The Simplest Way To Do the Most Common Tasks On Your Mac

Here are the simplest ways to do some common tasks on your Mac like renaming files, launching apps, taking screenshots and more.

Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let me show you the simplest ways to perform common tasks on your Mac. 
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Now often in my videos I've shown you many different ways to perform the same task. A lot of times I get comments saying it looks very complicated. But the thing is you don't need many different ways to perform a task. You just need the way that works best for you. So in this video instead of showing you lots of different ways to do one thing, I'm going to show you what I think is the simplest most direct way to perform some common tasks. 
To start let's say you want to rename a file. So you're here in the Finder. It doesn't matter what finder view you're in. You can just select a file and to rename it just press the Return Key on your keyboard. This goes into File Rename Mode and now you can type a new name for a file. 
If you want to delete a file the easiest way to do it is to have the file selected and then simply hold the Command Key down and then Delete. That moves the file to the Trash. 
Now if you're worried about the file not actually being deleted but being in the Trash, well that's a good safety net to make sure you don't make a mistake. If you setup the Finder in Settings, under Advanced, to Remove Items From the Trash after 30 days, then you can just leave the Trash alone. The files will automatically be removed when they are 30 days old.
Now if you want to move a file from one location to another there are many different ways to do it. If you could see the file and the destination you could just Drag and Drop one to the other. But if you can't see the destination just go to File, New Finder Window, or Command N, and in that second window go to that destination. Now just drag the file from one window to the other and you've moved it. If you want to leave the original there and make a copy in the new location then hold the Option Key down as you drag it. You'll see the Plus button appear there, drop it in, and now it will make a copy. 
But if you're moving from one drive to another then it automatically makes a copy of it. It  doesn't assume that you want the original deleted from the other drive. 
Now if you want to Search for a file there are many different ways to do it. But I think the simplest, most direct way, is when you're in the Finder in a finder window just use Command F. Then you'll see you're typing up here in the upper right hand corner, just Search. Then you have two choices underneath. Name Contains what you've typed and the Content Contains What you've typed. So select the one that you want. If you don't see the result it's probably because you started in a folder that doesn't contain that file. Simply switch to This Mac and you'll get files from all over your drive. If you want to change that so you don't have to select This Mac each time go to Finder, Settings and then go to Advanced like before. Then when performing a search you can set it to Search This Mac by default. 
Now to Preview a file before you open it, it's very easy. Just select the file and then press Space. This opens a Quick Look Window and shows you a preview of the file. It works for lots of different file types. Like this image here. Just press Spacebar again and it goes away. 
Now the simplest way to Open a file is when you see it in the Finder just double-click it and it will open it up in the default app. However, if you want to open it up in a different app, like an image can be opened up in many different apps, then use the Control Key and click or two-finger click on a trackpad, right click on a mouse and then look in the Open With menu. You can select from any app that accepts that file type. 
Now to launch an application the simplest and most direct way to do it is to move the pointer down to the bottom of the screen to reveal the Dock, if it is not already there, and then click on the application. This will launch it. Now if the application you want to launch isn't in the Dock it is easy to Add it there. In the Finder choose Go and then go to your Applications Folder. Then find the Application that you want and Drag it into the Dock. Now once it is there you don't have to mess with that anymore. You can just launch it from the Dock anytime you want. 
Now if you do want to launch an app that's not in the Dock and you don't want to add it to the Dock the simplest way to do that is to go to the Dock and look for Launchpad. It is usually almost all the way to the left. Then Click and Hold it, instead of just a simple click which will bring up Launchpad. This will bring up an alphabetical list of all of the apps and you can just scroll through it or even type a letter to jump to that letter. Then when you find the app that you want to launch just click it. 
Now to switch from one app to another you may think that I would say the App Switcher is the way to do it. You hold the Command Key down and then you tap TAB and continue to tap tab while holding the Command Key down and then release the Command Key when you get over the application you want. Then it will switch to that app. But actually the simplest and most direct way to switch to an app is to go back to the Dock. If the app is on the left side here, like the Calendar App is, just click on it like you're going to launch it. But if it is already running then it just switches to that app. The reason this is better is that it will work if the app is running but also it will work if the app isn't running. Whereas the App Switcher only works for apps that are already launched. Plus the Dock will show all of the apps that are running, even ones you don't normally have in the Dock. You'll just see them over to the right. So you can use the Dock to switch to any app or launch any app regardless of the current state of the app. 
Now to Quit an app the most direct way to do it is simply to use Command Q and that will quit the app. But in a lot of cases you don't necessarily want to quit the app. Hiding it works just as well. Apps that are hidden use very little processor power especially all the standard apps. So if you use Command H for Hide the advantage is now you see it when you go to the App Switcher. It is still there and ready to switch back to. Plus whatever you were working on, even if you had text selected or a blinking cursor somewhere, that will stay in that state when you Hide the app. Whereas quitting the app will forget a lot of that. 
Now another thing I'm often asked about is how to take a screenshot. There are so many different ways to do it. But the most direct way is simply to do Command Shift 5. Now what this does is bring up the Screen Capture tool here. Now you've got all of your options. You don't have to remember a specific keyboard shortcut for a specific thing. You can just look here, move your pointer over it, and get reminded of what each one does. You've got all these options here. But most of the time you don't need to mess with any of this because you simply are just going to use it the same way you used it last time. So here, the last time, I captured the entire screen and it is already there. So all I need to do is Shift Command 5 to bring this up and then either click on the screen or click the Capture button to Capture.
So if you're confused by all of the different ways to do a screen capture on your Mac just remember Shift Command 5.
One last one. There are many different ways to perform calculations on your Mac. But probably the simplest one is to use Spotlight. Just use Command and Space and then type what you want to calculate. It could be something simple like that or it could be something more complex like that. It will still perform the calculation and give you the result. 
So there are some of the most common tasks that people need to do on their Macs. Each one of them can be done in some many different ways. If you do need more functionality or you want another way to do any of those there are certainly tons of different options. Hope you found this useful. Thanks for watching.

Comments: 5 Responses to “The Simplest Way To Do the Most Common Tasks On Your Mac”

Robert Williams

9 months ago

I find this very handy. Simple, straight forward, and easy to remember.

Ulla

Love it

Steve

I'll be using Command-H a LOT. That's a new kb shortcut for me, Gary. Thanks!

Ralf

Somehow I cannot remember Shift-Command-5 for starting the screen capture app, because I am using this app not very often. Therefore I placed the app into the Dock.

Richard Palmer

Excellent and one I am going to share with my wife and a couple of others.
Now I need to get on the weekly email list.

The Simplest Way To Do the Most Common Tasks On Your Mac

Comments: 5 Responses to “The Simplest Way To Do the Most Common Tasks On Your Mac”

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