Thankfully this is something you can do with your Mac, but it might not be perfectly obvious how. Let’s walk through the process of how to format an SD card on a Mac, and everything you need to know to perform this task safely.

Warning! Formatting Erases All Data!

Yes, you probably already know this. But it needs to be said. In case you didn’t know, formatting will erase all of the data on your SD card. So if you’re able and the data currently on the card matters, back it up somewhere.

Also, double-check that you are formatting the SD card and not another drive such as a USB thumb, stick, or external hard drive. Make sure you’ve selected the right drive letter!

When to Format an SD Card

Formatting a disk, which includes SD cards, rewrites the structure of the disk so that devices know how to store, retrieve and delete data. It’s a bit like building the library shelves before filling them with books. 

That’s quite a big job and also means all data on the disk is lost. So the first situation in which you’ll format an SD card is one where you don’t care about the data that’s on the card. Either because you’ve already backed it up, it’s become corrupted, or you don’t want it anymore.

Data corruption on an SD card means that either the card or device has an issue. It can also happen as a result of a glitch or accident. Such as a loss of power while writing to the card.

If the SD card is still physically fine, you can usually format it and keep using it. If the card is faulty, a format will usually fail. Making it a quick indicator of drive health.

You’ll also want to format an SD card when you need to use it with a device that needs a different format from the one the card currently uses. There are various format types, each with its pros and cons. The main consideration is whether the device you’re going to use the SD card with can read that particular format or not. So next we’ll look at which format is best for an SD card.

Which Format Should You Use?

There are various formats that you can use for SD cards, but most of the time the correct choice is either FAT32 or exFAT. Most devices and computer operating systems can read either of these formats. exFAT has the advantage of supporting file sizes larger than 4GB. Check the manual for the device the SD card is destined for to ensure you pick the optimal format.

Don’t choose any of the macOS journaled formats. These are only appropriate for internal Mac drives and external drives that will only be used with a Mac, where data integrity is also important.

What You Need to Format an SD Card on Mac

If you have a recent MacBook, you probably know that there are no ports on your computer besides two or four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports. Older MacBooks have built-in SD card slots, so using an SD card on such machines is straightforward.

If your Mac doesn’t have an SD card slot, you’ll need to buy a USB SD card reader or get a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 dock that features one as one of its ports. Card readers by themselves are pretty inexpensive, but docks can be quite pricey. So only go the more expensive route if you were in the market for a dock anyway. If you already have a dock with USB A ports then a standard USB SD card reader will work just fine.

Be sure to get a card reader that can accept both full-size SD cards and the more common micro-SD type.

How to Format an SD Card on Mac Using the Disk Utility

The native method of formatting an SD card on a Mac is to use the built-in Disk Utility. This is quick and easy to do, especially if you know what settings to choose:

1. Plug in your SD card reader and insert the SD card into the appropriate slot.
2. Open Spotlight Search (command + space) and search for Disk Utility. Open the app.
3. In the left-hand pane, under external, look for your SD card. Select it, making sure it’s the right drive.

4. Now right-click on the drive and select Erase…

5. Give the drive a volume name if you wish.

6. Choose a format, we suggest exFAT in most cases.
7. Choose Security options and pick a level of erasure security. Higher settings make it harder to recover data but will make the format take longer.

8. Select Erase and wait for the process to finish.

You can now use the SD card again, assuming that it’s not damaged in some way. If you’re unsure, check out this article on SD card corruption.

Formatting an SD Card With the Official SD Alliance Application

SD cards are made according to standards set by the SD Card Alliance. Those standards also include how the cards should be formatted for maximum performance and reliability.

So, whether you’re on a Windows or Mac machine, the Alliance recommends that you use their formatting application.

1. Download and install the application
2. Open the application
3. Make sure the correct drive letter is selected

4. Choose overwrite format, unless you only want to wipe the disk superficially

5. Choose a volume label if you wish

6. Select format and then continue

You may have to provide your administrator password and approve a few permissions before the format can commence. After it’s done, your SD card should be ready to use.

Wiped Clean

With your SD card formatted, you can now put it back into the device. Whether that’s your phone, Nintendo Switch, DSLR, security camera, or any other device that accepts it. Keep in mind that many of these devices have their own built-in formatting utility.

Most of the time it’s better to format the card using those built-in utilities. However, when things go wrong, an initial format using your Mac can be a good way to get the card into shape, so that the device can read and format it in the first place.

If your card still doesn’t work after formatting it, don’t be too disappointed. SD cards are amazing storage devices, but they wear out relatively quickly and can be a bit fragile. It’s a good idea to never use them for permanent storage. Make sure to back up irreplaceable files, such as photos, to another location. Cloud storage services like Google Drive or iCloud are probably the safest and most convenient options.

If you want to show hidden files in macOS to see what Apple has kept out of sight, you can use either the Finder or Terminal app to reveal them in the Finder. 

Use Finder to Show Hidden Apps

Finder is the easiest way to show hidden files in macOS. You just need to open the folder and use a keyboard shortcut to reveal and hide the hidden files. 

1. Select Finder in the toolbar, which is usually at the bottom of the screen.

2. Select Go in the menu bar.

3. Select Computer to access the root folder on the hard drive.

4. Press Command-Shift-Period keys to reveal the hidden files, which will be greyed out on the screen.

4. When you’re done, press Command-Shift-Period keys to re-hide the files.

Use Terminal to Show Hidden Files

The terminal app is another way to show and hide hidden files on macOS. Terminal is not as user-friendly as the Finder app. Still, these commands are useful if you work in the Terminal app and are familiar with its operation. 

