25 Mac Settings You Have to Change

It's time to fix macOS' wacky default settings. With over 20 years of Mac usage, I show you how 𝕀 setup 𝕞𝕪 new Macs.
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Terminal commands (paste the entire string)
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𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0; defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -int 0;killall Dock
𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗼: defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0.5; defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -int 0.5 ;killall Dock
𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗿 (paste for each spacer): defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}' && killall Dock
𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗳-𝗛𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗿 (paste for each): defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="small-spacer-tile";}' && killall Dock
𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 (must restart Mac to take effect): sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.DiskArbitration.diskarbitrationd.plist DADisableEjectNotification -bool YES && sudo pkill diskarbitrationd
𝗥𝗲-𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.DiskArbitration.diskarbitrationd.plist DADisableEjectNotification && sudo pkill diskarbitrationd
𝗔𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆, 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗘𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆: ejectify.app
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝗣𝗚 (replace with png to undo): defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg
𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁: defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool TRUE && killall Dock
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Follow Snazzy Labs on Twitter - / snazzyq
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00:00 - General Anger
00:30 - Spelling Correction Hate
01:25 - Fix Share Sheet
2:00 - Make Siri Tolerable
3:15 - Your Dock is An Abomination
5:48 - Bonus: System Preferences in Dock
6:10 - Spicy Corners
07:18 - A-B-Cystem Preferences (I'm Sorry)
8:08 - Oodles of Finder Tips (and a God-Tier AirDrop Tip)
14:03 - TERMINAL TIME!
14:42 - Dock Hide Delay and Transition Speed
16:14 - Dock Spacers
16:51 - Don't Let Your Mac Boss You Around!
18:40 - Stop Substantial Screenshots
19:52 - Hide Ur Pecker

[@nielsmouthaan]

Hi all! I'm the developer behind Ejectify and wanted to clarify that it doesn't just disable the "disk not ejected properly" notifications. Instead, it instructs macOS to unmount selected volumes at a configured moment (e.g. when the system starts sleeping or when the screen gets locked) and tries to mount them when the system becomes available again. Hence, it actually helps prevent corrupted volumes and data loss instead of just "muting" the notifications.

[@JohnScottB]

Just bought your app, which I should have read before I did - because it obviously doesn't do what I expected and hoped for (which is really just disabling the notification). Luckily even in MacOS 12.4 the terminal line from the description did work for me. Your app will still be helpful for my NAS though!

[@ABoxIsMyHome]

@@JohnScottB his is better though why you mad?

[@PasteurizedLettuce]

@@JohnScottB wait, it seems kinda dangerous to disable that notificaiton

[@JohnScottB]

@@ABoxIsMyHome Not mad. His app is totally different and a very good and safe thing to have. I just had missed expectations from watching the video (as Niels clarified in his post above).

[@JohnScottB]

@@PasteurizedLettuce There's no danger to getting a notification AFTER you already did the thing that potentially could have caused an issue. It's done, already. USB write speeds are so fast that unless you are literally pulling out a drive the nanosecond that something completed writing, you're not going to corrupt anything. So... just give it a second. Coming from Windows, the whole "eject drive" thing is so ridiculous.

[@Wokiis]

Note: Please always eject exFAT volumes properly. Sometimes the index hasn't been updated and you risk "losing" your latest addition to the drive.

[@flamingkillermc2806]

And it can get corrupted which then disk-utility has to repair it, and in rare cases it cant then you lose all your data.

[@agneevX]

exFAT has no journaling. Aside from Windows and macOS simultaneous support, there's no reason why anyone should use it.

[@ViaxCo]

@@agneevX So what format do you suggest instead?

[@gabriellovate]

For mac-only drives, APFS is probably the way to go

[@kethean22]

I actually have to keep a pc around because I have drives where if I forget to eject, can never be mounted again without fixing it on windows. It’s the most annoying thing.

[@mikethurlow6850]

By far, one of the most useful and informative videos on tweaking MacOS that I've seen.I've been using the Mac for 30 years and I learned so much and changed a ton of settings! Thank you for this.

[@Pepem.94]

came back to mac after +- 5 years full windows and I dont even need the month to agree, I already agree with every single setting configuration in your vid, thx a lot, made my user experience a lot more pleasant

[@estivee]

this is my favorite "series" of yours, always appreciate some macOS tips and tricks :D

[@phillipgoat00]

yeah, I started watching this channel because of the tips and tricks videos for macos, this guy knows his stuff.

[@troxmo]

i should have watched a video like this when i tried starting to use a macbook air a few months ago. especially coming from windows, this just all makes so much sense to me as i was going crazy about a lot of mac OS default behavior

[@josefhamelink6049]

You are very much correct about most of these, except for one thing. Not having the dock at the bottom is just wrong when you're using dock hiding anyway. Makes using an extra display more painful than it needs to be :)

[@kazooduck]

Agreed, was baffled when he moved it and complained about where it went

[@saturndev]

Having the dock anywhere but the bottom is a pain to me

[@aettic]

This is the number one reason I stopped using left-side Docks. I don't want to have to cruise past a monitor just to reach my dock. With it on the bottom, and hidden, I can reach it from any monitor quickly.

