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rofrol/#macos_tips.md

Last active August 29, 2025 21:05
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tips for a lifetime windows user switching to mac
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#macos_tips.md
  1. two-finger click on touch pad is right-click. Or ctrl+touch pad or ctrl+mouse click.
  2. To have switching with alt+tab and window previews, install https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/alt-tab. You may need to change in settings alt+tab to Show windows from applications: All apps.
  3. To have fast switching between full screen windows: don't full screen and just auto hide top bar instead: System Settings > Control Center > Automatically hide and show the menu bar: Always. Also System Settings > Wallpaper > Colors: black or set image with black at the top. You may also auto hide dock. One downside if you move mouse to top bar and click to fast, you will show desktop instead. There is some possibility for fast switching with full screen windows with https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai but is hacky.
  4. Install https://brew.sh. Disable quarantine with export HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS=--no-quarantine in ~/.zshrc link. To upgrade packages without asking for root password many times https://github.com/rofrol/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/brew-update. To list brew packages https://github.com/rofrol/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/brew-packages.
  5. Finder (Mac OS file explorer):
  • enter to rename
  • cmd+up to go parent dir
  • cmd+down to go to child dir
  • cmd+c copies. cmd+v pastes copy. To cut and paste, copy first but paste with option+cmd+v
    • Enable status bar. Then you will be able to right-click on bread crumb and choose Services > New Ghostty tab here
  • To toggle hidden files cmd+shift+, or command defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES.
  • You cannot close Finder (be default). Only close windows with cmd+w.
  • To set association of some file extension with some program: right-click file > Get Info > Open with: select app > Change all....
  • To search current folder always: Settings > Advanced > When performing a search: Search the Current Folder
  • Show file extensions: Settings > Advanced > Show all file extensions
  • To delete file cmd+backspace
  • To add Bin to sidebar ctrl+cmd+t or File > Add to Sidebar. Then you can cmd+click link in sidebar to open in new tab. Helps when emptying Bin and Finder tab is closed automatically.
  • To open new tab cmd+tab
  • To set location cmd+shift+g
  • To preview file, press space
  • To select multiple files one-by-one: cmd+click. To select from-to: shift+click but does not work in Icon view - drag with mouse then.
  1. To open multiple images in full screen like slideshow in Preview app: select multiple images in Finder with with cmd or shift. Then press cmd+down. Sometimes it will open them in multiple windows :(.
  2. Text cursor shortcut for: home ctrl+a, end ctrl+e. Like in Emacs. End of file cmd+down. Beginning of file cmd+up.
  3. To maximize window: some apps like Google Chrome support maximizing by double-clicking title bar. If not, double-click corner with option key. Or install https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/rectangle and ctrl+cmd+enter.
  4. https://github.com/pakerwreah/Calendr, https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/pika. Pika > Settings > Color Format > sRGB IEC61966-2.1 for correct colors. https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/atuin.
  5. For transient prompt https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/oh-my-posh and https://github.com/rofrol/dotfiles/blob/master/.config/oh-my-posh/themes/rofrol.omp.json.
  6. To toggle internal display when external connected with shortcut: install https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/betterdisplay (paid app). Then in Keyboard > Keyboard shorcuts > Display connection > Toggle built-in display: shift+cmd+7.
  7. Menu bar: after installing https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/stats, you may wish to decrease spacing between widgets with https://sindresorhus.com/menu-bar-spacing https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/406316/can-the-spacing-of-menu-bar-apps-be-modified-in-macos-big-sur-and-later. To rearrange items in menu bar, use cmd+mouse drag.