1. Select Launchpad in the toolbar, which is usually at the bottom of the screen. 

2. Select the folder named Other in Launchpad.

3. Select the Terminal app to open it.

4. Enter the following string into the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles true; killall Finder.

5. Press Return to execute the script.

This first half of the command changes the ShowAllFiles parameter to true which will show all files, including those that were previously hidden. The second half is a killall command that restarts the Finder and displays the hidden files. 

Use Terminal to Hide All Files

When you’re done working with the hidden files, it’s a good idea to re-hide the files, so you don’t accidentally modify or delete them. Follow the same first four steps above to open Terminal or simply press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight and type in Terminal.

1. Select Launchpad in the toolbar, which is usually at the bottom of the screen. 

2. Select the folder named Other in Launchpad.

3. Select the Terminal app to open it.

4. Enter the following string into the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles false; killall Finder.

5. Press Return to execute the command.

This command sets the ShowAllFiles parameter to false, which will hide the hidden files. Once again, the second line is a “killall” command that restarts the Finder and removes the hidden files from view. 

Why You Should Keep Files Hidden

Be careful when working with hidden files as they typically are hidden for a reason.  Most of these files are critical system files that are used by macOS or the apps you have installed. If these hidden files are modified or deleted, your operating system and apps may not work as expected. You may even have to reinstall macOS to get everything functional again. 

This is why there are several paid and free utilities for Apple’s line of computers that promise to give your Mac a good scrubbing. We decided to try popular apps such as CleanMyMac and CCleaner for Mac to see if there’s any real benefit to these utilities.

CleanMyMacX

CleanMyMacX is a paid package that offers a long list of benefits as well as a few pretty bold claims about performance increases.

CleanMyMacX has three main components. There’s the system file cleaning part, which looks for orphaned and redundant data, letting you delete it. This even includes deeply-embedded stuff such as localization data that’s not relevant to you.

The second part of the application is an anti-malware scanner. Many readers might find this surprising thanks to the persistent myth that Macs don’t have viruses. The truth is that the only thing that protected Apple computers from viruses, trojans, worms, and other digital nasties was obscurity. With a rapidly growing user base, it’s now worth the time of malware makers to target these machines, so having a scanner isn’t the worst of ideas. 

The final part of the package is performance enhancement, monitoring, and tweaking. 

The specific claims made by MacPaw are that you’ll get 4x faster boots, 2.5x more responsive apps, and 5x the amount of free space you’d otherwise have, based on their testing with a 2016 MacBook Pro 15. With our 2019 MacBook Pro 13, it’s hard to say that anything has changed performance-wise. It already booted up in a flash and rebooting is such a rare occurrence on modern computers it hardly makes any difference.

What we will say is that CleanMyMacX is utterly comprehensive, it centralizes management of your system in a slick way and it recovered a significant chunk of free space on our cramped 128GB MacBook Pro. So, it’s well worth the money in our opinion.

CleanMyMacX

Reviewed by Switching to Mac

Pros:
– 100% Comprehensive
– Freed up a ton of space
– Very easy to use
– Makes tasks such as uninstalling apps easier
– One-off and annual plans available

Cons:
– Not obvious whether performance has improved.
– It didn’t find malware, but we have no way of knowing if that’s accurate.

System Cleanup

Anti-malware Scanner

Performance Optimization

Summary

Though the program is not free, it’s been around for a long time and has a good track record. Overall, we recommend using it if you prefer cleaning up your Mac without reformatting.

4.3

Stellar Speedup Mac

Speedup Mac is another paid package, but you can try it for free before buying. Unlike CleanMyMac X, Speedup doesn’t offer any anti-malware functionality. What it does promise is that you’ll have more free space and a faster Mac. 

It has various ways to achieve that goal. These include looking for duplicate files, identifying large files you might not know about, and analyzing which startup and third-party apps you don’t use. It also targets unused language files, Mac trash files, and other similar loose bits and pieces.

This all sounds pretty good, but after signing up for the free trial, giving up our credit card information, and downloading the application in the link sent to us via email, we were hit with an error message. The application needs to be updated to work with the latest version of macOS Catalina. So we had no choice but to cancel the trial and move on.

Pros

• None.

Cons

• The application wouldn’t install on macOS Catalina.
• No option for a once-off purchase.

Rating: 0/5 Stars

CCleaner for Mac

CCleaner is a popular and trusted system cleaner app on the Windows side of the fence, but many people may be surprised to know that there’s also a Mac version. We’re only looking at the free version here as an alternative to the paid applications we’ve looked at so far. 

The free CCleaner for Mac focuses on two things. The first is to make your computer faster and the second is privacy protection. The paid version adds real-time monitoring, automatic updates, and premium support.

We loved this little app and it worked just as advertised. The free version is light on features compared to something like Clean My Mac X, but for the average Mac user who wants a good free solution or perhaps for schools that run labs full of Macs, it doesn’t get better than this.

Pros

• It’s free.
• It works just fine.

Cons

• Not particularly attractive.
• Middle of the road user-friendliness.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

AppCleaner

All of the apps we’ve looked at so far are packed with multiple features, trying to attract you by offering a veritable buffet of optimization gimmicks, so we thought that something like AppCleaner could be a simple alternative. This little applet does one thing and one thing only; it uninstalls applications properly.

