guruTricks: Mac

Showing posts with label Mac. Show all posts

Thursday, November 16, 2017

How to Migrate All Your Data From Chrome to Firefox

Prashanth November 16, 2017 0

If you’re thinking about switching to Firefox Quantum—or at least trying to switch—Firefox makes it pretty easy. Firefox can import your bookmarks, saved passwords, browser history, and cookies directly from Google Chrome.
It can also import this data from Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer, if you use those instead.

Migrate Your Bookmarks, Passwords, History, and Cookies

Firefox normally prompts you to import data the first time you install it. However, if you had Firefox installed previously and now want to import data, you’ll need to launch the tool manually. The Import Browser Data tool is a little hidden—it’s under the Bookmarks Manager window.

To access the Bookmarks Manager, either click the Library icon on the toolbar and click Bookmarks > Show All Bookmarks, or press Ctrl+Shift+B.

Click the “Import and Backup” button on the toolbar and select “Import Data From Another Browser”. (If you just want to import bookmarks you’ve exported from Chrome or another browser as an HTML file, you can also just click “Import Bookmarks from HTML” here and then select the HTML file.)

Select “Chrome” in the Import Wizard and click “Next” to import data from Google Chrome. Ensure all Google Chrome browser windows are closed before you continue with the process.

You’ll be prompted to choose which data you want to import. If you’ve set up multiple Chrome browser profiles, you’ll first be asked which profile you want to import data from.
By default, Firefox will import Chrome’s Cookies, Browsing History, Saved Passwords, and Bookmarks. You can uncheck any of these options to only import some types of data.

Firefox will import the data and say it was imported successfully. Chrome’s bookmarks will be placed in “From Chrome” folders in your bookmarks menu and toolbar, but you can reorganize them however you like.

Download Your Add-ons

Firefox can’t import other data you may consider crucial, like your add-ons. You’ll have to hunt down equivalent extensions in the Firefox Add-ons gallery yourself.
If you use a popular add-on from a big company, there’s a good chance there’s a version of the extension for Chrome made by the same developer. Smaller, independent extensions may not be available for both browsers, but you’ll probably find an add-on that can do something similar.

Sync Your Firefox Browser Data Between Computers

Firefox has its own browser sync feature that can keep your data in sync across multiple PCs, phones, and tablets. You can check your Firefox Sync settings by clicking menu > Options > Firefox Account. If you haven’t yet signed in with a Firefox account, you can create one from here to start syncing your data.
Sign in with the same Firefox account on all your devices and your data will be synced between them, just like with Chrome. Firefox syncs open tabs, history, bookmarks, logins, add-ons, and preferences. So, once you set up Firefox once, it will sync your preferences to all your other PCs.

You can get this same data on your phone or tablet, too. Firefox offers apps for Apple’s iPhone and iPad as well as Google’s Android. They provide a way to access your Firefox bookmarks, open tabs, saved passwords, and history on your mobile devices, too.
Thankfully, with Firefox Quantum, Firefox now uses Google as the default search engine once again. Yahoo! is no longer the default, so you don’t have to worry about changing that.

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Mozilla ditches Yahoo, makes Google the default search engine for Firefox Quantum browser

Yahoo

Prashanth November 15, 2017 0

Yahoo had been Firefox's search engine for the past five years.

Mozilla today announced the biggest update for its web browser, Firefox. Now known as Firefox Quantum, Mozilla says that it’s “over twice as fast as Firefox from 6 months ago”. Firefox Quantum comes with a new layout, new features and is also optimized to consume less memory. The most surprising element in the launch of Firefox Quantum is, however, the integration of Google as the default search engine and not Yahoo.

Google had been Firefox’s default search engine since 2004, but back in 2014 Yahoo joined in. Although Google along with other search engines was built-in on Firefox, Yahoo became the default search engine. This deal was made after Yahoo paid over $300 million (approximately Rs 30 crores) a year, which was more than what Google offered to pay. However, now Google will be the default search engine for Firefox in the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Mozilla in a blog post says that the decision is part of the company’s ongoing search strategy announced in 2014. This online search strategy is “to evaluate and select the best search experience in each strategy in each region as opposed to having a single global default”.

