macOS Sonoma 14
macOS Ventura 13
macOS Monterey 12
macOS Big Sur 11.0
macOS Catalina 10.15
macOS Mojave 10.14
macOS High Sierra
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Table of Contents
macOS User Guide
- Welcome
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- What’s in the menu bar?
- Work on the desktop
- Search with Spotlight
- Quickly change settings
- Use Siri
- Get notifications
- Open apps from the Dock
- Organize your files in the Finder
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- Connect to the internet
- Browse the web
- Preview a file
- Take a screenshot
- Change your display’s brightness
- Adjust the volume
- Use trackpad and mouse gestures
- Use Touch ID
- Print documents
- Keyboard shortcuts
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- Apps on your Mac
- Open apps
- Work with app windows
- Use apps in full screen
- Use apps in Split View
- Use Stage Manager
- Get apps from the App Store
- Install and reinstall apps from the App Store
- Install and uninstall other apps
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- Create and work with documents
- Open documents
- Mark up files
- Combine files into a PDF
- Organize files on your desktop
- Organize files with folders
- Tag files and folders
- Back up files
- Restore files
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- Change System Settings
- Choose your desktop wallpaper
- Add and customize widgets
- Use a screen saver
- Add a user or group
- Add your email and other accounts
- Automate tasks with Shortcuts
- Create Memoji
- Change your login picture
- Change the system language
- Make text and other items on the screen bigger
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- Set up a Focus to stay on task
- Set up Screen Time for yourself
- Use Dictation
- Send emails
- Send text messages
- Make a FaceTime video call
- Edit photos and videos
- Use Live Text to interact with text in a photo
- Start a Quick Note
- Get directions
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- Work across devices using Continuity
- Use iPhone as a webcam
- Use iPhone with Desk View
- Stream audio and video with AirPlay
- Use one keyboard and mouse to control Mac and iPad
- Hand off between devices
- Unlock your Mac with Apple Watch
- Make and receive phone calls on your Mac
- Sync music, books, and more between devices
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- Manage Apple ID settings
- Set your Apple ID picture
- What is iCloud?
- What is iCloud+?
- Store files in iCloud Drive
- Share and collaborate on files and folders
- Manage iCloud storage
- Use iCloud Photos
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- What is Family Sharing?
- Set up Family Sharing
- Set up Screen Time for a child
- Share purchases with your family
- Watch and listen together with SharePlay
- Share a Photo Library
- Collaborate on projects
- Find content shared with you
- Find your family and friends
- Play games with your friends
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- Play music
- Listen to podcasts
- Watch TV shows and movies
- Read and listen to books
- Read the news
- Track stocks and the market
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- Apple Music
- Apple TV+
- Apple Arcade
- Apple News+
- Podcast shows and channels
- Manage subscriptions in the App Store
- View Apple family subscriptions
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- Guard your privacy
- Use Mail Privacy Protection
- Control access to your camera
- Use Sign in with Apple for apps and websites
- Set up your Mac to be secure
- Keep your data safe
- Create a passkey
- Understand passwords
- Keep your Apple ID secure
- Find a missing device
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- Get started with accessibility features
- Vision
- Hearing
- Mobility
- Speech
- General
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- Connect an external display
- Use the built-in camera
- Connect a Bluetooth device
- Use AirPods with your Mac
- Optimize your Mac battery life
- Optimize storage space
- Burn CDs and DVDs
- Control accessories in your home
- Use Windows on your Mac
- Resources for your Mac
- Resources for your Apple devices
- Copyright
The desktop takes up most of your screen, and it’s the area where you’ll do most of your work. If you keep files—documents, folders, and aliases—on your desktop, you can organize them to make it easier to find the items you need.
Organize items into folders
You can quickly group items on the desktop into folders. Select all the items you want to group, Control-click one of the items, then choose New Folder with Selection. (Locked items can’t be grouped.)
See Organize files in folders.
Use stacks to organize files automatically
Stacks helps you keep files organized in tidy groups on the desktop. You can group stacks by kind, date, or tags. When you group by kind, all your images go in one stack, presentations in another, and so on. Any new files you add go immediately to the correct stack—helping you keep everything in order automatically.
See Expand or collapse a desktop stack.
Arrange files on your desktop
The desktop gives you many different ways to arrange the files you’re working on. You can keep your files sorted by name, kind, date added, size, tags, and more. Click the desktop, choose View > Sort By, then choose an option. If you want to control the placement of your files on the desktop, keep Sort By set to none. You can still arrange files neatly when desired—just click the desktop, choose View > Clean Up By, then choose how you’d like to arrange the files.
See Align and resize items.
Change icon size, grid spacing, text size, and more
Click the desktop, choose View> Show View Options, then use the controls to make changes. You can also Control-click the desktop, then choose Show View Options. See Change how folders are displayed in the Finder.
For more ways to customize the desktop, see Change Finder settings.
Tip: If you turn on iCloud Desktop and Documents, you can get the same desktop items on another Mac by logging in with the same iCloud account and turning on iCloud Desktop and Documents on that Mac.
See alsoGet to know the Mac desktopWays to quickly see items in the Finder on MacRename files, folders, and disks on MacOrganize your files in the Finder on MacWork in multiple spaces on Mac
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