40 super secret osx lion features and shortcuts

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts O S X Lion has now been around long enough for us all to dig in and really find some interesting functionality that is either completely hidden or just enough below the service that many users don’t even know it exists. The long lost Finder Status Barhttp://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ We’ve spent hours combing through Lion for secrets and put out a call on Twitter for your favorites. This 2. New Group From Selection post brings over forty such hidden tricks and tips for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! Let’s say you have a bunch of stuff scattered across your desktop that you want to throw into a single Finder Tricks folder. The old way of doing this is to create a new folder, select everything but that folder, then drag 1. Bring Back Finder’s Icon Size Slider all of the selected items into it. In Lion though, you can now simply select all of those items then Right- With Lion came a ton of visual changes to the ope- Click and choose New Folder with Selection. rating system we know and love. Everything has a sort of borderless appeal to it now with window 3. Merge Folders graphics going right up to the edge and stopping suddenly without a buffer of any sort. Did you know you can have Lion auto-merge the contents of two folders? This one was tricky to fi- This makes for a really slick looking operating gure out. Apple announced it on their site as a new system, but to achieve it Apple had to make some feature in Lion but getting it to work is anything serious functionality sacrifices that I’m not crazy but intuitive. about. For instance, the Finder no longer has the status bar at the bottom. There’s no quick reference If you have two identically named folders in separate for how many items are in a folder or a slider to directories, dragging one in with the other prompts resize the icons (a nicety that we only just got in a standard Replace dialog message. However, Op- Snow Leopard). tion-Dragging the folder to duplicate it into the other directory brings up an additional choice: merge. Fortunately, this particular problem has a quick fix. This will create one folder containing the collected These features aren’t gone, they’re just hidden by contents of both of the originals. default. Bringing them back is as easy as hitting ⌘/ or going to View>Show Status Bar. Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 1

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts than a quick ⌘⌘W, which will instantly close all open Finder windows. Alternatively, you can ⌘Click the close button. 6. Drag Something Out of the Sidebar At least once a week a random click and drag goes wrong in Finder and I end up with something in Merging folders my sidebar completely by accident. Logic says that to fix this, you’d reverse your previous action and 4. Arrange Apps By Category drag the item back out to delete it from the sidebar,http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ but this doesn’t work. The new Finder has dramatically improved the various sorting modes that are available. For instance, However, you don’t have to resort to the multi-step organize your files by date and you’ll see some nice Control-clicking fiasco, instead try a Command- subtle dividers that separate the content, making drag. This will successfully remove the item in the for a much more pleasant viewing experience. sidebar. If you’re in your Applications folder, a new option 7. Fullscreen Spotlight Shortcut pops up in this menu: Application Category. This will intelligently sort through all your App Store apps Let’s say you have a folder full of JPGs and you want and place them in their corresponding categories. to quickly go through them in a fullscreen image viewer. Try hitting ⌘Space to instantly launch Quick Look in fullscreen. From here, use your back and forth arrows, view a grid or start a slideshow. Awesome Lion Tricks 8. Show Dock in Fullscreen Apps Another great Lion feature is the fullscreen mode that you now see on many apps. The immediate complaint that many people have upon entering a fullscreen app though is that their dock no longer pops up from the bottom when moused over. Apps arranged by category The truth is, yes it does. The action necessary to make it happen changes ever so subtly though. Typically, 5. Close all Finder Windows any motion near the bottom of the screen will pop up a hidden dock. However in fullscreen mode, you Have you ever found yourself with a ton of different must bring your mouse all the way down to the bot- Finder windows open and wishing that you could tom, then keep going. That little extra effort will tell just kill them all and start over? Look no further OS X that you aren’t messing around with the app Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 2