With the new deal between Mozilla and Google, Yahoo isn’t happy with the change. Charles Stewart from Verizon (Yahoo’s new owner) was quoted by Bloomberg as saying, “Yahoo and Mozilla have enjoyed a productive relationship together since 2014. We are surprised that Mozilla has decided to take another path and we are in discussions with them regarding the terms of our agreement.” As of now, it is still unknown how much Google has offered to pay Mozilla for the search engine position.

Interestingly, Mozilla pits the new Firefox Quantum to be more than two times faster while using 30 percent less memory than Chrome. Primarily focusing on the speed, Mozilla says that it will eliminate the “Wait Face” that appears due to pages not loading, and videos not streaming.

Apple patches Wi-Fi vulnerability on iOS 11, macOS, tvOS, watchOS betas

watchOS

Prashanth October 18, 2017 0

WPA2 Wi-Fi security protocol was discovered with a vulnerability.

Just yesterday security vulnerabilities were discovered in WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access II). WPA2 is used in many modern Wi-Fi networks, and eventually affects devices including Android, Linux, Apple, Windows, OpenBSD, among others. Discovered by Mathy Vanhoef, the vulnerability could allow people access to your Wi-Fi traffic. Apple has now stated that the WPA2 vulnerability has already been patched on its OS platforms.

According to imore, Apple has confirmed that the exploit has been patched in the latest beta versions of iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and macOS. These betas are currently available to developers and public, and will soon be rolled out to consumers globally. The patch will come with third beta of iOS 11.1, tvOS 11.1 beta, and third public beta of watchOS 4.1. After the stable versions are rolled out, it will essentially keep Apple devices safe when connected to a Wi-Fi router for internet connectivity.

Apple has confirmed to me that #wpa2 #KRACK exploit has already been patched in iOS, tvOS, watchOS, macOS betas.

Deeper dive to follow.
— Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) October 16, 2017

The security vulnerability uses a key re-installation attack (KRACK) in WPA2 protocol. Using KRACK, attackers can hack into the Wi-Fi’s traffic allowing them to access sensitive information like credit and debit card details, usernames, passwords, and more. In essence, any kind of vulnerable information passed through is at risk of being exposed.

Considering how WPA2 is used to encrypt Wi-Fi connections, this vulnerability could lead to potential risks of data leaking. In an interview with The Guardian, Vanhoef said, “If your device supports Wi-Fi, it is most likely affected,” Vanhoef writes. “In general, any data or information that the victim transmits can be decrypted … Additionally, depending on the device being used and the network setup, it is also possible to decrypt data sent towards the victim (e.g. the content of a website).”

Content sent to websites that aren’t secured can be exploited by this vulnerability. Even websites with http can be exploited. It is advised that users do not connect to public Wi-Fi networks. You can opt for ethernet connections, and user VPN for browsing.

How to Convert a PDF File Into an Editable Text Document Using Google Drive

Windows

Prashanth October 13, 2017 0

Adobe’s PDF standard is handy whenever you need to distribute some information and be sure that it’s seen the same way by all recipients. But PDF files are also infamously tough to edit.

Unless you’ve paid for Adobe Acrobat (the full version, not just the Reader), you’ll have to look for a specific tool to edit the text of PDFs. Many of these are available on various platforms, but for an easy and free method that works across all kinds of desktops and mobile devices, you can use Google Docs.

If you have your PDF file ready, open drive.google.com in any browser and log in with your Google account. It’s possible to go through this process on mobile with a phone browser, so long as you do it in “desktop view,” but it’s going to be somewhat difficult—get to a full laptop or desktop PC if you can.

Upload your PDF file from your local files by clicking the blue “NEW” button on the left, then “File upload.” Select your PDF and wait for it to upload to Google’s server.