[@networkdude8790]

I wanted to thank you for this video! I have been a Mac user for over 15 years now, and I had never looked at even half the settings you talked about. I implemented the dock position and delay settings, dock spacers (to separate productivity apps from communication apps), the scale minimizing effect, alphabetized the System Prefs, re-did my Finder toolbar shortcuts (including the ever-important AirDrop shortcut), re-ordered my sidebar to make it more intuitive for my uses. Before watching the video, the only tweaks you mentioned that I actually already used were Spotlight and showing all file extensions! Keep up the good work my friend!

[@barsdogukankarakoyun8798]

7:40 The categories are hardware and software. The ones on the top are for software related settings, both Mission Control and Security & Privacy are handled by software. The ones on the bottom are hardware related, both your battery and startup disk are hardware components found on your Mac.

[@zhiyong9654]

Literally says Software Update in the bottom section 🤣

[@swiftrealm]

@@zhiyong9654 Yes, because it updates your hardware.

[@rabish2532]

@@swiftrealm 'software' update

[@Anthony-pf3df]

@@rabish2532 'Software'-Update translates under these circumstances to 'OS'-Update. The OS is written to control the hardware. Completely makes sense. You could argue if the 'Software'-Update should be placed completely separately, since it determines even this layout and is therefor the absolute base of everything in terms of hardware-management.

[@_invencible_]

@@rabish2532 everything in the hardware category is also related to software because the software controls the hardware

[@grumpychocobo]

For me, dock on the left or right only makes sense when using a single monitor. As soon as I go dual screen, it's much more handy to have on the bottom where I can easily activate it on any of my monitors.

[@CybernerdShua]

It depends for me. I will often put the dock on the right for my right-most monitor, dock on the left for my left-most monitor, and if I have more than 2, the other monitor gets the dock on the bottom.

[@grumpychocobo]

@@CybernerdShua I'll have to look into this. I've never heard or seen the option to set the dock in different places for different monitors before.

[@SchioAlves]

And that's something that Windows used (now with W11 it's all messed up) to do so much better than macOS: why the heck I have to go all the way to the other monitor to use the dock? Why I cannot see only windows from the current monitor? Place it on the left on one screen and right on the other? It feels like macOS is stuck in time and we only see improvements when they develop something for the iPad that they port to the Mac.

[@YTN3rd]

I've decided to try left dock recently but its mainly because I move my mouse to the bottom of windows too often only for dock to come up over what I am trying to click.

[@profosist]

Apple users having multiple screens? Does apple even know thats possible?

[@quantx6572]

Thanks for the instant dock hiding terminal command. Seenig as how I work at my Mac half the day and use the dock a lot, this makes a positive difference in both efficiency, and more importantly psychological health. The slower dock has been driving me nuts for years, lol 😀

[@baribalthebear]

For those who can't remember those terminal command lines, Onyx app provides a nice UI to most of the settings mentionned in this video, as well other useful maintenance functionnalities.

[@theworm7156]

He has them in the description but nice tip bro👍

[@juherd1967]

is your n key absolutely broken beyond repair too by any chance?

[@Ashanmaril]

If you use a trackpad, I'd recommend changing the settings so a 3-finger drag is a click+hold (so you can drag windows around just by using 3 fingers) and 4 fingers swipes between desktops.

[@asdf51501]

I like the three finger drag. (That's what she said too.)

[@bambinone]

This is so huge. I can't believe they moved it to Accessibility, but I'm glad they didn't axe it completely.

[@jamesmartion1436]

Absolutely love this!! 3 Finger Drag is the first thing i change on any mac. i love how if you re-adjust your fingers on the trackpad it holds onto the 'hold'. Such a natural gesture, feels right

[@RiddhamManna]

This is so important. I don’t know why he missed this thing.

[@danielnaron]

@@jamesmartion1436 haha same here 😁👍

[@ahyuen2]

I am windows user for my entire life and decided to switch to Macbook Air M1 2 weeks ago for remote working purposes. Came across your video and followed majority of your method. By my surprise, it gave me another whole new level of enjoyment using my Macbook even more! Thank you for this amazing video! I love it!

[@Tech-geeky]

You'll be punching your screen in no time.. 🤬

[@AlexMercadoGo]

If you want to make the dock animate quickly (but not instantly), say 0.2 second, you need to change the value to "-float 0.2". If you say "-int 0.2", macOS will treat the time as 0 seconds (the first integer that it sees).

[@AlbyTheMovieCreator]

Thanks for clarifying this, didn't know and it's useful.

[@humanrich]

Any idea how I'd make it hold a little before hiding? I don't mind it coming up instantly, but it hiding immediately as the mouse goes away is a little frustrating.

[@johnbartolovich62]

tried this with a copy paste not working on my mac

[@johnbartolovich62]

NVM

[@p.4lvv]

man I love you for this TT

[@plaidtractor1937]

Thanks for this. A handy and hidden screenshot workflow trick I've been using for years is to copy a selected screenshot to the clipboard without creating a file. You use the usual shift+cmd+4, but hold down the control key as you drag and release. Then you can paste into whatever app your using.

[@mr_vazovski]

I’d also strongly suggest to enable ‘Group windows by application’ in Mission Control section. It adds icon which is often much more helpful in identifying the app than the window snapshot.

[@Irnbruist]

100% can't live without

[@davidhorinek]

Good tip, thanks!

[@benzymatic]

Agreed, it makes Mission Control so much more useable that it's frankly wild it's not the default.

[@learningwithlyndon8918]

Great point why have I not done this before!

[@jonnykuang]

@@benzymatic It used to be the default iirc.

