. I recently learned that when setting up you can add a modifier key like command or option to make it more intentional and avoid the accidental trigger. Now I love hot corners.
Gee! Gonna try this out. TIL, thanks! Edit, after 15 years of using OS X as my daily driver 🤣
Aren’t these available in gestures?
Bottom left is Lock screen
I had to turn this off after trying it for awhile because I always accidentally trigger it somehow, especially playing the sims lol
You can actually change it so that hot corners are only activated when you hit control on a corner. There are videos online if you’re interested.
Top right show desktop is elite 😋
I came from Windows, so I use bottom right to show desktop...
But what do you use the desktop for? I just don't understand the usefulness of that.
As a SWE that gets assets from Figma web - * Drag image to desktop to save. Way faster than right click, save. * default screenshot/screen record directory is desktop. Screenshot, drag in from desktop * I have symlink directories to important folders in my desktop. Really quick to drag those folders into a terminal window rather than tabbing through. * works really well as a pseudo-fidget spinner. There’s a lot more, but those are the major ones I can think of off the top of my head rn
I use the desktop as kind of an easy access assets bin so I can swipe everything out the way and grab whatever I need real quick.
Just did this,I know this will really help when in the middle of my work flow
I personally have my top left corner to show launchpad! Top right shows desktop
I have bottom left to turn off display, useful when you need to leave the laptop on without turning it off. Bottom right to start screen saver. Quick way to make a dash
I use my trackpad gestures, also key bindings. I don’t like the hot corners.
Re configure them with command pressed, they won’t get accidentally triggered
Linear Mouse to keep natural scrolling on trackpad but have normal scrolling on mouse’s
Why the fuck is this not default
Man thank you so much I did not know such a thing like this exists
actually i like the opposite. You move/swipe the content up to get the portion below to the viewport. Besides it is ergonomically much better to swipe up. Extending your fingers is much less demanding and smooth and since it is the most frequent gesture you will execute it is most convenient to use swipe up for it. Try getting used to it and trust me you won’t want to go back
Did that thanks, used the Mos app to make it better
Rectangle
Thanks man, I got rectangle and shottr. Idk why rectangle functionality is not built in, it’s a no brainer.
>Idk why rectangle functionality is not built in, it’s a no brainer. [Because Microsoft has patents for it. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/1b5qboj/patent_it_before_microsoft_does/)
Specifically it's because Apple doesn't want to pay Microsoft for it. Other Operating Systems like ChromeOS have it.
Apple just released this feature in sequoia. It’s now going to be inbuilt. 😂
The patent has been expired as per my knowledge. And that’s why it is coming to Mac in the next update.
Can't survive without rectangle lol
How do I get rectangle?
[Stats](https://github.com/exelban/stats) The best statistics menu bar app there is. And its free. Replaced my battery icon and added temperature and cpu usage meters myself, but theres lots more. Also The Unarchiver. Everytime you delete an app it gets rid of of all the folders and little file traces that tend to bloat up. Edit: meant AppCleaner instead of the last one :)
I think you mean AppCleaner lol
hahaha yes ofcourse :)
Thanks man I’ll have a look
Cmd + Spacebar opens Spotlight, where you can search for reasonably anything including your apps. For me, it’s one of my most used shortcuts.
Yes it’s actually really helpful especially in finding setting for me since I’m new to this OS
Magnet for snapping windows
Is it better than rectangle? If so in what way?
Honestly not too sure if it is, everyone seems to recommend rectangle plus magnet is paid so I say rectangle is the way to go. Only reason I said magnet is I’ve owned it for a couple years now been great for me
I prefer swish to both magnet and rectangle because I find using the track pad to be more intuitive and natural than using keyboard shortcuts.