Once the file is in your drive, right-click or long-tap the item in Drive’s main view. Select “Open Open with,” then click “Google Docs.” The PDF document will open in a new browser tab in the Google Docs interface.

From here you can edit any of the text in the PDF document as if it were a standard word processor file. some of the formatting may be a bit off thanks to Docs’ interpretation of the images and spacing in the PDF file, but all of the formatted text should be visible and editable—if it’s a larger file, Docs will even create an automatic outline separated into pages.

You can edit any of the text in this window and save your work online in Google Docs for later. If you’d rather have a standard document file for an offline word processor, click “File,” then “Download as.” Here you can choose from Docx, ODT, TXT, RTF, and other formats, so you can open them in Microsoft Office (or your word processor of choice).

Click on the one you want, and it will immediately be downloaded to your default desktop or phone folder. That’s it! You now have a saved, editable copy of your original PDF, compatible with any word processor.

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How to recall sent mails on Gmail

Windows

Prashanth October 10, 2017 0

Here’s how the feature works, and how you can enable it.

How many times have you sent an email to the wrong person, and then every cell in your body wished – what if you could just make it stop? I have been through this a few times, and it could have been worst blunders ever. And to save you from that blunder, two years ago, Google rolled out an ‘Undo send’ feature on Gmail. As the name suggests, it lets you undo your blunder email. Though an old feature, a lot of people are still unaware of its existence, and some are unsure how to enable it. And so, in this article we will tell you how this feature really works, and take you through a step-by-step process of enabling it.

To begin with, it is important to understand that the undo feature, essentially gives a user a buffer time of 5-30 seconds (depending on the settings) to retrieve a sent email. Post the chosen time, the email cannot be undone or retrieved. If you are wondering why your Gmail does not show the feature, even when it has been around for two years, it’s because you need the enable it in Gmail settings. Here’s how to go about it.

To begin with, you need to sign in to your Gmail account. Now, on the top right corner, click on the ‘gear’ icon, and from the drop-down list choose ‘Settings’.

From there, scroll down a little till you spot the ‘Undo Send’ option. Here, check the box next to it to enable the feature, and select the ‘Send cancellation period’, which is essentially the time bracket you have at hand to retrieve your email before it is permanently sent.

Scroll down a bit more and save your changes. And done! Your undo feature is now enabled.

After you have enabled the feature, each time you send an email, right on top of your inbox, you will see a pop-up notification, which will give you an option to either undo or view your message. The notification will show up for a few seconds, depending on the time chosen in the settings post which, the email will be sent permanently. Within that time, if you tap on unsend, the email will immediately be retrieved, and your compose box will reopen.

Do note, when you enable the ‘undo send’ feature, the time taken for the email to be delivered will also be delayed by the amount of buffer time you choose.

{BGR}

macOS High Sierra roll out today: 10 features to look forward to

Updates

Prashanth September 25, 2017 0

The new macOS is coming today. Here’s a look at compatible Macs, and the operating system’s features.

After rolling out iOS 11 and watchOS 4 last week, Apple will be rolling out macOS High Sierra later tonight. The new Mac OS comes with iterative updates, and a focus on under the hood upgrades. Here’s a look at a list of compatible Macs that can be updated to High Sierra, and a list of features worth looking forward to.

macOS High Sierra compatibility

For updating to High Sierra, you will need to have one of the following Macs. MacBook (2009 or later), MacBook Air (2010 or later), MacBook Pro (2010 or later), Mac mini (2010 or later), Mac Pro (2010 or later) or iMac (Late 2009 or later).

macOS High Sierra: Top-10 features

With High Sierra, Apple is focusing more on boosting Mac’s performance, as well as overall productivity. As the Apple website claims, “New technologies at the heart of the system make your Mac more reliable, capable and responsive — and lay the foundation for future innovations. macOS High Sierra also refines the features and apps you use every day. It’s macOS at its highest level yet.”

