Customizing macOS Big Sur: Fantastic Tricks, Tweaks, Hacks, Secret Commands & Hidden Features

374 Pages·2021·12.009 MB·English

by  Tom Magrini

Customizing
macOS Big Sur

Fantastic Tricks, Tweaks, Hacks,
Secret Commands &
Hidden Features

Tom Magrini
Copyright ©2021 Tom Magrini
Cover photos: Tom’s MacBook Pro 13” by Tom Magrini

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
scanning, or any information storage and retrieval systems now known or to be invented
without prior express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and
distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without prior express
written permission of the author is prohibited. The only exception being use by a
reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for
inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, website, blog, or broadcast, or the use of small
excerpts for academic purposes.

Customizing macOS Big Sur is an independent publication and has not been
authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo,
macOS, and macOS Big Sur are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and
other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Created in the United States of America.
ISBN: 9798599397717

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Terms & Conditions of Use

Some of the customizations contained in this book allow access to hidden preference
settings not visible in macOS’ System Preferences. These customizations do not add
to or change any part of the macOS operating system. They are additional preference
settings defined by Apple and built into macOS. All of the customizations are reversible
and can be reset to the system default. The customizations were tested in public beta
and released versions of macOS Big Sur Version 11. There is always the possibility
that future updates to macOS could cause some of the customizations to no longer work
as expected.