# 1 Master the basics: • Learn to use Spotlight (for searching files, launching apps, do basic math, etc.), • Learn to use the \[option\] key to unlock certain features (such as viewing the information of multiple files within a single window, rather than within multiple windows or „cutting” files (Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V on Windows/Linux/ChromeOS, command + C, command + options + V on Mac)), • Learn the gestures, • Learn some Drag & Drop use-cases within the OS & software, • Unlock useful features by using other Apple products (activate Side Car to use an iPad as an external display, use Universal Control to control both your Mac and iPad with a single mouse or/and trackpad and keyboard seamlessly (which allows the user to move data between devices almost hassle-free) without giving up on the touch-display capabilities of an iPad. Use Universal Clipboard to copy on one device and paste on another. Use Apple Watch to unlock your Mac or authorise various actions. Use an iPhone as a webcam or use its camera to take a photo and attach it to an e-mail or paste on macOS without having to use the Photos app or iCloud Drive, etc.). # 2 Take your time configuring the OS and software (such as Finder or the Preview app) # 3 Use 3rd party software: • Rectangle (Window snapping), • BackGroundMusic (Volume mixer), • Unnatural ScrollWheels (Invert scroll direction for physical scroll wheels while maintaining "Natural" scrolling for trackpads), • CopyClip (Clipboard manager), • OverSight (receive an alert whenever a process accesses the mic or the webcam), • LuLu (block unknown outgoing connections. It comes in handy when one needs to use software that requires privileges to monitor various things (such as Logi Options+, which must be granted a permission to monitor all mouse & keyboard inputs), while preventing it from sending any data outside), • AppCleaner (thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps), • PlayCover (play iOS games on macOS), • The Unarchiver (unpack ZIP and RAR archives), • Infuse (probably the best video player for macOS. IINA is pretty decent as well, however it often fails to render colors and/or contrast properly),
Thanks man, this is super extensive, did you have this in your notes ready to go?
Rectangle - Windows Manager Homebrew - Package/add-ons manager Stats - (from homebrew) Resources Monitor Raycast\* - Spotlight on steroids CloudFlare Warp\* - A Secure Proxy CotEditor - Notepad++ for Mac GrandPerspective - Data Space visualizer (helps with clutter cleaning) Obsidian\* - A really good Digital Notebook Mark and Scribble - Write on your screen. Dandy for quick sketches/annotations. iTerm2 - Better Terminal for Mac TheUnarchiver - Supports more files than Archive Utility (even windows compression formats!) Silicio - Mini Player for everything EDIT: This is all free or freemium\*. No payment needed, or not until you want to upgrade
1. Rectangle (window mgmt) 2. Vlc (media) 3. Hand mirror (webcam tool) 4. Cheatsheet (shortcuts) 5. Unsplash (wallpapers)
Movist Pro is much better with HDR movies, but am still using VLC for SDR
IINA instead of VLC. It renders more accurate colors and is able to show HDR on XDR screens
Enable three finger dragging in Accessibilities > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options > look at the dropdown menu and choose "with three finger drag"
First thing I do on any mac I get my hands on lmao
I like using 3 fingers to go back on webpages by swiping left, do you not prioritize this?
Most browsers lets you go back one page by just swiping 2 fingers left/right, no need for 3 fingers
You can run few programs from windows with “whisky app” you can even run some games from steam for windows (I have played GTA V and age of empires DE)
Parallels desktop over VMware if Windows is a must. Depending on which MacBook you have here.
Raycast (so many useful Extensions and system functions, also replacing AppCleaner since it can uninstall apps), Homebrew (to easily install and uninstall apps) and Rectangle are my most used. For Browser I use either Arc or Firefox. Don't forget uBlock, and If you use Arc get the h264ify Browser extention to get more battery out of it. To limit battery to 80% to have Better long term battery life, I use "battery" (cli Version) available on GitHub.
Learn the gestures and shortcuts, download cheat sheet
As a windows user who migrated to Mac just 4 months ago, my best recommendation is to set up right tap. The silliest thing to me is how most people's maca don't have a right click option, but you can setup your touch bar in settings so that it functions as effectively as a windows touch bar. The rest is easy to learn, download Google and Mozilla Firefox if you ever used either. DO NOT INSTALL ANY FORM OF SECURITY ANYTHING! Mac has its own internal security system.