Here are the top features on the new macOS High Sierra:

Apple File System: Among the biggest changes on High Sierra is a new file system, called Apple File System or APFS. This file system is optimized for SSDs and flash storage on the new Macs, and according to Apple, it is ‘faster, efficient and focuses on both security and encryption’.

HEVC video codec: Apple has introduced a new codec for high-res videos, called HEVC or H.265. This codec can basically compress videos by up to 40 percent when compared to current standards. Apple also claims that the compression is done without loss in video quality.

Powerful photo editor: Apple has improved its Photos app with the inclusion of new editing tools. These include the ability to tweaking a photo’s color, contrast, curves, and more. There is also a compare button for easy reference of before and after photos.

FaceTime Live Photos: Apple has added a new interactive element to FaceTime. So if your friend is doing something crazy, you can record it as a Live Photo. You can use the Photos app to turn these live photos into loop clips, bounce clips, or long exposure-style shots.

Safari reading mode: Apple’s native browser has been given quite a boost in its performance. Some of the new features include a new reading mode. In this mode, which removes all the annoying elements from a web page, and only leaves the text and multimedia to give a nice reading experience.

Blocking auto-playing videos: Another welcome feature on Safari is its ability to block auto-playing videos. This is really helpful, as quite a few websites have small videos embedded somewhere deep in the page that automatically start playing. While helpful, Safari does allow you to choose what websites can auto-play videos.

Mail search and split view: The Mail app on macOS will now consume up to 35 percent less space. Other improvements include a Top Hits panel in search. Powered by Spotlight, this analyzes your mails based on your interactions and makes them more visible in search. There’s also a new split view mode in Mail. This essentially lets you open a compose window on one side, while checking mails simultaneously.

Enhanced iMessage: iMessage on iOS 11 has been given a big upgrade. On macOS, the messaging app gets a much-awaited feature. On High Sierra, iMessage is more in sync with its iOS counterpart. In other words, when you delete a message on your iPhone, it disappears from the Mac app as well.

Improved Universal Clipboard: While copy-pasting stuff across iOS and macOS is not new, Apple has improved its universal clipboard feature. High Sierra allows users to copy stuff between two Macs running on the latest OS – as long as they are using the same Apple iCloud account.

DJ Siri: Siri has also massively improved on High Sierra. For one, the voice assistant can now work as your personal DJ. In essence, you can ask Siri to ‘play some music’. You can also ask it to play a song from some specific genre. Needless to say, you need an Apple Music subscription for this to work.

Apple iOS 11, macOS High Sierra, watchOS 4, tvOS 11 release dates revealed

watchOS

Prashanth September 15, 2017 0

Here are the dates when you will be able to update your Apple devices to the latest operating systems.

Last night, Apple made some big announcements. To begin with, three new iPhones were unveiled – iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the anniversary edition iPhone X. Also launched at the event was the latest Apple Watch Series 3, which is the first in the series to come with an LTE support. However, beside these products, Apple also announced the software that will be powering these devices. Which means, Apple also revealed release dates for the iOS, watchOS, macOS and tvOS updates.

iOS 11

iOS 11 is definitely the most anticipated update. In fact, considering the hole iPhone X could burn in your pocket, iOS 11 is what many were looking forward to from the event. With the new iOS 11, Apple sort of made a U-turn on some of its long-held rules for its touch-based platform. And that includes a dock that more closely resembles the macOS version, the ability to drag and drop between apps, and a file manager of sorts. iOS 11 will start rolling out to all supported devices starting September 19.

watchOS 4

Beside iOS, the new watchOS update was announced too. Now, of course the update won’t add cellular connectivity to your Watch Series 2, but it comes with a bunch of new features for older Apple Watch generations, including a Siri watch face. There are also new Workout and News apps to be found. Along with iOS 11, watchOS 4 also rolls out on September 19.