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts Alternate Character Options but instead want to see your dock. It’s awkward to get used to but eventually it starts to make sense. 11. Address Book/iChat: Import Face from 9. Add a Signature in Preview iPhoto Signing digital documents can be a pain. You have If you use Faces, iPhoto’s automatic face-detection to print the PDF, sign it, then scan it back in. Who feature, then adding photos to contacts in various wants to go through that mess? Fortunately, Preview Lion apps becomes much easier. When editing a now lets you skip the hassle. contact’s photo, there’s a little button at the bottom that will automatically match the name of your Open a document in preview and slide open the contact to a “face” in iPhoto.http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ Annotations Toolbar by clicking on the little pencil button near the top. From there, click on the Signa- ture Button (the “S” with a line under it) and choose Create Signature from Built-in iSight. Now just follow the on-screen instructions and sign a white piece of paper then hold it up to the camera. Pre- view will even save your signatures for future use. Adding signatures in Preview 10. Alternate Character Options iPhoto Faces Button This one is something everyone (including me) 12. Quick Duplicate Open File finds completely by accident when they try to type “nooooooooo!” or a similarly repeating string of I had a very difficult time adjusting to the lack of a vowels in Lion. It turns out if you hold down certain “Save As” option in many of Lion’s apps, this is of letters on the keyboard, rather than repeating the course a result of the new Versions document sys- character, Lion pops up an iOS-like menu that allows tem. One of the things that made it easier is knowing you to choose an alternate variation. how to quickly create a duplicate of a document without running to the File menu. Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 3

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts Duplicate To accomplish this trick, click on the filename at the top of a Version-enabled file like those from TextEdit. This drops down a menu of options, one of which allows you to quickly duplicate the file. Command-Clicking on the same place (the filename at the top of the window) will give you the path to that file. You can click on any folder in the hierarchy to open it in Finder.http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ 13. Move Download from Safari The new Safari download manager that sits to the Live web previews right in Spotlight right of the search bar has some interesting functionality beyond double-clicking a file in the list to 15. Drag from Spotlight open it. You can also actually move the downloaded file out from your Downloads folder by clicking and Another slight Spotlight improvement is the ability dragging it right from the Safari menu into the folder to drag and drop files right from your search results. where you want it. Keep in mind that this action will copy a file to a new location, not move it. 16. Noncontiguous Selections in TextEdit In TextEdit, you can hold down the Option to see the typical selection tool replaced by a crosshair icon. Using this will allow you to make a noncontiguous Drag the download to move it to your desktop selection, presumably to make selecting columns easier. 14. Quick Look Previews in Spotlight Spotlight received a welcome improvement with the Lion upgrade, now when you hover over an item in the results, a little Quick Look preview automatically pops up. The secret surprise is how well this works. For instance, if there are web pages in the results, you get an actual live web preview. Click on a link and it opens it in your browser. This is great for running a quick search for a site that you Noncontiguous selections recently visited. 17. Multiple Selections in TextEdit While we’re on the topic of cool ways to select text in TextEdit, try holding down the Command key and making a few selections. This allows you to Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 4

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts select and copy multiple items at once. Unfortuna- tely, it doesn’t allow you to then replace all of those selections with a single typed string like Sublime Text 2 does. 18. Play an Album From Your Screensaver In Lion, the built-in Album Artwork Screensaver has some added functionality. You can now move your mouse around without exiting the screensaver. Hovering over an album will enlarge it and give you Jiggle modehttp://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ the option to play it. It’s a really fun way to see and interact with your music. 20. View Recent Files in Expose There’s a cool new way to view your recent items in several apps such as TextEdit and Preview. Activate the app and hit your dedicated Expose Keyboard Shortcut (varies from older to newer keyboards). Not only will all of the open windows zoom out and organize themselves, along the bottom of the screen a strip of thumbnails will pop up containing recently opened items. Click an album to play it 19. Delete Apps in Launchpad Recent Files in Expose Launchpad introduces a brand new way to delete 21. Different Launchpad Backdrops apps from your Mac. In the Launchpad interface, click and hold an app to launch the iOS-style wiggle Here’s one that I’ll bet you’ve never heard about. mode. This will activate little close icons on the apps The default view behind your icons in Launchpad that were installed through the Mac App Store. Clic- is a blurred out version of your desktop. You can king this won’t only delete the app from launchpad, actually change this by hitting ⌘B. This shortcut it’ll throw it in the trash. will toggle between blurred, normal and grayscale backgrounds. Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 5

