Launchpad shows a fading transition anytime it is opened or closed, making for a nice effect over whatever is in the background. It’s pleasant looking, but if you don’t like it you can disable the fading with a few defaults write commands. You can also choose to disable only half of the transition, either for … Read More

Every Mac owner should be using Time Machine, it’s by far the easiest and most painless backup solution, running in the background and allowing for easy recovery of files or the entire operating system should something go wrong during an OS X update or otherwise. That said, Time Machine is a bit aggressive, and backs … Read More

It’s easy to lose track of all the defaults commands used to perform tweaks to Mac OS X, but with the help of the history command it’s easy to list every defaults write and accompanying defaults delete commands ever used on a Mac. Launch the Terminal to get started. See All Defaults Commands Executed To … Read More

Just like you can add spacers between app icons in the OS X Dock (the left side), we can also add these same spacers to the right-side of the Dock, where the Applications, Documents, Downloads, and Trash icons live. Launch the Terminal and paste the following defaults write string into the command line: defaults write … Read More

If you use the multi-desktop Spaces feature of Mission Control often, you’ll probably like a hidden gesture in Mac OS X Lion that lets you immediately jump back to the most recently used Space with just a four-fingered tap on the trackpad (or Magic Mouse). Here’s how to enable the gesture with a defaults write … Read More

Here’s another tip from Keir Thomas, author of Mac Kung Fu, a new book with over 300 tips, tricks, hints and hacks for Mac OS X Lion. It’s available from Amazon, and also in eBook form for all eReader devices, including Kindle. Finder can show the path to the currently browsed folder (that is, something … Read More

Here’s another great tip from Keir Thomas, author of the new book Mac Kung Fu, which contains over 300 tips, tricks, hints and hacks for Mac OS X Lion: Mission Control in OS X Lion groups together thumbnail previews of windows from the same app. By hovering the mouse cursor over a cluster of these … Read More

Recently we covered how to show full file names on the Mac OS X desktop, avoiding the abbreviated labels that occur when a file or folders name is too large to fit in the allowed character count limit. That trick was done by increasing the desktops grid size, but as one of our readers pointed … Read More

Quick Look is one of the better little features of Mac OS X, but a new hidden option in OS X makes QuickLook even better by allowing you to select and copy text directly from the windows. This awesome tip was sent in by Keir Thomas, the author of a new book called Mac Kung … Read More

Ever set a desktop background picture and have no idea where the original wallpaper image is stored? Or maybe you’ve wondered where that default background image is stored so you can share it with your iOS device? Me too, and using a defaults write debug command, you can display the full path to the currently … Read More