macOS High Sierra

Not among the most prominent announcements from yesterday’s event, but macOS High Sierra is surely highly-anticipated. The new macOS brings a touch of refinement to the desktop platform. While perhaps not as grandiose as the Sierra launch, High Sierra still has significant changes, especially under the hood, with the introduction of Apple’s new APFS file system for starters. macOS High Sierra rolls out on September 25.

tvOS 11

Apple also unveiled the new tvOS with a redesigned UI, which comes with a dedicated sports tab. For instance in the sports section, users can see real-time scores next to the preview of a game’s videos. Apple said that the tvOS 11 will be available starting September 19, alongside watchOS 4 and iOS 11. The update will arrive via OTA.

{BGR}

How to Use Google Allo on PC and Mac

Windows

Prashanth August 31, 2017 0

It’s been almost a year since Google launched Allo and Duo, as its primary chatting and video calling applications. While Duo has been an instant hit, the same cannot be said about Allo. There are a couple of reasons why Allo could not match its launch expectations. Firstly, the instant messaging app market is already crowded with some really great apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. And although Allo brings a ton of cool new features (like incognito chat, self-destructive messages, awesome stickers, and more), it also lacks some basic functionalities, which has held the app back. For instance, until recently, there was no desktop client for Allo. Technically, there isn’t one even now, but Google has just launched a web version of the app (just like WhatsApp did in the past) which allows you to use it on PC and Mac.

Although it’s not the same as having the native desktop apps, still, it is better than having nothing at all. In this article, we are going to show you how to use the web version of the app and while we are at it, we will also give you some tips as to how to convert the web version into a standalone web app for your desktop. So, if you are an Allo user, or someone who didn’t consider it just because it lacked a desktop version of the app, read the article to find out, how to use Allo app on PC and Mac:

Things to Know Before Using Allo on Web

Allo has just been released as a web app and you might think that you only need a web browser to access it, but you would be wrong. Right now, even the web app comes with certain restrictions. Currently, the web version of the Allo app can only be accessed if you own an Android phone. However, the support for iPhones is coming soon. Also, the web app is only supported on the Chrome browser. If you use any other browser and don’t have Chrome on your desktop, go the link and download and install the app. All right, now that you know these things, lets start the tutorial.

Use Allo on Chrome

Since the methodology for using Allo on Chrome will be the same, irrespective of the OS you are using, there’s no point in showing it twice. So, doesn’t matter whether you are a Mac or a Windows user, this is how you do it.

1. Open the Chrome browser on your desktop and visit the Allo web app page.

2. Now, launch the Allo app on your Android smartphone and tap on the hamburger menu. Here, tap on “Allo for web” option.

3. Now, scan the QR code present on the browser tab by tapping on the “SCAN QR CODE” button on your phone and pointing the camera to the browser.

4. As soon as scan the code, you will be logged into your account and be able to use the Allo app on your desktop.

Create Allo Web App for Windows

As I mentioned in the introduction, apart from showing how to use the web version of the Allo app, I will also help you create a desktop app which will work as a stand alone app. Now, I should point out that, it won’t be a native app and will just use the Chrome browser as its base. But, it will run in its own window and will sport the Allo’s app icon too. It is pretty cool that we can do that, as it allows us to use the Allo app without having to open our Chrome browser just for its stake.

1. Chrome natively allows you to create a windowed app version of any website on the Windows OS. To do that for Allo, first, complete the first part of the tutorial and login to your Allo account.

2. Now, on Chrome (while you are on the Allo tab), click on the 3-dot menupresent on the top-right corner of the browser and go to More tools -> Add to Desktop and click on it.

3. Now, you will see a popup card where you can rename the app. Before you hit the Add button, remember to ensure that “Open as Window” option is checked on.

4. As soon as you click on the Add button, you will find the Allo app icon on your desktop. You can double-click to open the app, as you would with any other app.

5. Just to be sure that it works, here is a picture of the app working on a different window. You can see that, there’s an icon for the Allo app beside the Chrome icon.