[@Manduley]

Outstanding. As a mac user since the early 90's, I was familiar with many of these, some going back to Mac OS7! But you had some gems in there that are super useful. The Airdrop button in the finder bar is a game changer for those of us swapping files back and forth between MacOS and iOS devices. Great work, and thank you!

[@xEqualsRandom]

You could also use the share menu if you want to airdrop easily without an extra button

[@johndoe-hu2ss]

@@xEqualsRandom the “extra button” is having to click on the share button and then click the airdrop button vs simply choosing airdrop from the top

[@haroldji7240]

Love the way you explain things. It is like talking with some familiar friend. So comfortable and relaxed.

[@bitcubeRL]

Great tips. They will fix a lot of stuff I was also annoyed by. Thanks.

[@ocfuu]

Why I prefer png over jpeg: png is lossless. Editing the file will not degrade the quality. Then, when it is time to share, I use a Quick Action to convert the image.

[@ibonitog]

Yeah especially since screenshots often contain text, which jpg really struggles with!

[@OhSoTiredMan]

I was shocked when I found out that the image quality degraded from a single edit when editing jpegs.

[@radiomoscow_int]

True, and when you select to screenshot a specific window it keeps the translucency, jpg and others will lose it.

[@TheRealBOBlibob]

I didn't know about Quick Action, thank you. I can't believe that I have used a third party app for so many years

[@Willymaze]

yeah, but most of us are just sharing screenshots to show something, not to edit or preserve content, so it makes sense to have a lighter format.

[@seanwashere]

Great tips! Knew most of these but didn't know the dock transition time could be set to 0. Might try the hiding option now. Agree hiding the dock before was un-usable due to the time it takes.

[@rayflanagan9970]

Got some useful tips here. The dock hide command (and time speed) is fantastic. I also place my dock on the left side as well and give the same explanation that you did. Keep the great videos. Great info.

[@maceobot]

Thank you soooo much! Quicknote, hot corner was added on an update and it was killing me.

[@thelynxdr1355]

One thing I'd change about the dock is the animation, have the delay off but speed up the animation. So have the autohide delay at 0, but have the modifier at like 0.25. I do very much like the quick animation. It makes it feel much smoother.

[@radiomoscow_int]

Just tried this out, it doesn't work on Catalina. I can go only from 1 second / 2 seconds, etc, doesn't work with decimals.

[@dealloc]

@@radiomoscow_int Change the "-int" to "-float" like "-float 0.25". Works for all Macs with a Dock.

[@yoRudy]

@@radiomoscow_int change 'int' to 'float' on the autohide-time-modifier see if that works

[@seeXuriiTy]

@@dealloc THANKS a lot! This worked on macOS 12.4, beautiful.

[@radiomoscow_int]

@@dealloc ​ @Rudy Ortega Thank you fellas, works great! :)

[@jamesmartion1436]

Quinn, do you have thoughts on 3 finger drag? SystemPrefs->Accessibility->TrackpadOptions->EnableDragging. It makes all the 3 finger trackpad gestures into 4 finger gestures, which feels fine for me ( i use mission control all the time - 4 finger swipe up ), and 3 finger drag feels so natural. i even love that you can lift your fingers and adjust your hand position on the trackpad and it still holds the 'click' down for you ie if you're dragging files. It means you dont have to put pressure on the trackpad, or do an awkward tap+hold gesture. once your muscle memory adjusts, i think you'll love it

[@colebrewer6477]

So freakin helpful. Got my very first Mac-book 2 days ago for college after being a life long pc user. These tips are gonna make this transition not as awkward and they are already making a really good chance to my workflow. Thank you!

[@Mosesdjr]

I switched back to Macs after about 9 years, and I am so happy I rediscovered your channel and to see that you are still creating fantastic content. Thank you!

[@_mball_]

AirDrop in the tool bar is a cool trick! Didn't realize that was there. :) But you really need to mention list view in the finder, or even column view. If you're messin' with files they're essential. Plus the set to defaults is great. At the same time -- PNG is really a much better format for screenshots. My 5K display is only a ~6-7MB image, and while the jpg is a smaller file size, it definitely doesn't look as nice. Text renders better in PNGs, too. And if you like the drop shadow of windows you need the PNG format to keep the transparency. (I do like turning the drop shadows off).

[@yochem9294]

Column view is the only way to go!

[@quinton1661]

I went out of my way to ensure screenshots are saved as PNG. I rarely include images in screenshots, and text looks way better as PNG and also is smaller than JPG in this case. The way I see it, I can always re-save PNG as JPG, but I can't really do it the other way around.

[@snazzy]

I've actually (personally), been using HEIF. Gives you the best of both worlds-tiny file sizes and nice looking images!

[@tlalnetlalli04]

@@snazzy I wanted to give it whirl, but when I try to set screencapture type heif I get an error on any new screenshots where it says it can’t write the file to intended destination.

[@DodoKing187]

@@snazzy hello, I have the same problem, how did you change it to HEIF? also the hidden application greyed out command doesnt do anything at all.

[@fedemtz6]

@@DodoKing187Try setting it to HEIC instead of HEIF

[@DodoKing187]

@@fedemtz6 good idea, totally forgot about that, it worked :) still cant have the greyed out hidden application tho, anyone has a fix for that?

[@bmloveofficial]

I'm getting my new MacBook Air M1 tomorrow and I can't wait to utilize these tips and several of the other tips and apps you have mentioned in your videos. Thank you so much for making these; I'm new to Mac OS (in it's current state - I used it when they were still on the earlier versions of 10) and this helps me tremendously to prepare it for my educational use.

