What to do first together with your new Mac

There’s a great probability that even when that is your first Mac, you already use an iPhone or an iPad. Similar to these different units, your Mac desires you to enter your Apple Account and Apple Account password. Enter your Apple Account and password to connect with iCloud in your Mac once you first set it up or later by means of the Apple Account system setting.

By connecting to iCloud together with your Apple Account you possibly can entry all of your pictures, contacts, calendars, and rather more on all of your Apple units with out ever having to bodily tether or sync them. As soon as all of your Apple units are linked this manner you’ll additionally be capable to benefit from options like with the ability to lower and paste between units, use a mouse and keyboard to manage multiple Mac, and make purchases on the Mac App Retailer.

Relying on whether or not you an an iCloud subscriber additionally, you will be capable to sync information to the cloud, together with paperwork and every thing you save to your Desktop. As a result of you possibly can entry every thing in iCloud on any Apple gadget you personal you gained’t must have your Mac useful to edit a Pages doc you’re engaged on, for instance. Discover out about iCloud right here: How one can use iCloud and What’s iCloud Personal Relay. To learn how a lot iCloud prices learn: iCloud storage plans and costs.

When you haven’t created an Apple Account but, now could be the time to take action. Consider your Apple Account as your keys to the dominion. For assist learn: How one can create an Apple ID.

You may get to your Apple Account by going to System Settings and clicking Apple Account on the high.

When you’ve ever puzzled why the Mac doesn’t include a thick proprietor’s handbook explaining the way it works and the way all of the apps work, marvel no extra: That handbook is definitely constructed proper into the pc.

The Assist menu is so apparent that almost all of us overlook it altogether. However we achieve this at our peril as a result of it may be an enormous assist. The Assist menu sits proper there within the menu bar, and it’s contextual: Its contents will change relying on which app is open.

Clicking on the Assist menu will convey up a search subject, desk of contents, lists of shortcuts, and different useful suggestions and step-by-step directions, usually with visible cues to point out you which of them menus to click on on and what menu objects to pick. Any time you get caught in an app and don’t know what to do subsequent, click on on the Assist menu to get out of a jam.

The Apple menu is within the higher left nook of your Mac’s display screen.

Clicking on the Apple icon provides you prompt entry to your Mac’s System Settings, the Mac App Retailer, and apps and paperwork you’ve lately opened (see Latest Objects). You may also use the Apple menu to restart your Mac and shut it down.

If an app misbehaves and stops working, the Apple menu additionally sports activities a particular operate that’s price understanding: Drive Stop. Drive give up will instantly give up a cussed utility, so you possibly can restart your laptop and get again to enterprise.

Constructed proper into macOS, Highlight helps you rapidly discover issues in your laptop: paperwork, apps, photographs, contacts, maps, and information. What’s extra, it could hook up with the web to look locations like Wikipedia, information websites, film listings, and rather more. You may even use Highlight to do calculations, like changing toes to meters or any form of easy arithmetic you’d quite belief to the pc.

Highlight lives in your Mac’s menu bar; it’s the icon that appears like a magnifying glass and clicking on it brings up the Highlight search subject. You may also open Highlight by urgent Command and House on the identical time.

Sort something into the search subject and Concentration is going to seek for it.

When you get the cling of it, utilizing Highlight is the quickest technique to launch apps, discover paperwork, and do tons of different stuff in your Mac actually rapidly. Through the years it’s gained increasingly options together with sturdy net and picture search, and fast actions like timers constructed proper in.

The Dock is that bar of icons that sits on the backside of your Mac’s display screen. Docks on new Macs will probably be full of Apple’s personal built-in apps, like Safari, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Notes, however you possibly can customise it to your liking.

Your Dock is an important a part of your Mac Desktop, so spend a while getting it simply the way in which you need.

You may tailor your Dock to point out you solely the apps you care about. Don’t use Maps or FaceTime? Drag them out of the Dock till the phrase Take away seems and let go. Use Mail greater than the rest? Transfer it over to the left or proper, as a substitute. You may also add functions, folders, and information you want continuously just by dragging them and dropping them into the Dock.

To additional cut back the house taken up by the Dock you possibly can change the dimensions of icons. To resize the Dock, click on and drag on the bar that separates functions from folders and stacks. You may also change the dimensions of icons, change the magnification of icons as you go your cursor over them, flip off the bouncing animation, reposition the Dock to the left, backside or proper edges of your display screen, and rather more within the Desktop & Dock settings (macOS Ventura and later) or Dock & Menu Bar settings (macOS Monterey and earlier).

That is your Mac. Make it look the way in which you need it to.

Change the wallpaper: Proper-click the desktop and choose Change Wallpaper, or open System Settings and choose the Wallpaper choice. You may decide from the gorgeous photographs Apple offers or select one among your personal.

Customise the interface: Open System Settings and select Look. You may select issues like spotlight colours and whether or not your interface modifications to mild or darkish relying on the time of day, and extra.

Change the display screen saver: In System Settings > Display Saver you possibly can decide from tons of display screen savers together with some lovely views of the Earth from the house station, underwater video, and extra.

Use Desktop Stacks: If you wish to hold your Mac’s desktop tidy we suggest switching on Desktop Stacks, which can group all of the information in your Desktop by class (you possibly can select whether or not they’re sorted by type, date, or tags.) To change on Stacks click on on the Desktop and select View > Use Stacks from the menu. Now every thing will probably be slotted into category-appropriate ‘Stacks’ in your Desktop quite than your Desktop being cluttered by 1000’s of screenshots and information.