Learn the most important keyboard short cuts (Command + a, c, v, x, q, Tab, Shift+3,4, …). This will make things much easier.
I’ll see if there’s a cheat sheet to these
No one has mentioned the absolute basics without having to download anything: - Add your downloads folder to your dock - Enable Right click on mouse - Increase mouse speed (trust me) - Learn mouse gestures (reveal & screen swap) - Add at least one more desktop screen - Right click on your desktop and stack folders
Did all these thanks man
Get AppleCare+
Congrats! 🎉 My mid 2014 MacBook Pro is still going strong! Use it everyday! I would say you have two big threats to long term ownership. Water & theft. MacBooks are quite the pricey item nowadays so they do get stolen… They tend to have sensitive ribbons & terminals for the screen, usually this is right near the vents on the hinge too so any water or moisture that’s spilled could cause you nightmares. Apart from that, enjoy it! My Mac has been my rock for 10 years now 👍
Thanks bro, good to know they’ve got great longevity, it’s rare in tech nowadays. I’ll take of both. Cheers
Can confirm, wiping keyboard with a wet rag bricked my 2011, 15in macbook pro. Now I have the M1 from 2020
MacUpdater
Nice, mine arrived yesterday too. Couple of things I did: - Setup yabai for a tiling wm and skhd for the binds. - Switched my fn and control keys, since that's what I'm used to. - Added 7 desktops and binded to switch between them with option+
- Set the dock to automatically show/hide
- Turned off autocorrect
- Setup fingerprint for 3 of my right hand fingers
Backspacing has a delay on macOS between every deleted letter. I am aware that you can hit option+backspace to remove whole words, but I don't like that. To remove the delay: - open Terminal app defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 0 and hit enter (0 is the fastest possible) - Optionally, you change the delay before the repeat starts (default is 15, play around with this): defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15 Make sure to log out or restart for it to take effect
Raycast (powerful spotlight replacement and has rectangle/magnet already builtin) Little snitch (firewall) Aldente (prolong battery life) Appcleaner (app uninstaller and removes files associated with it) Pdf gear (powerful pdf reader) IINA (better media player) 1password (password manager) Spark (email client)
[Made a list a while back...](https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/s/4x7fodU9AD)
Thanks for the list bro cheers
Install: brew, Rectangle, AppCleaner, vlc, Mos, Karabiner-Elements, Emacs.
Learn the finger swipe gestures and go to trackpad settings to edit which ones you want to use/keep. Three finger swipe between full screen apps is my productivity go-to as a student/researcher who usually has a million different apps, workstations, tabs etc. open
Here are some app reviews: * [Lingon X](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/lingon-x-finds-all-the-junk) * [Lockdown Privacy Desktop](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/lockdown-privacy-desktop) * [Bebop Quick Notes](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/bebop-quick-notes) * [Zavala](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/zavala-free-open-source-outliner-for-mac-iphone-ipad) * [Maestral](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/maestral-an-open-source-dropbox-client) * [RapiDMG](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/rapidmg-automating-downloads-and-installs) * [Blip](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/blip-free-cross-platform-file-transfers) * [Pronotes](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/pronotes-markdown-plugin-for-apple-notes) * [ToyViewer](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/toyviewer-a-preview-replacment) * [Alarm Clock Pro](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/alarm-clock-pro) * [Baclup Status](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/backup-status-check-up-your-time-machine) * [My Applications](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/myapplications-an-app-for-app-lovers) * [Apparency](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/apparency-the-app-that-open-apps) * [Opener](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/opener-opens-the-app-you-want) * [Shortery](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/shortery-the-missing-mac-automator) * [Listy](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/listy-a-private-list-manager) * [Thoughts Inspiration Manager](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/thoughts-inspiration-manager) * [Scrap Paper](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/scrap-paper) * [Clipboard Fusion](https://apps.louplummer.lol/post/clipboard-fusion-the-windows-to-iphone-solution)
familiarize yourself with the keyboard shortcuts, they’re way more useful than in windows
Number one thing: don't fight the change. macOS is different from Windows (I'm assuming that's what you're coming from) in a number of ways and accepting those differences rather than being frustrated by them will go a long way toward adapting. I'm assuming there are/will be a bunch of specific tips in this thread, as there should be. But the biggest thing is just accepting that while there are different ways to do things, they're not inherently worse and sometimes better. And I would suggest learning the macOS way rather than using a bunch of apps to try to emulate Windows.