The way it works is dead simple, at least from the user’s perspective. Simply drag an app you no longer want into AppCleaner and it will find and list all the files associated with the app across your hard drive. Then, after reviewing those files, you simply click a button to delete them all. 

The main downside here is that it’s of little help for apps that have already been removed and left their crud all over your computer. However, it helped us remove apps that we had tried to uninstall but still had their icons cluttering up Launchpad. Now they’re gone and all it took was a click or two.

Pros

• It does one thing and it does it well!
• It’s free!

Cons

• It only does one thing, but again it does it well!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Do Cleaning Apps Do Anything For a Mac?

This is a very difficult question to answer because your computer’s performance in day-to-day desktop tasks can be very subjective. These cleaning apps are unlikely to make much difference in benchmarks and in the age of solid-state storage it doesn’t matter how jumbled up the actual data is, since it can be read from any location instantly.

Where does that leave the utility of these cleaning applications? Well, one major area where they help is in freeing up disk space. Modern MacBooks in particular have pretty tiny system drives.128GB and 256GB disks aren’t uncommon, which means you could run out of disk space pretty quickly. What’s worse, it’s not always obvious in MacOS where that space is being consumed.

From that point of view, we really can recommend these junk cleaning apps as a fast and convenient way to remove typically unneeded files. You could do it manually, but that would take ages and require precise knowledge of where to look.

Is an application like CleanMyMac or CCleaner safe? There is no such thing as a perfectly safe application, so there’s always the chance that these apps will delete something important or otherwise interfere with the normal functioning of your Mac. This is why you should always maintain a recent backup using Time Machine or the backup software of your choice.

The first layer of protection you should use is a firewall, which blocks apps and services from accessing your computer. Use the steps below to configure your Mac Firewall. 

What is a Firewall?

A firewall functions as a barrier between your computer and nefarious software on the internet. It protects your computer by blocking access to your computer and allowing only those apps and services that you trust. 

macOS has a built-in firewall that we recommend you use instead of a third-party firewall or antivirus software.  These third-party software packages run on top of macOS and may slow down your system. The macOS version has a minimal effect on your computer’s performance. It runs in the background, and you don’t even know that it’s there. 

How to Enable the Mac Firewall

Like most macOS settings, the firewall control panel is found in the system preferences for macOS. The firewall only takes a few steps to enable. Use the directions below to turn on the Mac Firewall and then configure it if needed. 

1. Select the Apple menu in the upper left corner and then select System Preferences.

2. Select Security & Privacy.

3. Select the Firewall tab.

4. Select the lock icon in the lower-left corner to unlock the settings.

5. Enter the administrator name and password when prompted.

6. Select Turn On Firewall. 

This will enable the Mac Firewall with the default settings. Most apps will be blocked, though some system apps, services, and processes may pass through the Firewall. If everything is working as expected, you can start using your computer and forget the Firewall knowing that it keeps you safe. 

How to Configure the Mac Firewall

You need to turn on the Mac Firewall and then configure it so your essential apps are not blocked. You may also want to block apps and services that may pose a threat. 

1. Select the Apple menu in the upper left corner and then select System Preferences.

2. Select Security & Privacy.

3. Select the Firewall tab.

4. Select the lock icon in the lower-left corner to unlock the settings.

5. Enter the administrator name and password when prompted.

6. Select Firewall Options to configure the Firewall

7. There are a handful of settings that you can change within the Firewall options. The first is Block All Internet Connections. This setting blocks all incoming connections and should only be changed if you know you won’t be using any file sharing, remote access, or similar apps that rely on an incoming connection. 

8. The next setting you can change is Add +. This lets you add an app or service which then can be set to Allow incoming connections or Block incoming connections. You also can select the Remove – to delete a service or app from the Mac Firewall.

9. The next two sections, Automatically allow built-in software to receive incoming connections and Automatically allow downloaded signed software to receive incoming connections, are enabled by default. These settings automatically add trusted apps and trusted to the Firewall’s list of allowed apps.
   
   This is a convenient feature that adds these entries without requiring you to authorize each app or service you install. We recommend leaving them enabled unless you want granular control over the firewall access granted to the apps you install. 

10. Up next is Enable Stealth Mode. This stealth mode setting tells your Mac to ignore incoming connections that are pinging your computer and asking for information without authorization. This option blocks unauthorized requests from hackers and malware, but it doesn’t block requests from authorized apps and services.
    
    You typically wouldn’t need to enable this setting at home as most home routers offer similar protection. It may be a good idea to enable this setting if you bypass your router and connect directly to the internet. It may also be helpful when using insecure public networks. 

11. When you are done making changes, you can select OK. 

12. Last but not least is the Advanced Settings menu which can be used to further secure your computer. In most cases, these settings won’t need to be changed. They let you limit the amount of time a user is logged into a Mac when it’s idle, and restrict users from changing locked system preferences without an admin-level password. 

Using the Mac Firewall

You can’t talk about home network security without talking about a firewall. It’s the first line of defense against outside attacks. It blocks unauthorized traffic and prevents malware from infecting your computer. The Mac Firewall is free.

It does a decent job of protecting your computer’s data and hardly affects your computer’s performance. If you spend a lot of time on the internet, you should strongly consider enabling the Mac Firewall. It’s even more important if you visit public places with your laptop. 

The Firewall in macOS is easy to turn on/off, so if you decide you don’t want it running in the background, you can turn it off in less than a minute. 