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts 22. Proportional Window Resize I recommend just getting used to it as it seems to be how Apple will do things from here on out, but if you In Lion you can now resize a window from any simply can’t accept the change, you can revert back edge, not just the corner. It turns out that this works to the old way by unchecking Scroll direction: na- similarly to resizing objects in many graphics appli- tural in the Mouse section in System Preferences. cations. For instance, holding the Option key while dragging an edge will also move the opposite edge. Also, holding Shift will move every edge except the one opposite to the selected edge. 23. Double Tap to Definehttp://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ In Snow Leopard, you could hit ⌘⌘D while hovering over a word to bring up a little window with its definition. In Lion, you can do the same thing with a three finger double tap. Getting your scroll on the old school 25. Bring Back Scroll Bars As I mentioned before, the major visual push in Lion was all about stripping out anything unne- cessary from the user interface. Some people like these changes, others can’t stand them. As we saw before though, Apple typically gives you control over these changes. Double tap with three fingers to define Scroll bars are a very useful feature, their presence immediately lets you know that the page can be Revert to the Old Ways scrolled. When they’re hidden, history has taught us to assume that the page doesn’t scroll. However, 24. Turn off “Natural” Scrolling in Lion the default state of scroll bars is hidden, they don’t show up until you start scrolling. This can be This one was instantly the most requested trick when confusing and frustrating if you’re too used to the old Lion first launched. The powers that be at Apple have way. You can bring them back easily enough though, decided that the “natural” way for you to scroll is simply go into the General category in System Pre- by imagining that you’re actually reaching out and ferences and select Show Scroll Bars: Always. tossing the page like you do on an iOS device. The problem of course is that on a desktop you have years of experience sliding your fingers down to scroll down and up to scroll up. Suddenly being forced to reverse your thinking results in a mental barrier that many people don’t see the benefit in getting over. Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 6

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts I like to have everything stay put with a set position for desktop 1, 2, 3 etc. It all started making much more sense when I went into Mission Control in System Preferences and turned off Automatically rearrange spaces based on most recent use. After you do this, you can once again enjoy the sanity of assigning an app to space 1 and having it stay there! Getting your scroll on the old school 29. Magnify Windows in Mission Controlhttp://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ 26. Turn Off Restore Windows Mission Control is probably my favorite new feature in Lion. I use it constantly and definitely find it to be While we’re in the General section of System Pre- an extremely useful way to sort through the massive ferences take note of the Restore windows setting amount of windows that I generally have open. near the bottom. Sometimes this can get really frustrating. One hidden feature here that you’ve probably never tried is to hit space bar when hovering over one For instance, if you have a buggy Safari extension of the small window previews. This will zoom into that crashes on a certain page, having the browser the window in a Quick-Look-like fashion so you can continually try to reload that page aggravates the take a closer look. problem. Also, if you have an older Mac that takes long enough to start up an application, turning off the default action to restore the last session and all of its tabs can save a lot of headaches. 27. Old School Mail Layout The upgrades to Mail were some of the best that Lion made as far as I’m concerned, but they’re not for everyone. If you miss the old Mail layout, you’re in luck. Open up Mail Preferences and click on the Viewing tab. At the top you’ll see a checkbox labelled Use classic layout, check this and you’re back to Snow Leopard’s Mail layout. Hit space over a Mission Control window Mission Control 30. Focus on a Single App 28. Make Your Spaces Stay Put This function is very similar to the on in the last tip, only it focuses on all of the windows in a given Being used to the way that Spaces worked in Snow app, making them larger and dimming the windows Leopard, I simply couldn’t get used to how Mission from other apps. To accomplish this, hover over a Control was always rearranging my spaces (aka des- cluster of windows and scroll up. ktops, Lion can’t seem to decide what to call them). Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 7

