Nov 13, 2019  So, to help you figure out everything your Mac can do, we’ve come up with a guide to 50 useful Mac tips and tricks. This easily digestible list comprises the 50 top Mac tips we could think of. Jun 12, 2018  To start the journey, learn how to open Terminal app on Mac: Click Launchpad and then type Terminal in the search bar. 1) Make your Mac talk to you. One of the simplest commands which can be very fun, especially when you are planning a prank on somebody. Just type any text in Terminal and your computer will speak it in your Mac's default voice.

Terminal

Hey

Terminal is Mac OS X way into the command line world. It is designed for you to typing in specific commands that you would not be able to do otherwise. This is great for customizing your Mac and unveiling hidden features. It is also a good way to destroy you system because you screwed something up.

What I have done is crawl the web look of the Top 50 Terminal commands. These commands are designed to make you make look cooler, act quicker or be generally useful. I have tried to keep commands down to one line, so they are simple and effective to use. Each item will include a description of what it does as well as an appropriate picture is necessary. Many of these commands appear as seperate posts all over the web, but never in one big list. I have tried to keep the amount of sudo commands down to a minimum as this can easily destroy your system. Especially if you go sudoing every thing. I have tried to give the best description I can, if you have a problem leave a comment and I will see if I can solve it. The list is in no particular order. Most of the commands can be reverted by replacing YES with NO and 1 with 0, the opposite. Most of these commands are Leopard compatible and many may not work on Tiger. Try them and see what happens.

1) 2D Dock

This quite a popular hack for the people running Leopard and don’t like the 3D feel. It changes the 3D dock to a flat 2D version. To enter copy and past the following code.

defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES
killall Dock

2) Gradient Behind A Stack Item

One of my favourite hacks that enables you to put a small gradient behind an icon. I think this should be enabled by default.

defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack -boolean YES
killall Dock

3) Add A Message To The Login Window

This little Terminal command enables you to add a message of your choice to the Login window. Pretty cool and deserved a screenshot if I new how to take on while not logged in. Warning it’s a sudo command which can be dangerous.

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText 'Your Message'

Replace “Your Message” with the message of your choice, don’t make it to long. If you want to revert it do the following.

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText '

4) Add An Exposè Button To The Desktop

If you have reconfigured the F9 and F10 keys to something different you may want to use exposè. This hack adds a bigish blue button onto the desktop to enable you to use exposè. Clicking on it shows all the windows from one application (F10 default), option clicking it shows all windows (F9 default).

defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-floater -bool YES
killall Dock

5) Address Book Debug Menu

If you have some trouble with Address Book it may be useful to open up the debug menu as well as this use some of the hidden features. Make sure address book is closed first before applying the code. If you want to revert it remove YES in the string.

defaults write com.apple.addressbook ABShowDebugMenu -bool YES

6) Increase Dock Magnification Size

This little hack lets you increase the size of the magnification of the dock icons. Don’t go past 512.

defaults write com.apple.dock largesize -int 512

7) Increase Desktop Icon Size

If you want massive icons on you desktop this little hack lets you increase the icons to 512 pixels x 512 pixels. This is massive, may slow down on older machines. I don’t think it goes larger than 512.

defaults write com.apple.finder DesktopViewOptions -dict IconSize -integer 512
killall Finder

8) Changing the Format Of Screen Shots

If you use the screen shot function, you may want to change the format of the images, this is not easily done normally. Where jpg is in the code you can change this to the format your want, png bmp gif etc. You need to log out and back in again, or restart for the changes to take effect.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

9) Change The Login Picture

If you get a bored of the space picture used on the login screen, you can change it with this little bit of code. Change the file location in the second half of the string to the exact file location of your chosen picture.

defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow DesktopPicture '/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/vortex.png'


10) Change The Loading Bar In Safari To A Pie Chart

This is a Safari 3 hack, so it might not work. This changes the blue bar that goes across the address bar into a small blue pie chart. Insert false instead of true to reverse.

defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugUsePieProgressIndicator -bool true

11) Clear The Open With Menu

If you right click on a file you can open it with many applications. Sometimes your OS can get a little confused and list many applications. This is to clear this list and start again. The code below is all on one line.

