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macOS 101

Using a Mac for the first time, or need a refresher on some basics to get you up and running quickly? Well, then you’ve come to the right place!

Authors: David Hecker, Kelly McCarter

Created: 12 Oct 2024 Last updated: 10 Jul 2025

Reading Time: 7 min read

Moving from Windows

  • Finder is the new Windows Explorer. This is where all of your files and folders are accessible.
  • Bin is the Recycle Bin
  • The Dock is the Start Bar
  • Application menus are all pinned to the menu top of the screen, not to the application frame as in Windows
    • On a multi-monitor setup you could have a different set of menus depending on which applications are open and active on each screen
  • The very first menu in the top left corner is the Apple Menu
    • It contains the main system-level menu options
    • This menu is always there, regardless which application is active

Finder

  • Finder is the all powerful equivalent of Windows Explorer
  • The interface for open windows supports Tabs, or you can use multiple windows if you prefer
  • Each folder window can have its own view settings within Finder
  • There is sadly no default Tree view like Windows Explorer where you can see folders on the left and files on the right.
  • Column View is your friend!
  • Copy/Paster is context aware in macOS
    • Select a range of files and folders in Finder and Copy them using Cmd+C
      • Paste them in another Finder window to copy the files
      • Paste into a text file and only the filenames will be pasted - it won’t try and paste the actual files
      • The order you selected the files in will determine the paste order
        • For example, drag top-down or bottom-up, or Cmd+click on the file names in any order
  • QuickLook lets you preview a file without opening in its application, just by tapping the Space bar
    • Works for most file types by default, but you can find QuickLook extensions for added functionality
    • Also provides additional info on folders
  • Double click the top of a window for it to Fit to screen
  • There are hidden files and folders in macOS. They are not needed often, but once in a while you will need to see them. In that case, use the Cmd+Shift+. shortcut in Finder to reveal them all. The same shortcut again will hide them.

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Cmd+Space will bring up the Search bar
  • Search for files or Applications
  • Can even search the web from here
  • Some applications can be directly invoked, for example the Calculator
    • Cmd+Space, type an equation e.g. 8*27, see the result in the search bar
    • Hit Enter to open the Calculator app and carry on from there

Keyboard Shortcut Modifiers

  • Shift is the same as Shift
  • Control (Ctrl) is the same as Control in name, but functions differently
  • Option (Opt) is the same as Alt
  • Command (Cmd) is basically the new Control, but also incorporates some of the Windows Key functionality
  • For a vast amount of standard keyboard shortcuts, you would replace Ctrl in the Windows shortcut with Cmd on the Mac. For example:
    • Ctrl+C for Copy, becomes Cmd+C
    • Ctrl+V for Paste, becomes Cmd+V
    • Ctrl+S for Save, becomes Cmd+S

Standard Shortcuts

  • There are some standard shortcuts that are unique to macOS that are worth knowing. These generally work across all applications
    • Cmd+Q - Quit Application (some apps like Chrome will have you hold this combo for a couple of seconds so you don’t accidentally quit without meaning to
    • Cmd+H - Hide Application. This will ‘hide’ the current app and minimise it to the Dock.
    • Opt+Cmd+H - Hide Other Applications. This will ‘hide’ all applications except the current app and minimise them all to the Dock.

Screenshots

  • Shift+Cmd+3 - Save picture of screen as a file
  • Ctrl+Shift+Cmd+3 - Copy picture of screen to the clipboard
  • Shift+Cmd+4 - Save picture of selected area as a file
  • Ctrl+Shift+Cmd+4 - Copy picture of selrea to the clipboard
  • Shift+Cmd+5 - Screenshot and recording options (video)

The Dock

Activity Monitor

Terminal

Terminal is the new Command Prompt, and has many features you will already be familiar with. There are some awesome features that you may find useful:

  • From Finder, right click on a folder, select Services
    • Choose either New Terminal at Folder or New Terminal Tab at Folder
  • Terminal supports drag and drop.
    • If you have a folder open in Finder and you want to navigate to its location in Terminal, you can type cd then drag the folder into the Terminal window. The full path will be shown, at which point you can hit Enter to complete the command.
    • The same works if you need to do something on a file. Type the command, drag the file from Finder into the Terminal window, hit Enter.
  • Useful commands
    • Change app permissions (useful if you receive an unsigned app and macOS won’t let you open it)
      • chmod a+x AppName.app/Contents/MacOS/*
      • xattr -cr AppName.app
    • uptime
      • Will show you how long your Mac has been running since the last restart or shutdown.

Preview

  • Preview is the default viewer for images and PDFs
  • It supports Markup so you can annotate files with text and graphic overlays
  • You can also copy text from an image! Yes! Take a screenshot, open it in Preview, select the text and hit Cmd+C, paste it in any text editor with Cmd+V.

System Preferences

  • This is the place to configure all aspects of Mac OS, and set it up the way you want
  • Dark Mode
    • System Preferences → General
  • Change system-wide keyboard shortcuts
    • System Preferences → Keyboard
  • Set up Siri for enhanced voice-activated control
    • System Preferences → Siri
  • To change what’s shown in the Touch Bar
    • System Preferences → Keyboard → Keyboard
    • The drop-down next to Touch Bar shows allows you to select what you want to be displayed
    • The Customise Control Strip button will let you choose the options and layout you prefer
    • Holding the fn key on your keyboard will show the Function Keys F1-F12

The Trackpad

  • The trackpad is full of hidden functionality that can be accessed via System Preferences -> Trackpad
  • The basics are listed here:
    • 1 finger drag - cursor movement
    • 1 finger 1st click - normal mouse (drag, select, interact)
    • 2 fingers drag - scrolling
    • 2 fingers click - right-click (options menu) (Or Ctrl + 1 finger click)
    • 3 fingers drag up - show all open windows
    • 3 fingers drag down - show all open windows of the current selected application
    • 4 fingers + thumb swipe outwards - show desktop

Plugged in Keyboard

  • control + Arrow keys do the things that 3-finger swipes do. So control + Left/Right Arrowwill switch desktops)

Desktops

  • macOS supports multiple virtual desktops (called Spaces) as well as connected physical screens
  • Each screen can have its own set of Spaces
  • Applications can be assigned to always open on a specific Desktop
    • Right click/2 finger click an app icon in the dock
    • Select Options in the menu
    • Select the Desktop to assign the application to

Useful Apps

General

  • CleanMyMacX is probably the most useful Mac utility overall, but it is a paid subscription
  • AppZapper makes deleting Mac apps easier, makes sure config and plist files are removed too
  • Carbon Copy Cloner is fantastic for backup/copy tasks
  • Magnet for setting different window docking zones, with shortcuts
  • Name Mangler is the best file renaming tool on Mac
  • XnConvert for converting between different image file types
  • Disk Inventory X for getting an overview of how your space is being used
  • GIPHY Capture for making gifs from a screen capture

For Development

VS Code