Modifying this control will update this page automatically

Are you new to Mac?

If this is your first Mac computer, here’s some helpful information to help you get your bearings and get started with macOS.

The menu bar runs along the top of the screen on your Mac and contains menus, status icons, and controls so you can quickly get things done. The Dock is at the bottom of the screen and contains the apps you use most. The desktop is the area between the menu bar and Dock, and is where you’ll do most of your work. The background picture on your desktop is called the wallpaper.

Use the Dock and menu bar

Use the menus and icons in the menu bar to open the Apple menu or Control Center, search with Spotlight, activate Siri, view the status of your camera and microphone, and more. You can open apps with a click right from the Dock.

A Mac screen showing the menu bar, the Dock, and the desktop. In the menu bar, there are callouts to Apple menu, the menu bar, the desktop, the Spotlight icon, the Siri icon, Control Center, and the Dock.

Open the Apple menu

Click Apple menu on the left side of the menu bar to access System Settings, Recent Items, and system commands such as Restart, Shut Down, or Log Out.

Quickly access settings in Control Center

Click the Control Center icon on the right side of the menu bar to open Control Center, which gives you instant access to key settings for your Mac—like Bluetooth, AirDrop, brightness and volume controls, and more.

Search with Spotlight

Spotlight is an easy way to find anything on your Mac—including apps, files, actions, and even things on your Clipboard. Click the Spotlight icon on the right side of the menu bar or press Command–Space bar on the keyboard, then type what you’re searching for.

Ask Siri

Siri is the intelligent assistant that’s built into your Mac to help you get things done. Click the Siri icon (or the Siri icon) on the right side of the the menu bar. Or, if Apple Intelligence is turned on, press Command-Command (press twice) to type to Siri.

View camera and microphone status

When a green or orange light appears next to Control Center in the menu bar, this means that either your camera the green camera indicator or microphone the orange microphone indicator is in use.

Use the Dock to open apps

Click an app in the Dock to open it, or click Apps in the Dock, then click the app you want to open from the list of apps that appears. Open apps have a black dot beneath them in the Dock.

View and manage windows

You can have multiple windows for an app open at a time. Use the buttons in the top-left corner of a window to resize and close windows.

The red (close), yellow (minimize), and green (full-screen) buttons in the top-left corner of an app window.

Close a window

Click the Close Window button in the top-left corner of a window to close it.

Minimize a window

Click the Minimize Window button to move the window from your desktop to your Dock.

Change the size of a window

Click the Full-Screen Window button to switch to and from full screen. You can also drag the edge of a window to resize it.

Arrange windows

Move the pointer over the Full-Screen Window button, then click an option to tile the window to a specific part of your screen.

See all your open windows

Press the Mission Control icon in the top row of your Magic Keyboard to enter Mission Control, which arranges all open windows on the desktop in a single layer so it’s easy to spot the one you need.

Quit an app

When you close an app window, the app itself remains running in the background. To close all the app windows and stop the app from running in the background, Control-click the app icon in the Dock, then choose Quit.

Find and organize files

Use the Finder to find and organize almost everything on your Mac, including documents, images, movies, and any other files you have.

An open Finder window, displaying files and folders in Gallery mode. The markup button and file details are on the right.

Open Finder

Click the Finder icon in the Dock to open a Finder window. The sidebar on the left shows the items and folders you use often.

Change how you view items

Click one of the view buttons at the top of the Finder window to view items as icons the Icon icon, in a list the List icon, in columns the Column icon, or in Gallery view the Gallery icon.

Take a Quick Look at an item

Select a file in Finder, then press the Space bar to view the item without opening the file.

Quickly rotate, markup, and crop a file

In Column or Gallery view, click the file, then click the Markup icon on the right to see Quick Actions like rotate, markup, or create a PDF, depending on the type of tile you’ve selected.

Want to learn more?

Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.
Helpful?
Character limit: 250
Maximum character limit is 250.
Thanks for your feedback.
Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.