RyanJM

Setting Up a New Mac

· · Tech

I put together an in-depth video around how I setup a new Mac and... there is a lot. Here is a recap of everything I covered:

  • Dock
    • Clean up apps to show only apps you use
    • Position it on the left
    • Make a little smaller
    • Make sure downloads folder is:
      • sorted by date modified
      • displayed as a stack
      • view contents as a grid - ensures that items can be quickly dragged out
  • Activity Monitor > Icon show CPU usage - I'm probably going to get rid of this due to the M1 Max.
  • Setup spaces (three fingers swipe up on the track pad)
    • First space is dedicated to email
    • Second is to my current work
    • Third is for music
  • System Settings
    • Desktop & Screen Saver > Add folder of your images, rotate every 30 minutes and random order
    • Dock & Menu Bar > (uncheck) Show recent applications in Dock
    • Mission Control > Turn off rearrange Spaces
    • Mission Control > Hot Corner > Top right: Desktop (I'm probably going to remove the Quick Note hot corner)
    • Accessibility > Zoom > Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom (using Control)
    • Security & Privacy > General > Use Apple Watch
    • Sound > Sound Effects > Turn off: Play sound on startup
    • Sound > Sound Effects > Turn off: Play user interface sound effects
    • Touch ID > Add other fingers
    • Keyboard > Modifier Keys... > Change Caps Lock to Control
    • Keyboard > Text - text expansion. I normally use a different program for this. I'll talk about this in the next video.
    • Keyboard > Shortcuts > Mission Control > Switch to Desktop 1...3
    • Trackpad > More Gestures > App Expose
    • Displays - if you have an external monitor you can move the bar over to specify the "main screen" which will be where the desktop icons show up. I normally have this on my larger screen.
      • Display Settings > True Tone. This will mess with your colors.
      • Night Shift will adjust things as well. I use a third party app (flux) for this so I turn it off.
    • (skipped in the video) Setup Printers and Time Machine if you have them
  • Finder
    • Right click on the Desktop:
      • Stack by kind
      • Sort by date added
      • Show view options - can change the icon size
    • Preferences
      • General
        • Show external disks on Desktop
        • New finder window to show the home folder
      • Sidebar
        • Customize side bar - showing pictures and movies
        • Removing recent tags
      • Advanced
        • Perform search in current folder
    • View > Show Path Bar
      • You can also control click the title bar to get the path
    • Quick walk through of Finder
      • Can change how to view files and folders (List, Column, Icon, Gallery)
      • Ability to sort files (right click Sort By)
      • Ability to group them by last modified or file type (Group By icon in toolbar)
      • Can customize toolbar
      • Hidden files (Control+Shift+G)
  • Archive Utility Preferences
    • After expanding: move archive to Trash
  • Sign into App Store - go through your list of purchased apps and install them
    • I also find it useful to go through the Applications folder on my old Mac and go through it to make sure I have all my needed up (and skip installing apps I haven't used in the past 6 months)

Shortcuts

It is important to me to focus on work and not be distracted by selecting apps from the Dock or hunting through menus to find a particular command. I am always thinking about the tasks I repeatedly do throughout a day and then try to find ways to eliminate those repetitions through automation or find shortcuts to make it faster. I especially try to avoid my mouse/trackpad when I can. The keyboard is usually always faster.

Here is a quick key of the shortcut symbols:

  • Control: Ctrl
  • Option: Opt
  • Command: Cmd
  • Shift: Shift
  • Arrow keys: Left/Up/Down/Right
  • Tab: Tab
  • Delete: Delete
  • Space: Space
  • Globe (fn key): Globe

Any app

  • Any app
    • Preferences: Cmd+,
    • Help: Cmd+Shift+/ (easier to think of this as Cmd+?) - quickly search for a particular command
    • Quit: Cmd+Q
    • Full screen: Cmd+Ctrl+F
    • Find (for many apps): Cmd+F
  • Text editing (think of Opt as modifier for words and Cmd for the entire line and Shift to select):
    • Move by a word: Opt+Right OR Opt+Left
    • Jump to the front of the line (home): Cmd+Left OR Ctrl+A (Emacs binding)
    • Jump to the end of the line (end): Cmd+Right
    • Delete letter to the right of cursor: Ctrl+D
    • Delete word: Opt+Delete
    • Delete an entire line: Cmd+Delete
    • Select word: Opt+Shift+Right OR Opt+Shift+Left
    • Select line up/down: Shift+Down OR Shift+Up
    • Select whole line (starting at end or beginning of the line): Cmd+Shift+Left OR Cmd+Shift+Right
    • Select to the beginning or end of the document: Cmd+Shift+Up OR Cmd+Shift+Down
    • Emoji: Cmd+Ctrl+Space (or on the new keyboards: Globe)
  • Text edit - plain text toggle: Cmd+Shift+T
  • Spotlight: Cmd+Space
  • App switcher: Cmd+Tab
    • To go right on the list: Tab
    • To go left on the list: `
    • Closing windows: Q
  • Windows switching
    • Switch between open windows within the app: Cmd+`
    • Close window: Cmd+W
    • Close the entire app: Cmd+Q
  • Saving files: Cmd+S
    • Switch to saving to the desktop: Cmd+D
  • Changing spaces: Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, Ctrl+3, Ctrl+Left, Ctrl+Right
    • Seeing all of them: Ctrl+Up
    • Seeing all open windows for an app: Ctrl+Down
    • Moving windows between spaces: click and hold window and use Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, or Ctrl+3
  • Finder
    • Quick view (when you have an item selected): Space
    • Delete item: Cmd+Delete
    • Get info: Cmd+I - Good for seeing how big something is
    • Show View Options: Cmd+J - used to make sure certain folders always open a particular way
    • Go to path: Cmd+Shift+G - this was recently redesigned and it looks great
    • Eject: Cmd+E
  • Screenshots: Cmd+Shift+4
    • To capture the entire window: Space
    • For more controls and to take video: Cmd+Shift+5
      • You can also customize where things are saved here
  • Dock
    • Moving its position: Opt+Shift + drag with mouse
    • Hide: Cmd+Opt+D
  • System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts - take a look through these
  • Accessibility - Zoom In: Ctrl + two finger swipe up/down
  • Tip for the trackpad: Act as if there is still a button. Use your thumb as a "button" and use your index finger to drag items around.
    • System Preferences > Trackpad > Force Click and haptic feedback
      • If you hard click on a word it'll pull up the definition but you can do this by right clicking on it, so I normally turn this off.

Hope that helps! There are a bunch more text editing shortcuts, but this covers the ones I use 90% of the time. Keep an eye out for actions you repeat often and then look online to see if you can find a shortcut for it.