This synchronization can be a mixed blessing. Yes, it’s convenient to get messages on your Mac, but the constant stream of alerts can be a considerable distraction. Want to turn off the firehose of alerts? Or even remove Messages entirely from your Mac? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then we have a solution for you.

Turn Off iMessage on Your Mac

There are three ways to stop using Messages on a Mac. First, you can log out of your Apple account to stop receiving messages on that device.  Once you log out, you cannot send or receive messages on your Mac. This is a great solution if you want to completely block Messages. This method is the most permanent, though. 

If you want to re-enable Messages in the future, you will have to log into your account with your username and password first before you can enable the account again. 

Second, you can turn off iMessage on your Mac. This option turns off Messages but allows you to stay logged into your Apple account. This choice makes it easier to turn messages back on as you only need to reactivate the account to start receiving messages again. 

Third, you can block messages being sent to your iPhone’s phone number or your Apple ID. This method stops all the messages to that particular phone number or ID. Unlike the other more permanent messages, this option keeps the Messages app active, and you stay logged into your Apple account. 

1. Open LaunchPad in the dock at the bottom of the screen.

2. Find and select the Messages app to open it on your Mac.

3. Select Messages > Preferences in the upper left of the menu bar.

4. Select the iMessage tab and then select Settings.

5. Choose one of the following three options:
   • Block Messages Sent to your Phone Number or iCloud Account: Select the checkbox next to the phone number and the apple ID under You can be reached for messages at. This should remove the checkmark from this option and disable it.

6. Disable Your Apple ID in Messages:  Select the checkbox next to Enable this account to remove the checkmark and disable Messages on your Mac.

7. Sign Out of Your Apple Account: Select the Sign Out button on the right and then confirm that you want to sign out of your Apple ID in Messages.

 If you use Messages on an iPhone or iPad, you can continue to text as usual on those devices without any interruption. If you only use a Mac, changing these settings will change your online status for Messages. For example, when you make Messages inactive, your status will be displayed as Offline.

Turn off Notifications Permanently 

Maybe you still want to still receive and read messages on your Mac, but don’t need to be alerted to each one. Your best option in this scenario is to turn off the notifications permanently. You will still be able to read your messages on the Mac, but you will not receive any alerts. 

1. Select the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen.

2. Select System Preferences.

3. Select Notifications to open the Notifications preferences.

4. Scroll until you find the Messages app in the left pane.
5. Select the Messages app on the left.

6. Deselect the Allow Notifications from Messages option for the app.

Once deselected, you will no longer receive any alerts from the messages app. 

Turn off Notifications for Specific Conversations

You may have a conversation or two that’s responsible for the bulk of your alerts. You can simply turn off notifications for only these conversations while allowing the other message alerts to still come through. This is an excellent compromise as it lets you be selective about what you turn on/off and not be forced to disable everything

1. Open the Messages app on your Mac

2. Select the conversation that you want to silence.

3. Select Details in the top-right corner.

4. Select Do Not Disturb.

You should see the “Do Not Disturb” icon next to the conversation that you silenced. When you want to be alerted again, just follow the steps above and deselect Do Not Disturb to get message notifications again. 

Hint: If you have a trackpad or a Magic Mouse, you can shorten the steps by placing your cursor over the conversation you want to silence and then swiping right with two fingers on the conversation in the sidebar. This gesture exposes the Do Not Disturb button. Simply select the button to silence the alerts for that conversation.

Disabling iMessage on Mac

Apple Messages can be a great communication tool, but sometimes you don’t want that distraction on your Mac. Using the methods above, you can turn off iMessage on your Mac entirely or just disable it for a short time. 

Apple-designed messaging to work independently, so even if you disable iMessage on the Mac, you still can send and receive messages on your iPhone or iPad. If you change your mind about receiving Messages on your Mac, you can easily enable it, and messaging will pick up right where it left off. 

That’s the best part about Apple’s Messaging platform, you can configure it to suit your specific needs and then adapt it as your situation changes. 

You can also simply install games directly, the same as any application. The only thing you need to do is pay. But there are also so many excellent free Mac games. Here are ten of the best free Mac games you can download right now.

Fortnite

Fortnite is a phenomenon, a free-to-play battle royale shooter that just seems to go from strength to strength. It’s available on just about every platform (except iOS) and that includes macOS! 

The basic premise of Fortnite is that a bunch of players are dropped into a single stage and then the last person standing wins. You can team up in squads as well, in which case your team has to be the last remaining. The battle royale formula was popularized by Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, which is a paid title, but Fortnite has come to dominate and turn into a pop culture phenomenon.

Hearthstone

Hearthstone is best played on an iPad in our opinion, but if you need a fix of Blizzard’s brilliant and addictive card battler the macOS version is no less enjoyable.

Just as with classic card games such as Magic The Gathering, Hearthstone players put together decks of cards representing creatures, objects, and other bits of the Warcraft universe. Then they battle each other with said cards which can attack, defend or otherwise influence the course of play. 

It’s a game that’s easy to learn but hard to master, making for a fantastic competitive scene. If you want to play at the upper echelons and rank, you’ll need to spend money on booster packs. If you just want to play casually, the game is as free as the air.

League Of Legends

While Dota (Defense of the Ancients) was the Warcraft III mod that launched the MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) genre, it has since been surpassed in popularity by League of Legends. 