[@neilquinn]

Very similar to most things I change. I also like to point my screenshots to a different directory. Also for trackpad, I disable "zoom in our out" / "rotate" / "smart zoom". The reason is these cause an annoying slight delay when right-clicking (two-finger tap) because it's waiting to check if there will be a third tap or motion everytime you do it. Makes two-finger taps much more responsive.

[@JensUhlmannOfficial]

19:30 one should mention that JPGs are not great for screenshots of text because of the compression

[@geraldh.8047]

Exactly, png for text screenshots can actually be both of higher quality AND smaller file size at the same time. Just don’t screenshot your 5K desktop background picture.

[@Lumilicious]

11:25 you could also simply click on the "share" icon and select airdrop to share stuff. Having the icon is still better, but you don't have to drag and drop.

[@angusmackinnon8295]

How good, I've been a mac user for years and these are some of the most relevant tips that actually improve my user experience, the terminal commands in particular are a gold star! Cheers snazzy labs!!

[@nateengle162]

Gotta admit, while I haven't found a use for everything in this video yet I'm *living* for the Finder tips! Changing those settings has honestly changed my life and I'm so much happier to use the Finder now.

[@mewraz]

Shortening the time for the dock is really nice. Such a small thing really makes a difference. I will add one more thing that I always change when setting up a new mac: Change the default folder for screenshots to /Pictures/screenshots (or whatever fits you) to prevent them cluttering up the desktop.

[@Jbiglin]

How do I change the default saving location for screenshots?

[@mewraz]

@@Jbiglin 1. Press Command + Shift + 5. 2. Click on Options. 3. Now either pick a folder that is listed, or choose Other Location. 4. If you choose Other Location you can navigate to the folder you wish the screenshot to go to, or create a folder if required.

[@Jbiglin]

@@mewraz Awesome. Thank you!

[@StrikerFeed]

Actually, I don't have anything on my desktop except hard drives. For me it's a place for a temporary files and screenshots because in this way it's very handy to do something with them immediately and delete then.

[@patrickbetts5504]

By pressing Cmd+Shift+5 or opening the Screenshot app, you can change the image format for your screenshots in the Option menu. You can also specify a folder where all the screenshots will be saved instead of your Desktop.

[@jstone98]

Thanks for this. Got to about 50% through and smugly thought I knew it all. Then the second half showed me some amazing stuff I didn't know. Thanks for fixing more than a few issues I was having.

[@zacharydenola1780]

used to loe your Terminal Tip Tuesdays series from way back in the day! Bring back TTT's :) and more of this type of content. You got this Snazzy Labs

[@justin.janssen]

A feature that has been the default setting in the past but has since been disabled and banned into the accessibility settings is the three finger drag! Turn it on and you can just drag and drop stuff with three fingers on any Mac with a trackpad. No need to press down with one finger and drag with the other or anything like that. Smooth, easy. You can even lift your fingers for a second to reposition if you run into the edge of your trackpad but aren’t quite there yet with your dragging!

[@micosstar]

i stumbled upon this and realized: the three finger gesture now has meaning. because by default three and four fingers swipe switch desktops and activate mission control, i've always wondered why? then stumbling upon accesbility settings for three finger drag made me realize that the three finger gesture now has purpose besides doing the same actions as four finger swipe.

[@yochem9294]

I'm so scared they will eventually remove it. Been using it for forever

[@atemoc]

4:00 Putting the dock on the left is also good to reduce strain in your wrists whilst using a mouse or trackpad, as most elements in programs are on the left and on the top, so you have to make less movement to access everything.

[@orenbenaltabe1709]

that's exactly my reasoning as to why I put the dock on the bottom. because the vertical length is shorter than the horizontal length, the curser is most of the time closer to the bottom than to the left of the screen. also the dock auto hides so the argument about having more horizontal space is irrelevant.

[@EtMeBuddy]

dude i did like most of these and love it. very well done, helpful vid. thanks bro

[@KrazyNigerian14]

The making hidden apps translucent is very cool. I oftentimes hide apps when I really need to focus so it's nice seeing what is hidden and what isn't. Thanks!

[@avenged110]

A note on the description's dock command - make sure you use a float for non-whole numbers. "-int 0.5" will still just apply as 0.0 (at least on OS X 10.9, which I'm using). Also, three finger drag is pretty much essential to effective UI navigation (even if using the wonderful Magnet) and really should be enabled by default.

[@talhadad3826]

Exactly what I was going to say... please fix it :) @Snazzy Labs

[@lunarcramshell2101]

THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@lunarcramshell2101]

No you're actually a life saver

[@Camillusmaximus]

Thank's man!

[@desmond-hawkins]

Some pretty good tips here even if Quinn's preferences are clearly wrong in some cases. Like JPEG for screenshots… please don't. We have enough deep-fried images and JPEG artifacts all over the place, and for anyone who takes a screenshot to zoom in on something specific the details and colors are going to be out of whack due to the compression artifacts. Also what's this about PNG not being widely supported?! The only common browser that had issues with PNG (specifically transparency) was IE6, declared deprecated in March 2011 - over 11 years ago.

