10 Secret Features Hidden In Your Mac

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macbookpro, macbook, macbook pro, mac, apple, computer, laptop, bi, dng

Daniel Goodman / Business Insider

Let’s face it, you probably don’t know as much about your Mac as you should.

But there’s hope!

We’ve put together some great tips and tricks that can save you time and show you how to save time using your Mac, from taking advantage of its hidden calculator, to discovering the tiny icon that’s been right in front of your face the entire time.

Take a trimmed screenshot

Tired of taking screenshots that capture much more of your screen than you’d like? Hold down Command + Shift + 4, which will change your cursor into a cross hair. After you’ve outlined what you want to be in the screenshot, press the Spacebar to capture.

Hide your dock in a flash

If your dock is getting in the way, pressing Command + Option + D will hide your dock. Want it back? Just repeat.

Invert the colors of your screen

For users running Mac OS X Lion or earlier, you can easily invert and revert the colors of you Mac display by holding down Command + Option + Control + 8. The feature is originally designed to help the visually impaired.

Quick tab management

If you need to get rid of too many applications running, hold command and press your tab key to cycle through the applications. Tap “Q” to quit any of the applications, or “H” to minimize.

Never tab past an online form’s box again

When filling out order forms online, tabbing through the input boxes often skips dropdown menus such as the “month” or “year” selections. To allow your computer to tab through them like any other text box, simply go to System Preferences => Keyboard, and then set “Full Keyboard Access” to “All Controls.”

Use Spotlight search as a calculator

By simply pressing Command + Spacebar, Apple’s Spotlight search is brought up, allowing you to easily search for documents or music. But the real secret is that it also does basic math, so if you need some multiplication or division done, just type it in the search bar! For OS X Yosemite users, Spotlight also lets you search the web, which will bring up tidy summaries from Wikipedia, and you can also open applications from the search bar as well.

Easily group files into one folder

For those with a cluttered desktop, one little shortcut can make consolidating files into one folder a snap. Simply highlight or click on the files that you’d like to group, right click, and select “New Folder With Selection.”

Experience Expose in slow motion

The easy app selection tool, Expose, can be manipulated to work in slow motion. The secret is just to hold “Shift” while then pressing your Expose key (usually F9, F10, or F11). Use this trick for a less abrupt window-switching method.

Hidden icon in plain sight

Once you save a Word, Pages, PowerPoint, or (most) other documents, a little icon appears at the top of your toolbar, next to the document name. You can treat this like a normal file icon and drag it wherever you like, which will move the file too.

Type an Apple icon in a flash

On any Apple computer, you can create an Apple icon by holding down Option + Shift + K.

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