In Depth: 30 essential Mac time-saving shortcuts: "
We all want our Macs to be labour-saving rather than labour-causing devices. Yet, even if you've been using a Mac for a long time, the thought, 'There has to be a better of way of doing this,' will probably come to mind on a daily basis.
Whether you're undertaking a repetitive task that has to be done often or just a one-off job that seems to be more complicated than necessary, it's your time that's being wasted and we're here to put an end to it.
So we're going to show you 30 brilliant ways you can make life with your Mac that much easier – and we're not going to use Automator once. We'll ease you in with great ways to work faster with OS X and Finder, and then move on to iLife, with tips for iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand.
Then, to wrap things up, we'll give you 10 ways to make Safari and Mail even more powerful, either through built-in functions or with add-ons. Here's to getting things done faster!
Working faster in OS X
1. Making aliases
Aliases are useful files that point to other files somewhere on your Mac. Certain applications also require files and folders to be in certain places, but if you don't want them there you can always move the items and create aliases to them.
The simplest way to create an alias is to hold down Cmd + Option and drag the item to the new location. Coincidentally, you can use that key combination to drag an item onto a Dock application icon to force the item to open in that application, even if it wouldn't normally be allowed.
2. Use Exposé more
Exposé (activated using the Exposé & Spaces pane in Systems Preferences) is a great, timesaving way to switch between windows in any of the applications you're running. They can be triggered using the screen corners, hot keys (like F9) or the Exposé application in the Applications folder.
But if you use your Desktop for storing items and shortcuts, Exposé also provides a handy way to get straight to your Desktop without minimising all the windows its hidden under. You can even drag and drop in Exposé.
Select some text, or an image, then start to drag and drop it, then hit F9. Now hover it over the application you want to drop it in. After a few seconds Exposé will make it the foremost application, so you can drop it there.
3. Spotlight tricks
Spotlight's the best tool around for finding things on your Mac, but sometimes it gives you more than you can deal with. The Spotlight pane in System Preferences lets you remove files you're probably never going to want to include in searches, such as System Preferences and Fonts, and lets you reorder categories so the items you want appear at the top.
But Spotlight is also a great way to launch an application quickly, simply by typing its name then hitting Enter. It also has a few secrets for those in a mathematical hurry – type a simple calculation into it and Spotlight will give you the answer straight away.
4. Proxy icons
The icon you see at the top of every window is a 'proxy' that performs loads of functions. If you click on it then drag and drop to another window or icon, it'll be as though you're dragging and dropping the files.
PROXY OPTIONS: The file 'proxy' or icon has hidden features for helping you find files quickly
You can hold down Option while you're doing it to copy the item, or hold down Cmd as you click on the icon to get a menu of all folders enclosing the current item – selecting one will open it in Finder.
5. Dynamic spellchecks
Save time on spellchecks by getting OS X to check as you type, using Apple's built-in dictionary. The Check Spelling While Typing and Check Grammar With Spelling options are available in the Edit > Spelling menu in most apps.
Another great tip is to bring up the spellchecker using Cmd + ;, then set the dictionary to British English rather than the standard (American) English. It's surprising how many people don't know that this can be done.
6. Find unusual characters quickly
There are some characters that we all forget the shortcuts for – or maybe we just never knew them. However, they're easily found in the Character Palette; this is available from the Special Characters option at the bottom of the Edit menu of most applications. You can also add it to the Input menu, available from the International pane in System Preferences.
ODD CHARACTERS: These strange symbols are easily accessed in OS X once you know how
Then, either scan through all the available lists, grouped by category, such as punctuation or the language they're used in, or by typing a description of the character into the search box at the bottom.
7. Use file shortcuts
Navigating your Mac for frequently used files takes time. You'll find that dragging folders, disks and servers to the Dock can provide quicker access to their contents, particularly with the List view, selected by clicking and holding down the mouse button on a folder. But the more items you add to the Dock, the more cluttered it becomes.
Finder windows are only one extra click away and offer an alternative – you can add any item to the Finder sidebar by dragging and dropping it, and once that starts to get full, drag items to the toolbar as well.
8. Faster camera access
While iPhoto is great for storing your photos in albums, Image Capture lets you automate the import process and gives you access to several 'pro' options. You can create custom icons, embed ColorSync profiles and add information to Finder file comments.
Image Capture (in the Applications folder) works with every camera iPhoto works with, and when you plug in your camera, it can automatically sort pictures into the Pictures folder and movies into the Movies folder. It can also create web pages, crop pictures to the right size, open them in another application or run an Automator task on your files.
9. Finder copy and paste
Even with the help of Exposé, dragging a file from one window in Finder to another can be fiddly and it's easy to click off your selection. It's better to Copy and Paste a Finder item.
Select the item, or items, you want and use Copy from the Edit menu, choose the destination you want and Paste. Copy and Paste are also available from the contextual menus (right-click a file) or the cog in Finder's toolbars.
