Posts By: Gary Rosenzweig

Lots of Mac tips for using macOS Monterey. Tips on using the Finder, Menu Bar, Dock, System Preferences, Safari, Mail and much more including keyboard shortcuts and gestures. Something for everyone.

I often get asked how to convert numbers (123) to words (one hundred twenty three) in Numbers. This isn't a great solution, but better than nothing. It is a Shortcut that will convert any number selected in text to words. So you can use it in Numbers and elsewhere by selecting the number text (not the cell) and triggering the Service or with a keyboard shortcut. Here's a link to get the Shortcut: <a href="https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/7a66e201b7474b2b90821a774300c1c5" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/7a66e201b7474b2b90821a774300c1c5</a> 

TextEdit is an app that comes with your Mac and allows you to create and edit simple text and word processing documents. You can use it to create notes that exist as files, to record information, to start writing, edit code, or open Word documents.

If you have a list of items you need to sort, you can do it using what you have on your Mac or some free apps. Learn how to sort in Pages, Numbers, the Terminal, VIM, CotEditor and using a Shortcut.

Learn how to test and manipulate text in cells in Mac Numbers. You can search for characters, replace them, grab parts of text and more.

You can create reminders on your iPhone or Mac that will repeat on a regular schedule. Reminders can repeat hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and with all kinds of patterns such as specific days of the week or the nth day of every month.

Learn more about creating your own Shortcuts by following along with this watermark tutorial. Build a Shortcut that will add an overlay to an image file and save the file to the same location with a new name. This can be the basis for all sorts of image modification Shortcuts.

While TextEdit is usually used for plain text or RTF documents, you can also create and edit very simple HTML documents. These can be used for notes, documentation and other things. They have the advantage of being able to be viewed on any computing device without special software. Could be a good alternative to sending PDF or other files in some situations. (Sorry if I ramble on a bit in this one)

The key to getting use out of macOS widgets is to customize them to fit your needs. You can create multiple clocks, stock price and other widgets if those are more useful to you then others. Use notes and third-party photo widgets to add things you want to see.

Here are some gift ideas from Apple and other sources for Apple fans. I'll talk about each idea and rate them depending on how good of a gift i think each one really is.

Taking a screenshot on your Mac is easy, and if you want to annotate it with arrows, shapes, text and other indicators you can do it right after taking the screenshot or later in Mail or Preview.

Drag-and-drop on the iPhone is greatly improved in iOS 15. You can now drag images, files, text and other items between apps. To do this you'll need to master use multiple fingers to drag at the same time as you switch apps.

Full Keyboard Access is a new Accessibility feature that aims to give you access to everything on your Mac using only the keyboard. In addition to buttons, links and other controls, you can work with Control Center, Notifications, the Menu Bar and Dock.

I tried out the augmented reality exhibits at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Interesting. I think we are just at the start here with AR. This same app with the same exhibits works at many other U.S. Botanic Gardens.

The Go To Folder function in the Mac Finder got a face lift in macOS Monterey. Go To Folder makes it easy to navigate in Finder windows using only your keyboard with some knowledge of your folder structure.

macOS Monterey includes a handy little app you can access in the Terminal to get your network quality. No need to use "speed test" websites anymore.

Sometimes it is useful to have bar charts where each bar is placed at a spot on a map or graphic. You can do that in Numbers, even though there is no special chart type for it. You just need to get creative.

Here are some techniques you can use when searching the web with Google. You can specify one or more sites to search, or exclude sites, terms and more. You can add date ranges, use boolean operators and even a special advanced search page.

I'm often asked how I manage to show a red circle in my iPhone and iPad tutorials. This is just the pointer you get when you connect a mouse to your device. I'll show you what I use and how to modify it.

Starting with macOS Monterey, you can now bring up the path bar temporarily using the Option key. You can also click it to view sibling folders and use the context menu to access other functions.