Didn’t expect to find anything here I didn’t already know. But everyday is a learning day. Great informative video, no matter how long you’ve been using your Mac.
I am watching your video to help my daughter with her new Mac and organizing her files. I have used Windows my whole life and Linux the last decade or so. I do not find my way easily around Mac OS and your video helped me lots. Thank you so much
I'm glad it was helpful. If you have other questions about how to help your daughter out, please let me know. Linux and windows are very functional operating systems, but require you to learn their peculiarities. I've always been on a Mac, so I know the finder and most of the tools like the back of my hand… It just takes a little time to become fluent, and then it makes sense. With many other operating systems, everything feels a little counterintuitive… Once you've used it long enough, it makes sense, but it never feels natural. Part of learning how to use the Mac is unlearning the counterintuitive workarounds and complicated processes that became second nature… I compare it to driving an automatic transmission after learning on a stick shift. It's certainly easier, but you have to learn what to do with your clutch foot so it doesn't keep getting in the way… Thanks for watching, let me know if I can help further.
I never comment on these kinds of videos, but as a college student and teacher, I can’t stress how much you just helped me. Thank you and you earned my subscription!
I am a composer and also narrate audiobooks. You can imagine my “search” issues. Many of these tips I had already figured out…however I learned a LOT from your tips to add to my workflow. Great job, young man!
@@TheMacWhisperer DAW...Studio One Pro...music and voiceover....(I also have Logic but rarely use it..)...And Dorico Pro for notation. numerous SSD's for instrument libraries and SSD's for production; i.e. composition and audiobook production. Subfolders ad hoc for projects and/or categories...i.e. Noir-ish music cues, orchestral cues, etc....audiobooks by title and dates...
Thanks Dylan, Just found your Academy. Great presenting done simply to help make things easier, along with plenty of "I didn't know I could do that" tips for us "garden variety" Mac users. Appreciate you my man. Cheers!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Quick look has saved me more time than I can even count! It's just one of the tips that allows me to be super productive and super functional without compromising simplicity.
Hi, thank you for those tips! 2 Simple questions: 1: What's the fastest way to save files from web when you know exactly in which folder they should go and it's not the download folder? 2: Fastest way to open and close the finder window, sometimes it just won't close. Thank you so much
There are a couple of different settings you can use (especially if you are using Safari) to decide where things download. For me, I have all downloads go to my desktop so that I can quickly file them afterward. If you want to file things as soon as you download them, you should change the Safari download location setting (under the general tab) to ask every time. Then, whenever you download something, it will ask you where you would like it to go. As far as opening and closing the Finder window. To open it, simply click on the Finder face on the dock. To close it, you can either click the red button in the upper left corner of the Finder window or use the key code ⌘ + W, which can be used to close any window. Be aware that you should never try quitting the Finder… It is a necessary component of the computer, and well closing a window can be done anytime, quitting the Finder can cause problems. Hope that helps! Thanks for watching!
It's funny you're the third person in the last week to ask for those exact two topics. I will get into them in a future video… Stay tuned! Thanks for watching. And not that it matters, but my name is spelled Dylan.
Thanks. Great ideas. My preferred view is list view because I’m usually processing files within a folder, but you made me think about the other views and when they are more suited. Perhaps you wanted to keep this video small but it might have been the perfect time at the end to introduce tags
I actually recorded footage about tags, and then it didn't feel like it fit. It felt like tags needed their whole own video, so I will be prepping and releasing that in the near future. Tags are complicated and, for most people, unnecessary. Learning where to file stuff, how to access it, and how to search is much more critical… Tags are just an additional way, once you know where things are to quickly access stuff. But you're right, it could have worked on this video I just didn't feel like it fit the flow I was going for... Thanks for watching!
Things don’t need to be complicated to bring value. Sometimes keeping it simple is the way to really change your understanding of how to use something. Thanks for watching!
So glad I found you. I am transitioning from 30 years of PC to Mac. Just bought a new MacBook Air. Which of your videos do you recommend I start with? Thanks much.
I am creating a series of "New to ______: Start here" videos, but those won't be ready for a little bit. Now that you have watched the Finders video: I recommend learning about keycodes and shortcuts here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QXTZekwMUas.html Learning the best Mac settings here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8Fnp64Ma9fQ.html Learn about the Right Click here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m9-ZcgkMKjQ.html Learning about the Dock here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZlbPhA5VQLw.html Learning about MacMail here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8Q-sDxP19r8.html Learn about organizing Safari (my preferred browser) here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6W0A0DyAFzc.html Learn how to scan on your Mac here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kJpfkhxMKjk.html And then do some digging into my collection of videos on Notes and Reminders. Feel free to let me know if you have a question or need help around anything. Welcome!!!
Thanks for this very useful and as a Mac user for many years didn’t know a lot of this. Question. When in finder is there a way of finding which notes have not been added to a folder? Thanks
So the finder doesn’t have anything to do with Notes. The Notes app is its own application and entity. When you open the Notes app, there are two folders at the top of the folder list. The all folder, which contains every note no matter what folder it’s in, and the notes folder. The notes folder is essentially the unsorted folder and will tell you what hasn’t been put away yet. If you’d like some more tips on organizing notes check out this video:ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lBXe6KhpcN4.html
Thank you for this, so helpful! Tools I didn’t know I had. I do have a question though-on my Finder sidebar, the bottom third is “Tags” with a list of colored dots and an “All Tags” button. What are these for and how do I use them? Maybe you’ve already covered this in another video??
