How Do I Get To Settings On My Mac

An operating system is an intelligent interface that allows you to perform circuitous tasks on your computer. To adapt it to your personal preferences, nevertheless, you outset take to customize its settings. If you are a new Mac user, y'all will not find a Control Panel on macOS as with the Windows platform. All vital Mac settings are found inside the System Preferences.

In this post, we briefly explain which prefpane is responsible for which settings on your Mac, based on the example of macOS Mojave. We will also highlight several new macOS Catalina features.

Contents:

i. Main System Preferences Panes.
2. New macOS Catalina Settings.

Main Organisation Preferences panes

Showtime, let's await at the ways you tin open system settings:
1. Get to the → select .
2. Find System Preferences from the .
3. Open System Preferences from the panel.
Select System Preferences, and at the next moment, you will see the main window for your computer settings. Click on any Mac preferences pane to preview and modify your Mac settings.

Sort Icons in Organization Preferences
Open System Preferences → go to the Apple tree card → select View → click Organize Files by Categories or Organize Alphabetically. On the screenshot below, you lot can run across the icons organized by alphabet.

Select this pane to set up up the macOS theme and your default web browser.

If yous do not know how to set Habitation Screen on your Mac, choose this prefpane. Hither you lot tin select wallpaper for your desktop, change the advent, or plough off the screensaver.

Open it to set your Dock panel and its position on the screen.

Quick Access from the Dock console
Yous can open a particular section of system settings right from the Dock panel. Correct-click on the System Preferences icon in the Dock and select the advisable settings window.

This option can be very useful if you desire to manage several apps at once. It'due south helpful to arrange the Mission Control app earlier irresolute preferences.

On your iMac or Macbook, alter the language of the operating system or the particular app using this prefpane.

Customize this advanced search engine, which allows you to quickly access items on your Mac. You should know that there are subconscious files and folders on your Mac, which the macOS Spotlight skips. If y'all need to find a subconscious file or a binder, use the gratis Funter app.

The Mac Notification Centre allows you to enable or disable the power for apps to send you notifications.

Alter your brandish resolution and effulgence, and manage mirroring options here. Read our guide to acquire how to extend a display on a Mac.

Check this setting if you need to utilize battery power carefully. Also, if y'all notice that your Mac is slowing downwards, launch the free Retention Cleaner app to find and stop the nigh energy-consuming processes on your estimator.

In the Mac Keyboard setting, ready F1, F2, etc. function keys, enable spell check, discover shortcuts, add languages, enable dictation and then on.

Quick Access with Hot Keys
You can get quick access to some sections of the settings using the shortcut keys:
Option + F1/F2 – Monitor settings
Option + F3/F4 – Mission Control settings
Option + F5/F6 – Keyboard settings
Option + F10/F11/F12 – Sound settings

Open Mac mouse settings to configure a wireless or a USB-mouse to work with your computer.

If y'all use a trackpad on your MacBook, you should set it upward for your needs. Fifty-fifty if you used to use a mouse, a correctly configured trackpad is its actually handy analog. So, open the Trackpad settings to larn which gestures connect to which actions and adjust as needed. If the trackpad is non working on your Mac, read our post to acquire how to fix a trackpad on a MacBook.

To configure a printer or scanner, utilize this prefpane. You lot can connect a Mac to printer via the local Wi-Fi network wireless connection or with a cable.

Yous can simply manage your headphones, microphone, and sound furnishings in the Sound settings pane.

If you desire to utilise several versions of macOS on your figurer, open the Startup Deejay setting to modify the disk at startup.

Open iCloud settings to sign in and out of your iCloud business relationship, modify your iCloud data, and manage your iCloud storage and services.

Set which apps (Mail, Calendar, Contacts, etc). should be connected to your internet accounts.

Apply this prefpane to update the actual version of macOS.
If you want to update your Mac, read our guides on how to upgrade to macOS Catalina and how to upgrade to macOS Big Sur.

Mac network settings allow y'all to configure a Wi-Fi connectedness. Click on Advanced if you desire to create your local Wi-Fi network or manage DNS or Proxies connections.

You tin can fix all devices that are uniform with your Mac and can be continued via Bluetooth in this prefpane.

Here yous will see which Apple and third-party extensions you have and how they relate to the computer's workflow.

If yous have a local network, you tin can grant access to your data to other members of the community. Manage the services you want to share in this settings section.

If, for example, you lot demand to share your computer with some other person, y'all tin can utilise this prefpane to deeply share your Mac past creating an boosted account with a countersign. Also, yous can enable or disable apps to be opened on startup here.

If yous share your Mac with a kid, you can set particular rules for using your computer in this prefpane. These rules relate to Game Middle, apps, web searching and so on.

Ready up Siri preferences to search for data on your Mac or the cyberspace. Our previous post on How to use Siri on a Mac may be useful to yous.

Set the date and fourth dimension according to your time zone. Also, you tin enable the option to denote the time every hour, for example.

Use this prefpane to backup your data before you desire to update your macOS. To make the Time Machine backup, you will need an external drive.

With this option, you can brand your Mac more accommodating to your eyesight, hearing, concrete and motor skills.

New macOS Catalina settings

If yous are wondering where iCloud is located on macOS Catalina, open up the Apple ID prefpane. There you tin manage iCloud storage space and the apps that apply it.

If you want to share your iCloud storage, location, App Shop purchases and more than, y'all can find it in the Family Sharing settings.

If you are wondering how to change security preferences on a Mac, open Security & Privacy. For better functioning of 3rd-party apps used on your Mac, set options in this prefpane. In the General tab, enable run apps downloaded from the App Store and identified developers. In the Privacy tab, carefully bank check each section and enable or disable apps that can admission and control your data.

The Screen Fourth dimension setting monitors your workflow productivity. If you determine that some apps eat besides much of your time and you desire to remove them, use App Cleaner & Uninstaller for this purpose.

With this setting, you can extend the display of your Mac using an iPad.

Nosotros hope that our quick review of all the Mac Organisation Preferences options was useful for you. The productivity apps, Funter, Memory Cleaner, and App Cleaner & Uninstaller, which we mentioned in this post, are available in the MacCleaner PRO bundle. In improver to these apps, y'all will get Duplicate File Finder, which identifies indistinguishable files and folders, and Disk Space Analyzer, which analyzes your Mac's storage.
Purchase six apps in i MacCleaner PRO packet for a special cost – only $34.95.