MacMost: Archives

Dictation on the Mac is pretty powerful as long as you are using Voice Control Dictation instead of standard Dictation and you know some of the commands you can use to perfect your text.

While watching YouTube videos on your Mac (or PC) you can use a variety of onscreen and keyboard controls. Learn how to navigate by chapter, speed up or slow down playback, use picture-in-picture, view transcripts and more.

If you still aren't using a password manager, here are 5 reasons to start today. Password managers will keep your online accounts safe by using strong unique passwords and warning you of potential problems.

If you want to have a lot of images in your Pages document and they all need to be the same size and other attributes, you can use a variety of techniques to reuse attributes over tens or hundreds of images. This same technique works for Keynote as well.

If you are switching from Windows to Mac here are some of the ways in which these two operating systems are different and some tips on making the transition easier.

A new feature in macOS Ventura is the ability to copy the subject from an image or remove the background. You can use this in many different apps in a variety of ways. Learn how to make clean Contacts and social media pictures, replace the background of an image, create folder icons, and much more.

Go beyond basic custom keyboard shortcuts on your Mac with these tricks. See how you can use a single key as a shortcut, launch apps, prevent yourself from accidentally quitting an app, reveal hidden menu commands and more.

Learn how to create a custom keyboard shortcut for any Menu Bar command in any app. You can also override existing keyboard shortcuts.

If you have names, product IDs or some other words and need to translate those to number values you can do it with the IF, IFS, SWITCH or LOOKUP functions in Numbers. While the first functions are good for small limited lists of values, only the LOOKUP function works well with a large list that changes often.

Learn how to set and add languages to your Mac so you can see different apps with different Language settings. Find out how to change things like number separators and date formats using the Region settings. Use Input Sources to change how your keyboard works.

Text replacements are the ultimate typing productivity tool. You can add to a list of short special words that will then expand into longer phrases as you type. Learn how to add, edit and delete Text Replacements and lots of tips and tricks like how to import and export them.

While the Mac Finder handles zipping and unzipping files just fine, it fails to give you any way to see the contents of a ZIP file. You can use some Terminal commands to do this. Better still, you can use those Terminal commands in a Shortcut to make it easy.

Learn how to zip and unzip files on your Mac, including how to create password-protected ZIP files. It is easy to compress a single file or multiple files and folders into a ZIP file archive on your Mac. You can also decompress any ZIP file by simply double-clicking it. The Archive Utility is used invisibly for both commands, and there are some settings you can access. If you want to create password-protected ZIP files, you can do it with the Terminal.

If you want to share a photo from your Photos Library or a file on your iPhone or iPad, you can use this Shortcut to resize it and convert it first. A very simple Shortcut can be used to do it for one photo, and a slightly more complex one can do it for multiple photos.

If your Mac is running slow here are 20 things you can do to try to fix it. Learn how to check memory pressure, see what is running in the background, and how you should be using apps and browsers to make things faster.

Learn how to use the Wi-Fi settings in macOS Ventura. You can pick the network you wish to join, customize it and use new options like Low Data Mode.

Learn how to use the Mac Notes app. You can quickly type some text, take notes in meetings or at school, make lists and more. Learn the basics and get some tips.

Learn how to use the keys on the top row of your Mac keyboard. You can use them to send F1, F2, and other F-Keys to the app you are currently using, or you can use them to control special features like screen brightness and volume. Learn how to toggle which requires the FN key and which does not.

You can access most of the data you have stored in iCloud in a web browser, including files, photos, notes, email, and much more. Learn how to use Apple's new iCloud web dashboard.

Focus modes, also called Do Not Disturb, are useful to quiet notifications while in meetings or trying to concentrate. But it is hard to remember to turn them on and off. To make them more useful, you can set Focus modes to turn on automatically when using specific apps.