The history ofmacOSextends back decades, andApplehas been iterating on the operating system year-over-year since its very inception. As such, the popular desktop OS has been endowed with a growing collection of features, customization options, and other useful system tools throughout time.
Some of the settings found within macOS are relatively well-known, including the option to enable tabs in Finder, to adjust the size and positioning of the Dock, and to tweak the aesthetics of the user interface. Hidden below the surface, however, are a set of more obscure (and yet incredibly useful) settings that every Mac owner should know about.
Here are five underappreciated and underacknowledged settings within macOS that I always make use of when powering up aMacBookor any other Apple-made computer.
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5Tiled windows have margins
Make the most of your monitor’s screen real estate
On a fresh installation of macOS, the ‘Tiled windows have margins’ toggle is switched on by default. This setting adds a small amount of padding around open application windows that have been placed side-by-side, in order to give each interface room to breath. If you’re running the OS on a large external display, then this option is nice to have, but it makes a lot less sense on a cramped laptop screen.
By unchecking this window margins setting, snapped windows will display right next to one another, without any of the padding. This allows you to take full advantage of the limited screen real estate of a MacBook, with more content displayed on screen and less of your wallpaper showing through.
To remove the padding around tiled windows, follow these steps:
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4Passwords in Menu Bar
You’ll never have to open the Passwords app again
With the release ofmacOS 15 Sequoia, Apple introduced a standalone Passwords app. Rather than having to dig through System Settings to locate and update saved account credentials synced with iCloud, this new app streamlines the process greatly.
Lesser-known, however, is the hidden Passwords Menu Bar option that can be enabled from within the app itself. When toggled on, this adds a quick-access shortcut to all your saved account usernames and passwords right from the system’s main Menu Bar, while still maintaining a level of protection via passcode or biometric unlock.
To add the Passwords shortcut to your Menu Bar, follow these steps:
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Drag around windows and highlight text without lifting a finger
Within the PC space, Apple is known for its excellent implementation of trackpad gestures. Owing to its top-down approach across both software and hardware, the company has been able to craft a set of gestures that feel silky smooth, responsive, and natural.
While most commonly used gestures are enabled by default on a fresh installation of macOS, one in particular is disabled: Use trackpad for dragging. This optionunlocks the ability to drag aroundopen application windows and to highlight text via a triple-finger swiping gesture, as opposed to relying on a press-and-drag motion. Aside from being a useful accessibility feature, it feels surprisingly fluid to perform this gesture in real time – once I got used to it, I never looked back.
To enable three finger dragging on your Mac trackpad, follow these steps:
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2Hot Corners + Shift
Hot Corners are great, but this hidden tweak makes them even better
Many macOS users are already familiar withthe Hot Corners feature, which lets you set up actions to take place when hovering your mouse cursor towards designated corners of the screen. Lesser-known, however, is the ability to supplement Hot Corners with a modifier key.
In my personal experience, I often find myself accidentally triggering Hot Corners when I don’t mean to, which is where this hidden tweak comes into play. It allows you to press down on one of the following keys when selecting a quick action: shift, ctrl, opt, and cmd. This way, accidentally triggering Hot Corners is avoided, without having to resort to disabling the feature in its entirety.
To configure Hot Corners with modifier keys, follow these steps:
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1Spaced out Dock icons
A simple terminal command for digital organization lovers
The Dock is a macOS staple, and its purpose is multifunctional. It allows you to pin frequently used apps and folders to it, to minimize active windows into miniature thumbnails, to access the system’s Finder and Launchpad, and to drag unwanted files directly to Trash.
While Apple provides several out-of-box customization tools to adjust the Dock to your liking (including the ability to resize and reposition it), there’s actually a hidden customization tool that I always make use of. By performing a simple Terminal command, you can add ‘hidden’ icons to the Dock, which can then be repositioned or stacked next to each other to create a sense of visual hierarchy.
To add empty icon slots within the Dock, follow these steps:
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