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

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’:

How to Schedule Sleep and Wake Events from Terminal in Mac OS X

Dec 18, 2009 - 6 Comments
Mac Terminal icon

Like many of us, I’m often busy and out of the home, leaving my Mac on a desk. I regularly use my home machine as a local fileserver though and other people in the household are dependent on it being up and running. Now here’s the situation I’m presented with: I leave town earlier than … Read More

Batch Resize Images on Mac with Preview

Dec 16, 2009 - 47 Comments

You can easily batch resize groups of images within Mac OS X by using the included Preview app, that is, taking a group of pictures set at one or various resolutions, and collectively resize them all together in a group to a new resolution, outputting either as the same file or as a new file … Read More

Opening Finder Windows from the Terminal

Dec 15, 2009 - 8 Comments

Finder, the Mac OS X file system browser, is ultimately just a nice looking GUI application, and it can be interacted with fluidly from the command line. This means you can jump to directories and open literally any Mac Finder window directly from the terminal by using a simple command string based upon the ‘open’ … Read More

Reset your lost Mac OS X password

Dec 14, 2009 - 6 Comments

You can reset a lost Administrator (the original account you created) password in Mac OS X by utilizing a Mac OS X installation DVD, here’s how:

iPhone Tip: Set an “If Found” Note as Your iPhone’s Background Picture

Dec 13, 2009 - 7 Comments
Find a lost iPhone easily

This is a fantastic tip from Apple regarding your iPhone, particularly if you’re prone to losing your device… set a custom background image on your iPhone with some contact information and an “If Found” note. What does that mean exactly? Basically just create an image with some contact details on it and a message to … Read More

How to Type Degree Temperature Symbol in Mac OS X

Dec 12, 2009 - 32 Comments
Mac keyboard

Ever wondered how to type the temperature / degree symbol in Mac OS? Typing the degrees symbol on a Mac, or any computer, may seem like a giant mystery since it’s not immediately visible on any keyboard, but it’s really quite easy if you know the proper keyboard shortcut. There are actually two keyboard shortcuts … Read More

Access a whole bunch of hidden Mac preferences with Secrets

Dec 11, 2009 - 1 Comment

Secrets is a pretty nifty system preference panel add-on that lets you access all sorts of hidden ‘secret’ preference options. Instead of typing a bunch of default write commands you can basically just click checkboxes or change dropdown options to easily enable some pretty cool stuff. It’s pretty comprehensive, with a bunch of options for … Read More

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