[@rcnhsuailsnyfiue2]

By pressing Cmd+Shift+4 then the Space bar, you can hover your mouse over a window and capture ONLY that window… But if you switch to JPEG screenshots, the drop shadow behind it loses all transparency in the capture (as PNG supports transparent backgrounds, whilst JPEG doesn’t). So it just looks like you have a white desktop background. Don’t change this! If you ever genuinely need a JPEG screenshot just right-click the PNG, choose Quick Actions, then Convert Image :)

[@snazzy]

FWIW, I use HEIF lately for screenshots 😉

[@desmond-hawkins]

@@snazzy I'm reporting this comment for inciting others to self-harm.

[@lachlanhunt]

His claim about png not being widely supported is just ludicrous too. It’s one of the most widely supported formats everywhere.

[@meijboomm]

@@lachlanhunt Not only that, PNG is much smaller in pictures with large blocks of a single colour, like webpages for example.

[@Yazuroshi]

I love the energy and the usefulness of all the tips in this video! Thanks a bunch.

[@poorgirl9458]

Hey! I had dock on my left for quite some time, but making it show up and hide almost instantaneously is nifty. I've never been using dock hiding for any longer because of speed and those rare but annoying times when it wouldn't show up. Now it seems to show up every time! Thanks a million!

[@utubekullanicisi]

20:19 Since I started using Stage Manager (which turned out to be something that I like using) on macOS Ventura this is what I started using as well. And the specific reason I did is because in pre-Stage Manager days when I minimized Photos it would be almost the same as cmd + h, where its window/instance would stay open but get out of the way. But in Stage Manager when I minimize photos it minimizes into a tab to the left of the screen, and the reason this is a problem is that I save pictures to my Photos all the time, and every time I do that the Photos window pops up on my screen from the background to the foreground. With cmd+h in Stage Manager the same thing still happens, but at least when I *don't* save images into the Photos app, the window gets out of the way and doesn't appear in the left side. I hope this behavior is a bug, and minimizing applications will make them minimize into the dock instead of appear as another Stage in the future (or at least there will be a toggle to turn off that behavior for specific apps ( or, you know, Apple will get rid of that behavior altogether / offer a toggle to disable it). Overall Stage Manager is very enjoyable to use but this specific behavior drives me nuts.

[@732media]

FYI: System preferences is laid out with software settings on the top half and hardware settings on the bottom half. That’ll change in macOS Ventura though

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

Ooooooh, that makes sense!

[@micosstar]

man another relic gone but for the better

[@RenaJAllDay]

Thank you so much for this. I use UBar and I have been trying to get rid of the dock for the longest. Extending the time for it to come out reduces my chances of accidentally triggering it all the time. Thanks so much!

[@LauraTryUK]

Life changing! The first few suggestions blew my mind!!!!!! 🤯

[@iYohm]

I'm going to try a faster dock, I like the animation but I also think the first "waiting" step is too much and the second step is too slow. And I'll take a look at ejectify, if it can also automatically mount network folders it's awesome ! Thanks for the tips 😸

[@ajbrady4357]

apply the fast dock command and then use the command defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier;killall Dock this will reenable the animation and keep the fast dock

[@iYohm]

All right, I bought Ejectify and it actually doesn't work for network volumes, if you're looking for this feature especially, it's useless unfortunately.

[@DanielPyle]

My preferred method of showing the desktop is the "spread with thumb and three fingers" gesture on the trackpad. It's just so easy and intuitive, like you're pushing all the apps to the sides of the screen with your fingers and then pulling everything back the opposite way.

[@yoku_UwU]

I've just converted to mac, this is magical. Thank you.

[@DanielPyle]

@@yoku_UwU No problem. Enjoy your Mac!

[@salenzar]

Me too.

[@orlandotijerina2398]

I still have a hot corner for when I'm dragging something to the desktop and can't see the desktop on the background because of the window clutter, you can't be dragging something and use the three finger gesture at the same time

[@DanielPyle]

@@orlandotijerina2398 When I need to do that, I drag to the desktop folder in Finder. Start dragging, cmd+tab to switch to Finder, and finish dragging to the desktop folder. But that's just me-I just don't especially like hot corners because I activate them on accident too often.

[@MrSkylightOffical]

I've been windows/android all my life until I got into content creation a little over a year ago. This was extremely helpful to me. Thanks.

[@orlandomiranda5011]

Quinn thank you for the tips. I have a new MBP M1 14" and I noticed the dock was sluggish in opening. I entered your Faster Dock Hiding in terminal and BAM! it works like a dream no more lag. 👍

[@zilchfox]

One thing I also like to do is drag the Applications folder to the dock, and have it view content as "List", which makes it act sort of like a Start Menu for all your installed apps in one spot without having to open any windows.

[@mbdesign218]

Sounds useful! What's the next step after dragging it to the dock to view as list?

[@landonh3535]

@@mbdesign218 I select "display as folder" and that's really it

[@NotTheReindeer]

I like having Launchpad in the dock. You can right click and it acts as a sort of Start Menu as well. Right clicking shows the apps how you organize them in the launchpad as well, so its customizable

[@Tech-geeky]

First thing i do in Finder. is open up and change to "List" view.. I hate folder view, This way, you can expand all sub-folders while saying in one pane, without having to switch back and fourth.. Easier to copy/move as well

[@robovampire]

The commands you had listed for removing dock delay didnt work on my MBP running 12.4 but this one worked if anyone else is having an issue.... "defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true && defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0 && defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0 && killall Dock"

[@seamusstout5991]

I had the same issue with the code not working for me. You’re my hero

[@mDOTsanei]

Had the same issue, thank you for this!