6. You can also right click on the icon to add it to either the Start menu or the Taskbar for quick access.

Create Allo Web App For Mac

Chrome doesn’t allow you to do the same on macOS due to its restrictions hence we will have to use a third party app to do that. Thankfully, I know just the app for that, so let’s get started, shall we?

1. Download and install the “Coherence 5” app (free to create 4 web apps) by clicking on the link. Now launch the app. This is how the app looks after it is launched.

2. Now, fill up the required fields. The name section is where the name of the app goes, and the URL section will host the website URL of the web version of the Allo. For your convenience, I have linked the Allo’s website URL here. Just copy and paste it in the required field.

3. Now, before you hit the Next button, click on the “Get favicon” button to get the logo for the Allo app. Conversely, you can even upload your own logo (by clicking on the browse button and selecting the logo file), if you want to.

4. Now keep clicking on the Next button till you reach the screen shown in the picture below. Here, click on the “Standard App” button to create your app. As soon as click on the button, a pop card will inform you that your app has been created.

5. Now, as you can see that the Allo app lives along side other apps on my Mac. It will just behave like a normal app. You can search for it in the Spotlight, find it inside the application folder, and so on. Launch the app, as you normally do.

6. When you launch the app, you will have to login into it before you can use it. Just scan the QR code with your Allo app (just like in the Chrome tutorial). This is how the app looks on my desktop.

17 Cool Mac Tricks You Should Know

Mac

Prashanth August 27, 2017 0

No one can deny the fact that macOS is a great operating system. Since I bought my first Mac, I have fallen in love with it and have never looked back. Although I have been using a Mac since last two to three years, I am always fascinated by its hidden features which I keep on finding, time and again. Especially with the macOS updates, like macOS Sierra and macOS High Sierra bringing some great hidden features. In fact, over time I have built a list of Mac tricks which are not only cool but also practical when it comes to regular day-to-day use. Today, I am going to share this list with you. Some of you might already know some of the tricks on the list but I am pretty sure none of you will know all of them. So, if you are ready to learn something new about your Mac, here are 17 cool Mac tricks you may not know:

Cool Mac Tricks You Should Know

1. Show Full File Path In Finder

When I first moved from the Windows to the macOS system, the thing which frustrated me the most was its file organisation structure. I always knew where my files were on my Windows machine as I could categorise the files in different drives and folders. Since the Finder saves all the files in one drive and the only way you could organise files is by creating folders, it becomes confusing especially for the new users. Moreover, unlike Windows, there’s no file path shown in the Finder window which makes it harder to navigate.

Fortunately, there’s a way using which you can the file path in the Finder window. To do that, open the Terminal app, copy and then paste the following command, and hit return/enter.

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES; killall Finder

Now you will be able to see the file path in the Finder window (look at the pictures for clarity). To go back to the original setting just replace the word “YES” with “NO” in the code block.

2. Batch Rename Files

In my work, I have to take a lot of screenshots and renaming them one by one can be a pain. I am sure, at some point in time, you might also have felt the need of renaming multiple files. Well if you did, there’s an easy way to do that on your Mac. Just select all the files and right click (control+click). Now, Select the “Rename X items” from the right click menu.

You will now see a drop down menu where you can select the format and choose your naming scheme. If you can’t see the format option (you might see “Replace or Add Text”option), just click on the menu item and select “Format”. Look at the picture below for more clarity.

3. Lock Your Mac with Keyboard Shortcut (Needs High Sierra)

Another cool Windows feature which was missing in macOS was the lack of a keyboard shortcut to lock your device. The only way to lock your Mac was to make it sleep. The major problem for me because of this was that I had to keep my Mac unlocked while I was downloading something which is not an ideal situation. But, now with macOS High Sierra, you get the option to lock your Mac with a keyboard shortcut. To lock your Mac, just hit “Command+Control+Q” and it will lock your device. Alternatively, you can also access the picture by clicking on the Apple menu.