While the author has taken every precaution in the preparation of this book, the author
assumes no responsibility whatsoever for errors or omissions or for damages resulting
from the use of the information contained herein. The information contained in this book
is used at your risk. Any use of the information contained in this book constitutes your
agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.
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Table of Contents
macOS Big Sur .......................................................................................................... 1
What’s new in macOS Big Sur? ............................................................................... 1
Customizing macOS Big Sur .................................................................................... 2
How to Use This Book .............................................................................................. 4
Keyboard Shortcuts .............................................................................................. 4
Command Typeface ............................................................................................. 5
Menus ................................................................................................................... 5
Graphical Controls ................................................................................................ 6
System Preferences ................................................................................................. 7
Organize the Preference Panes Alphabetically .................................................... 8
Search System Preferences ................................................................................. 9
Find a Preference Pane Using Spotlight ............................................................. 10
Hide Preference Panes ....................................................................................... 11
Delete Preference Panes .................................................................................... 12
Terminal ................................................................................................................. 12
What is Terminal? ............................................................................................... 13
Before You Begin ................................................................................................ 13
Launching Terminal ............................................................................................ 14
Terminal Basics .................................................................................................. 14
Your First Customization .................................................................................... 15
History Command ............................................................................................... 18
Up and Down Arrows .......................................................................................... 18
Clear ................................................................................................................... 18
Entering Long Commands .................................................................................. 19
Let’s Start Customizing macOS .......................................................................... 19
Gestures ................................................................................................................... 20
Trackpad Gestures ................................................................................................. 21
Set Up a New Bluetooth Trackpad ..................................................................... 21
Configure Trackpad Gestures ............................................................................. 22
Look Up & Data Detectors .................................................................................. 22
Tap To Click ........................................................................................................ 24
Scroll Direction: Natural ..................................................................................... 25
Zooming In or Out ............................................................................................... 25
Smart Zoom ........................................................................................................ 26
Rotate ................................................................................................................. 26
Swipe Between Pages ........................................................................................ 27
Swipe Between Full-screen Apps ....................................................................... 28
Notification Center .............................................................................................. 29
Mission Control ................................................................................................... 29
App Exposé ........................................................................................................ 30
Launchpad .......................................................................................................... 31
Show Desktop ..................................................................................................... 31
Enable Three-Finger Drag .................................................................................. 32
Coast with a Three-Finger Drag ......................................................................... 34
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Double-Tap Dragging with Drag Lock ................................................................ 34
Adjust the Tracking Speed ................................................................................. 35
Adjust the Double-Click Speed ........................................................................... 36
Ignore the Built-in Trackpad ............................................................................... 36
Force Touch Gestures ........................................................................................... 37
Adjust Force Click Pressure ............................................................................... 38
Silence Trackpad Clicking .................................................................................. 38
Disable Force Click ............................................................................................. 39
Mouse Gestures ..................................................................................................... 40
Set Up a New Bluetooth Mouse ......................................................................... 40
Configure Mouse Gestures ................................................................................. 41
Scroll Direction: Natural ..................................................................................... 41
Secondary Click .................................................................................................. 42
Smart Zoom ........................................................................................................ 42
Swipe Between Pages ........................................................................................ 43
Swipe Between Full-screen Apps ....................................................................... 44
Mission Control ................................................................................................... 44
Adjust the Mouse Tracking Speed ...................................................................... 45
Adjust the Double-Click Speed ........................................................................... 46
Create Custom Gestures ....................................................................................... 46
Set the Security & Privacy Settings .................................................................... 46
Configure Basic and User Interface Settings ...................................................... 47
Create a Custom Gesture ................................................................................... 48
Create a Multiple Action Gesture ........................................................................ 50
Modify a Custom Gesture ................................................................................... 50
Delete a Custom Trackpad Gesture ................................................................... 51
Disable a Custom Gesture ................................................................................. 52
Import and Export Gestures ............................................................................... 52
Keyboard .................................................................................................................. 53
Disable the Caps Lock ........................................................................................... 53
Change the Behavior of the Modifier Keys ......................................................... 54
Turn Keyboard Backlight Off When Idle ................................................................. 55
Precisely Adjust the Keyboard Backlight ............................................................ 56
Switch to Standard Function Keys on your External Keyboard ............................. 56
Show Keyboard and Character Viewer .................................................................. 57
Enable Key Repeat ................................................................................................ 58
Adjust the Key Repeat Rate and Delay .............................................................. 58
Create a Text Replacement ................................................................................... 59
Talk to Your Mac with Dictation ............................................................................. 60
Take a Screenshot ................................................................................................. 61
Disable the Floating Thumbnail .......................................................................... 62
Change Screenshot Keyboard Shortcuts ........................................................... 62
Save Screenshots to the Clipboard .................................................................... 64
Change the Screenshot Destination Folder ........................................................ 64
Remove Shadows from Screenshots ................................................................. 65
