Macs All-in-one for Dummies

Your all-in-one guide to the wonderful world of your Mac

Are you getting the most from your Mac? Given what’s possible, it’s pretty unlikely.  Whether you’re just beginning your journey or are already a seasoned traveler, the six information-packed minibooks included in Macs All-in-One for Dummies open up a world of knowledge, from how to set up a recently bought Mac to exploring the coolest new features on your beloved device. 

Now updated with what you need to know about the newest generation of hardware and software, Macs All-in-One For Dummies is your guide to simply everything: protecting your Mac; backing up and restoring data with Time Machine; managing applications on the Dock, Launchpad, and Desktop; syncing with iCloud, organizing your life with Calendar, Reminders, Notes, and Notifications; presenting with Keynote; crunching with Numbers; getting creative with iMovie and GarageBand—the list goes on! 

• Explore the newest version of MacOS
• Set up and customize a new Mac with ease
• Become more efficient, professional, smart, and creative with the latest must-have apps
• Use Home Sharing to stream content to other computers, iOS devices, and Apple TVs
• Dive into six books in one place: Mac Basics, Online Communications, Beyond the Basics, Your Mac as a Multimedia Entertainment Center, Taking Care of Business, and Mac Networking

Whatever you want from your world of Mac, you’ll find it here—as well as a million other incredible things you’ll love. Get started on your new Mac journey today!  

Joe Hutsko has been writing about computers, gadgets, and video games for over 20 years. Barbara Boyd is coauthor with Joe of three editions of iPhone All-in-One For Dummies. Jesse Feiler writes apps and books about building and using apps. Doug Sahlin is the author of more than 20 how-to books, many of them bestsellers.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Book 1: Getting Started with Your Mac 5

Chapter 1: Starting to Use Your Mac 7

Examining Different Mac Models 7

The Mac mini and Mac Pro 9

The iMac 9

The MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 10

Starting Your Mac 11

Turning Off Your Mac 13

Putting your Mac to sleep 13

Shutting down your Mac 16

Restarting your Mac 18

Understanding Mac Processors 19

Exploring Your Mac’s Inner Workings 20

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted with the Mac User Interface 23