LoL is probably the most famous eSports title in history and you don’t need a beast of a machine or any money in your pocket to play it. What you do need is a lot of skill and patience for its learning curve

Cave Story

Not to be confused with the remade and upgraded Cave Story+, which is a paid title. Cave Story is a classic indie game that’s been ported to just about every platform. 

That includes Mac and you can download this awesome side-scrolling Metroidvania adventure right now just by going here.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike in its original form was an absolute phenomenon. While CS: GO doesn’t have much in common technologically with the original Half-Life mod, it has honed the formula to a razor’s edge. 

CS: GO runs great on practically any hardware, it takes pure skill to get anywhere and the shooting is frenetic and fun. It may not be the nicest-looking shooter these days, but you won’t even notice as you desperately try not to get shot.

Dota 2

The original Dota mod for Warcraft 3 started the MOBA revolution, but these days League of Legends is the big dog of the genre. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give Dota 2 a look if you’re a fan of these games. 

This official, professionally-developed sequel is a bit more refined and has its own character and feel. It’s not riffing off LoL at all. If you don’t have MOBA fatigue, it’s a great alternative to the market leader.

World Of Warcraft (Up To Level 20)

You may have heard of a little game called World of Warcraft. It was quite popular at one time. OK, WoW is still pretty popular. There are usually about a quarter of a million players online at any given time. If you want to know what all the fuss is about, you can play for free until your character hits level 20 in this classic MMORPG. 

By then you’ll either have no problem paying the monthly subscription or you’ll know it’s not for you. Don’t blame us if you get way too into it!

Asphalt 9: Legends

The Asphalt series of arcade racers are well-respected on mobile phones, but now you can take that pulse-pounding experience and shift it straight into your Mac! Thanks to Apple’s Catalyst conversion system that makes it relatively easy to convert iOS games to macOS, Asphalt looks and runs great. 

The gameplay is also pretty solid and unless you have no patience, you don’t need to pay any money. At least not right away. 

A Classic Pair: Beneath a Steel Sky & Marathon Trilogy

Despite Macs not having a great gaming reputation today, Apple’s computers have an excellent gaming pedigree. Some of the best classic games launched or appeared on their machines.

Beneath a Steel Sky is a classic point-and-click adventure that’s on just about every platform, but thanks to Good Old Games you can download and play it right now on your Mac. What’s also cool is that its modern sequel is on Apple Arcade!

Then we have the Marathon Trilogy from Bungie. This is their early work long before Halo, but these games are still a blast to play. In case you didn’t know, Halo was originally going to be a Mac exclusive, now you can see what Bungie cooked up not too long before that epic game.

Frugal Fun

Let it never be said that the Mac has no games. From expensive triple-A titles to these wonderful free Mac games, there’s no reason ever to be bored as long as you have your Mac with you. Feel free to add your suggestions to the list in the comments below!

To help you increase your efficiency on your Mac, we’ve selected five tips that are easy to implement. You’ll get your work done faster, so you can have more time to play.  

macOS Tip #1: Configure Spotlight Search

If you haven’t used Spotlight before, you should. Spotlight search can locate files, find information on the web, and even perform basic math calculations. Best of all, you can access it via a simple keyboard stroke. 

Use the steps below to configure what items Spotlight will search for and how to use it.

1. Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu in the upper left-hand corner.

2. Select Spotlight in the preferences.

3. Use the checkbox to select the categories you want Spotlight to search. Uncheck the categories you don’t want Spotlight to search.

4. Select the Privacy tab. Add folders you don’t want Spotlight to search.

You can use Spotlight search by selecting  the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner of your screen or by using the Command+Space bar keyboard shortcut. When Spotlight search opens, you can enter a word or phrase into the search bar and Spotlight will display the results. 

macOS Tip #2: Create Text Shortcuts

macOS lets you create text shortcuts that automatically expand into longer text phrases. You can even add emojis to your text phrase. 

For example, you could set up macOS to replace $rec with “I received your message and will respond soon.” These shortcuts can be a huge timesaver, and they’re super easy to set up. 

1. Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu in the upper left-hand corner.

2. Select Keyboard in the preferences. 

3. Select the Text tab.

4. Find and select the + button in the bottom left corner.

5. Enter your shortcut in the Replace column. Choose a shortcut that is unique and not text that you would commonly type. Use a symbol like % or ~ if needed. 

6. Enter the complete text string in the With column.

Once added, you can type your shortcut into any text field, and macOS will replace it automatically. 

macOS Tip #3: Use Hot Corners 

If you’ve never heard of Hot Corners you’re not alone. 

This often-overlooked feature allows you to perform an action when you hover your mouse in one of the four corners of your display. You can choose to lock your screen, show the desktop, and more. You’re limited in what tasks you can perform, but the available ones are useful. 

Setting up your hot corners takes just a few easy steps. Follow these steps below to get started. 

1. Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu in the upper left-hand corner.

2. Select Mission Control in the preferences to open the Mission Control settings. 

3. Select the Hot Corners button.

4. Use the drop-down menu to select the action for each corner.

Select OK when done. 

To use your hot corners, you simply need to move your mouse to the edge of the display in that specific corner. 

macOS Tip #4: Safari Picture-in-Picture 

Do you often watch a video tutorial in one window and then work in another window? Are you tired of continually clicking between the two? If you use Safari, you can end this cycle of switching by using its picture-in-picture feature. 

You need to use Safari, but it works with any video streaming service, including YouTube, Vimeo, and others. 