Thanks for asking about that... I actually filmed info about it for this video and then decided it needed it's own video to properly explain it. It is a way to simply categorize and easily find important files on your computer. Keep your eyes out for the Tags video... I hope to have it ready in the next week or two.
Thank you for this. It was very helpful. Can you please make a video of your workflow when downloading documents to your Mac? I constantly download things from email or websites, they go into an automated folder,which I don’t completely understand, and then get lost in the shuffle. I have a never ending sea of things I brought onto my computer that I don’t even remember or need at this point- all the way back from 2015. Also, do those automated folders have to remain on the desktop?
So, there's a lot to unpack in your comment. Let's start with the workflow of downloading documents to your Mac. Every application you use for downloading (Mac mail, Safari, chrome, etc.…) Has a preference section where you select your download folder. For me, I have set the download folder to the desktop… So I can find it easily. Many people save it to one of the two downloads folders on the computer (one is in your home folder, and one is in your iCloud. To me, the downloads folder is like sticking things under the rug, and wondering why it's hard to walk across it. By putting things on my desktop I am forced to file or delete them regularly, keeping things where they should be and out of the rarely explored downloads folders. Your question about automated folders is something I'm not clear on. What exactly do you mean by automated folders. You don't need to have anything on your desktop if you don't want to… So I'm happy to continue making videos about organizing and workflow, but the first step is being clear on where things download… And then regularly cleaning them out from that location and filing them into proper folders on your computer. I believe every computer user should have a main "home" for their stuff. It can be Dropbox, iCloud, your desktop, or your documents folder… But once you pick a specific home, then you can organize it properly with folders that make it simple for you to find what you're looking for without having to search. I have some other videos about these topics and more to come… Thanks for watching!
Another great tip for the Finder sidebar? You can drag the entire categories anywhere you’d like. So, for instance, I like having my Locations at the top, followed by my Favorites. Cheers!
That is absolutely true, you can re-organize the sidebar in any way that you want so that the things you need or where you want them rather than scattered up and down, forcing you to scroll. Great tip! Thanks for watching!
Why do you have multiple folders with the same name? If I had a similar situation, I would put a prefix before the name to delineate one work folder from another (ie DJS Work, TMA Work, Charity Work)… But if you really get yourself organized, you shouldn't have four or five folders with the same name. Folders with the same name should get consolidated so that it's easy to find what you're looking for without having to remember whether it's in this work folder, that work folder, this other work folder, etc. You can also change the image of the folder, to help clarify which is which... one could be shaped like a car or a circle... you can edit your folder icons pretty easily and that might also help. Planning out your file structure and eliminating irrelevant or duplicate folders will pay dividends in the long run. Thanks for watching!
That's what I love to hear. Most people have their systems and have learned how to make things work, but with a little bit of help, it can ALL be so much easier!!! Thanks for watching!
Some of the tips were helpful, but others weren’t possible to do on my system, if that makes sense; i.e., the pop-up preview feature when you click on a doc/file and press the space bar. When I tried it, the file name was erased and other times nothing happens. Could it be a different iOS? My MacBook Air is running macOS Ventura 13.4.
The reason it didn’t work for you to use QuickLook is because when you clicked on the document, you clicked on the title field so that when you click the spacebar it deleted the title. This happens sometimes, if you catch it quick you can just press the escape button to Reinstate the title. Try clicking on the image of the file rather than the name and it will work better.
No, it is still "IN" iCloud. It is just showing it in the favorites section instead. If you click on iCloud Drive, you will see it is still there. Just an easy way to create a shortcut for easier access...
This is absolutely true, but the average user doesn't know that key code and in most cases can't even remember two button key codes let alone three button codes. Knowing that you can right click on the header bar or open up the Finder in the right way to see the file path is easier for most people. I am impressed that you know that shortcut though… Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for pointing this out. I absolutely do know about snap grid it is just not always on as a default, and since the icon view is not what I really wanted to focus on, it didn't make sense to point out that you could adjust to the grid if you wanted to. But you're right… Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for this. But there is something seriously wrong with a culture if the customers who PAY for products have to explain to others how to use them. What do we pay corporations for? Not service, obviously. Tech is the worst offender of all. It was the first field to refuse to provide instruction manuals. Apple's Web site is nothing but a bunch of pretty pictures, which is nothing but ads.
I don't disagree at all… But Apple users are generally simple technology users. Many of them don't want to know the deeper workings of their tools, they just want to click around and figure it out themselves. Apple has tons of resources to help you learn to use the products… And if you download the beta software when it's released and practice with it you can learn a lot of it yourself… But there are literally thousands of changes every single year to every one of their products, making education an endless issue… Complicated all the more by all the people who don't have current software or current devices, and because of that don't get the same tools and won't understand the instructions. RU-vid, and many other websites provide excellent explanations and tools. But at the end of the day, we all need the right teacher. There is almost no place in the world where the information is just laid out for you without someone to help you organize it. I've been on Apple products since 1980, and I've made it my whole career for decades to stay on top of the changes to help the average user learn how to use their tools better. Sure, Apple could do it… And they did for a while with their Apple one to one service… But when people stopped showing up to get the lessons, Apple stopped providing them. Now it's up to us, the people who are actually using the tools to explain how to use them properly, rather than relying on a corporation with hundreds of different programs, devices and features, to teach us how to do everything.
