Apple MacBook Top Tips

Take a screenshot of a specific part of the screen
Taking a screenshot is all well and good, but more often than not you don’t actually need the whole screen in the capture. On Macs there’s a simple way to screenshot a section of the screen you want, just use Cmd + Shift + 4. From there, just click and drag out a box over the part of your screen you wish to include in your screenshot. Once you release the box, the image will be saved to your desktop automatically. Alternatively, if you do require a screenshot of the whole screen just use Cmd + Shift + 3. 

Rename large batches of files all at once
Renaming files is an extremely tedious process at best. However, good news - if you’re running a Mac with Yosemite or later, you can do it with one simple action! Simply select all the files you want to rename and then press ctrl-click (or right-click) them, then select rename. 

Add your signature to documents
Have you ever had to sign and return an official document digitally? If so, you’ll know the pain of having to add your signature to that document! Thankfully, with macOS there's a much easier way! Simply open the document within the preview application, click the pen icon and click the signature icon in the menu that appears. If you’re working from your laptop you’ll get the choice of either writing your signature on the touchpad or using your camera to take a photo of your signature instead. Once done, click done and Mac will automatically save it. To sign the document click the signature icon again and then click your signature when it pops up, this will insert it into the document. 

View all special characters
If you want to add emojis to your documents, simply click Edit in the menu bar, then select Emoji & Symbols from the drop-down menu. This will bring up the emoji picker: click in the document where you want to add your emoji, and then click on the emoji you want to add. 

The Mac equivalent of Ctrl + Alt + Delete
Macs have their own equivalent of Ctrl + Alt + Delete. Simply hold down the Cmd + Option keys and press Esc. This will bring up the Force Quit dialog box, which will show you all running applications and allow you to forcefully terminate them.

Switch between multiple windows within the same program
Using the Cmd + Tab keys you can quickly switch between your open programmes. However if you have multiple documents open at once that you wish to switch between, you’ll need to use a different shortcut; Cmd + ~ will allow you to instantly switch between multiple windows of the same programme. This will work for any application.

Instantly look up a word in the dictionary or thesaurus
MacOS's reference tool is wonderfully integrated, it allows you to look up whatever word you like. Select the word you want to learn more about and press the Cmd + Ctrl + D keys. Alternatively, if you’re on a MacBook just click it with three fingers on your trackpad.

Convert any sort of unit within Spotlight
Spotlight can find things both on your Mac and online, and has the ability to solve some basic queries without resorting to opening a new window, such as unit conversion. All you need to do is type in the figure you want converted and it will show you a list of conversions as a search result. 

Record your screen
Sometimes a simple screenshot doesn’t cut it, you may find yourself wanting to capture something animated such as a video. To do this all you need to do is use a feature built in to QuickTime, a program that comes with every Mac. Go to your Applications folder and open QuickTime Player, then select File New screen recording. This will allow you to record the whole screen, or just a portion of it, depending on your preference. It’s super useful for things like tutorials – plus it can also capture sound!

Quickly add a foreign or accented character
To type a foreign or accented character, first find the simple version of the letter you require and hold the key down. After a brief pause, you’ll be offered a choice of which variant on the letter you want, select the one you want and it will be inserted into the text field.

Change volume silently
The volume keys on Apple keyboards are incredibly useful, but they do make noise when you press them. Did you know you can actually mute those volume keys? Simply hold down Shift whilst pressing them!

Find a forgotten password for a website or program
For almost all of the programs on your Mac, as well as many of the websites you visit on it, your login and password details will be stored within your Mac’s keychain. If you forget one of these passwords, you can actually recover them from within your Mac – as long as you remember the password for your user account. Open a new Finder window and head into your Applications, you should see another folder named Utilities. Open up the program within it called Keychain Access, from here you should be able to see every login stored on your computer.