[@felixfoltas1925]

is the standard value still 0.5 just in case i want to revert it ?

[@JimWellsIsGreat]

Thank you!

[@YesMad1337]

Thanks for this thorough explanation! Just switched this year from 30 years WIndows to Mac. Loving it, even loving it more with those tweaks! Cheers, thanks for making this useful video for us. Mac all the way!

[@greatwanna]

I have been using MacOS for about 8 years now, the dock command is very useful and I am glad I watched this! Thanks Quinn

[@myname7021]

you forgot the (to me) most important setting: Spaces ! Settings -> Mission Control The ability to have multiple "virtual" displays to switch in between is such a great way to increase efficency. Just make sure to disable auto rearrange and group by application. I have setup multiple spaces for different purposes, i.e. 1 for browsing, 1 for coding, 1 for terminal windows, 1 for spreadsheets e.t.c. P.S: The hot corner menu is also inside the mission control pane, which in my opinion is the correct place.

[@mojave5661]

finally, someone who uses macOS like I do! everyone I personally know just has one desktop with 1000 windows overlapping each other. and some of those people even told me that I'm using macOS wrong, because that's the "Windows" way of doing things...

[@juanpabloparedeszaracho2144]

@@mojave5661 spaces is the way to go, you can also switch between app so much faster with it.

[@mojave5661]

@@juanpabloparedeszaracho2144 I know, I have 11 virtual desktops open right now. 5 on my main monitor, and 3 both left and right vertical displays

[@Ashanmaril]

Came to make sure someone mentioned that. It annoys me even more than the autocorrect thing.

[@MarkMenardTNY]

I work on three monitors and I have desktop 1 for each monitor, desktop 2 for each monitor etc based on what I’m working on: coding, support, SA/Ops, etc. the three desktops go together for each theme. I even have a trio for gaming.

[@alienrefugee51]

Aside from sorting System Prefs alphabetically, you can also "customize" it in View, to remove any icons that you don't want to see in the main Sys Prefs window. You can really tidy it up by removing things like, Parental Controls, Siri, etc that you'll rarely use.

[@avinashpawar51]

Thanks you for this.

[@freyadonaldson9766]

The hero I didn't know I needed! 7 years ago I was a photo/video editor using the company MacBook with limited instruction, the STUPID delayed dock made my every day life a living hell. Years later operating my own first MacBook I'm very happy to be able to work swift and savvy thanks to your simple instruction. Cheers boss (from an elder millennial relying on KZbin to muddle through life).

[@ronaldt6875]

That seriously was so cool! I had no idea about the terminal commands or any of that!!! Thanks for showing me because that changes everything!!

[@JustinDuijn]

Also, did you know, you can old a key when setting hot corners, for example, I use CMD+topleft to lock my screen. Just click a hot corner, hold the key and select the option from the list.

[@JustinDuijn]

You can use CMD, OPTION, ALT.

[@Louis87777]

Where do you set this? Thank you for sharing!

[@JustinDuijn]

@@Louis87777 in the hot corners menu, select a hot corner to show the list of options to choose, then hold the desired key and select an option from the list

[@xalataf3365]

God, wish more people would do that… No idea how many times I’ve accidentally triggered hot corners when using others’ Macs.

[@CerdurTV]

i wish it let you add multiple options for one hot corner, the modifier keys are nice but it only allows one thing per corner so it gets rid of my normal one

[@r_idn29]

1) I haven’t tested this but I don’t think you can have an integer of .5. You might want to change that to a Floating point if you’re setting to a fractional second for dock animation/hide time 2) I have an exFAT drive that regularly needs to be repaired or have fsck killed to get the drive to mount if improperly ejected 3) rather than using jpeg and losing transparency, you could use pngcrush to decrease file size without quality loss

[@tutacat]

switch to ext4/hfs/xfs

[@hugazo]

The dock spacers were cool, also used the transparent effect for hidden apps, btw, i do minimize the windows to the icon in dock settings, so the dock it's always the same size

[@JaiSequoia]

Some cool ideas here thank you. I actually love launchpad. I only really discovered it when I got a trackpad and learned the scoop gesture. So I can scoop and voila quickly open an app. It’s just kind of fun and creative feeling. I also have the command for changing screenshots to jpg but additionally there is one to move the screenshots from the desktop (a hardly anything lives on my desktop as that will slow down your computer but also creates visual clutter which drives me nuts when I’m working) and you can just create a folder called screenshots and keep them in there, mine live on the sidebar of the finder. Nice and tidy and easy to find.

[@chidorirasenganz]

The system pref categories is organized by software and hardware preferences. Battery and startup disks are hardware while mission Control and security & privacy are software related.

[@atemoc]

But why is *software updates* in the *hardware* category?

[@seifenspender]

That actually makes sense. Still I am super happy to have learned today that you can sort them alphabetically. This is the first thing I change in the Windows™ Control Panel, too.

[@seifenspender]

@@atemoc Because they sometimes brick your hardware? Jk, that's pretty stupid.

[@chidorirasenganz]

@@atemoc not sure maybe because hardware determines what updates you get and it can effect firmware. It’s definitely an outlier.

[@chidorirasenganz]

@@seifenspender yeah I think the alphabetical version might be the way to go

[@macbitz]

Dock on the left or right is hopeless for multiple monitors. What I would love, having a 3 monitor setup with the iMac in the middle, is a setting that says 'Leave Dock on Display 1' to stop it randomly jumping to one of the other screens on a whim!

