Tips & Tricks

Tips and tricks for all things Apple! Whether you want to learn tips for a Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or much more, you will find many tricks, tips, tutorials, and excellent walkthroughs for Apple devices and software here.

Search Tips & Tricks

How to Delete Pages in a PDF Document with Preview on Mac OS X

Jan 20, 2010 - 6 Comments

You can delete specific pages from a PDF file with the built-in Mac Preview app, available in all versions of OS X. This is really useful for paring down large PDF documents if you only need a few select pages, and learning how to delete specific pages from PDF files is bound to make any … Read More

Create a New Floating Stickies Note from Anywhere in Mac OS X with Shift+Command+Y

Jan 18, 2010 - 9 Comments

You may already know that you can use a keystroke to make a Stickies Note from Safari app in Mac OS X, but did you know that same keystroke works in many more apps on the Mac? Yes, it turns out you can instantly create a Stickies note from almost anywhere and any application in … Read More

Use quotation marks with Spotlight to search for a phrase within a document

Jan 15, 2010 - Leave a Comment

If you know a phrase that is contained within a document, but can’t remember the document file name, try searching for the phrase that you know appears within the document. Make this phrase search even more precise by putting the phrase itself within quotation marks, for example “all rights reserved” will find all files that … Read More

Stop the Mac Startup Sound on Older Macs with a Preference Panel

Jan 13, 2010 - 14 Comments

Mac’s have a very distinct startup sound that chimes whenever they boot, this is fine for most people but if you’re in a quiet office or library it can be very obnoxious to have the loud startup sound announcing to the world that you are on a Mac. Thankfully there’s a nice little utility that’s … Read More

Change the Dock item click-and-hold behavior in Snow Leopard

Jan 13, 2010 - 6 Comments

Snow Leopard changed the way the Dock behaves when a Dock item has been clicked on and held down, since 10.6 it launches Expose for that specific application. You may recall how Leopard handled the click-and-hold though, which was to launch the contextual menu (the same one you get when you right-click in 10.6). Using … Read More

Convert PNG to JPG or Convert JPG to PNG

Jan 12, 2010 - 20 Comments

Converting a PNG file to JPG, or converting JPEG to PNG, is really easy in Mac OS X. You can use the built-in Preview utility to perform the file format change quickly, and Preview is a great choice since it’s bundled with all versions of MacOS and Mac OS X, meaning it does not matter … Read More

Instantly Create a New Stickies Note from Safari with a Keystroke in Mac OS X

Jan 7, 2010 - Leave a Comment

Want a block of text to float over your Mac desktop so that you can reference it easily? That’s a perfect usage for the Stickies app in OS X, and using a little known trick you can instantly create a new Stickies note from within Safari. The secret to this trick is quite simple: you’ll … Read More

Improve Spotlight Searches with Search Operators in Mac OS X

Jan 6, 2010 - 12 Comments

If you know some specific attributes of a file, application, or item you are looking for on a Mac, you can use Spotlight Search Operators to dramatically narrow down your returned results in the Mac OS search feature. For example, if the file type of a document you are looking for is a PDF, you … Read More

Open Finder Windows from Spotlight in OS X with Command+R

Jan 5, 2010 - Leave a Comment

You can easily open OS X Finder windows containing any search results from the Spotlight menu. After you have entered a search query into Spotlight, highlight the item you want by navigating to it in the search results, and as the desired item to be opened in the Finder is selected, hit Command+R to reveal … Read More

Access the File Inspector on Mac with Command-Option-i

Jan 4, 2010 - 4 Comments

Did you know the Mac has a little file inspector tool that can be used in the Finder for quickly getting information about files, folders, and anything else selected in a Finder window? The File Inspector is basically a dynamic “Get Info” window on the Mac, as it adjusts depending on what you select in … Read More

Accept File Extension Changes in Mac OS X with Command-U Keystroke

Jan 2, 2010 - 3 Comments
Finder icon on the Mac

When you go to change the file extension in Mac OS X you will get a dialog box notifying you that by changing a file type it may open in another application. Chances are if you are changing the file extension deliberately, you did this intentionally and the warning is not necessary, but it’s shown … Read More

How Do I Stop Someone From Emailing Me?

Dec 30, 2009 - 4 Comments

Have you ever gotten emails from someone that you really don’t want to get? Be it just plain spam or annoying messages from people you’d rather not hear from, you can reduce this unwanted email by using the Bounce feature of Apple’s Mail app. Bounce tells the message sender that your email address isn’t valid, … Read More

Restore Items From the Trash to Their Previous Location on your Mac

Dec 29, 2009 - 12 Comments

You can restore the original location of a file that has been sent to the Trash very easily. This quite literally sends a file that is within the Trash back to where it was originally stored on the Mac OS X file system. Using the “Restore to Previous Location” feature is really easy, you’ll need … Read More

How to Recover Deleted Pictures from Digital Camera Memory Cards from Mac

Dec 28, 2009 - 2 Comments

If you’ve ever accidentally deleted pictures from your digital cameras memory card, you’re not alone. That feeling of dread when you forever lose photographic evidence of memories and experiences in digital form can sometimes be resolved though – so don’t freak out quite yet! Using an excellent free tool called Exif UnTrasher, Mac OS X … Read More

Sync your Mac Address Book with Google Contacts

Dec 27, 2009 - 77 Comments

You can easily sync your Mac Contact list or Address Book contacts with your Google Contacts. This is quite easy to set up, we’ll show you how to do so in all versions of OS X.

Bluetooth Menubar Icon Flashing on Mac? It Means the Device Battery is Low

Dec 21, 2009 - Leave a Comment

Have you ever noticed the Bluetooth menu bar icon on a Mac start flashing or blinking? The blinking Bluetooth icon on the Mac means one thing; the connected Bluetooth device has a low battery.

Type Foreign Currency Symbols in Mac OS X

Dec 20, 2009 - 8 Comments
Foreign currency symbols in Mac OS X

You can access and type foreign currency symbols in Mac OS X in much the same way that other special characters are typed out. That means you’ll use a keystroke combined with the “Option” key to type the respective character. A few common currency symbols are available on default keyboard layouts, including the $ dollar, … Read More

Change the Login Background Wallpaper on Mac OS X Leopard & Snow Leopard

Dec 19, 2009 - 11 Comments

If you want to change the wallpaper that sits in the background of your Mac’s login screen in OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard, from the Finder hit Command+Shift+G to open the ‘Go to Folder’ screen. Type /System/Library/CoreServices/ and click ‘Go’:

Subscribe to OSXDaily

Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to Twitter Feed Follow on Facebook Subscribe to eMail Updates

Tips & Tricks

News

iPhone / iPad

Mac

Troubleshooting

Shop on Amazon to help support this site