MacMost: Archives

If your Mac keyboard is acting strangely, such as keys typing the wrong characters, some keys not working, or symbols and variations appearing when you don't expect, it could come down to a setting you have changed.

Learn how to use the Paste Date and Paste Time functions in my free ClipTools app. You can paste the date or time anywhere you type text and choose your own custom formats for each. You can even add or subtract time to paste tomorrow, yesterday, and so on.

You can use photos and other images in your Numbers spreadsheets, but not as values in cells. Learn how you can decorate a sheet with them, or use them in a clever way in a table to display a featured image.

When you paste text it usually brings along all of the styles such as the font, size, bold, color, and so on. However, most apps allow you to paste using Paste and Match Style to strip the clipboard of its styling and use the settings at the current insertion point in your document.

If you need to capture an entire web page, not just the visible portion, you do not need a third-party tool But you do need to know how to use some more advanced browser commands in either Safari, Chrome or Firefox.

The Copy Subject tool in macOS lets you lift the subject from the background of a photo or remove the background and leave the subject. You can use this to do a variety of things like make social media profile pictures, Contacts images, iMovie overlays, better presentation backgrounds and more.

You can use ChatGPT to take the text of a long article and summarize it for you. You can even more it easier to digest by asking for bullet points. You can do the same for any video using the transcript.

Take a more detailed look at how to set up Guided Access in case you need to hand your iPhone to someone temporarily so they can see some information. Learn how this keeps you safe and in what situations you may need to use this.

The Spotlight index is used to let you search for files on your Mac. If searching is not working properly you can rebuild the Spotlight index.

Smart clips let you paste text with extra programmable elements. You can use previously copied clipboard items, ask for input, select from a list, a current or future date and more.

f you use an Apple Magic Mouse with your Mac you should check out all of the customization settings. Even if you don't change anything, there are probably gestures you aren't aware of that you could be using.

A new System Settings panel in macOS Ventura gives you control over when your Mac locks and what appears on the Lock Screen. It is important to review these settings and set them up to be as secure as possible for your situation.

Learn how to use the cropping tools in the Photos app. You can crop to any part of the photo, or stick with specific aspect ratios. You can also rotate and adjust the perspective of a photo.

Another choice for doing calculations on your Mac is to use the Basic Calculator app inside the Terminal. It has some features that neither the Calculator app, Spotlight nor Siri have like variables, history, customization and more.

Hot Corners allow you to assign functions to the four corners of your Mac's screen. Just move your mouse pointer to one of those corners to activate Mission Control, Notification Center, lock the screen and more.

If you take a lot of screenshots, check out these productivity tips to make your captures go to the folder you want, save to a different location each time, go straight to the clipboard, go into the Photos app, and more.

When you buy a new external drive for your Mac, it is not going to be formatted for your Mac. You should use Disk Utility to set the drive up right before using it.

ClipTools is a free clipboard manager and text selection utility for Mac from MacMost. With it you can access your clipboard history, save clips, use programmable Smart Clips, paste the date or time, insert example text, perform calculations and paste the result or replace the selection, convert numbers to words, sorts lines and so much more. Check out https://macmost.com/cliptools for a full list of features and an App Store link.

If you use a Trackpad with your Mac you should check out all of the customization settings. Even if you don't change anything, there are probably gestures you aren't aware of that you could be using.

The normal way to delete files on your Mac is to use the Trash or Bin folder. There are several shortcuts and advanced techniques that you should know about.