Bought a Mac? FIRST 10 THINGS TO DO!

Introduction

Congratulations on your new Mac! This tutorial will guide you through the first ten essential customizations to enhance your Mac experience right after purchase. These steps will help you personalize your setup, improve productivity, and make your Mac feel truly yours.

Step 1: Master Finder Hacks

• Open Finder and familiarize yourself with the interface.
• Use the Command + N shortcut to open a new Finder window.
• Organize your files using Tags to easily categorize and find documents.
• Enable "Show Path Bar" from the View menu to see the file path at the bottom of the window.

Step 2: Clean Up Your Menubar

• Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups.
• Click on your user account and select Login Items.
• Remove unnecessary startup applications to declutter your menubar.
• Consider using apps like Bartender to manage and hide less-used icons.

Step 3: Customize Your Dock

• Right-click (or Control-click) on the Dock to access Dock Preferences.
• Drag and drop your most-used applications into the Dock for easy access.
• Adjust Dock size and magnification settings to suit your preference.
• Set the Dock to automatically hide for a cleaner desktop view.

Step 4: Implement Trackpad Hacks

• Open System Preferences > Trackpad.
• Enable gestures like "Swipe between pages" and "Mission Control" to speed up navigation.
• Adjust tracking speed to find a comfortable setting for your use.

Step 5: Set Up Hot Corners

• Go to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Hot Corners.
• Assign actions to each corner of your screen (e.g., Mission Control, Start Screen Saver).
• Be mindful of accidental activations; consider functions that won’t disrupt workflow.

Step 6: Keep the Desktop Clean

• Create folders to organize files and reduce clutter on your desktop.
• Use the "Stack" feature to group similar files automatically.
• Set a regular schedule to review and clean your desktop items.

Step 7: Prevent Files from Opening in the Wrong App

• Right-click on a file and select Get Info.
• Under "Open with," choose the desired application and click "Change All" to apply this to similar files.
• This ensures files always open in the correct application.

Step 8: Declutter Screenshots

• Change the default save location for screenshots by opening Terminal and entering:

  defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop/Screenshots
  killall SystemUIServer
  

• This organizes screenshots into a dedicated folder, making them easier to find.

Step 9: Disable Opening Safe Files After Download

• Open Safari and go to Preferences > General.
• Uncheck the option "Open 'safe' files after downloading" to prevent automatic opening of files, keeping your workflow uninterrupted.

Step 10: Make Use of Widgets

• Access widgets by clicking on the date and time in the upper right corner of the screen.
• Add widgets that are useful for your daily tasks (e.g., weather, calendar).
• Customize your widget view to ensure quick access to important information.

Conclusion

By following these ten steps, you'll enhance your Mac's functionality and tailor it to better fit your workflow. Take some time to explore each setting and customize further based on your preferences. Enjoy your new Mac experience!