  8. To add action to finder in Services, for example: https://github.com/rofrol/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/subtitles_encoding_and_line_ending.sh
  9. For advanced shortcuts: https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/karabiner-elements. For example https://github.com/rofrol/dotfiles/blob/16bfc639431b37ec940a9a574863b7db7c42d816/.config/karabiner/karabiner.json#L334
  10. Similar to WinDirStat https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/disk-inventory-x.
  11. Extract archives like rar, 7z https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/the-unarchiver.
  12. Torrents https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/qbittorrent
  13. For playing movies https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/iina.
  14. For subtitles https://qnapi.github.io/. Sometimes file may have txt extension but IINA cannot open it. Try to disabling subtitles post-processing in settings for that file. Or the file can have wrong encoding, file format. Fix it with subtitles_encoding_and_line_ending.sh from above. You may need to sync subtitles to video with https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/alass alass-cli en.srt pl.srt out.srt. If English subtitles are embedded in mkv file: install https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/mkvtoolnix. Then mkvinfo *.mkv | less and mkvextract tracks *.mkv 3:en.srt. If mkvinfo shows for subtitles: Codec ID: S_HDMV/PGS, change extension to sup and convert to srt with https://pgs-to-srt.com/. If it shows S_VOBSUB: mkvextract tracks file.mkv 3:track3 will produce track3.idx and track3.sub. Convert to srt with https://subtitletools.com. To translate English srt subtitles https://translatesubtitles.co/.
  15. To merge pdf files into one: select them in Finder, right-click and Quick Actions > Create PDF. To extract pages, install https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/qpdf and then qpdf --empty --pages infile.pdf 1-5 -- outfile.pdf link.
  16. Create folder with selected files in Finder: right-click and New Folder with Selection.
  17. Deleting app by dragging it to Bin or cmd+backspace. Or better use brew uninstall.
  18. zsh: to set environment variable for some GUI app like Emacs.app, you need to put it in ~/.zshrc, not ~/.zprofile.
  19. To install older hp printer driver use https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/pacifist. Example https://github.com/kisswiki/kisswiki/blob/e6c14800a61d3a5d017df3970ae7b7c46c9dcb07/src/os/macos/printer_hp_laserjet_p1102.md?plain=1#L5
  20. To show all app icons: pinch with 4 fingers on touchpad. You can also add shortcut for this to cmd+space in Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shorcuts... > Launchpad & Dock > Show Launchpad and disable cmd+space for Spotlight in Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shorcuts... > Spotlight. That way you can disable completely spotlight indexing service https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/265749/what-is-spotlight-indexing-and-should-i-turn-it-off.
  21. To make screenshot: whole screen cmd+shift+3, selected rectangle cmd+shift+4, UI cmd+shit+5. To change screenshots location cmd+shift+5 > Options > Select directory.
  22. If Mac OS prevents you opening downloaded app, try right-click > Open.
  23. For terminal, install https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/ghostty. It allows to have different font-size per split. To enter polish characters like ł with alt+l, in Ghostty config macos-option-as-alt = left. Also use Karabiner to switch right cmd with right option for entering polish characters like on Windows.
  24. To have cmd+space search only for apps: Macos > System Settings > Spotlight > Search results > check only Applications.
  25. Games: https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/steam, https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/porting-kit, https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/heroic. https://github.com/AndreRH/hangover. https://git.ryujinx.app/ryubing/ryujinx. https://github.com/Kegworks-App/Kegworks.
  26. Lightweight docker desktop alternative https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/orbstack (paid).
  27. Show all windows: swipe up with 3 fingers. Or ctrl+up. To show only single app windows: ctrl+down. You can change it in Settings > Desktop and Dock > Shorctus or Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shorcuts... > Mission Control.
  28. To disable hot corners go to Settings > Desktop and Dock > Hot Corners.
  29. If you cannot open some file, like rar, you need to run xattr -d com.apple.quarantine <file>. Also you can make quick action with: Automator > Quick Action > Workflow receives current: files or folders, in: Finder.app, on the left search for "Run Shell Script" and drag-and-drop it to the right. Pass input: as arguments. Content of script: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine "$@". Save is as unquarantine. Then Finder > right-click on file > Quick Actions > unquarantine. https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/1kbvsse/cant_open_rar_files_after_update_to_1541/
Raw
.markdownlint.jsonc
{
// Default state for all rules
"default": true,
// Path to configuration file to extend
"extends": null,
// MD034/no-bare-urls : Bare URL used : https://github.com/DavidAnson/markdownlint/blob/v0.32.1/doc/md034.md
// "MD034": false,
"MD041": false,
"MD013": false,
"MD033": false,
}
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