[@jeremycox3538]

System Preferences > Mission Control > uncheck “Displays have separate Spaces”. Dock and menu bar will now only be on the monitor you’ve selected in the Displays > Arrangement setting.

[@warioprints]

I roll my eyes at most 'Do These Things First' videos, so I wasn't expecting much. I'm really happy I decided to watch your video anyways! You covered a lot of things that annoy me regularly but I never feel like putting time into addressing, I'd probably have carried on a few more years just dealing with them. Also, wow, I've not thought of Ms Atwood in a very long time.

[@56Ronin56]

Brilliant video. I have implemented nearly all of these recommendations. Thank you!

[@cirkutpersonal]

Loved this! My only complaint is the quip against PNG files and them being less supported. Im curious but I can't remember the last time a PNG file has been rejected but a JPG has been accepted. I've been a professional designer and developer for over a decade and think I've only ran into one site (which was ultra janky) that required a JPG file only. What I guess I'm asking is what services or programs do you use that accept JPG's but not PNG's? I'm sure you know the difference, but those screenshot PNG's are effectively lossless compared to the JPG files which are lossy. Of course, for most people's purposes, changing to a JPG is probably the better option overall, and definitely a great tip, but I think PNG is being given undue scrutiny :P ----- On a side note, I didn't know about the AirDrop in the toolbar in Finder, that is MASSIVELY handy. Thank you for that!

[@claranymark]

i think (at least some time ago) pictures in spotify playlists had to be jpg and not png, and on some places the profile pictures have to be jpg and nothing else

[@Sputnik-bc7vm]

I'm loving the snark and fiestiness. I have never not wanted to make my MacOS experience improve via an old man's advice more. Cry about it, Quinn! ( p.s. Love the Dunkey reference and whole attitude 👌)

[@ankurshahi4615]

I tried to intimate all of your settings and it works so well. Thanks for the useful tips!!

[@TaylorEisele]

Seriously thank you for the tip on making the dock appear quicker! It was so annoying how slow it was! I subscribed! Love your videos!

[@the7thboop594]

love the 60fps! wish more youtubers did this, it just increases the video's perceived production value from my eye at least.

[@karwaing844]

I don't understand how 60fps increases perceived production value.

[@threepac]

While I totally agree with you, it likely increases upload times for their content.

[@seifenspender]

@@threepac That is pretty much a non-issue for most KZbinrs. If you would have issues with that, you would rather not upload in 4K. Also it does not increase file size as much as you would think, as H.264/265 is pretty good at handling this.

[@threepac]

@@seifenspender Well then I’ve been educated, thank you.

[@seifenspender]

@@threepac Personally, 60 FPS just seems more natural to me. I think this is just personal preference. Some people prefer their 29,97 FPS just because they are used to it. LTT made an interesting video about this very topic, because they were receiving complains about not uploading in 60 Hz. While I don't agree with the points made, maybe some share their thoughts. You might want to check it out :) Edit: Nvm, I just can't seem to find it anywhere on KZbin or in forums. They seem to have delisted it, sorry.

[@JaihindhReddy]

The very first thing one needs to do, is to enable "tap to click" and "three-finger-dragging" for selection on the trackpad, which for some reason, is hidden in "Accessibility -> Pointer Control -> Trackpad Options". 3-finger dragging is a lot nicer than the default with trackpads.

[@dgpsf]

I love your fun casual attitude in this video from beginning to end. We have a lot of Mac settings in common. I still mourn dock pinning. Centered dock is so stupid. Left dock, Pin to top!

[@sam_metal]

Love the Finder customizations - I had no idea you could customize to that level of detail. Thanks!

[@willgaines5269]

NOTE: The faster dock hiding terminal command is a little broken in the latest Ventura public beta. I'm no expert so I can't figure out the exact parameters to bring it back to normal behavior, but I've found that 0 for delay and 1 for time modifier works okay until I can figure it out. Edit: I think I figured it out. The Delay parameter seems to function normally, but the time modifier doesn't recognize decimals. So anything between 0 and 1 is treated as 0, but once you get to 1 it will behave normally. Also, the transparent icon command doesn't work in this beta.

[@Kalaish_Stanley]

just gotta change int to float :)

[@Test-pn4yd]

@@Kalaish_Stanley thanks! i knew that wasn't the way it used to be

[@otfnk]

@@Kalaish_Stanley Thanks :)

[@Wanted797]

One feature I cannot use a MacBook or trackpad without is 3 finger drag. Which is in accessibility settings. It’s freaking amazing and I hate that it’s not available on windows laptops as well.

[@DanielPyle]

Yes! That’s always the first setting I change. I have no idea why it isn’t the default and why the setting is so hidden.

[@extrasoap4881]

i can't live without drag lock!

[@sinkpig]

implying trackpads are any good on windows

[@salenzar]

Me too I was literally just about to comment this

[@Minemac2]

I have been using the sped up dock hide for years now since a previous video of yours and it is great

[@mrwriter86]

Just picked up a 16 inch MacBook Pro M1 Pro and been going through this video. I have to say that we’re very similar with setups, though you did throw in a couple extra settings that I never had enabled or disabled, so thanks for the heads up! I’m running Ventura beta and unfortunately the background colour change option in Finder has gone, so you might be a little disappointed to learn this if you haven’t already spotted it. Great video as always, thanks for the tips!