4. Create Smart Folder To Automatically Categorise Files

Smart Folders are a feature that most of the Mac users know about but rarely use. However, I would argue that they can be very useful if you know how to utilise them. For example, I have a Smart Folder which pulls all the written documents created in the last week and keep it there. Thus, my writing folder is not cluttered while still giving me access to previous weeks files. In the same way, I have a folder which saves all the pictures (screenshots) taken in the last 24 hours. You can design the Smart Folder as per your work type.

To create a Smart Folder, open Finder, click on the file menu and select “New Smart Folder”. You will see a folder open where you can set rules as per requirement. To add rules click on the (+) icon. For example, I have my rules set to show all files which have been created in last one week (1st rule) which are documents (2nd rules). It might take a little time to utilise the Smart Folders but once you do you will never go back.

5. Quickly Type Emojis on Mac

Emojis are loved by almost everyone. This is a craze which is refusing to die. Although, you might have known that you can use emojis on your Mac, did you know that you could fetch them with a simple keyboard shortcut, I didn’t think so. To get to emoji keyboard, just hit the following key combo, “Control+Command+Space” and the emojis will appear out of nowhere.

6. Enhance Your Spotlight Search

For me, Spotlight is the key to my productivity on my Mac. It allows me to quickly find files and launch programs which otherwise would take a lot of time. We all search for things in the Spotlight by typing the full name, but there’s even a quicker way to do that. Instead of typing the name, you can just type the initials of the app or the file you are searching for. For example, you can type “AS” for App Store, GB for Garage Band, and so on.

One cool thing which might not that be practical but is fun to use is searching in the Spotlight using emojis. Yes. you read that right. You can type emojis in your spotlight to search. For example, you can use the pizza emoji to find pizza places near you. Not really useful, but still a fun trick to check out.

7. Enable Double Tap To Insert Period (Needs Sierra)

Something which I like about smartphone keyboards is that they use unconventional ways to make your typing experience smoother and quicker. One of the features that help in doing that is the double tapping on the space button to insert a period. Well, if you wanted that feature on your Mac, there’s a way you can do that. Just go to, System Preferences->Keyboard->Text and enable the “Add period with double-space” option.

8. Change Dock’s Hiding and Showing Animation

The Terminal is a very handy tool which can be used to change a ton of features on the Mac. The next few tricks will be utilising the Terminal on the Mac, so let’s get started with the first one. Most of the users who want to utilise the full desktop space tend to keep their dock hidden. However, the animation to show the dock is pretty slow. Thankfully, using a simple command line you can speed up the animation or totally remove it if you want to. To disable the animation, open the Terminal and paste the following command and hit enter/return.

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -int 0;killall Dock

To speed up the animation, use the following command.

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.12;killall Dock

To go back to the original settings, paste the following command.

defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier;killall Dock

Unfortunately, I cannot show the results in a picture, so try it out for yourself and decide on the one you want to keep.

9. Keep The Mac Awake

We all know that Mac’s go to sleep after a little while of inactivity and most of the time it is good as it saves power. But, when you are downloading a large file the same feature becomes irritating, to say the least. Of course, you could go to System Preferences and change the settings but it takes a lot of time and you have to change the settings again after you are done. However, you can do the same thing easily by using a simple Terrminal command.

Caffeinate -i -t 'time in seconds'

Now, the Mac will not sleep for the amount of time you have specified in your code. Remember the time is entered in seconds so calculate accordingly.

10. Change Screenshot File Type

The Screenshots you take on your Mac are saved in the PNG format. Although there are a lot of advantages of using PNG files (for example, they are lossless), they also come with a major drawback. PNG files are generally much larger in size as compared to other file formats such as JPG. JPG files take less space while retaining almost the same image quality. This also makes them the go-to format for sharing around the internet. Using a simple Terminal command, you can tell your Mac to save the screenshots in the format you want. For taking a screenshot in JPG format, use the following command.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

You can also save the screenshot directly in the PDF format. Just replace the word jpg in the command line with PDF or PNG to go back to the default format.