Looking at Menus, Dialogs, and Windows 24

Exploring the menu bar 25

Understanding menu commands 26

Working with dialogs 26

Managing windows 27

Mastering the Mouse, Trackpad, and Keyboard 32

Using the mouse 33

Operating the trackpad 34

Examining the parts of the keyboard 36

Getting to Know the Parts of the Desktop 43

The Dock 44

The Finder 46

Getting to Know Siri 48

Exploring a basic Siri interaction 49

Using complex Siri commands 51

Configuring Siri 53

Empowering Siri 53

Getting Help 54

Chapter 3: Making Your First Connections 57

Setting Up an Internet Connection 58

Ethernet connection 58

Wireless (Wi-Fi) access 59

Establishing Your Apple Identity 63

Creating an Apple ID during Mac setup 64

Using two-factor authentication 65

Creating an Apple ID in iCloud 66

Keeping Your Data in iCloud 71

Configuring iCloud preferences 72

Syncing with your other devices 74

Using the iCloud website 75

Setting Up Email and Social Network Accounts 77

Adding accounts 77

Gathering your account information 78

Configuring your account 79

Chapter 4: Working with Files and Folders 83

Getting to Know the Finder 84

Handling devices 85

Understanding folders 86

Setting Finder preferences 88

Navigating the Finder 90

Opening a folder 90

Working with tabs 90

Jumping to a specific folder 91

Jumping back and forth 92

Moving to a higher folder 92

Following the folder path 93

Organizing and Viewing Folders 93

Selecting items in the Finder 94

Using Icon view 94

Using List view 96

Using Column view 97

Using Gallery view 98

Changing your view options 99

Using Quick Look to view file contents 100

Creating Folders 102

Creating a folder from the Finder menu 102

Creating a folder from Save or Save As 102

Playing Tag: Classify Files and Folders for Quick Access 105

Setting tag preferences 105

Tagging existing files and folders 105

Tagging new files 107

Finding your tagged files 107

Manipulating Files and Folders 107

Renaming files and folders 108

Copying a file or folder 110

Moving a file or folder 111

Grouping files 112

Archiving Files and Folders 112

Creating a Zip file 113

Creating a DMG file 114

Deleting files and folders 116

Searching Files 117

Using Spotlight 118

Spotlight Preferences 120

Using Smart Folders 121

Creating a Smart Folder with Spotlight 122

Deleting a File or Folder 123

Retrieving a file or folder from the Trash 124

Emptying the Trash 124

Chapter 5: Managing Apps on the Dock, Launchpad, and Desktop 127

Launching an App 128

From the Dock 129

From Launchpad 131

From the Apple menu’s Recent Items 132

From the Finder 133

With Spotlight 134

Opening documents 134

Switching among Applications 137

Quitting Apps 139

Closing a document 139

Shutting down an app 139

Force-quitting an app 140

Creating Alias Icons 142

Working with Dock Aliases 143

Adding file and folder aliases to the Dock 144

Rearranging icons on the Dock 146

Removing icons from the Dock 147

Organizing Multiple Desktops with Spaces 148

Creating Desktops 148

Switching Desktops 150

Moving app windows to different Desktops 150

Setting Mission Control preferences 151

Acquiring New Apps 152

Shopping in the App Store 153

Downloading apps from the App Store 156

Installing Applications 158

Updating Applications and System Software 158

Uninstalling Applications 160

Uninstalling an app 160

Removing app alias icons from the Dock and Desktop 162

Removing user setting files 162

Paying Attention to App Security 163

Chapter 6: Changing How Your Mac Looks, Sounds, and Feels 165

Changing the Desktop and Screen Saver 166

Choosing a Desktop image 166

Customizing the screen saver 168

Changing the Display and Appearance 171

Changing the screen resolution 171

Using Night Shift 172

Changing the colors of the user interface 173

Changing the Date and Time 175

Adjusting Sounds 178

Noticing Notifications 181

Working in Split-View Mode 186

Using Your Mac’s Accessibility Features 187

Mitigating vision limitations 188

Compensating for hearing limitations 191

Interacting with ease 192

Enabling Switch Control 198

Speaking with Your Mac 199

Setting up the microphone 200

Setting up Speakable Items 201

Book 2: Using the Internet 205

Chapter 1: Browsing the Web with Safari 207

Browsing Websites 208

Going on Safari 208

Visiting websites 209

Reading in Reader 217

Using tabbed browsing 218

Setting your Safari home page 222

Searching within a web page 223

Organizing Your Website Experience 223

Using bookmarks 224

Creating a Reading List 230

Displaying favorites in Top Sites 232

Storing Personal Info and Keeping It Private 234

Using AutoFill to track passwords and more 234

Protecting your web-browsing privacy 236

Saving and Sharing Web Pages 238

Saving a web page as a file 239

Saving a photo from the web 240

Sharing a web page 241

Printing a web page 242

Viewing and Playing Multimedia Files 243

Listening to streaming audio 243

Viewing PDF files 243

Downloading Files 244

Using Extensions 246

Chapter 2: Corresponding with Mail 249

Adding an Email Account to Mail 250

Looking at the Mail Window 254

Writing Emails 257

Creating a new email 257

Replying to or forwarding a message 259

Customizing your messages 261

Sending a file or photo attachment 266

Spelling and grammar checking 270

Receiving and Reading Email 271

Retrieving email 271

Reading email 273

Viewing and saving file attachments 274