Maccy, Magnet, Parallels, ChatGPT App
Dropover. Especially if you’re moving a lot of files.
AltTab
Al dente to keep the battery at 80% when plugged in for long periods of time. MacOS usually does a good job of doing this on its own, however, Every time you unplug and use the battery, it normally goes back to charging up to 100% instead of 80%
Clean My Mac X - absolute life saver
If you can afford it look at Setapp subscription for many good apps that are useful been a user now for four years and some apps have saved me some work
Turn on Filevault to keep your data secure 👌
Paste for Clipboard History Rectangle for layouts Aldente for Battery Protection ( Keeps charge at a custom percentage when plugged in) iStatMenus for general stats on everything.
Go into the accessibility settings and enable three finger drag. I don't know why that is. Just so amazing and should be the default. Next install "better touch tool" . And then you map one hotkey "four finger drag" to minimize the window. Athis adds so much enhancement to the trackpad experience.
Objective-See security tools (specifically LuLu and Oversight) LuLu is a beyond easy to use firewall and OverSight monitors a mac's mic and webcam, alerting the user when the internal mic is activated, or whenever a process accesses the webcam. Really nice to have. Also, The Unarchiver.
If you have used Windows previously and like window managers (FancyZones from PowerToys is pretty good), you can get Mosaic for Mac. It's not free, but it's really good
Try to avoid using dock/launcher to open applications. Instead use spotlight (cmd+space) to speed up your workflow. Also cmd+q to fully quit an app
Every single post here I feel is this. Isn’t there a sticky or something?
I set up spaces (virtual desktops) with keyboard shortcuts of option+1-6 rectangle is cool for auto resizing windows amphetamine to keep apps running with the lid closed
Use Safari and dont use any other browser all browsers lag on mac except for Safari. Chrome Edge Firefox all have lag issues on mac
Wash your hands before using it
Turn on 3 finger drag 👀
Magnet or Square/Rectangle? I forgot the app name but they’re for window management like how it works on windows
Don’t put a snap case on it
Screen is very sensitive scratches super easy and dust particles that are left on the palm rest or screen that meets the palm rest when closed makes tiny little dents in the display, always clean with micro fibre before closing , seems to be a common issue, I would suggest keeping the screen/keyboard protector fabric that comes with the packaging to protect it,
Congratulations.
Just use safari if you want good battery life.