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts 31. New Desktop with Selection 34. Kill and Yank In Mission Control, if you hover your mouse in the I’ve mentioned this one before on AppStorm but it’s top right, a little “+” tab appears to create a new good enough to repeat. Have you ever had a situation desktop. If you ever have a window that you want where you needed to cut and paste something, but to toss in a new dedicated desktop, simply grab it didn’t want to lose what was already occupying your and drag it to the “+” tab. clipboard? With Kill and Yank, you can! Select the bit of text just like you always would, but instead of cutting the text, hit ⌘K to “kill” it. This is essentially like cutting it to an entirely differenthttp://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ clipboard that doesn’t affect your default clippings. Once you’re ready to bring it back, “yank” it with ⌘Y. 35. Option-Click Icon in Dock to Show/ Hide App Option-clicking on an app in your dock has some New Desktop with selection interesting functionality. If the app isn’t currently showing, the frontmost app will hide and the app 32. Drag Files to Mission Control that you clicked on will be shown. If the app that you click on is already the active application, then While you’re dragging a file, launch Mission Control it will hide. and drop the file on an application to have it opened with that specific app. 36. Change Volume Without the Pop Oldies But Goodies When you adjust the volume via the keyboard, you get these little popping noises that help you identify 33. Instantly Show an App in Finder just how loud the volume currently is. If you want to be a little more covert about it, you can adjust When I’m writing a review of an app, I always need the volume without these noises by holding down to grab its icon for the post. This means going into the the Shift key while changing the volume. Applications folder and sorting through the million things that I have in there to land on the one I’m It use to be the cast that ⌘⌘Volume Keys would allow looking for, which can be a pain. My old solution for incremental volume changes on a smaller scale was to right-click on the app, go Options and click than your typical click. Unfortunately, Apple axed Show in Finder. this feature in Lion. However, there’s a much better way to go about 37. Quick Access System Preferences this: simply Command-Click on any app in your dock and a Finder window will pop up with that Along the same lines as the previous tip, try hol- app selected. ding down Option while hitting your volume or brightness keys to be taken to their corresponding System Preference panel. Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 8

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts 38. Extra Menu Bar Info Holding down Option while clicking on an OS X system menu bar item will often reveal some hidden information and options. For instance, performing this trick on your MacBook’s battery icon will show you the health of your battery. Also try it on the sound, Airport and Time Machine menu bar items. Autocompletehttp://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ 41. Delete Last Word or Line When typing in OS X, to quickly delete the last word that you typed, hit Option+Delete. You can also hit Command+Delete to eliminate the entire current line of text. Hold option to see more information 42. App Switcher Tricks 39. Move Menu Bar Items You probably already use ⌘Tab to move to the next application in Application Switcher, but did Follow the same steps as the last tip, only this time you know that with the switcher still open you can hold down the Command key instead. This will give switch to ⌘` to move your selection backwards? you the option to rearrange your menu bar items! You can also use the arrow keys and even quit/hide Note that this typically does not work with third applications all right from the switcher. party menu bar apps. 43. Disable Caps Lock 40. Auto Complete F5 Do you ever really use Caps Lock? Me neither, but I This one is extremely handy for those of us that can do accidentally turn it on frequently. To prevent this never spell words like “bureau” and “rendezvous” from happening, you can actually disable the action right on the first try. As you’re typing in TextEdit or entirely. Go into System Preferences and click on iChat, hit F5 or Option+Escape to bring up an auto- Keyboard. Then click on the Modifier Keys… button complete menu where you can select from various near the bottom of this window and change Caps possible completions to the word you’ve started. Lock Key to none. What Did We Miss? At this point you’ve either been blown away by a flood of amazing new knowledge regarding how to get the most out of your OS X experience, or you’re patting yourself on the back for already knowing about all forty-three tips. If you’re in the latter ca- Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 9

17/01/2012 08:35 mac.appstorm.net 40+ Super Secret OS X Lion Features and Shortcuts tegory, it’s your turn to try to impress us. Leave a comment below and let us know about all your favorite hidden tricks!http://mac.appstorm.net/roundups/utilities-roundups/40-super-secret-os-x-lion-features-and-shortcuts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_ Love this PDF? Add it to your Reading List! 4 joliprint.com/mag Page 10

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40 super secret osx lion features and shortcuts

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