7 things to do first when setting up a new MacBook (CNET How To)
7 things to do first when setting up a new MacBook (CNET How To)
2018-01-18
so you got a new MacBook and it's a lot
to take in
where do you begin what should you do
first here are seven of the first things
you should tweak or do on your new
MacBook often when you buy a new Mac
Apple will have released a software
update before you even boot it so before
you go around tweaking things and
setting everything up you might as well
go ahead and update it first click the
Apple logo in the top left of the menu
bar then select about this Mac and then
click software update install any major
software updates available the dock is
something you're going to use pretty
often so you might as well take the time
to set it up the way you want to use it
best of all all the changes you can make
to the dock you can do from the dock
itself right click on an icon go to
options and click keep and dock or
remove from dock click and drag on the
dock at the divider to adjust its size
and right-click it here to access other
settings like Auto hiding and its
position on the screen if you have a new
MacBook Pro with the touch bar you may
not like the way the touch bar comes out
of the box so you're gonna want to
customize that as well to do this go to
System Preferences then keyboard and
click the customize control strip button
drag the buttons you want to show up on
the default view of the touch bar below
the display and position them where you
want on the touch bar like on an iPhone
MacBooks display a battery indicator in
the status bar but by default the
percentage is not visible to enable this
click on the battery indicator in the
menu bar and select show percentage one
of the best parts of staying within the
Apple ecosystem is the ability to share
in sync files between your devices
seamlessly and it's no different on a
macbook you can use iCloud Drive to sync
a folder between all of your Apple
devices to set this up on your new
macbook go to System Preferences with an
iCloud and click options next to iCloud
drive then check the box for the top
item desktop and documents folders
you'll then be able to access any files
you have saved directly on your desktop
or in the Documents folder from any Mac
or iOS device as you own the natural
trackpad scrolling direction on a
macbook might feel unnatural and that's
because it's more like scrolling on a
smart phone than it is say with a scroll
wheel or any other trackpad you may have
used if you don't like it or you can't
seem to get used to it you can reverse
it by going to System Preferences and
then
trackpad open the scroll and zoom tab
and uncheck the box for scroll Direction
natural staring at a scream of the
bluish tint late into the evening and
after sunset can mess with your body's
internal clock and it can also make it
difficult to get a good night's rest
enter night shift night shift will alter
the colors of your display to the warmer
end of the spectrum during the evening
hours to turn it on go to System
Preferences displays and click the night
shift tab there you consider to come on
from sunset to sunrise automatically
manually activate it until sunrise and
adjust the color temperature for more
tips and tricks and other how to's be
sure to check out see Netcom forward
slash how-to
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