[@SingularityEnt]

Tip: Put your applications folder in your dock for easy access to all your apps. (without using launchpad) I did this before they made Launchpad and Imo it's faster than scrolling through Launchpad.

[@myname7021]

I just use spotlight. hit cmd + space to open spotlight and then type in the first few letters of the app and hit enter. It is probably the fastest and easiest way to open an app on the mac.

[@joshuaroney]

spotlight ftw

[@JOHNY0]

Agreed, I do the exact same thing. It was the old OS X way and it's still way better than using launchpad on macOS. Spotlight is also a better way.

[@BixbyConsequence]

+1 This has long been a feature on my dock.

[@Drewbydrew]

Wow, I’ve been using macOS for over a decade and I actually learned some stuff! Big disagree on the dock placement though, just because it’s annoying with multiple monitors. And if you’re hiding the dock anyway you don’t lose any screen real estate!

[@ast_rsk]

Absolutely all of these tips comprise my first-time setup of a new mac, always have been, and like you said, many of these tips have existed for _decades_. Great collection.

[@Texas_nc]

These are my favorite videos you put out. Thanks Quinn!

[@johncodeinaire137]

Thank-you for the fast show dock command. The slow showing of the dock always annoyed me!

[@tstoke7877]

The dock hide delay adjustment is a game changer! One thing I noticed, however, was that the code for the increased speed only worked for the desktop, but didn't work as well in full screen. When I'm in full screen, either on the main desktop or on a separate full screen space/desktop, the sensitivity for the dock to appear goes way down and there is still the delay. Any idea/code to address that specific problem by chance?

[@mbdesign218]

same here 🙋‍♂️

[@CheekPeek]

This happens for me too!

[@jaimie2484]

I just bought my first MacBook after 30 years of being strictly a PC gal. Your video was so helpful getting me set up for success right out of the box. Thank you so much!

[@OGMrWayne]

Awesome vid as always, I'm always learning something new. 😎🤜🏽

[@kalenikker]

I know you're in a long term relationship with Alfred, however I would recommend you try Raycast. The UI is a lot cleaner, feels snappier and now that the extensions market has developed a bit it's truly amazing. Most of my colleague's (designers) have not looked back at Alfred after switching.

[@AlexMercadoGo]

I'm curious but dreading the migration. I have so much customization and muscle memory built up for Alfred.

[@theSUBVERSIVE]

Yeah, I also jumped from Alfred to Raycast sometime ago but I haven't tested poweruser feats or making custom scripts.

[@archibaldbuttle7]

fun fact - you can set the screenshot format to be pdf. this was actually the default format before 10.4 on earlier versions of OS X you'd get a proper (vector-based) PDF where, when you zoomed in, text would stay sharp, as would most of the rest of the image (excepting of course for bitmap elements, which included the traffic-light colored window buttons). this was possible because the underlying OS X graphics system, Quartz, is a vector-graphics system, an evolution of NeXTstep's Display Postscript, sometimes described as Display PDF. these days such screenshots are essentially just bitmaps in a PDF wrapper, so scaling tends to be no better than a PNG. i suspect this is because of speed enhancements made to the display engine, where it now offloads rendering and compositing to GPUs. however many applications (Safari for example) still offer PDF exports which are proper scalable vector images, which is trivial for developers to implement because the underlying graphics system uses PDF internally

[@claireaustria1950]

This is the first time i've encountered your youtube channel and i subscribed instantly, love your personality 😂

[@cartossin]

So glad you agree with me on the dock being on the side. I think the right makes more sense because I fullscreen RDP a lot and the start button can interfere.

[@linuxsbc]

18:43 Relative to Windows, I definitely agree. For Linux, I think GNOME (42+) actually does it better than MacOS, as does the Flameshot app. KDE is still much better than Windows and is more customizable than GNOME, but I don't think it's quite as nice.

[@tonyburzio4107]

Time to lock all the developers of Linux GUIs into a room, and the last one surviving becomes the one and only Linux GUI. No chance of a different Linux, anyone trying disappears immediately.

[@MrMarcetLP]

@@tonyburzio4107 Knome

[@kamikadze2185]

I don't know if I would agree since you can pin Snip&Sketch/Snipping tool to PrintScreen key in Windows

[@linuxsbc]

@@kamikadze2185 You can, which makes it pretty similar to KDE, but the GNOME tool and Flameshot are more polished.

[@TheLikeys]

my go to adjustment when ever I'm using a new Mac definitely is: accessibility > trackpad allowing to drag things with three fingers - I don't know how people live without it ???

[@studybuddy7060]

tbh i like the drag lock one better. Drag Lock is amazing, it lets me select freely whatever I want without doing hand gymnastics.

[@TheLikeys]

@@studybuddy7060 is that the one where you have to select the objects and than can drag them normally with one finger? I thought that was a more windows thing? I like the three finger thing because it feels more natural to me and also I don’t have to press the keyboard at all..

[@CharlieBasta]

OMG as soon as you hit the terminal and made the hiding animation go faster, INSTANT sub. Thank you so VERY much for this video. I've been using a MBP for work for the past 5 years and never knew some of the finder settings. None of the terminal settings I even knew were options. THANK YOU! ♥♥♥♥

[@HPRshredder]

Honestly, excellent stuff. Your channel has really blown up since I saw your IKEA desk tutorial back in like 2017 or 2018. Time flies.