11. Know Which Apps Are Hidden

I always prefer the hiding function in the macOS over the minimising function as the hiding function allows me to bring back the app by just using the “Command+Tab” keyboard shortcut, something I cannot do if I have minimised the app. However, if you have kept a lot of apps on your dock, there’s no way to exactly know which of them are hidden just by looking at it. An easy way you can use to identify the hidden apps is by using the following Terminal command:

defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool TRUE; killall Dock

Now, whenever you hide an app’s window the app’s icon will be a little greyed out as shown in the picture. If you look closely you can see that the Terminal and the Safari icon are a little bit greyed out. To revert back, just replace the word TRUE with FALSE inside the code.

12. Use Siri To Get More Things Done (Needs Sierra)

At first glance, Siri might not seem that useful on the macOS. However, it can make your life easier if you let it. You can change system preferences, send out a tweet, search on the web, pin the results of your search on the “Today Panel”, and do so much more. To add the search results to your “Today Panel”, just click on the + sign present at the top of the result.

Also, macOS High Sierra allows you to type to Siri which according to me is a more convenient method if you are on a Mac. To enable type to Siri, go to System Preferences->Accessibility->Siri and enable “Type to Siri”.

13. Advance Multi-text Selection

If you want to select multiple blocks of text and paste it somewhere else, you don’t have to do it separately for each block. Just hold the Command button and select the blocks you want to and then copy it.

Now when you paste the text anywhere all the text blocks will be pasted together just as shown in the picture.

14. Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are one of the most important tools in a Mac user’s arsenal. They allow you to get more work done without even lifting your fingers away from the keyboard. Although, apps come with their own inbuilt keyboard shortcuts, did you know you can create your own shortcuts for any app? I love this feature as it has helped me to improve my productivity by getting the things done quicker.

For example, there’s no keyboard shortcut for resizing photos in the preview app and since I use that function a lot, I created one for myself. To create a shortcut go to System Preferences->Keyboard->Shortcuts->App Shortcut. Now click on the + button and follow the instruction on the screen to create your own shortcut.

15. Sign Documents Using TrackPad

Did you know that you can easily sign documents on your Mac digitally? There’s no reason to print the whole document, sign it, scan it, and then uploading it. Just open the PDF in Preview and click on the markup button. Now select the signature option and then Trackpad. Here, you can record your signature and then drag and drop it in the signature field.

16. Drag Picture-in-Picture Mode Player Anywhere (Needs Sierra)

Apple introduced the Picture-in-Picture mode in Safari with macOS Sierra. If you do not know how to use this feature, it is pretty simple. Whenever you are playing a video in Safari, just double right click on the video and select the picture-in-picture mode option.

However, the only problem with this function was that the window only snapped to any of the four corners. If you want to snap the window to anywhere on the desktop just hold the ‘Command’ button while moving it. That way the window will remain in the position where you left it and won’t snap to any corner.

17. Minutely Control Brightens And Volume

The function rows at the top of your keyboard come in very handy when changing the brightness or the volume on your Mac. However, there’s one problem which I encounter when using those keys. The first few steps tend to make no difference while the last few seem to pack the 50-70% of the output. If you want to control the volume or the brightness more minutely just hold Shift+Option while changing them. Now the change will occur at a quarter of the step one time, giving you more control over them.

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1. Show Full File Path In Finder

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3. Lock Your Mac with Keyboard Shortcut (Needs High Sierra)

4. Create Smart Folder To Automatically Categorise Files

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8. Change Dock’s Hiding and Showing Animation

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12. Use Siri To Get More Things Done (Needs Sierra)

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14. Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

15. Sign Documents Using TrackPad

16. Drag Picture-in-Picture Mode Player Anywhere (Needs Sierra)

17. Minutely Control Brightens And Volume

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