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/
LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister
-kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

12) Change The Delay When Dragging Windows In Spaces

This simple hack changes the delay time it takes to drag windows around in spaces, its currently set to 0.75

defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-edge-delay -float 0.5

13) Disable Dashboard

If you don’t want or like the dashboard running you can disable it. Change YES to NO to enable it again.

defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
killall Dock

14) Enable Double Scroll Arrows

This little hack enables the double arrow set for up and down, left or right, to be at both ends of the scroll bar. Handy if you like the double arrows. Use System Preferences to reset.

defaults write “Apple Global Domain” AppleScrollBarVariant DoubleBoth

15) Disable Tooltips In Safari

This quick little hack for Safari that removes the tooltips you get when you hover over certain elements.

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitShowsURLsInToolTips 0

16) Increase The Dock Size

Command #6 enables you to change the magnification. This command enables you to change the size of the dock. Use the sliders in System Preferences to reduce this size. Don’t go larger 256.

defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 256


17) Disable the Crash Dialog Box

This disables the quit dialog box when an application crashes. Type prompt to enable again.

defaults write com.apple.CrashReporter DialogType none

18) Drag A Widget Onto The Desktop

Probably one of the coolest hacks. This command enables widgets to be placed onto the desktop. Drag a widget around and press F12 to drag it onto the desktop. Repeat the process again to drag a widget back onto the dashboard. This may need you to log off or restart for it to take effect.

defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES

19) Enable Debug Menu In Safari

Adding debug menus to programs is great as you can access a whole range of features. This one is for Safari.

defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDebugMenu 1

20) Enable The Path View In Finder

One of may favourite hacks as it lets you see the current path of the Finder window you are in. Its great if you work with a lot of windows.

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES

21) Enable Time Machine On Unsupported Drives

Another favourite hack of mine, simply because it enable Time Machine to work on unsupported drives such as a NAS. Use with caution as it is unsupported.

defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

22) Enable Web Inspector

This is a very detailed web inspector that enables you to find out specific information about a page. It is accessible through the debug menu but this enables you to use it without. You can quickly access it through right-click.

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitDeveloperExtras -bool true

23) Enable Debug in iCal

Another debug menu (I like debug menus) this time its for iCal. You need to restart iCal for the changes to take effect.

defaults write com.apple.iCal IncludeDebugMenu YES

24) Enable Quit In Finder

This is a very useful command for anyone who does a lot of fiddling and needs to quit Finder.

defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool YES
killall Finder

25) Force Mail To Display In Plain Text

If you have problems with HTML emails or you just want emails to be displayed in plain text use the following command. You need to restart Mail for the changes to take effect. Replace with false to revert.

defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE

26) Increase Time Machine Backups

If you do a lot of work on you Mac, and you want time machine to back up more frequently you need to change the value. It is in seconds. The default is set to an hour which is 3600. Change this value to suit, half and hour is 1800 seconds.

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto StartInterval -int 1800

27) Kill A Process

Sometimes you just need a process to stop running. If you want to kill it in Terminal with out using Activity Monitor, find the process ID (In Activity Monitor) and then use the following command. Only really useful if you don’t like much clicking or are writing a program.

kill PID 478

28) Let Terminal Talk

If you are bored one day you can get Terminal to quickly talk anything back to you using the voice engine. Replace hello with anything you want.

say hello

29) Make Hidden Applications Icons Transparent

If you hide a lot of applications you can make there icons transparent in the dock. A very good visual clue.

defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool YES
killall Dock

30) Make The Dock Spring Loaded

Makes the dock spring loaded so you can open files or windows from within the dock.

defaults write com.apple.dock enable-spring-load-actions-on-all-items -boolean YES

31) Recent Applications Stack

This command creates a new stack in your dock so you can view the recently used Applications.

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add '{ 'tile-data' = { 'list-type' = 1; }; 'tile-type' = 'recents-tile'; }'

32) Change The Arrows In iTunes

Normally the arrows in iTunes link to the music store, adding this command enables you to search your library. You need to click on the song first for the arrows to appear.

defaults write com.apple.iTunes invertStoreLinks -bool YES

33) Pin The Dock To The Left

This command pins the dock to the left hand side of the screen. I’m not sure what happens if you have the dock on the left or right edge. Replace start with middle to revert.

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning -string start

34) Pin The Dock To The Right

Exactly the same as above except it pins the dock to the right hand side of the screen.

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning -string end

35) Play Star Wars Episode IV

Using a simple telnet address you Terminal will connect in and play Star Wars Episode IV in its ASCII glory.

