Guides, How Tos, and Tips for New Mac Owners

Those of you lucky enough to get a new Mac for the holidays will want to check out our collection of Mac how tos and guides to learn the ins and outs of your new machine.

Regardless of whether you're new to the Mac or are upgrading from an older model, there's likely to be a useful tip or trick in here for you. Most of this information applies to all of Apple's latest Macs, from desktops to notebooks.

Beginner Tips

How to Take a Screenshot on Your Mac

How to View Folder Sizes on Your Mac Using Finder

How to Add, Remove, and Rearrange Menu Bar Icons in macOS Mojave

How to Customize File and Folder Icons on Your Mac

How to Manage File Associations in macOS

How to Change a File Type's Default App in macOS

How to Use the macOS App Switcher to Open Files, Hide and Quit Apps, and Launch Exposé

How to Enable Markup Annotation Tools in macOS

How to Use Tags to Organize Files and Folders in macOS

How to Add a Recent or Favorite Items Stack to Your Mac's Dock

How to Get Your Mac's Dock to Show Running Apps Only

How to Group Mac App Icons More Prominently in Your Dock

macOS Mojave Features

How to Add a Recent Items Folder to Your Mac's Dock

How to Disable Transparency Effects in macOS Mojave

How to Use macOS Mojave's New Dynamic Desktop Feature

How to Use Finder Quick Actions in macOS Mojave

How to Use Quick Look in macOS Mojave

How to Organize Your Mac's Desktop With Stacks in macOS Mojave

How to Enable Dark Mode in macOS Mojave

Security Tips

How to Use Secure Code AutoFill in iOS 12 and macOS Mojave

How to Set a Custom Lock Screen Message on Your Mac in Case It's Lost

How to Back Up Your Mac Using Time Machine

How to Request a Copy of Your Apple ID Account Data

How to Recover Files, Contacts, Bookmarks, Calendars and Reminders in iCloud

Continuity and Other Product Tips

How to Use Your iPad as a Second Screen for Your Mac

How to Use the New Continuity Camera Feature in macOS Mojave

How to Send and Receive SMS Messages on iPad and Mac via Text Message Forwarding

How to Grab Screenshots and Video From Apple TV Using Your Mac

How to AirPlay Audio From Your Mac to HomePod

How to Unlock Your Mac With Your Apple Watch

Mac App Features

How to Get the Most Out of Apple's macOS Preview App

How to Batch Convert Images Using macOS Preview

How to Use the Preview Loupe Tool in macOS

How to View All Events as a List in Your Mac's Calendar App

How to Quickly Resize Images on Your Mac Using an Automator Service

How to Float Notes Over Application Windows in macOS

How to Make Web Pages in Safari for Mac Easier to Read

How to Control the Behavior of Screenshot Shortcuts in macOS

How to Convert Several Images into a Single PDF Using Preview

How to Set Up Out-of-Office Replies in Apple Mail and iCloud Mail

iCloud

How to Merge and Remove Duplicate Contacts in macOS and iCloud

How to Share Files Stored in Your iCloud Drive

Hidden Tricks

How to Use Text Clippings in macOS

How to Electronically Sign a PDF Using Preview on Mac

How to Hide and Remove System Preference Panes in macOS

How to Snap Back to Your Search Results When Browsing in a Safari Tab

Advanced Features

How to Pair an Apple Remote With an Apple TV or Mac

How to Get Unique Alerts for VIP Emails Received on Your Mac

How to Use Your Mac's Media Keys to Adjust Speaker Volume on a DisplayPort, HDMI, or Thunderbolt Monitor

How to Rebuild the Spotlight Index on Your Mac

How to Perform a Clean Installation of macOS 10.14 Mojave

How to Output Your Mac's Audio to Two Pairs of Headphones at the Same Time

How to Add an AirDrop Shortcut to Your Mac's Dock

How to Tame macOS Hot Corners Using Modifier Keys

How to Set Up a System-Wide Word Count Service on Your Mac

How to Create File Templates on Your Mac With Finder's Stationery Pad Feature

How to Reset Your Mac's Bluetooth Module to Fix Connection Issues

How to Update macOS Using a Simple Terminal Command

Mac App Recommendations

Every few months we do a video series where we recommend a useful selection of Mac apps, and these articles are worth checking out if you're looking for great Mac apps for your new Mac.

Five Essential Apps for Your Mac - January 2018

Five Great Apps for Your Mac - February 2018

Five Interesting Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - March 2018

Five Useful Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - April 2018

Five Useful Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - May 2018

Five Interesting Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - June 2018

Five Interesting Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - August 2018

Five Interesting Mac Apps Worth Checking Out - November 2018

Tips and Tricks Videos

More Info

Know other great Mac-related tips and tricks that MacRumors readers should be aware of? Let us know in the comments.

For more details on Apple's newest 2018 Macs, check out our roundups: MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini.Related Roundups: Mac mini, MacBook Air, MacBook ProBuyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Buy Now), MacBook Air (Buy Now), MacBook Pro (Neutral)This article, "Guides, How Tos, and Tips for New Mac Owners" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums