macOS offers excellent features that help improve user experience to a great extent. No matter what version you are using, Apple adds some unique functional capabilities in each new edition of the operating system. Coming from Apple, no wonder the OS keeps surprising us with its solid stability, without being bloated with unnecessary applications and features. If you own a Mac and looking forward to the most useful features and tips that will help to improve your productivity while using the OS, here you go.
1. Explore More With Spotlight
Spotlight performs a wide range of operations than just launching apps and finding files. You can do quick calculations and easy conversions directly from the Spotlight. It often prevents you from opening Safari and then searching for the right answer.
Press Command + Spacebar, and you can convert Fahrenheit to Celsius or centimeters to meters. Type in kind: JPG to search with specific criteria, or use the keyword define to get a definition of a word, or get a weather forecast of a particular location by typing weather California.
2. Use Microsoft Publisher
Microsoft Publisher allows you to design different kinds of marketing material for web as well as print media. It integrates well with Office 365 and is considered useful for software design. But the software was available only for Windows computers.
But is publisher available for mac computers? Well, not exactly, but there are a plethora of Microsoft Office Publisher app alternatives you can download for Mac. The program allows full-time designers to create brochures, books, and other print media.
3. Make Quick Notes
You should be familiar with the popular Keychain that stores the password credentials for all your online accounts, including the website passwords. You can also use it to keep your notes secure, as no one can gain access to keychain data.
Once you save the notes in the Keychain, they will become password protected. On navigating to the notes from the New Secure Note Item in the File under Applications, you will be able to see the title of the notes. You can access the notes only after providing the password.
4. Save Multiple Files in One PDF
If you have a lot of images or PDF files and you find it difficult to manage them all together, don’t worry; your Mac has the solution. You can save multiple JPGs or PDFs into one single PDF to save them in an organized manner for easy management.
Open any of the PDFs stored on your computer and press Command + Shift + Option + S keys to open the Save As dialog box, and then save the files as PDF on a desired location on the hard drive. Next, navigate to Edit, click Insert, and then select Page from File to put together pages or images from other files.
5. Copy & Paste Text Between Devices
Macs and iPhones are great to work on. These devices offer some exceptional features that make you more productive at the workplace. You can use your Mac and iPhones together to make the most out of the features.
You can copy the text on your Mac and paste it on your iPhone or vice-versa. Make sure to turn on the Wifi and the Bluetooth on both devices to enable this feature to work. Also, you need to sign in to the same iCloud account to use this feature.
6. Sign Documents in Preview
Not too far ago, signing a PDF used to involve a variety of manual tasks where you needed to download, print, sign, and scan your document. With macOS, you can sign the PDF digitally, bypassing the printing or scanning process using the Preview app.
You can sign the PDF in different apps and programs following appropriate procedures. You need to put your signatures on plain white paper and then scan them using the Camera app. When done properly, add the scanned copy of your signature to the PDF or other documents.
7. Use Split View for Multitasking
You can work on two different apps by placing them side by side without any lags or distractions. To use this feature, navigate to the upper left corner of the window, then click and hold down the green-colored full-screen button.
From the menu, tap on Tile Window to Right of Screen or Tile Window to Left of Screen, and then the app will be placed on that particular part of the screen. This process works on OS X Catalina. In El Capitan or the later versions, click can hold down the green buttons and then drag the window to either left or right side of the screen.
8. Magnify Your Screen
If you are finding it difficult to see the tiny elements of the screen, use Zoom to magnify the screen. You need to enable it from the Accessibility menu. To enable Zoom magnification in macOS, click on the Apple logo, select System Preferences, and tap on Accessibility.
Select Zoom from the left-hand column under the Vision section. Tick mark the checkbox available next to Use keyboard shortcuts to Zoom or select Use scroll gestures with modifier keys to zoom. Once the option is enabled, the feature will activate immediately.
9. Capture Video or Image Screenshots
To click the screenshot of the entire screen, press Shift + Command + 3 keys. If you want to capture a selected area of the screen, press and hold down the Shift + Command + 4 keys. Also, you can use Shift + Command + 5 keys to bring up an interface that allows you to record the entire or partial screen.
For a cleaner screenshot of the selected portion of the screen, press Spacebar along with Shift + Command + 4 keys, and the icon will turn to a camera. Thereafter, click on any open window to capture the screenshot of that particular window, such as the menu bar or the Dock.
10. Unlock Mac With Apple Watch
Do you know that you can use your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac computer? It allows you to unlock the device within close proximity without tapping the computer. To set up the feature, open System Preferences, click Security & Features, and then toggle to enable Unlock Mac with Apple Watch.
On the macOS Catalina or later, you can use Apple Watch as an alternative to password protection. It saves you from typing in the password over and over again each time you want to turn on your device.