Adding an email address to Contacts 275

Adding an email contact to your VIPs list 276

Organizing Email 276

Searching through email 277

Organizing email with mailbox folders 278

Deleting a mailbox folder 280

Automatically organizing email with smart mailboxes 280

Automatically organizing email with rules 282

Flagging your messages 283

Dealing with Junk Email 284

Filtering junk email 285

Using advanced filter rules 287

Using blocked sender rules 289

Deleting and Archiving Messages 290

Deleting messages 290

Retrieving messages from the Trash folder 291

Emptying the Trash folder 292

Archiving messages 292

Chapter 3: Chatting with Messages and FaceTime 293

Getting Started in Messages 294

Setting up a Messages account 294

Keeping up appearances 294

Chatting with Others 296

Initiating a text chat 297

Initiating an audio or a video chat 299

Sharing files and photos 301

Saving or deleting your conversations 301

Making Calls with FaceTime 302

Signing in to FaceTime 303

Making a call with FaceTime 303

Receiving a FaceTime call 305

Chapter 4: Using Apple Pay and Apple Card 307

Paying for Purchases with Apple Pay 308

Using Apple Card 309

Chapter 5: Moving Around with Maps 311

Wherever You Go, There You Are 312

Finding your location 312

Navigating the Maps interface 314

Asking for Directions 315

Finding what you seek 315

Sharing what you find 318

Dropping a pin 320

Getting directions 320

Book 3: Beyond the Basics 323

Chapter 1: Backing Up and Restoring Your Data 325

Using iCloud for Your Data 326

Understanding Different Backup Options 328

Backing up with external hard drives 329

Storing backups on USB flash drives 330

Storing backups off-site 331

Blasting into the Past with Time Machine 332

Setting up Time Machine 332

Skipping files you don’t want to back up 336

Retrieving files and folders 337

Understanding Versions 342

Restoring your entire backup 342

Moving Your Backup from an Old Mac to a New Mac 344

Working with Data-Recovery Programs 345

Getting Rid of What You No Longer Need 348

Chapter 2: Protecting Your Mac against Local and Remote Threats 349

Locking Down Your Mac 350

Using Passwords 350

Changing your password 351

Applying password protection 353

Using Touch ID 356

Setting up Touch ID 357

Using Touch ID 357

Encrypting Data with FileVault 358

Setting up FileVault 358

Turning off FileVault 361

Using Firewalls 362

Configuring the Mac firewall 362

Buying a more robust firewall 365

Selecting Privacy Settings 366

Creating Multiple Accounts 368

Adding a new user account 369

Defining Parental Controls 371

Activating a Sharing Only account 377

Switching between accounts 379

Deleting an account 381

A Few Final Security Tips 383

Chapter 3: Networking Your Mac and Connecting Peripherals 385

Creating a Wired Network 386

Creating a Wireless Network with a Router 390

Connecting and Choosing a Printer 393

Biting into Bluetooth 395

Configuring Bluetooth on your Mac 396

Pairing a Bluetooth device 398

Sharing through Bluetooth 400

Chapter 4: Sharing Files and Resources on a Network 403

Sharing Files with People Near and Far 404

Using AirDrop 404

Using a network 407

Sharing Printers 415

Seeing Your Screen from Afar 416

Enabling screen sharing 416

Starting a screen-sharing session with another Mac 417

Chapter 5: Running Windows on a Mac 421

Working with BYOD and a Heterogeneous Computer Environment 422

Using Boot Camp 423

Setting up Boot Camp Assistant 423

Chapter 6: Maintenance and Troubleshooting 427

Shutting Down Frozen or Hung-Up Programs 428

Handling Startup Troubles 430

Resetting the System Management Controller 430

Resetting NVRAM and PRAM 431

Booting up in Safe Mode 431

Uninstalling apps 433

Repairing and Maintaining Storage Drives 434

Running First Aid 434

Booting from another Mac through a Thunderbolt cable 436

Using the Recovery Disk 437

Removing Jammed CDs or DVDs 438

Book 4: Using Your Mac as a Media Center 441

Chapter 1: Getting Acquainted with Media on Your Mac 443

Using Your Apple ID to Enjoy and Share Media 443

Media Sharing 444

Family Sharing 445

Getting into the Media Apps in macOS Catalina 453

Chapter 2: Tuning In and Listening with Music 455

Getting to Know the Music App 456

The sidebar 457

The Music window 458

Working with Playlists 458

Ordinary playlists 459

Smart Playlists 461

Genius playlists, shuffles, or mixes 466

Organizing Your Music 468

Adjusting Music Preferences 470

Playing Audio with Music 474

Listening to CDs 474

Importing a CD’s audio tracks into Music 476

Importing digital audio files 478

Searching your Music library 478

Playing digital audio files 479

Burning an audio CD 482

Listening to the Radio 484

Playing Music Radio 484

Shopping at the iTunes Store 485

Downloading media from Music 488

Chapter 3: Enjoying Podcasts, News, and TV 491

Finding and Playing Podcasts 491

Exploring podcasts 492

Listening to or watching podcasts 492

Setting Podcast Preferences 494

Reading the News: Extra, Extra, Read All about It! 496

Reading the daily news 496

Following a publisher or channel 498

Saving and sharing stories 498

Setting News preferences 499

Watching TV on Your Mac 500

Chapter 4: Reading and Listening to Books on Your Mac 505

Thumbing through Books 505

Finding something to read at Apple Books 507

Adding books and files from other sources 509

Reading by screen light 510

