OS X includes a service where you can open the OS X Terminal at a selected folder, but this is not always the optimal approach. For one, it requires you select a subfolder to act on, which will have the Terminal open it instead of the current Finder window, requiring you to then “cd ..” to get to the folder you want. This also requires there be a folder to select in order for this to work in the first place. Alternatively, there are three additional approaches you can use which may be quicker and easier approaches. Continue reading
Tag Archives: hotkey
How To quickly enable Do Not Disturb for Notification Center in OS X
Even though placed along the right-hand side of your screen, Notification Center’s updates and notices can still be somewhat intrusive as they demand your attention. If you do not want your notices on at any time, you can disable Notification Center temporarily by toggling its Do Not Disturb feature; however, the default approach of opening Notification Center and scrolling to find the toggle for Do Not Disturb can be somewhat cumbersome. Continue reading
Add shortcuts for the PDF menu items in Print dialogues
When you print any document in OS X, you can manage the print job as a PDF by accessing the small PDF menu at the bottom-left of the print panel, where you can open the PDF in Preview, save it as a PDF to disk, and embed it in an e-mail or chat message, among other options. While the PDF menu itself is not inconvenient, accessing it does require you use the mouse by default; however, you can also assign custom hotkey shortcuts to access these items even quicker. Continue reading
19 essential keyboard commands that every Mac user should know
Hotkeys are exceptionally useful for specifying actions you want a particular program to perform. In some cases, these are specific to a given program (such as creating a new tab in Safari), and in other cases commands are more universal, such as those for copying and pasting content.
Given that hotkeys allow for specific tasks to be performed, they can often be a more efficient method than using point-and-click options, where errors can be made. For instance, when dragging items to the trash, you can easily release your selection at the wrong time and drop items on whatever window is in the background. With a hotkey to move items to the trash, you won’t make this mistake. Continue reading
Navigate OS X menus with your Mac’s keyboard
For the most part, to navigate menus in OS X you simply click one with your mouse and then click the desired command from the menu. While this is the most straightforward option for accessing what you want from menus, there are some alternative approaches that at the very least might be good to keep in mind, but with practice may even be quicker than grabbing your mouse. Continue reading
Get word and character counts for any selection in OS X
If you regularly need to count the words in text that you are composing or otherwise managing, then there are several approaches for doing this. A common one is to simply copy whatever text you are interested in and paste it in a Word or Pages document, and then use the word counting features in there to count your words; however, if you find yourself doing this frequently then you can create a special service for counting words. Continue reading
Hotkeys for navigating the Terminal in OS X
If you regularly use the OS X Terminal, then there will undoubtedly be times you encounter the limitations of the cursor. For instance, if you have a relatively large command entered but need to edit a small typo in the middle of it, then you might resort to using the arrow keys to move backward character by character until you get to the part you wish to edit. If you have been frustrated by this approach, then you might benefit from Continue reading
Eight obscure but useful text-editing hotkeys in OS X
While you can use your Mac largely by clicking controls and menus with your mouse, if you take advantage of system and application hotkeys you can greatly increase your workflow efficiency. There are a number of classic hotkeys you can use to perform basic operations, such as quitting, closing windows, creating new documents, and cutting and pasting contents. You can even create your own custom hotkeys if needed; however, there are a few relatively hidden hotkeys Continue reading
Six tips for efficient use of your Mac
While OS X is built to be simple, there are often times when I see people taking many unnecessary steps to perform basic operations on their Macs. For instance, to find a buried window, some people may resort to shuffling those in the foreground to the edges of the screen, in order to reveal those underneath.
There are many ways to optimize the way you use your Mac, but here are six tips that may help you reduce Continue reading
Use OS X Finder shortcuts in Open and Save dialog boxes
When browsing through documents, images, and other files on your Mac, you can use a number of shortcuts supported in the OS X Finder that allow you to preview items, selecting ones to open, and navigating through folders. These can be quite convenient, and if you use them regularly, then you might benefit from using them in the system’s Open and Save dialogue boxes. Continue reading