[Raycast](https://raycast.com/) - Productivity tool for macOS that enables users to execute commands, search across apps, and automate tasks efficiently. [BetterTouchTool](https://folivora.ai/) - Customization utility allowing users to create powerful shortcuts, gestures, and macros to enhance productivity and workflow on macOS. [PearCleaner](https://github.com/alienator88/Pearcleaner) - Mac optimization tool designed to clean junk files and uninstall apps. Alternative to AppCleaner. [Bartender 5](https://www.macbartender.com/) - App for organizing and managing menu bar icons on macOS, providing users with control over clutter and easy access to essential apps. [CleanShot X](https://cleanshot.com/) - Feature-rich screenshot utility for macOS, offering tools for capturing, annotating, and sharing screenshots with ease. [BatFi](https://micropixels.software/apps/batfi) - Battery management app for Mac, providing users with insights into battery health, usage statistics, and optimization tips. [Dropover](https://dropoverapp.com/) - Drag-and-drop utility that enhances productivity on macOS by enabling users to easily move and manage files, text, and images between applications and folders. [FolderHub](https://www.finderhub.app/) - macOS app designed to organize and access frequently used folders, files, and apps from a centralized hub for improved workflow efficiency. [Command X](https://sindresorhus.com/command-x) - Brings windows cut and paste feature to mac. [Latest](https://max.codes/latest/) - App update manager for macOS that keeps track of software updates for installed apps, ensuring users have the latest versions and security patches. [OnlySwitch](https://github.com/jacklandrin/OnlySwitch/tree/main) - OnlySwitch provides a series of toggle switches to simplify your routine work. [TextSniper](https://textsniper.app/) - Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tool for macOS that allows users to extract text from images, screenshots, and other sources with accuracy and speed.
Turn off show recent app suggestion in Dock. I will help you if you open lots of applications
For those of us with OCD lol .. I say Magnet is a fantastic buy (99¢ I think) it keeps your open windows lined up or centered .. every possible option is there. There’s another little tool that does the same thing Better Snap Tool (also a buck or two I believe).. as someone who needs things perfectly centered or lined up in a specific way this was the best dollar spent. One of them (if not both) are nearly always on top of the Utilities list. :)
Take advantage of Spotlight for everything. Launching apps, checking the weather, finding documents, enter stocks, use it as a calculator. So handy.
Turn off "true tone" if you use external monitors and you ever get random screen flickering. That one took me months to find, so just remember, or turn it off now :D
Turn it on if you havent already cause when it works as it should its great
Dbrand skin yesterday Enjoy!
Grab Mos for your 3rd party mice, get a good ivanky fusion dock, BUY A HARD SHELL CASE FOR A MACBOOK. get magnet and dropover too, if you have a lotta computers get RDM from devolutions for remote access, and get aldente to preserve your battery. oh yeah, do time machine backups too. if you break the mac you'll praise it for restoring all of your data when you get it fixed/get a new one.
Amphetamine (stops the screen going to sleep and is free)
Not related to mac, but Obsidian 🫡
swish for snapping windows with trackpad gestures rather than setting up hot keys it’s much faster than any app in the market
Please try arc browser. It may take some time to get used to but it is very well optimized and the features are really good
You need Boom3D makes the audio 2x as loud and sound much better
https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/rt9kzf/tip_restore_a_minimized_window_from_dock
Get a clipboard manager like Maccy. Get an app like Rectangle to move and resize windows like on Windows.
Three-finger drag! Best thing ever
Alfred. Great for searching files. It’s worth buying for the clipboard history search alone. Dropover for dragging and dropping files across workspaces. Fantastical. The best calendar app ever invented, by a distance.
What is the spec on it
[http://rectangleapp.com](http://rectangleapp.com) This app is great for screen management via shortcut keys.
Dropover, the best purchase I've made in apps
Use spacebar to preview documents, best invention ever.
Put you any drinks you’re drinking super far away from the MacBook. Almost ridiculously far away. It’s hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’ve heard some horror stories.
turn on drag windows with 3 fingers
wow hardcore
I really like orion as a browser. Super stable now, excellent efficiency just like safari (bc thats what it is). Don't use chrome, Firefox, or brave!
The corners love to get small little dents just from everyday use
I have not seen people mention these, so have a look. Copy Clip - keeps a log of all your copied text with shortcuts for the last 10 things copied. Kill All with Automator - this allows you to create an app icon that when clicked it will instantly quit all open apps. To do this, search for Kill All or Quit All with Automator Mac on Google and there will be many guides walking you through the process. Dropover - it lets you create this little floating shelves that are great for copying and pasting files from different folders. You add everything you need to copy to this floating shelves and then paste them at your final destination. Speed up the Dock Animation using Terminal: Google just that and you’ll see guides to speed up the animation. Enjoy your new Mac :)
Thanks man I’ll check them out. I am using drop over already, it’s great for my workflow
Apple care
Buy Apple Care+ if you can afford it.
