Mac+Tips+&+Tricks

Tip: **__Remember to quit applications__**
Applications close differently on Mac than on a PC. Instead of clicking the "x" to close here are two ways to do it properly:

Keyboard Shortcut: Command + Q

OR

Click on the name of your application at the top left of the screen and select "Quit" in the drop down menu

Trick: Take Screenshots on a Mac
Here are the keystrokes to take a screenshot on your Mac

Command + Shift + 3 - Takes a screenshot of the entire screen and saves it on your desktop

Command + Shift + 4 - Takes a screenshot of an area you select and saves that picture to the desktop

For a video tutorial click [|here]

Tip: Enable Spaces to organize your desktop
Spaces is a feature on the Mac Operating System that creates multiple desktops for you to put things so you can organize them better. For instance, I run spaces on my laptop and I have email full-screen in one space, my web browser full screen in another space, a blank space to work in, and another space is for my notes program to keep me organized.

So, Instead of trying to remember what programs I have open by looking at the tiny dots down on the dock, I simply switch spaces to see my windows.

How to enable Spaces:

Go to System Preferences > Expose & Spaces

Click the check box that says "Enable Spaces"

You will see below that you have rectangles with numbers in them. This is how many spaces you have and where they are in relation to one another. You can have as few as 2 spaces to work in, or as many as 16. How many you choose is up to you but I stick with 4.

You will see at the bottom of the window the option that says, "To switch between spaces". This lets you pick how you switch from space to space.

There are 3 options when switching spaces: Command + arrow keys (denoted with the symbol on your command key), Control + Arrow keys(denoted by the ^ symbol), and Alt + Arrow keys(denoted by a symbol that resembles a slash). Pick which ever one you can remember the easiest and then try it. I use control.

So now hold control and press the right arrow key, and then press the left arrow key. That is how to switch between your spaces. Organize them however you like!

Trick: Quickly Zoom in on things
Built in to your Mac is a great zoom feature that is easy to use.

To zoom in: Simply hold the control key and scroll up (or two finger swipe if you are on a macbook). This will zoom in on wherever your cursor is on the screen.

To zoom back out: Hold control and scroll down (or two finger swipe if you are on a macbook).

Tip: Use Expose to switch between windows
Expose is a feature that makes it easy and to find the window you need if you have multiple windows open.

There are a few ways to use Expose on your macs:

- Push the F3 button on your keyboard

- Four finger swipe down on your track pad (macbook only)

These are the two built in ways to use Expose, but you can customize it.

Go to System Preferences > Expose & Spaces > Click the Expose tab

Next to the "All Windows" option you can set either a single key or a two button combination to activate Expose on the desktop.