Apple’s person interface is about up with easy menus equivalent to File and Edit, and most apps expose their main options by means of these menus as effectively. Must print one thing? Simply click on on the File menu and choose Print.

However it can save you your self so a lot time by utilizing keyboard shortcuts to do generally used duties as a substitute. As an alternative of clicking on the File menu and choosing Print, for instance, you possibly can simply maintain down the Command key and press P. (In case you are coming from a PC, largely you’ll press Command the place you used to press Management).

Every app on the Mac has its personal shortcuts. Opening Mac Assist and trying to find “keyboard shortcuts” will yield some references, we additionally suggest this text: These helpful Mac keyboard shortcuts will provide help to work quicker and smarter.

In case your new Mac features a trackpad—both as a result of it’s a laptop computer with a built-in pad, otherwise you scored a Magic Trackpad to go together with your new desktop—take a while to be taught in regards to the many gestures constructed into macOS, your new Mac’s working system.

One of many easiest methods to find the assorted gestures obtainable is true in System Settings. As soon as there, click on on Trackpad. There, you’ll discover three tabs’ price of mouse shortcuts. Transfer the cursor over any of them, and also you’ll get a video preview of the best way to set off the gesture. Some could effectively enhance your Mac computing expertise; I, for one, love the three-finger double-tap on any phrase to convey up its definition.

The Mac App Retailer is a handy and protected technique to obtain software program on your Mac, all utilizing the identical Apple Account and password you utilize for Music and iPhone apps. There are millions of apps obtainable, together with many who gained’t price you a dime.

The Mac App Retailer is rather more essential than only a technique to obtain nice new apps on your Mac. It’s additionally how Apple distributes important app updates. To maintain your Mac working in tip-top form and to maintain every thing as safe as potential, obtain updates once you see notifications from the Mac App Retailer or set apps to robotically replace like in your iPhone.

On a brand new Mac, it’s proper there in your Dock—the blue circle with a stylized A inside it. The Mac App Retailer affords 1000’s of apps, and downloading and putting in these apps is easy. Many apps are free; others require a cost, starting from $1 to a few hundred bucks. When you can—and certain will—discover loads of apps outdoors the comfortable confines of the Mac App Retailer, searching it’s a good way to find fascinating apps, learn critiques, and get a way of the Mac software program market.

On the M-series Macs, you possibly can even set up iPhone and iPad apps. While you’re looking, simply click on over to the iPhone & iPad Apps tab to obtain iOS apps proper in your desktop.

Establishing a backup is boring, un-fun, and doesn’t contain enjoying with any cool apps or doodads. However your future self will thank You-Of-Simply-Previous-Christmas, and with good purpose: Having a great backup answer now means you gained’t lose irreplaceable information later. We’ve lined quite a few methods to again up your Mac with minimal fuss. Choose not less than one and get began. Belief me.

In all probability the best answer is to make use of Apple’s personal backup answer, Time Machine, which is a part of the Mac working system (see How one can use Time Machine to again up your Mac). All you want is a separate exterior storage gadget that you would be able to purchase for a comparatively small funding (see: Greatest exterior SSD for Mac or greatest exterior arduous drives in order for you one thing a bit cheaper/larger). Time Machine makes recovering from massive issues simple as a result of it retains a snapshot of your Mac and makes it a breeze emigrate to a brand new Mac when the time comes to interchange or improve your system.

The “time” in Time Machine is a timeline that you would be able to evaluate, restoring information or modifications to information that had been made on the factors the place Time Machine saved its backups. Time Machine backs up your Mac hourly, day by day, weekly, and month-to-month, so that you’ll all the time be capable to recuperate to that cut-off date. So long as that drive is related your Mac will probably be backed up.

To arrange Time Machine comply with these steps:

1. Plug in an exterior drive.
2. Open System Settings and go to Normal.
3. Discover Time Machine within the column on the precise.
4. Click on on Choices to set the backup frequency.

Are you continue to accessing your electronic mail utilizing an online browser, going to Gmail or Microsoft’s web site to see what new messages you may have? There’s a greater means: Apple provides you a Mail app that may hook up with virtually each electronic mail service. Utilizing the Mail app is much more handy particularly for those who verify a number of electronic mail accounts, and it’s well-integrated with macOS’s different core functions, equivalent to Contacts, Calendars, and Maps.

You’ll discover the Mail app in your Dock on new machines. Click on it to open it and comply with the directions to arrange your account.

With so many people working from dwelling nowadays, printers are a giant factor in lots of our homes.

Prior to now, you needed to obtain and set up drivers and software program, however the Mac makes it means simpler to arrange.

All you could do is to attach your printer to one among your Mac’s USB-C ports or hook up with a Wi-Fi community.

1. Open System Settings
2. Click on on Printers & Scanners.
3. Click on on the Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax button.
4. In case your Mac acknowledges the gadget (and it ought to), it’ll configure it as wanted and obtain any relevant drivers from Apple’s servers.

Video chatting may not really feel like the longer term anymore, but it surely’s nonetheless a delight. No software program makes it simpler to start out (or obtain) a video name than FaceTime, which is constructed proper into macOS.

Discover FaceTime in your Functions folder, or use Highlight to seek for FaceTime by typing within the first few letters of the app’s identify.

Now all you want is the e-mail tackle or cellphone variety of one other FaceTime person.

Learn extra about utilizing FaceTime on a Mac in our information.

In macOS Sequoia 15.2, Apple Intelligence began to hit its stride with some new tips, together with Picture Playground and ChatGPT integration. And that’s along with the options launched with macOS 15.1, together with Writing Instruments and a better Pictures app.