MacMost: Video Podcast

If you know the information or item you want is on a specific site, there are quicker ways to get to it besides a general web search. Most websites allow you to search inside them, and even search engines allow you to narrow things down.

Here are 10 tips for people who are new to using macOS.

When you download something in Safari, another browser, or Mail, it is saved to the Downloads folder by default. But you can change that to another location or have it prompt you each time.

A presentation is usually linear, advancing from one slide ot the next. But you can create buttons that are links to other slides to jump around and view slides in a different order each time you present. Or, you can just jump to an option part of your presentation and then back to the main slides.

When you type quotation marks on your Mac you'll usually get curly quotes that curl correctly depending on what you are typing. Learn what curly quotes are, how they work, and how to use straight quotes instead if you like.

By using a Shortcuts automation, you can make it seem like one or more of your regular iPhone or iPad apps are locked and require your passcode to access. This low-security technique could prevent others from gaining access to important apps.

When using smart folders or albums it is important to realize what they are. Items are not "in" a smart folder or album. They are simply the results of a search. The items remain where they were. You can't delete items from a smart folder or album because that wouldn't make sense.

Font Book is the app that comes with your Mac that lets you install new fonts and manage the ones you have. Most Mac users never need to use Font Book, but if you are a designer or content creator you may need to know how it works.

So many lights and switches won't work with Siri, but will work with Google. However, you can still use Siri to control there by setting up a Shortcut to get Siri talking to the Google Assistant app.

Clipping Masks are a useful technique to be able to use only part of an image masked into a specific shape without destroying the image in the layer. You can use it to easily create sculpted images in Pages, Keynote or iMovie.

If you aren't using the Photos app, check out these 10 reasons to give it a try. Often when someone avoids using an app like Photos it is because of misconceptions or not realizing that the app has evolved since they last tried it.

If you need to find an image in a folder full of photos or graphics, you have many different ways to do it in the Finder on a Mac.

Many of today's scams involve online payment systems like Venmo, Zelle and Apple Cash. These are all legitimate ways to send and receive money, but can be used by scammers because they are quick and completely online. Learn what scams are common so you know what to look out for.

When viewing files in the Finder you can group the items in a folder by kind, size, date and more. How this works depends on which Finder view you choose. You can also sort the files inside each group.

Instead of using a range of cells, you can refer to an entire column of cells by using just the letter for the column. But you need to be aware of how header and footer rows work first.

There are secret messages and fun images hidden throughout macOS.

The Desktop is a unique folder on your Mac that gives you quick access to the files and folders in it, providing other windows aren't in the way. Here are some ways to get to your Desktop items.

When using Apple apps and some third-party apps you can access a history of previously saved versions of the document. This is handy for reverting to an older version or bringing back delete content.

A good alternative to online forums for tech help is to use the new AI chat sites. Since they draw on a large sample of online information, you can often get help quickly and easily ask follow-up questions.

You can create your own custom templates that have your letterhead at the top of the first page, all pages, or different letterhead for first and subsequent pages. You can then easily use this template to create future documents.