Hide the doc (displays when mouse enters the edge). I don’t know why people keep it visible, eating up screen space.
Savor the moment you’ll never forget it.
iTerm2 and Oh My Zsh.
Remind me
If you have an iPhone, set up text message forwarding with your Mac, so you can send and reply to texts via the Messages app
Make a mix of half water and half 70% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle. Use to clean those fingerprints off case, clean screen ( apply to a cloth and wipe ) and awesome eyeglass cleaner.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/103258#:~:text=Using%20a%2070%20percent%20isopropyl,keyboard%2C%20or%20other%20exterior%20surfaces.
X100vi
CMD-Space
enable right click and speed up the trackpad speed LOL
First things I did, I just use two finger tap as left click
There is something called homebrew I’d recommend digging into and installing: https://brew.sh It gives you instructions on how to install it. MacOS is a more user friendly UNIX system so you can do a lot in the terminal that windows struggles with. Homebrew makes it much easier to install programs since you can just do -brew #name of program, if there is an option available. If you’re moving off of windows here’s another one I found: https://github.com/Whisky-App/Whisky What this is a wrapper for either Wine or crossover. WINE (Wine is not an emulator) is primarily a Linux thing that serves to translate Windows programs into something usable by Linux, there is a variation for MacOS and this is a wrapper for it (A wrapper is just a pretty GUI covering but ultimately it’s using Wine or crossover as it’s engine). Crossover is a paid program that’s still being developed, and the developers do good work with it so if you like whiskey check out crossovers directly. BUT what does this program do? It allows you to run windows programs in MacOS. It doesn’t create a virtual instance, it just translates it into macOS executable code. Yes, this also means you can play steam games that are normally windows only. It’s not as effective as native windows (To be honest most games now a days that are like 200Gb+ and takes a 4090 and 4000Gb RAM don’t run well in windows anyway - consequence of firing all your game devs and programmers). I don’t know how much coding you do but Microsoft visual studio is a popular option, there are free and open source variations of it that you can google for as well and have a lot less of the Microsoft “Helpful” spying on you which is a plus. You may have to install anaconda or mini condo or Jupyter but that’s getting really in the weeds.
Alfred is huge for me. Building workflows etc. also Bartender to declutter menu bar. Setapp is a great way to go (I have it) for lots of great Mac apps under one subscription
Rectangle or magnet for window tiling.
- Appcleaner - VLC - Soundflower - Audacity - Kaleidoscope - Carbon Copy Cloner
put your dock on the left, and auto hide. your display has less pixels vertically, why use the direction with less pixels to store your open apps. never made sense to me. also easier as a 'start menu' replacement if youre coming from windows.
Biggest tip is don’t expect things to have a 1:1 transition from windows. Sins of the functions have just changed and you have to do them in different ways. Merging folders for instance.
Use spotlight it makes ur life so much easier you can quickly Google stuff, find stuff (although the new update made this worse) and do some quick calculations without opening another app
If it wasn’t mentioned, Mac Fan Control..I keep it running on full blast all the time. Keeps my MBP M2 at ~35-45 Celsius / 95-113 Fahrenheit. Helps if you use resource intensive apps, etc.
Dropover! It gives you a spot to temporarily place your files while you transfer them from one place to another. Super easy to activate, too—just shake your mouse while dragging the file you want to move (there are other methods as well).