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

36) Quicklook A File

Quicklook is a great little application in Leopard. The command lets you quicklook a file right in Terminal. First you need to change the folder by using the “cd” command and then the folder you want. To enable this command to work you need to type the file name exactly.

qlmanage -p 'Jaguar Aqua Graphite.jpg'

37) Disable The Spotlight Icon

This command removes the spotlight icon. Type 755 to re-enable it, instead of 0.

sudo chmod 0 /System/Library/CoreServices/Spotlight.app
killall Spotlight

38) Remove The Stripes In List View

A simple hack that removes the alternating stripes in list view in finder.

defaults write com.apple.finder FXListViewStripes -bool FALSE
killall Finder

39) Turn The Menu Bar White

If you don’t like the menu bar in its cool transparent glory you can change it so it appears white. This requires a password and you will need to restart you mac.

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 1

40) Turn The Menu Bar Grey

If you don’t like the white version of the menu bar you can change it so it appears gret.

sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 0

41) Revert The Menu Bar Back To Default

If you prefer the transparent menu bar and you want it back type the following into Terminal.

sudo defaults delete /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer 'EnvironmentVariables'

42) Set The Expanded Print Dialogue As Default

If you want access to a lot of the extra print menus on by default you can use the following command to enable you to do this. Requires restart.

defaults write -g PMPrintingExpandedStateForPrint -bool TRUE

43) Set The Expanded Save Dialogue As Default

Similar as the print dialogue this sets the save dialogue to the expanded view as default. Requires restart.

defaults write -g NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool TRUE

44) Set The Screen Saver As The Wallpaper

This command sets the currently selected screen saver as the desktop background. Use command + c or . to stop while in Terminal. Alternatively you can use wallsaver.

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background

45) Set The History Limit In Safari To A Number Of Items

If you don’t want a massive history you can set it to a limited number of items. Change the number to suit.

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitHistoryItemLimit 2000

46) Set The History Limit In Safari To A Number Of Days

Similar to the hack above you can set the number of days Safari keeps its history.

defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitHistoryAgeInDaysLimit 30

47) Show Hidden Files In Finder

A lot of the files in Finder are hidden. This is probably a wise choice by Apple as there are countless things you can screw up. But if you want to take a look at how many there are and what they are you can show them within Finder. Be careful as these files are needed by the system, if you screw something up don’t come complaining. Repeat the command with false to revert. The image above, click for larger version, show the amount of files there actually is, with these hidden there is only 4 shown normally.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

48) Skip Disk Image Verification

If you want to save some time you can skip the disk image verification for a disk image. Potentially risky as a whole load of things could go wrong without you knowing.

com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify TRUE

49) Show SubFolders In Graphical Format In Terminal

This is a very cool little hack that enables you to show an ASCII graphical view of sub folders. Use the cd command to change to a directory other wise the command will list every folder. For more information look here.

ls -R | grep ':$' | sed -e 's/:$//' -e 's/[^-][^/]*//--/g' -e 's/^/ /' -e 's/-/|/'

50) Speed Up Dialogue Boxes

Most dialogue boxes have a cool animation effect that looks cool. If you want to speed this up you can change the speed at which is renders so it appears almost instantly. The default is 0.2.

defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSWindowResizeTime 0.01

Thats 50 top Terminal commands, I wanted to go to 100 but I couldn’t find 100 good commands. If you have any tips please leave a comment below explaining what the tips does and why you like it. If you just want to leave a comment you can, just be clear, since garbled comments are hard to understand.

If you want to take your skills with Terminal a bit further I recommend you check out the Terminal Category on this site. If you fancy reading a book there is a couple on Amazon that I regularly see mentioned and recommend, O’reilly Unix Geeks and Unix Under the Hood both are designed for Mac OS X and take Terminal further.

Related posts:

Where To Next?

Welcome back to Coding Corner! Today, we're going to go over some great interface and user tweaks you can execute to customize your Mac. These tricks are often simple and can help you spruce up your Mac far beyond what the System Preferences window allows.

So, without further ado, 15 great tricks you can execute in Terminal.

Tweak the Finder

Want to see hidden files, or copy Quick Look text? There are quite a few 'defaults' commands that let you alter how the Finder looks or acts.

1. Show hidden files and folders

Want to see all the hidden files and folders OS X has to offer — or you simply can't find a file you hid? Just use this command in Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool TRUE
killall Finder

To re-hide all your files, just change the TRUE to FALSE.

2. View any file's contents

If you've had a file get corrupted or you suspect there's something hidden inside its package, you can force Terminal to open it. Just use the following command:

cat ~/enter/file/path

Fair warning: If you try to open a photo or pretty much any non-text document, you'll likely just see text gibberish.

