Set up a custom keyboard shortcut on your Mac to export web pages and documents from apps like Safari, Notes, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers as PDFs.
How to export to PDF with keyboard shortcut in all Mac apps
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How to fix TinyUmbrella v9.3.4 crashing on launch
Many jailbreakers will be familiar with the program TinyUmbrella, which has traditionally been one of the best ways to save SHSH blobs for their iOS devices onto their Macs for safekeeping. What SHSH blobs are, their function, and how to save them is outside the scope of this article, (I will put something together soon on this), but suffice to say that saving these blobs is of some importance to many jailbreakers and that TinyUmbrella has been the go-to application for doing so for a long while.
Whilst the application was updated as recently as August by its creator Semaphore, many Mac users (myself included) have noted that the new version, 9.3.4, gives an error on launch and cannot be used at all. This guide will walk you through the fix to get your umbrella back up again on Mac, so you can carry on wishfully saving those blobs.
How to enable AirDrop file transfers between unsupported Macs and over Ethernet
The AirDrop file transfer protocol, introduced with Mac OS X Lion and iOS 7, is a fast and convenient way to transfer files between Apple devices. The current version of the service is interoperable between iOS and macOS, but requires both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to be active in order to work. It also requires Mac OS X Yosemite or newer and a hardware model from 2012 or later.
However, the version of AirDrop that shipped as standard with OS X between 10.7 (Lion) and 10.9 (Mavericks), whilst unable to send files to iOS devices, works without Bluetooth and on Mac models going back as far as 2008. Luckily, alongside the newer version, this legacy mode is still included on all Mac models to date, and as this guide will show, can be modified to have an even broader functionality.
How to hide specific mounted volumes from your Mac’s desktop
We've already covered how to completely prevent partitions from mounting under macOS, but sometimes you want a partition mounted and ready to use but still want the benefit of it not cluttering up your desktop. For example, many people want their Time Machine partition constantly mounted and backing up throughout the day but don't need it to be visible at all.
Finder's preferences allow for hiding all volumes from the desktop but offer no control on a volume-by-volume basis. Therefore, we'll show you how to use the Terminal to hide mounted volumes on a case-by-case basis.
How to extend Quick Look preview functionality on your Mac
If you're not familiar with the Quick Look feature on macOS, try selecting a picture, folder, or text document on your computer and pressing the space bar. The rich preview that pops up is Quick Look working its magic. Apple introduced Quick Look in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and it has since gained support for many more file types natively, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Suite documents.
I use it daily and it has become an automatic part of my workflow, a natural response to wanting to inspect a file without waiting for a program to launch and without leaving off what I'm doing.
However, the problem that Quick Look faces is support. It requires a plugin for each file type it can preview, and out-of-the-box only a handful are supplied. More obscure file types are neglected, and display only a blank pane with the file icon, name, size, and date modified. In this guide, I will detail how to add plugins to Quick Look for a richer and more useful preview experience.
How to set up automatic account login on Mac
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just turn on your Mac and start using it without having to log in to it all the time? If you’re someone who doesn’t need Fort Knox-like security to keep people from getting into your computer, then you can set up your Mac to log in to your account automatically when you turn it on, and we’ll show you how to do that.
How to delete Apple Music cache to free space
Learn how to delete the Apple Music cache to regain storage space on your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Mac, or Windows PC.
How to prevent partitions from mounting when you boot up, log in, or connect drives to your Mac
With the exception of partitions in unreadable formats and certain hidden partitions such as EFI and Recovery HD, the default behaviour of macOS is to mount all partitions of a drive on boot-up, login, or on connecting an external drive.
Whilst this behaviour is useful for the novice or for those connecting a single USB stick to copy some files, it can become unwieldy and even annoying if you have many multi-partitioned drives attached to your Mac.
For example, my desktop Hackintosh has three internal drives, each with at least two partitions, and one of these drives is not even needed when booted under macOS – it is for Windows 10 and Linux. Add to this a couple of external hard drives with partitions for storage, OS installers and Time Machine backups for other computers, and your desktop and Finder sidebar can begin to look a real mess. It also takes time for the drives to mount on every boot and unmount on sleep or shutdown.
This guide will detail how to ensure only the drives of your choosing mount automatically, leaving the rest unmounted within macOS.
How to set up and use Touch ID on your Mac
Learn how to set up Touch ID on a MacBook or Magic Keyboard, enroll your fingerprints in the system, and use it to quickly unlock your computer, make purchases on websites with Apple Pay, and much more.
How to add an image to your email signature on Mac
Learn how to add your company logo, picture, business card, or other image to your email signature in the Apple Mail app on Mac to improve its aesthetics or enhance functionality.
How to fix your Mac displaying the wrong time
Have you ever run into this issue where your Mac displays the incorrect date or time? It can throw a lot of things out of whack across all of your apps. But this problem can be pretty easy to fix, and we’ll walk you through how to do that.
How to show the storage drive icon on your Mac desktop
Learn how to show device icons for the internal startup drive, storage devices, volumes, and partitions on your Mac's desktop for quick access to the files within.