10. Use Default Folder X
Although you have to pay for it, Default Folder X will save you hours. It customises Open and Save dialogs to include a whole range of extra file-and folder-handling features, accessible through mouse clicks or keyboard shortcuts.
Navigate the whole of your file system from the pull-down menu at the top of the dialog box, use the toolbar at the side to go to your favourite folders, or mouse-over their 'shadows' to select folders that are open in Finder.
Default Folder also gives you access to Finder features within dialogs: you can QuickView files, change permissions, add comments and add Spotlight info to items. There are even options to rename and compress items, move them to the Trash, and 'tag' them to find them easily.
Handily, all this goodness isn't just confined to dialog boxes, there are optional menubar and Dock items to give you access to your folders whenever you like.
iLife timesavers
11. Speeding up iPhoto
If you have a large number of photos in your iPhoto library, it can really slow down. Rather than simply deleting photos, there are other things you can do to speed it up again, such as turning off item counts in albums (using Preferences).
The best option though is to split your photos into separate libraries, keeping the ones you frequently use in the main library. If you hold down Option when you start iPhoto, it will prompt you to choose a library to use or create a new one.
12. iPhoto's hidden keyboard shortcuts
iPhoto has many hidden keyboard shortcuts, that aren't mentioned in the menus, including M to magnify a photo.
The simplest is Option: pressing it will change the rotate function to work in the opposite direction to the way specified in your Preferences. It will also change the + button in the bottom left-hand corner so it creates Smart Albums instead of Albums.
For most people, Cmd + Option + Backspace will solve iPhoto's most annoying feature – if you have a photo selected in an album, this will delete the photo altogether rather than just from the album.
13. Organise your photos
In iPhoto you can add the same photos to multiple albums and then organise them.
Use Folders (File > New Folder) to collect your albums into groups, and add keywords using the Keywords panel (Window > Show Keywords) to every photo in the folder, in one step.
SMART ALBUMS: Adding keywords allows iPhoto to create folders of similar content on the fly
Then create Smart Albums (File > New Smart Albums) based on combinations of keywords and other rules to group-related photos.
14. Save resources in GarageBand
Software instrument loops are a combination of a software instrument and effects and are customisable. However, they have higher CPU requirements than real instrument loops, which play pre-recorded audio, so will slow down GarageBand.
If you want to use more software instrument loops, turn them into real loops by Option-dragging the software instrument loop from the loop browser into the timeline.
15. Lock GarageBand tracks
When you lock a track, GarageBand automatically renders that track to your hard drive, freeing up CPU power. When you're happy with how your tracks sound, lock as many tracks as you like by clicking the lock icon in each track. Then click the Play button to render your locked tracks to your hard disk.
Locked tracks sound identical to unlocked ones, and you can still adjust the volume at any time. If you need to do further editing, such as adjusting effects, changing notes and moving regions, simply unlock the track by clicking the lock icon, make your adjustments and then relock them.
16. Turn on advanced tools
In iMovie, go to Preferences and click the box next to Show Advanced Tools to give yourself faster editing. On the toolbar an extra Keyword button appears, which enables you to tag and filter using keywords, while the Mark as Favourite, Unmark and Reject buttons become powerful tool buttons.
ADVANCED TOOLS: You can use Picture-in-Picture editing when you turn on advanced tools
This means you can select multiple clips without having to select each one and then click the tools every time. Also, if you drag a video selection from the Event library to a clip in the Project window you get more options, such as the ability to do Picture-in-Picture.
17. Faster iMovie exports
Exporting clips from an iMovie project and importing them into another application need not be a two-step process. Provided it's been recorded in a compatible format, you can quickly export video and audio clips to other applications by simply dragging and dropping them from the iMovie clips pane, timeline or clip viewer directly onto iDVD drop zones, QuickTime (or other applications), Finder or the Desktop.
If you can't see both applications on your screen, use Exposé to switch between iMovie and your target application. If you want to resize your movie for specific purposes, however, you're still better off rendering it first.
18. Use smart delete in iDVD
In iDVD's Map view you can rearrange your project by dragging and dropping the icons, but it can also act as a big timesaver by giving you the chance to batch edit. Simply select multiple items then apply a change for all the elements to be altered.
If you want to delete an entire section or menu within your DVD project, iDVD will automatically reconnect the remaining assets if you use Smart Delete. Select the menu or section that you'd like to delete, Ctrl-click the selection to display a contextual menu, then choose Smart Delete from that menu.
19. Double-click clip to view Inspector
iMovie '09 gathers its adjustment controls together in a new Inspector dialog box. You can select a clip and click the i icon in the toolbar, or choose an option from the new cog icon that appears on every clip, but it's easier to simply double-click the clip to bring up the Inspector.
iMovie's adjustment controls can also be invoked from the keyboard by pressing the following letters (with no modifier key): I for clip adjustments; V for video adjustments; A for audio adjustments; and C for cropping, Ken Burns and rotation adjustments.