1. Open Safari and select the + in the right corner to open a new tab.

2. Start playing a video on YouTube, Vimeo, or another video service in this tab.

3 Look for the audio icon in the tab and right-click on it to display a drop-down menu. 

4. Select Enter Picture in Picture to open the video in a smaller window

5. The picture-in-picture video will now float on top of your browser window. 

You can work in your browser and open other apps and the video will stay on top for you to view. You also can drag the video to any corner of the screen that you prefer. To exit picture in picture, simply click on the video and select the X in the upper left corner.

macOS Tip #5: Useful Keyboard shortcuts

There are many keyboard shortcuts inside macOS. It’s almost impossible to learn them all, so we made it easier for you by choosing ten of the most important ones to commit to memory.

• Screenshot tools: Use Command+Shift+3 to screenshot an entire window, Command+Shift+4 to screenshot a selected area, and Command+Shift+5 to open a suite of screenshot tools, including video (macOS Mojave). Usually, the screenshots are saved to your desktop, but you can quickly copy them to the clipboard. Just add the Control key when you are using the screenshot keyboard shortcuts. For example, Control+Command+Shift+3 will screenshot an entire window and copy it to the clipboard. 

• Close an app: Use Command+Q to quickly hide an app from prying eyes by closing it with this simple keystroke. 

• Forward Delete: By default, the delete key in macOS deletes backward by removing the characters to the left of the cursor. Press Function+delete to delete in the forward direction by removing characters to the right of the cursor.

• Move between apps: Hold the command key and tap the tab key to cycle between apps.

• Move between windows within an app: Use Command+Tilde (~) to cycle between windows.

• Minimize a window: Command+M will minimize the active window, while Command-Option-M will minimize all open windows.  
• Force Quit: Use Command+Option+Esc when an app is frozen and you need to force it to shut down. 

• Lock your Mac: Use Command+Control+Q to lock your Mac.

• Open Spotlight Search: use the Command+Space bar to launch Spotlight and search. 

• Open Emojis and Special Characters viewer: Control+Command+Space bar in any text field will open the Emojis and Special Characters viewer.

These keyboard shortcuts are helpful, but these are only the tip of the iceberg. Check out our full-length article for a comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts. 

Using macOS Tips and Tricks to Be More Productive

These tips and tricks will help you work more efficiently, but you can do so much more with your macOS-powered computer. If you’re coming from Windows, we have a handful of tips that’ll make the transition easier. Once you master the basics, you can install power productivity apps like Alfred on your Mac or use these advanced tips that’ll teach you how to use boolean operators, currency converters, and more. 

Luckily, Macs have a native screen recording feature that allows you to record and save part or all of what’s playing on your screen. You can also record external audio or anything coming in through your mic.

Follow along to learn how to screen record on Mac.

How to Screen Record on Mac Using Screen Capture Tool in macOS Mojave

You can record your entire screen or a selected part of it using the screen capture tool baked into macOS. The screen capture tool was added in September 2018 as part of the new features that came with the macOS Mojave operating system.

With the tool, you can capture videos of your screen using on-screen controls for quick access. You can also set a timer and choose where to save the screenshots or recordings.

To access the screen capture tool, press Shift + Command + 5 keys on your keyboard to open the screenshots toolbar. 

The toolbar has on-screen controls that you can use to record a selected portion of your screen or the entire screen or capture still images.

How to Record a Portion of Your Screen Using Screen Capture Tool

1. Select the Record Selected Portion icon on the screenshots toolbar.

2. Next, drag to select the area of your screen that you want to record, and then select Record from the on-screen controls to start recording your screen.

3. When you’re done recording, you can press Command+Control+Esc or select the Stop button in the menu bar.
4. A floating thumbnail of your recording will appear in the bottom right corner of your screen. From here, you can click on the thumbnail to open your recording and edit or share the video. You can also swipe the thumbnail to the right to save the recording or drag the thumbnail to move the video to a different location.

5. There are other settings you can change from the Options section in the screenshots toolbar. These settings include:

• Save to, which lets you choose a location where your recordings will be automatically saved to.
• If you’re filming a tutorial or guide, you can select Microphone to record your voice or other audio together with your screen recording.
• The timer option allows you to choose when to start recording, which can be immediately, or a few seconds after you click to record.

Note: You can choose whether you want a black circle to appear around your pointer as you click different areas of the screen while recording your video. To do this, select the Show Mouse Pointer (or Clicks) option to enable it.

How to Record Your Entire Screen on Mac Using Screen Capture Tool

1. Select the Record Entire Screen button on the screenshots toolbar.

2. Once your pointer changes to a camera, click the screen you want to record and then select the Record button from the on-screen controls to start recording it.

3. When you’re done recording, you can press Command+Control+Esc or select the Stop button in the menu bar.

Your Mac saves the screen recording as “Screen Recording [date] at [time].mov”. You can change the file name to whatever you want to call it for your reference. You can also use the editing options (trim, share, save) once the recording is available.

Note: You can use the Escape (Esc) key if you want to cancel making the recording before clicking to record.

How to Record Your Entire Screen on Mac Using Quicktime Player

If your use case involves complex filters, annotations, and editing, you can use QuickTime Player to record your screen on Mac. QuickTime Player is an easy and reliable screen recorder and video player, which comes free with your Mac.

1. To record your screen using QuickTime Player, open the player and then click File > New Screen Recording.

2. A popup screen capture menu will appear. The popup offers options that allow you to record your screen and audio on Mac. 