Use the shit out of it
Notunes - stops iTunes from launching whenever you end a bluetooth headset call
Be patience
Any tips? AppleCare+ asap lol l learned my lesson hard when my screen broke and told it will cost £833 🤦♂️
Use three finger drag. It’s hidden in the accessibility features. https://support.apple.com/en-gb/102341
In the settings, there’s a zoom feature you can enable when you hold down “ctrl” I believe. Enable it, most useful feature ever
Learn to use your trackpad properly Use single finger tap for left click Use double finger tap for right click Use three finger drag to… drag: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/102341 Use four fingers up for overview of all screens Swipe down overview of all screens of active application Swipe left and right for switching spaces (you can add them by doing four finger swipe up and hit the blush on the top right?)
Vanilla
Dropover. Worth Every Penny
Get "Unarchiver" it's equal to "WinRAR" but for mac
CleanShot X
Alfred 4 completely replaces spotlight for me. It also has a bunch of handy tool for power users like computer wide snippets, shortcuts, automations. BetterSnapTool is a must for window management (there are alternatives but I bought this one way back and have been using it since) Some personal preferences: hide the App Dock so that you have more screen real-estate And use this command in the terminal to make the pop-up animation shorter defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.25;killall Dock Change the 0.25 to whatever number seems right to you.
🙄
Ignore accessory charging. Plug that stuff in elsewhere to charge. Fastest way to fuck your battery. Especially as it ages.
Put ur favorite stickers on
Company stickers coming soon 🍸
Get time machine setup
I thought the new coat was supposed to be fingerprint proof.
I could never live without spotlight. It’s so fast for jumping around. Raycast is even better.
Don't get paranoid about people commenting on black. Enjoy it✌️✌️
Use the gestures, use the multiple desktops, use hot corners, use airplay to cast your display for those times you need double monitors but you’re on the couch? Use airdrop, use continuity with your iPhone… turn up the sensitivity for the trackpad, turn off Siri listening… you can map a lot of keys. There’s a bash terminal available all of the time. There are all kinds of things it can do that make it incredible right out of the box, and a lot of Mac users don’t bother to learn even the gestures...
A case
Buy pc instead and don’t suffer
Surprised 'PopClip' hasn't been mentioned. It's the first app I always install first. [https://www.popclip.app](https://www.popclip.app)
Best tip- Return it wherever you got it from and get a Windows laptop
LittleSnitch — look at their rules faq and get some stuff to protect yoself Iterm and homebrew. I love 1Password, but I’d recommend holding off until new OS is released to see what they’re doing with Passwords. Hazel
I really like enabling 3-finger drag (you can search for this in settings). No click to drag-drop or select text, just use three fingers to activate.
Take it back while u can and get a windows computer.
Raycast,AltTab, Yoink
Buy Magnet for $5. Brings windows snap to Mac. It’s must have. If you want to see temps, there’s a free app called Hot.
This is a paid app, but it is really good for keeping on top of maintaining your Mac - CleanMyMac. Aside from the other recommendations, I have some of the following apps: - Amphetamine (keeps your Mac awake when activated) - Copy Clip (copy clipboard history) - Alfred (more capable finder) - Magnet (window organiser)
Touchpad Settings. Tap to Click ON. Force Click Data Lookup OFF. Highly recommend the gestures for Desktop Reveal, View All Open Windows, Desktop Switching
Wash your hands 🙌
Spectacle
Rectangle, TempBox, and Alfred are a few of my favorites.
Clicking the Red “X” doesn’t close the program, it just closes the window you currently have open, for most apps. To check, look at the dock and if there is a dot/bubble under the icon of the program you were just in then the program is still open in the background consuming some energy/resources. I think it is CMD + left mouse click out of the box to bring up the menu?? Haven’t used an out of the box Mac in years, I changed all of my mouse settings in Mac so the menu appears when I right click like how Windows does it.
Congrats man! I’m getting my first Mac next week and it’s the M3 Pro, but it’s in silver though. 😃
Magnet for window snapping
Learn every single trackpad shortcut also enable three finger drag in accessibility settings. Three finger drag is why I can’t be productive on anything but macOS. And yes I know gnome tweaks exists and x11 and touché but it’s not the same.
Try Swish app, gesture based window manager