20. Try out iTweak
If your iWeb site is lacking in some way and the HTML fragment widget isn't enough for you, iTweak should add what you need with little effort.
It can: add a favicon (the symbol next to the URL in the address bar) via drag and drop; integrate a Google Search bar into your site; add Google Analytics, Statcounter and any other hit counter in the world; embed the Haloscan Commenting system; add a PHP contact form; automatically copy files from one location to another; and search and replace the HTML that iWeb publishes.
Safari and Mail shortcuts
21. Use tabbed browsing
Why have ten browser windows open when you can just have one? Tabbed browsing – which you'll need to activate in Safari's Preferences – enables you to have a different web page open in separate tabs of a single window.
When you start to run out of tab space, Safari will give you a pull-down menu of tabs it couldn't fit on the toolbar, so you can easily find what you're looking for. You can also reorder tabs or convert them into windows (or back into tabs) by dragging them and dropping them.
22. Use RSS feeds
How much of your day is spent visiting websites to see if they've been updated, only to discover they haven't? RSS feeds end that problem for you once and for all. Any site that has an RSS feed will show a blue RSS button in the Safari's URL bar.
RSS READY: Quickly read all the days news without wasting any time with Safari's RSS reader
Click on it and you'll get a list of all the latest content on that site that you can search through, and sort and limit to particular days using a handy sidebar. Bookmark the feed and it'll give you a count of all the new items at the site since you last visited.
23. Install Safari 4
Safari 4 is stable, fast and has a range of new features. As well as moving tabs to the title bar, Safari now has Autocomplete for searches, which suggests common searches so you don't have to type so much.
It also has: Top Sites, which gives you a new way of looking at your most commonly accessed sites; Cover Flow for your bookmarks and history and a new high-powered developer tool for debugging web pages. Get it from www.apple.com/safari/.
24. Foxmarks/Xmarks
More often than not, you'll be using one browser on your Mac at home and a different browser on a machine at work, which might be a PC (gasp!). Keeping all your bookmarks in sync between all those machines takes time, and MobileMe doesn't sync with Firefox – and if you use RSS feeds, no matter what you do, Live Bookmarks in Firefox never ends up working when imported in Safari or vice versa.
The solution is Foxmarks, a free add-on for Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer for Mac and Windows that will keep all your bookmarks (and, with Firefox, your passwords) in sync.
25. Enhance Safari search
Whether you're using Safari 3 or Safari 4, Inquisitor is invaluable… and free. Not only does it give you a prettier version of Safari 4's search Autocomplete, it allows you to change the default website used by Safari from Google and use whatever keyboard shortcuts you choose.
Inquisitor also learns from your searches, so you'll end up getting results tailored to your needs, and if you use Yahoo!, it will also give you previews of pages.
26. Utilise AppleScripts
Before Automator came along, OS X's built-in scripting language, AppleScript, was the best way for anyone to automate OS X programs and customise them. Even now, there are things it can do that Automator can't.
To write your own AppleScripts means learning a simple, English-like language, but if that seems too much, others have already written plenty of free AppleScripts that you can install and use to enhance your programs.
Mail, in particular, has many. Try Mail Scripts, which helps remove duplicate messages, schedule email delivery, change servers, archive messages, open messages and filter sent messages.
27. Improve Mail
While Mail gives you an idea of how many new messages you have (thanks to its Dock icon), more often than not, you don't notice it changing. Growl, which also works with other apps, including Safari, provides a notification system that gives you a message preview. It's very customisable, so you can set delays for previews, or decide whether they should stay on screen.
GROWL: This handy app gives you a visual notification when you get mail
28. Play clever with Spotlight
Mail's Spotlight integration for searches means you can search every mail field for a specific word using Spotlight. However, you can narrow down how Spotlight searches emails using some special command words, followed by a colon.
For example, if you want to search for all messages containing the word 'macformat' that include email addresses containing 'mac.com' just type, 'email:mac.com macformat'.
Other keywords include 'from', which will search just for names instead of addresses, 'subject', which will scan the the subject lines, and 'date', which will search for the date sent (you can use things like and = to specify any ranges).
29. Filtering spam
One of the biggest timewasters around is junk mail. Mail has a built-in junk mail filter, activated in Preferences, which determines whether a message is spam and marks it as such, or deletes it. However, it can be slow to learn, isn't updated very often and isn't very reliable.
SpamSieve, which works with many other email programs as well, is far more powerful and customisable. You'l find that it's regularly updated, easier to train and lets you create rules for approving and blacklisting particular kinds of mail.
30. Speed up Mail
For the true power Mail user, Mail Act-On is the ultimate way to cut to the chase and speed up and declutter your Mail messages. This nifty application will enable you to create rules and combinations of rules for moving and copying messages to particular mailboxes.
All of these rules can then be accessed from a panel or with a simple keystroke and can apply to incoming and outgoing messages. It can also be combined with MailTags to tag messages with keywords and projects so you can locate your messages more easily.
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(Via TechRadar: All latest feeds.)
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