3. Select the area of your screen that you want to record, and then select a microphone from the arrow next to the Record button to add audio.

Like the native screen capture tool, QuickTime Player also offers the Show Mouse Clicks in Recording option to show a black circle around your pointer when you click.

4. Select the Record button to start recording. To record a portion of the screen, drag to select the area you want to record and then select the Start Recording option within the selected area. You can also click anywhere on the screen to start recording the entire screen.

5. Once you’re done recording, select the Stop button to stop recording, or press the Command+Control+Escape keys.

QuickTime Player will automatically open the recording, and you can use the video editing tools such as trim, split, and rotate to edit your video. You can also play or share the video, and use the app to convert videos from one format to another based on your preferences.

Note: While QuickTime Player allows you to record your screen, there are other apps like DVD Player that don’t allow screen recording on their windows.

If the built-in screen capture tool and QuickTime Player doesn’t have everything you’re looking for in a screen recorder tool, you can use other third-party tools. There are many excellent feature-packed screen recorder apps for Mac with fully-fledged video editors. These apps include Camtasia, SnagIt, ScreenFlow, and Movavi.

How to Record Your Screen and Audio on Mac

You may want to record your screen for training or educational purposes such as onboarding new hires or teaching a group of students online. You can record your screen and audio on Mac to help others easily understand what you need to say.

Macs don’t have a dedicated tool you can use to screen record with audio. However, you can use the native QuickTime Player as explained in the previous section to narrate what’s happening on your screen.

There are other third-party apps you can use to record your screen with voice-over or audio like CleanShot X or Dropshare. These apps let you create professional screen recordings, edit, and share as needed. You can also fade audio in or out, and mute it to get professional sound without any keyboard or click noises.

Record a Video of Anything on Your Mac

Screen recording makes it easier for others to follow what’s happening on your screen while solving the problem of having to write out descriptions for everything you need to say. Plus, if you’re doing a FaceTime call or Zoom meeting, you can record the videos and preserve them for safekeeping.

That happens because your Mac is using every chance it has to preserve energy and save battery life. While that sounds like a good thing, it can be rather annoying, like when your Mac decides to go into sleep mode while you’re downloading something and you have to start all over again. 

Luckily, there are a couple of ways to block the sleep mode on your computer and prevent your Mac from sleeping. 

Why Block Sleep Mode on Your Mac

One obvious reason why you might want to block your Mac’s power-saving mode is if it starts interrupting active tasks. For example, you start a download and go to sleep expecting to wake up to a finished download. Instead, your Mac falls asleep at the same time as you do and the download’s canceled. 

Another occasion could be when you leave your computer for just a few minutes, expecting to come back and continue working straight away. Instead, you come back to your Mac in sleep mode and have to interrupt your schedule to bring it back to life. 

Whatever your reason may be, it’s always useful to know a few tricks to stop your computer from sleeping. 

How to Prevent Your Mac From Sleeping

There are a few different methods you can use to temporarily stop your Mac from sleeping. If you’re looking for more functionality, download a utility or a third-party app that will allow you to control your Mac’s sleep mode better. If you don’t want to bother installing new software, try one of the following built-in methods.

Use Mac’s Energy Saver

Energy Saver is a built-in tool on your Mac that you can use to customize your computer’s sleep mode.

Using Energy Saver, you can set the exact time when your computer goes to sleep after you stop using it, both on battery and when using a power adapter. You can set the time for as soon as 1min, to 3hrs, to Never. The latter means disabling your computer’s automatic sleep mode completely. 

The best part of Energy Saver is a function called Power Nap. When Power Nap is enabled, your Mac can automatically backup using Time Machine, as well as check for new email and calendar alerts while sleeping. If you’re connected to a power adapter, your Mac can also turn off the screen without activating sleep mode. 

To access Energy Saver, go to your System Preferences > Energy Saver. 

You’ll also find it in the drop-down menu under the battery icon in the upper-right corner of your screen. 

If you just want to set your Mac to sleep and wake up at a certain hour, select Schedule at the bottom of the Energy Saver window and set the times. 

Use the Terminal Command

If you don’t find Mac’s Energy Saver efficient, you can use Terminal as an alarm clock for your computer to solve the sleep mode problem.

To open Terminal, go to Applications > Utilities folder. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Cmd (Command) + Space and search for Terminal in Spotlight. 

Once you open the Terminal window, type caffeinate into it and press Enter. This will keep your Mac awake as long as you have that Terminal window open. You can minimize or hide it, and that won’t affect your Mac’s blocked sleep mode. 

To turn sleep mode back on, either Quit Terminal or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + C to terminate the command. 

Use the Amphetamine Keep-Awake Utility

If you’re looking for more control over your Mac’s sleep mode, try a Mac app called Amphetamine. You can download it for free from the App Store. It will then appear as a little pill icon in the upper-right corner of your screen. 

You can later customize the icon to look like an owl, anything coffee-related, sun and moon, emoji, and even your own custom image. 

The app’s menu is pretty straightforward and easy to navigate. On top of the standard keep-awake functionality, Amphetamine offers you to control your Mac’s sleep mode using various triggers. 

For example, your computer won’t go to sleep while an app is running or a file is downloading. You can set up a whole panel of custom Triggers to take full control over your Mac’s sleep mode. 

Use the Caffeine App

The Caffeine app is truly “old but gold”. It’s a free, simple anti-sleep app that’s been around for years. 

