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Configuring New Mac
A guide on setting up a new Mac Mini, focusing on personal preferences and essential configurations.
- Authors
- Name
- Nico Prananta
- Follow me on Bluesky
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I've been thinking of buying a Mac mini to replace my Macbook Pro as my main computer at home. But it turned out I didn't need to buy since my company loaned me a Mac mini to use at home! So it's time to set up this thing. Setting up a new computer is both fun and annoying. There are some features that I wish were a default.
Desktop
- Enable dock magnification. (System Preferences ➡️ Dock)
- Show the day of the week and the date in menu bar. (System Preferences ➡️ Date and Time ➡️ Clock)
Keyboard
- Add custom keyboard shortcut for switching to the other windows of the same app. I always use Option+Tab for this. (System Preferences ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Shortcuts ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Move Focus to The Next Window)
- Change Full Keyboard Access to All Controls. (System Preferences ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Shortcuts ➡️ All Controls)
- Disable automatic spell correction. I usually type in three languages: English, Indonesian, and Japanese. The automatic spelling correction annoys me so much when I type in Indonesian. (System Preferences ➡️ Keyboard ➡️ Text)
Trackpad
- Enable Tap to Click. (System Preferences ➡️ Trackpad ➡️ Point & Click)
- Enable Silent Clicking. Without this, clicking the trackpad is so loud. (System Preferences ➡️ Trackpad ➡️ Point & Click)
Sound
- Enable feedback when volume is changed. (System Preferences ➡️ Sound ➡️ Sound Effects)
- Show volume in menu bar. (System Preferences ➡️ Sound ➡️ Sound Effects)
Finder
- Show Library folder. (Finder ➡️ Go to your home folder ➡️ Right click in the folder ➡️ Click Show View Options ➡️ Enable Show Library Folder)
- Show Path Bar. (Finder ➡️ View menu ➡️ Show Path Bar)
- Show Status Bar. (Finder ➡️ View menu ➡️ Show Status Bar)
Safari
- Show full URL. (Safari ➡️ Preferences ➡️ Advanced ➡️ Show full website address)
- Show develop menu in menu bar. (Safari ➡️ Preferences ➡️ Advanced ➡️ Show Develop menu in menu bar)
- Disable automatic opening downloaded file. (Safari ➡️ Preferences ➡️ General ➡️ Disable Open "safe" files after downloading)
TextEdit
- Use Plain text format for new document. (TextEdit ➡️ Preferences ➡️ New Document)
- Disable Smart Quotes and Smart Dashes. (TextEdit ➡️ Preferences ➡️ New Document)
Apps
- Go2Shell to quickly open Terminal from Finder.
- Alfred. I use it mostly for the Clipboard history.
- DragonDrop. Unfortunately this app is no longer available for download. But I cannot live without it. It truly makes drag and drop better. So I copied it from my other Mac.
- FlatTerminal theme. It looks nice.
- VLC to watch stuff.
- And any other useful apps.
What other configurations do you recommend? Let me know on Twitter!