Set a Screenshot Timer ...................................................................................... 65
Capture the Mouse Pointer ................................................................................. 65
Change the Screenshot File Format ................................................................... 65
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Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts ...................................................................... 66
Assign a Keyboard Shortcut for Do Not Disturb ................................................. 67
Launch Applications with Keyboard Shortcuts .................................................... 68
Touch Bar ................................................................................................................. 70
Setup Up Touch ID ................................................................................................. 71
Set up Apple Pay ................................................................................................... 71
Customize the Touch Bar ....................................................................................... 72
Configure the fn Key Toggle .................................................................................. 73
Customize the Control Strip ................................................................................... 74
Customize the Expanded Control Strip .................................................................. 76
Customize App Controls ........................................................................................ 78
Customize Safari App Controls ........................................................................... 78
Customize Mail App Controls ............................................................................. 80
Configure the Touch Bar to Show F Keys .............................................................. 81
Enable Touch Bar Zoom ........................................................................................ 82
Create a Custom Touch Bar .................................................................................. 82
Set the Security & Privacy Settings .................................................................... 83
Configure Basic and User Interface Settings ...................................................... 83
Configure Touch Bar Specific Settings ............................................................... 85
Create a Custom Touch Bar Button .................................................................... 86
Add a Touch Bar Widget ..................................................................................... 88
Create a Multiple-Action Button .......................................................................... 89
Control Touch Bar Button Visibility with Modifier Keys ....................................... 90
Create a Custom Touch Bar for an Application .................................................. 91
Rearrange your Custom Touch Bar Buttons & Widgets ..................................... 92
Modify a Custom Touch Bar Button or Widget ................................................... 93
Delete a Custom Touch Bar Button .................................................................... 94
Disable a Custom Touch Bar Button .................................................................. 94
Import and Export your Touch Bar ...................................................................... 95
Desktop .................................................................................................................... 96
Change the Desktop Wallpaper ............................................................................. 98
Enable Dynamic Desktop ................................................................................. 100
Switch to Light, Dark, or Auto Mode ................................................................. 102
Change the Accent Color .................................................................................. 103
Allow Wallpaper Tinting .................................................................................... 103
Use a Picture from Photos for your Desktop Wallpaper ................................... 104
Configure Multiple Pictures from Photos for your Desktop Wallpaper .............. 105
Determine Resolution & Aspect Ratio .............................................................. 106
Use Images in a Folder as Desktop Wallpaper ................................................ 107
Display the Wallpaper Filename and Path ........................................................ 107
Configure the Screensaver .................................................................................. 108
Use a Photos Library as your Screensaver ...................................................... 109
Display a Message as the Screensaver ........................................................... 110
Use a Random Screensaver ............................................................................. 111
Configure Amazing Aerial Screensavers .......................................................... 111
Permanently Disable the Screensaver ............................................................. 113
Put the Display to Sleep ................................................................................... 113
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Configure Hot Corners ......................................................................................... 114
Avoid Accidentally Triggering a Hot Corner ...................................................... 115
Show the Desktop ................................................................................................ 117
Hide Applications to Clean Up Desktop Clutter ................................................ 117
Remove Devices from the Desktop .................................................................. 118
Enable Desktop Stacks .................................................................................... 118
Create a Pristine Desktop ................................................................................. 120
Change the Desktop Icon and Text Size .......................................................... 121
Adjust the Display Brightness .............................................................................. 122
Disable Automatic Brightness Adjustment ........................................................ 122
Precisely Adjust the Display Brightness ........................................................... 123
Sleep Better with Night Shift ............................................................................. 123
Adjust Display Resolution .................................................................................... 124
Remove the Sleep, Restart, & Shutdown Buttons from the Login Screen ........... 126
Mission Control ..................................................................................................... 128
Add More Desktop Space .................................................................................... 130
Remove a Desktop Space ................................................................................ 131
Take an App to Full-screen Mode in Mission Control .......................................... 131
Exit Full-screen Mode ....................................................................................... 132
Use Split View to View 2 Apps Side by Side ........................................................ 132
Resize Windows in Split View .......................................................................... 134
Exit Split View ................................................................................................... 134
Turn Off Automatic Space Rearrangement .......................................................... 134
Automatically Switch to Desktop Space by Application .................................... 135
Configure Separate Spaces on other Displays. ................................................ 135
Navigate Between Desktop Spaces ..................................................................... 136
Jump Spaces Using a Keyboard Shortcut ........................................................ 137
Switch Desktop Spaces with the Touch Bar ..................................................... 138
Move a Window to Another Desktop .................................................................... 139
Move All Windows of an Application to Another Desktop ................................. 140
Move a Window & Create a New Desktop Space ............................................ 141
Drag a Window To Another Desktop ................................................................ 141
Remove the Drag Delay When Moving Windows between Desktops .............. 141
Create an Extended Desktop ............................................................................... 142
Mirror Displays .................................................................................................. 142
Use your iPad as an External Display with Sidecar ............................................. 143
Assign an Application to a Desktop ..................................................................... 145
Assign an Application to Every Desktop ........................................................... 146
Toggle Mission Control On & Off ......................................................................... 146
Quick Look ........................................................................................................... 147
Ungroup Windows in Mission Control .................................................................. 147
Change the Mission Control Keyboard Shortcut .................................................. 147
Menu Bar ................................................................................................................ 149
Add a Menu Bar to Each Display ......................................................................... 150
Relocate the Menu Bar to Another Display ...................................................... 150
Rearrange the Menu Extras ................................................................................. 151
Remove a Menu Extra ...................................................................................... 151
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