Sorting your books 513

Chapter 5: Looking at Photos 515

Understanding Digital Photography 515

Transferring Digital Images to the Mac 517

Retrieving photos using Photos 518

Moving photos from other folders into Photos 520

Organizing Your Photo Library 521

Tagging images 521

Using the Keyword Manager 523

Manually adding information to photos 524

Creating a Smart Album 525

Creating folders 526

Deleting photos, albums, and folders 527

Mapping your images 528

Creating Memories 530

Finding images 531

Creating a slideshow 531

Capturing Photos with Photo Booth 534

Editing Photos with Photos 537

Sharing Photos 541

Printing photos 541

Sending photos in a message 542

Using Photo Stream 543

Book 5: Taking Care of Business 547

Chapter 1: Managing Contacts 549

Setting Up Contacts 550

Viewing Contacts 550

Designing your Contacts template 551

Entering contacts 553

Working with Contacts 560

Searching contacts 561

Editing a card 561

Deleting a contact 562

Creating groups 562

Sharing Your Contacts 568

Sending one contact at a time 568

Exporting multiple cards 569

Printing your Contacts 570

Chapter 2: Staying on Schedule with Calendar 573

Getting Acquainted with Calendar 574

Working with Multiple Calendars 576

Creating a new calendar 577

Accessing calendars from other accounts 578

Subscribing to online calendars 580

Importing Calendar data 582

Creating a new calendar group 582

Moving a calendar or group 584

Renaming and deleting calendars and groups 584

Creating and Modifying Events 585

Viewing events 585

Creating an event 585

Editing an event 587

Moving an event 594

Deleting an event 595

Finding Events 595

Color-coding events 595

Selectively hiding events 595

Checking for today’s events 596

Checking events for a specific date 596

Searching for an event 597

Exporting Calendar data 598

Sharing your calendars 598

Backing up Calendar data and restoring a backup file 600

Printing a Calendar file 601

Organizing Tasks with Reminders 602

Creating new Reminders tasks 602

Making new lists 605

Chapter 3: Creating Documents with Pages 607

Working with Document Templates 608

Choosing a template 608

Replacing placeholder text 610

Replacing placeholder photos and graphics 611

Adding pages or sections to your document 614

Moving around your document 616

Working with Text 617

Editing text 617

Formatting text 618

Adjusting line spacing, justification, and margins 620

Creating and Placing Text Boxes 629

Creating a text box 629

Moving a text box 630

Resizing a text box 630

Uniting text boxes 631

Using Styles 631

Using a paragraph style 632

Using an image style 633

Using a text box style 634

Creating Charts and Tables 635

Adding and removing a chart 635

Adding a table 637

Adding shapes 638

Arranging objects 640

Wrapping text around an object 641

Polishing Your Document 642

Spell-checking a document 642

Finding and replacing text 644

Saving Your Documents on Your Mac or iCloud 645

Printing Your Documents 646

Exporting to a Different File Format 646

Chapter 4: Presenting with Keynote 649

Creating a Presentation 650

Choosing a theme and saving your presentation 651

Opening an existing file 653

Finding your way around Keynote 654

Adding slides 656

Manipulating Text 658

Entering text 658

Inserting text boxes 659

Editing text 659

Formatting text and text boxes 660

Adding Shapes, Charts, and Tables 667

Inserting predefined shapes 667

Aligning and arranging objects 669

Adding a chart 670

Adding a table 672

Adding Media Files 674

Adding sound 674

Adding photos or movies 676

Rearranging Slides 678

Creating groups of slides 678

Deleting a slide 680

Skipping a slide 680

Creating Transitions and Effects 680

Creating a slide transition 681

Creating text and graphic effects 682

Adding hyperlinks to your presentation 685

Using Masters to Customize Themes 686

Polishing Your Presentation 687

Viewing a presentation 688

Rehearsing a presentation 688

Preparing for your big event 689

Controlling your presentation remotely 690

Letting others run your presentation 692

Chapter 5: Crunching with Numbers 695

Understanding the Parts of a Numbers Spreadsheet 696

Creating a Numbers Spreadsheet 699

Creating a new spreadsheet with a template 699

Opening an existing file 700

Working with Sheets 701

Adding a sheet 702

Deleting a sheet 702

Adding or removing a table 702

Resizing a table 703

Changing the appearance of a table 703

Inserting headers and resizing rows and columns 704

Typing Data into Tables 706

Formatting numbers and text 707

Entering formulas 710

Formatting data entry cells 713

Sorting data 717

Deleting data in cells 718

Adding a chart 718

Naming sheets, tables, and charts 720

Making Your Spreadsheets Pretty 720

Adding a text box 721

Adding media 721

Sharing Your Spreadsheet 722

Printing a spreadsheet 722

Exporting a spreadsheet 723

Sharing files directly from Numbers 725

Chapter 6: Getting the Most Out of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote 727

Collaborating with Keynote, Pages, and Numbers 728

Inserting Media from Other Sources 731

Copying and Pasting 732

Modifying Photos 732

Masking a photo 733

Making parts of a picture transparent with Instant Alpha 735

Using Adjust Image 735

Adding Comments 737

Finding More Templates 738

Index 739

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.