How to

How to create PDF files from your Mac’s printer menu

Lots of times you may want to print something, only to find that you have no printer ink or that you aren't near a printer. Your Mac comes with a useful function in the macOS printing menu that lets you save anything you want to print as a PDF file to print or share later. We'll show you how you can make a PDF out of anything you intend to print in this tutorial.

Got files that won’t delete from your Mac’s Trash? Here’s why

Sometimes when emptying the Trash on your Mac, you may get error messages that tell you files you're trying to delete are in use. When you're looking to delete everything that's in your Trash to free up some storage space, error messages are going to be the last thing you want to see.

In this piece, we'll talk about why you're getting these messages and how to get your Mac to free up the file so you can delete it safely.

How to access your Mac remotely from your iPhone or iPad with Screens VNC

There is a ton of VNC software options out there, but Screens by Edovia has by far been my favorite for a number of years because it looks and feels like software Apple could have created themselves.

In this tutorial, I'll show you how you can use the Screens app from your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, in combination with Edovia's free Screens Connect software for Mac, to access your Mac remotely.

Math students: how to use your Mac as a graphing calculator

Although your Mac comes with a Calculator app, you will find that it only supports basic, scientific, and programmer modes.

Unfortunately for those who are in advanced math courses in school, be it grade school or college, or for those that just need a hand in tutoring their children, the Calculator app doesn't come with graphing functionality and it leaves you to fend for yourself.

A little known feature of your Mac, directly out of the box, is that it does have graphing functionality built into its default software, and in this tutorial, we'll show you how to unleash it.

Tip: customize the Safari toolbar on your Mac

Last week, we showed you how you could customize the toolbar on your Mac's Finder window to better suit your needs, but there are other apps throughout the macOS operating system that come with toolbar-editing capabilities as well.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how you can customize the toolbar in the Safari web browser to make your web surfing experience the best it can be for your specific needs.

All the ways you can start up your Mac

We've talked quite a lot about Recovery OS, an underestimated feature of OS X that makes it easier to troubleshoot your Mac even if it refuses to start up properly.

But as you'll see for yourself in this post, Recovery OS is but one of the more than dozen different ways to start up your computer, aside from OS X's regular startup mode. In this tutorial, we'll list all the ways you can start up your Mac and detail each one.

Clean up time: how to remove your account name from your Mac Menu Bar

Any time you set up a new Mac, or make a new user account, macOS will automatically display your account name in the Menu Bar so you know what account you're logged into.

But for some people, you probably already know what account you're logged into because you only have one account, or perhaps that text is just cluttering up your Menu Bar and you want it gone.

No matter what the scenario may be, there's an easy way to remove your macOS account name from the Menu Bar and we'll show you how it's done in this simple tutorial.

Customizing the toolbar in your Mac Finder window

If you own a Mac, you most likely use the Finder window on a daily basis; probably more than you even realize. But one thing you may not have known throughout the eons of using the Finder interface as Apple has created it to be used, is that you can actually customize the Finder toolbar to your liking.

By doing so, you can supercharge your Finder window's functionality with additional easy-to-reach features, and we'll show you how to customize your Mac Finder toolbar in this simple tutorial.

19 useful Mac startup keyboard shortcuts you should know

For those of you who have wondered about the many ways you can start up your Mac, here's a list of the Mac startup keyboard shortcuts you can invoke to access handy macOS features, which are only available at boot time.

Most of the time, your Mac just works—until it refuses to start up properly due to an unforeseen system error, a misbehaving app, a broken system component, and whatnot. Beyond system errors, different people have different needs when it comes to starting up their computers.

For example, you could be a pro user who dual boots between macOS and Windows on a daily basis. Others might wonder about booting a Mac from a disk other than their designated startup disk. Or perhaps you're looking to isolate the cause of a software issue in the macOS Safe Mode or boot straight into Recovery OS as the last option?