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Quick closing of the navigation sidebar

Written by Philip Roy

Every folder window that opens in Mac OS X Panther has a sidebar that provides you with access to your hard-drives, network places, applications, documents and more. However, at times, you might want to hide the sidebar.

It is possible to click and drag on the line separating the two parts of the window, so that the sidebar disappears. But a faster way is simple....just double-click anywhere on the column separating the sidebar area and the main part of the window (you can see where to click by where the cursor is in the picture above) and the sidebar will close.

Last Updated Sunday, 09 March 2008

'Show Inspector' - advanced Get Info

Written by Philip Roy
In the Finder, press the Option key before choosing Get Info from the 'File' menu, and you will see it has changed to 'Show Inspector'. Say hello to the file Inspector! This is the 'Get Info' window on steroids; it remains open and shows info for any file you then click on in the Finder. This saves you from having to open & close multiple 'Get Info' windows if , for example, you are wanting to change the permissions for multiple files.
Last Updated Monday, 10 March 2008

Making icons extra large

Written by Philip Roy
If the icons in the Finder just aren't big enough for you, try this tip - open Terminal (in the Utilities folder) and enter...

 defaults write com.apple.finder DesktopViewOptions -dict IconSize -integer '928'

...and press the Return key on your keyboard. Then, restart your Mac (or just log out and then log back in again) and presto - instant huge Finder icons! To return your icons to normal, just resize them in View Options as you normally would.
Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Opening a window and retaining its parent

Written by Philip Roy
If you want to open a window in OS X but keep the parent window open, hold down the Command (Apple) key while double-clicking on the folder you want to open. Very handy for quick copying or moving of files within one parent folder.
Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Moving a folder via its icon

Written by Philip Roy
When you are using a folder that is nestled deep in the dungeon of UNIX, you can simply move it to the desktop for faster consentient use. When its open in icon view, click and hold the folder icon on the upper title bar and then drag to the desktop. Magically the folder is now available from the desktop.
Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Moving files (not copying) across disks

Written by Philip Roy
Traditionally, when you drag a file from one disk to another (or from one partition to another) the file gets copied to the new location and the original; remains where it is. This is frustrating at times, because when you want to move the file, you have to copy it across and then delete the original.

Instead, under OS X, there is a way to "move" a file rather than "copy" it. Simply hold the 'Command' (or 'Apple') key down before you click and drag the file to its new location. This will cause the file to be moved from one disk to the other and the file will disappear from its starting location.
Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Customising the toolbar

Written by Philip Roy

Every window has a toolbar of buttons at the top. these include buttons to change the view (icon, list and column) as well as search your computyer for file.

Also, a new button has appeared known as the 'Action' button for soing things like assigning colour lebls to files and folders. Now while these buttons can all be taken on and off this toolbar bu going to the "View" menu and choosing "Cutomize Toolbar...", what you may not know is that they can sit anywhere you want at the top of each window. So, by holding down the 'Command' (or 'Apple') key, you can click and drag these icons around and place them on the left and right of the window in any order you want.

The moment you do that, all windows will take on the same look and placement of buttons. Even better for someone lime me, that doesn't have any need of the 'Action' button...you can hold down the 'Command' (or 'Apple') key and click and drag this button off the window and it will disappear in a puff of smoke. Any time you want any items back, you can go up to the "View" menu and choose "Customize Toolbar..." like before.

Last Updated Tuesday, 11 March 2008

Quickly put your Mac to sleep

Written by Philip Roy
To quickly put your Mac to sleep without using your mouse, press the following keys at the same time: Apple, Option and Eject.
Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Quickly hide all windows/programs

Written by Philip Roy
Ever had lots of programs and windows open at the same time, and want to hide them all quickly, to get back to the desktop? Try this: hold down Option and Command (Apple) keys and click the desktop. This will hide ALL currently running programs. Very quick and saves you from having to use Command H for each program.
Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Rotate desktop background

Written by Philip Roy
This is useful for people who are tired of their static backgrounds.

• Open System Preferences.
• Select 'Desktop'.
• In the Collection drop-down menu, select Pictures Folder or Choose Folder depending on where your pictures are.
• Check the Change Picture box and from the drop-down menu, select the interval between the change of picture. For a noticeable slide-show, try every 5 seconds.Now you have a changing slide-show in your desktop, just like a screen saver.

Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

How to I install software from a .dmg file?

Written by Philip Roy
A ".dmg" file is a disk image file. This is a series of files, an application or an application installer that is in a compressed format (to help with downloading off the net) that you can then 'mount' (load a temporary virtual disk) on your Mac to get the software from the disk image and onto your Mac permanently.

Let's take a look at installing the OmniWeb web browser. When you go to the Omni Group site, you'll download a ".dmg" file like the one you see here.

Variation 1 - An application that needs installing

Variation 2 - Clever dragging and dropping

• Some people mount a disk image and then try to use the application on the disk image from there, rather than dragging a copy of the application to their "Applications" folder. In most instances this is not a good idea.
  
  
• Some people forget they haven't made a copy of the application in their "Applications" folder, then find it hard to eject the disk image or wonder why the application has disappeared next time they start their computer. If you're having this problem, you probably didn't install correctly the first time.

Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Setting paper to A4 size

Written by Philip Roy
If you're sick of changing your paper size from US letter to A4 go to the Applications Folder and open the Utilities folder. Double click 'Printer Setup Utility'. Go to The Printer Setup Utility menu and choose 'Preferences'. Choose A4 from the Default Paper Size pop-up. Then close the dialog box and you're done.


Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999

Deleting files that won't delete

Written by Philip Roy
Sometimes Mac OS X just doesn't want to delete files, this is away which you can delete files that normally wont delete through the trash can.

• Open up the Terminal
• type "rm -r" (Without the speechmarks. DO NOT PRESS RETURN)
• now find the file drag it into the Terminal and press return.

This instantly deletes the file. You can also use it for folders.
Last Updated Tuesday, 30 November 1999