by There are plenty of tips and tricks for keeping us savvy with our MacBooks and iMacs, but there are also some easy elements that can help us do more of what we need and want with ease.
We’ve uncovered five lesser known tricks for our Mac that’ll make you wish you knew them all along.
More Protection
Though Mac is one of the safest devices around, the majority of Mac security issues stems from third party software, not OS X itself. Java, which is active in many browsers by default and used in some web applications (but rarely by Mac) is responsible for most of Mac security issues. To avoid this, simply disable it. In Safari, click on Preferences, then Security and uncheck the box next to “Enable Java”. For Firefox, go to Tools, then Add-ons, then Plugins, then click the Disable button next to Java. And for Chrome, type chrome://plugins/ in the URL bar and click the Disable link under Java.
Familiarize with Finder
Finder is useful when, well, you want to “find” something… but also when searching for information, attachments, and staying organized. The window into the Mac’s file system, knowing the keyboard shortcuts can save time to perform specific actions. These are the ones to know:
Command + W Close the current Finder window. (The command key is the key with the cloverleaf symbol.)
Option + Command + W Close all Finder windows.
Command + Right Arrow In list view, expands the highlighted folder
Command + Left Arrow In list view, collapses the highlighted folder.
Option + Command + Right Arrow In list view, expands the highlighted folder and all subfolders.
Command + Up Arrow In list view, opens the parent folder.
Command + Down Arrow In list view, opens the selected folder.
Password Protection
If you’re to install one application, most folks would recommend one involving protection. 1Password is a good one; it is a handy password manager that compiles passwords and serial numbers for various sites and services you use daily or often on your Mac. 1Password creates strong, unique passwords for you, remembers them, and restores them, all directly in your web browser. Even better, users can install the free service Dropbox (which we also love and recommend), and can easily keep 1Password in sync on all of all computers and mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, and even PCs and Android.
Take Advantage of AirDrop
If you’re in a Mac-driven office, this is definitely a tip you’ll use. Instead of resorting to emailing files or using a USB stick, AirDrop is far more convenient. Activate AirDrop in the Mac’s “Go” menu under the Finder, then your Mac will scan the network for other Macs that also have AirDrop turned on (make sure the recipient has it on, as well). When it finds one, you can drag and drop a file from your desktop onto their AirDrop icon; they need to accept the file, and the transfer will begin. Once the transfer is completed, the file will land in the recipient’s Downloads folder.
Go Mouseless
When my mouse broke, I got a Magic Mouse. But when that broke, too, I didn’t want to shell out the cash for another and decided to become a master of my trackpad. The hardest thing to wrap my head around was the “right-click”, but then I discovered four different ways to do it.
Method 1: Press and hold “control”, then click anywhere on the trackpad.
Method 2: Click on the trackpad with two fingertips instead of one fingertip.
Method 3: Click on the Apple, then System Preferences, then Trackpad, then select “Point & Click”. Next, click on “Click or tap with two fingers” under the “Secondary click” menu. This will allow you to click in the bottom right corner of the trackpad or…
Method 4: …the bottom-left corner of the trackpad.