To activate Caffeine on your Mac, download it and move it to your Applications.

Next, the app will ask you to give permission to control your computer. 

After you do that, all you need is to press the coffee cup icon that will appear in your Mac’s ribbon menu on top of the screen. Press the cup icon again to disable it. The beauty of this app is its simplicity. 

Additionally, you can set Caffeine to automatically activate at lunch or at login. The duration also varies from as little as 5min to Indefinitely. 

Learn to Control Your Mac’s Sleep Mode

When experimenting with your Mac’s sleep mode, make sure to pay attention to which settings you’re changing and which utilities you’re using. Otherwise, you might find yourself searching for a way to put your Mac to sleep the next time. 

Have you ever had to prevent your Mac from sleeping? Which method did you use? Share your Mac lifehacks with us in the comments below. 

Quite a few, in fact. There’s a basic, but robust built-in tool, just like in Windows. And you’ll find many feature-rich third-party options as well. It’s just that they go by a different name in macOS. Instead of a snipping tool, they are usually referred to as screenshot utilities. 

Either way, here are the best snipping tool (and screenshot utility) alternatives for the Mac.

Mac’s Built-In Option

Before we look at alternatives, let’s start with the native snipping tool for Mac. Use the Command + Shift + 3 keyboard shortcut to capture the entire screen. The Command + Shift + 4 shortcut lets you select an area of the screen. 

Here, if you keep holding the Shift button, and then press the Space key, you’ll enter the window capture mode. Just highlight and click on a window to capture it.

Once the screenshot is taken, you’ll see a little floating preview of it in the bottom-right corner of the screen (if you’re running macOS Mojave and higher). Clicking on it opens the screenshot in a Quick Look window where you can easily edit it.

If you’re using macOS Mojave, you get a feature-rich snipping tool alternative in the form of a floating bar. Use the Command + Shift + 5 keyboard shortcut, and you’ll see options to capture the entire screen, selected window, or the selected portion. You can also record your screen here.

From the Options menu, you’ll be able to change the screen destination and set a timer. Once you’re ready, either press the Enter button or click the Capture button.

Snagit

Snagit is the ultimate screen capture and snipping tool for Mac. While it costs $49.95 (15-day free trial) for a license, it’s totally worth it if you’re looking for a workhorse screenshot utility. Snagit lets you capture your screen as an image or video (which can then be converted to a GIF). You can also annotate and edit your images right in Snagit. 

What makes Snagit stand out is its sheer number of features, starting from Snagit’s menu bar utility, which makes it easy to capture screenshots. From here, you can decide which kind of screenshot you want to capture if you want to add any effects and if you want to use the timer. 

Snagit offers multiple options when it comes to selection. It lets you capture individual menus, webpages, and webcams, and you can even take panoramic screenshots. 

Once the screenshot is captured, it opens in Snagit’s editor. Here, you can annotate it with arrows, shapes, callouts, and more. You can crop the image and export it in the format of your choice.

In our experience, Snagit has one of the best GIF makers on Mac. You can record a video of your Mac’s screen, trim it down, and convert it into a GIF all in a couple of minutes. 

But if you’re only looking for a simple screenshot utility, something to quickly capture parts of your screen and sometimes annotate them, Snagit would be an overkill. In that case, take a look at the other options below.

Lightshot

Lightshot is a free and simple real-time screenshot utility that’s been around since 2009. While it hasn’t been updated with a modern macOS interface, it’s still a solid option if you want to quickly capture and annotate screenshots.

Once you capture a screenshot using Lightshot (you can configure the keyboard shortcut from the Preferences), you’ll see annotation and saving options right next to the shortcut. From here, you can doodle over the screenshot, and annotate it using shapes. 

You can then choose to save the screenshot, copy it to the clipboard, or you can upload it to Lightshot’s image sharing website. When you choose the cloud sharing option, you’ll get a public link for the image in a second. You don’t even need to sign up for an account to do this.

Monosnap

Monosnap is a more feature-rich and modern version of Lightshot. You can use Monosnap to capture your screen using a keyboard shortcut (fullscreen and region), record videos, and create GIFs. Once the screenshot is captured, you can annotate it using shapes, arrow tools, and blur parts of the image.

Once you’re done, you can choose to save the image to the local drive, or you can share the image using Monoscape Cloud Storage. A free account gives you 2GB of storage space for sharing photos. You can upgrade to a Pro plan to add your own storage providers like Google Drive, Dropbox, and more.

CloudApp

CloudApp is another screenshot and GIF sharing snipping tool for Mac that comes with robust annotation features. All you need to use the app is a free CloudApp account (you can sign in using your Google account). 

The free CloudApp account lets you capture your fullscreen, regions, and app windows using the menu bar utility, and configurable keyboard shortcuts. There’s a separate shortcut for timed screenshots as well. 

Once you capture the screenshot, CloudApp automatically opens its screenshot editor. From the sidebar, you’ll be able to annotate the screenshot using arrows and shapes. You can even blur or highlight parts of the image here. When you’re done, you can click the Share button to upload the screenshot (and to copy a link to the clipboard). 

You can skip the cloud uploading process altogether by clicking the arrow next to the Share button and selecting the Download File (Command + D) option instead. 

If you’re looking for a free and robust screenshot capture tool that has all the basic features for capturing and editing screenshots, CloudApp can be the perfect fit (you can disable some of the automatic online upload options from the settings).