Best Mac Terminal Hacks

3. Copy the contents of a folder from one place to another

Sure, you can Option-drag any file to a new location to make a copy of it, but if you want to simplify the process and automatically copy the entire contents of one folder to another, check out this simple Terminal trick.

ditto -V ~/original/folder/ ~/new/folder/

4. Download files outside of your browser

Have the URL to a file but don't want to use Safari, Firefox, or Chrome to download it? You can go through Terminal with the following commands:

cd ~/Downloads/
curl -O http://www.thefilename.com/thefile/url.mp3

The first command moves your current Terminal location to your Downloads folder; the second downloads it from the web to that folder.

Modifying screenshots

Want to change how your screenshots look? Here are some commands to help you do just that.

5. Change your screenshot's file format

This Terminal command lets you change the file format of your screenshots. By default, they're saved as PNGs, but you can also save them as PDFs, JPGs, and more.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type jpg

6. Disable drop shadows on a screenshot

Here's another good one if you tend to take a lot of screenshots: This command will disable drop-shadow on your screenshots, only displaying the window you've snapped.

$ defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool TRUE
killall SystemUIServer

7. Create a new default name scheme for screenshots

Don't like the phrase Apple uses to save your screenshots? Traditionally, it's 'Screen Shot - [date] - [time]', but you can change 'Screen Shot' to any word you please.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name 'New Screen Shot Name'
killall SystemUIServer`

Get bored of your new name scheme? Go back to the default by typing as follows:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture name '
killall SystemUIServer

8. Change the location of your screenshots

Your screenshots, by default, save to the Desktop. But if you'd prefer they save elsewhere, it's an easy Terminal trick to make it so.

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/your/location/here
killall SystemUIServer

You can also drag the folder of your choice on top of the Terminal window after typing 'location' if you don't want to manually type out the file path.

System changes

If you're looking for broader OS X-level changes, these commands might help you get started.

9. Create a custom login message

Whether you want to troll your friends or add useful 'in case of loss' contact information, you can add a personalized message to your login screen with this Terminal command.

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText 'In case of loss, call 555-555-5555.'

10. How long has my Mac been running?

Is your Mac acting sluggishly? It might be in need of a good restart. You can check to see just how long your Mac's been active by checking its uptime with this Terminal command:

uptime

11. Keep your Mac awake

If you need to prevent your Mac from going to sleep — say, you're running an extensive task, or recording your screen — there's an all-too-amusing command for that:

caffeinate

Once you enter this command, your Mac's digital eyes will be pried open and prevented from going to sleep until you end it by pressing Control-C.

If you don't want to rely on being the one to end your poor Mac's suffering, you can also create a set a number of seconds before your Mac sleeps:

caffeinate -u -t 5400

The above command will keep your Mac awake for an hour and a half.

12. Make your Mac automatically restart after a crash

We've all had our Mac freeze up or crash at least once in its lifetime. If you want to skip the crying and the yelling at the screen and get back to work, you can enter this Terminal command, which will make OS X reboot as soon as it senses a full system freeze.

sudo systemsetup -setrestartfreeze on

Modify your Dock

Want to make your Dock look different? Check out these Terminal tweaks.

13. Add spacers to your Dock

You can organize your Dock's many icons by adding in blank spaces with this handy terminal command:

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{'tile-type'='spacer-tile';}'
killall Dock

Repeat this command for each spacer you'd like for your Dock. To remove a spacer, you can drag it out to the right until you see the poof icon.

14. Dull hidden apps in the Dock

Not sure which apps are visible on your screen? You can make this information extra pertinent by using this Terminal command, which lowers the opacity on icons for hidden apps in the Dock. It's a great way to see what you haven't used lately, as well as what's cluttering up your screen.

defaults write com.apple.Dock showhidden -bool TRUE
killall Dock

15. Hide non-active apps in your Dock

If lowering the opacity of hidden apps appeals to you, you might like this Terminal command even better: It hides any closed app from your Dock at all times.

defaults write com.apple.dock static-only -bool TRUE
killall Dock

Your favorites?

Have a Terminal command you love that we didn't mention? Drop it below in the comments.

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Mac Tweaks

National COVID-19 server to use Apple and Google's API, hosted by Microsoft

Cool Macbook Hacks

The Association of Public Health Laboratories has announced it is working with Apple, Google, and Microsoft to launch a national server that will securely store COVID-19 exposure notification data.