And you may even know about the “clipboard,” the virtual place in your Mac’s memory where a copied item sits before it gets pasted.

But did you know that you can take a peek at the clipboard and actually lay your eyes on what’s clipped to it?

You can view whatever’s clipped to your Mac’s clipboard with help from the “Show Clipboard” command.

Here’s how…

• First, click on the desktop to bring up the Finder menu at the top of the screen.
• Click the Edit menu, then select Show Clipboard.
• A pop-up window will display whatever’s sitting on the clipboard. If you copied a string of text, you’ll see the text itself; if you copied an image, a file, or a folder, you’ll see the name of the item.

No, you can’t manipulate what’s on the clipboard, but at least you can take a gander before pressing COMMAND + V.

The “Show Clipboard” command may also come in handy if COMMAND + C isn’t copying an item quite like you were expecting it to.

Got questions? Post ’em below, or send me an email.

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I always keep my desktop’s “Sort by” as “none” so that I can arrange the items by myself. Also, when I would drag a picture or any other item into my desktop, it would just stay where I dragged it to.

Few days ago, I realized that my desktop wasn’t doing this anymore. Whenever I would drag anything to my desktop, it will automatically arrange itself in the right. I find this very uncomfortable because I just like the items to stay where I dragged them.

Is there any way for me to fix this? Thank you so much!

Hi Jennifer! Yep, the “Sort by” options for the Mac’s desktop can be a bit confusing—and even finding them can be a pain.

You can get to your Mac’s “Show View Options” settings by right-clicking the desktop.

You’d think you could tweak your desktop “Sort by” settings from the Mac’s main System Preferences window, but no.

Instead, you’ll need to right-click on the desktop and select “Show View Options” from the pop-up window.

A window labeled “Desktop” will appear, complete with a series of settings; go ahead and click the “Sort by” pull-down menu and select either “None” or “Snap to Grid.”

If “None” is selected yet your desktop items are still frantically sorting themselves on the right side of the screen, choose another settings (like “Name”) and then go back to “None.” That should do the trick.

Hope that helps, Jennifer. Still have questions? Just post ’em below, or send me an email.

Click here for more Mac tips!

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Hi Barbara! Yes, you certainly can create custom, text-replacing “macros” (or shortcuts) on your Mac for your home address, job title, phone number, or other oft-used strings of text.

With macros—or “text substitutions,” as Apple calls them—you can easily create brief text shortcuts for oft-used numbers, words, and phrases.

And if you’re not familiar with macros (or text “substitutions,” as Apple calls them), no worries. It’s actually a fairly simple—and very useful—concept, particularly for anyone who’s tired of typing the same number, word or phrase over and over.

Let’s get started.

• So, say you want to create a macro for your street address in the Mac’s Safari web browser. (Yes, Safari has its own “AutoFill” feature for your contact information, usernames and passwords, but as you’ll see in a moment, macros are far more customizable.) The first step is to create the actual macro. Click the Apple menu, select System Preferences, click the Keyboard icon, then click the Input Sources button. Finally, click the Text tab.
• In the bottom-left corner of the window, click the little “+” button to create a new macro. An entry for a new macro will appear, just beneath a series of existing text substitutions.
• Type the abbreviation you’d like to use for your new macro in the “Replace” column—and yes, it could be just about anything. I went ahead and typed in “addr” as a text shortcut for my address.
• Hit the TAB key, then enter the text string you’d like to appear whenever you type your new macro; again, for this example, I entered “1234 Main Street.”
• All set? Press TAB again, then close the window to save your macro.

• 

  You can quickly jump to your Mac’s macro settings with a simple right-click.

• Now, let’s go back to Safari, open any web page with a text-entry form (like a search box), then right-click in the form, then select “Substitutions,” “Text Replacement” to enable macros in the Safari app.
• Ready to give it a try? Click on a text-entry form, type in your macro (“addr,” in my case), and press the space bar or a punctuation mark—and when you do, the text string you saved a few steps ago (“1234 Main Street”) will jump into the form.
• Want to edit your macro? Go ahead and retrace the steps above to return to the “Language & Text” window, or simply right-click on a text-entry form and select “Substitutions,” “Show Substitutions.”

Bonus tip

Macros (or, again, “substitutions” in Mac terminology) must be manually enabled (by right-clicking and selecting “Substitutions,” “Text Substitutions”) in each and every app in which you’d like to use them.

Want to enable macros in all your Mac apps at once? There is a way, but it involves using Terminal, an app for entering old-school “command line” code into your system.

Just follow the instructions right here, but be careful: one false move in the Terminal app can do serious harm to your Mac.

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

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Well, you can.

Just dig into the Mac’s Keyboard settings and you’ll find shortcut settings for dozens of features, from snapping screenshots and zooming the display to switching Mission Control desktops and revealing the desktop.

You can customize existing keyboard shortcuts, create new ones, and even take a shortcut from a rarely-used feature and give it to one you use all the time.

Just double-click an existing keyboard shortcut to replace it with a new one.

Here’s how…

• Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, select System Preferences, click the Keyboard icon, then click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
• In the left column of the Keyboard Shortcuts window, you’ll find several different categories of shortcuts, from Launchpad & Dock to Application Shortcuts. Click a category, and a series of corresponding shortcuts will appear in the right column.
• See a shortcut you’d like to customize? Just double-click the current shortcut (make sure you double-click the actual shortcut rather than the name, or nothing will happen), then type in a new one. And don’t worry; you’ll get a warning if you try to enter a shortcut that’s already being used by another function.

Make sense? Here an example: I wanted to change the shortcut for snapping a screenshot from SHIFT + COMMAND + 3 to just the F5 key.

First, I clicked Screen Shots in the left column, then I double-clicked the existing shortcut (which appears on-screen as ⇧⌘3), then pressed the F5 key.

And with that, I started taking screenshots by tapping just once key. Love it.

Bonus tip

Want to create custom shortcuts for your favorite programs? Easy.

Click Application Shortcuts in the Keyboard Shortcuts window, click the little “+” button just below the right column, pick a program from your Applications folder, type in a menu function, then type a shortcut.

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

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Some information is coming from Outlook Contacts but I can’t find the source and iCloud seems to be procreating without any help.

Please help me to eradicate these multiple contacts and regain my sanity.

Hi Martin! Sounds like there was a little confusion while your address book was making its way from your Windows PC to your Mac—and yes, it’s pretty annoying to get five results for a contact search when you were looking for just one.

Luckily, there’s a fairly easy way to seek out and merge duplicate entries in the Mac’s Contacts app.

The Mac’s “Contacts” app can find and merge duplicate contacts automatically—but make sure to back up your contacts before starting the process.

Here’s how…

• First, make sure to back up your address book before you start merging or deleting any contacts. Open the Contacts app, click File, Export, then Contacts Archive. Pick a place on your Mac’s hard drive that’s easy to remember (like the Documents directory), then click the Save button.
• Next, click the Card menu at the top of the screen, then select “Look for Duplicates.”
• After scouring your address book for a few seconds, the Contacts app will report back with its results. For instance, when I recently checked for duplicate contacts, I got a message that read: “17 duplicate cards and 10 duplicated entries were found.”
• Now, time for the moment of truth. Click the Merge button to let your Mac merge any duplicate contacts it found. Unfortunately, you can’t review the changes before they’re made—and that’s why it’s so important to make a backup before the merge.
• Once the “deduping” process is completed, give your contacts a look. See anything you don’t like? If so, you can restore the backup you made by clicking File, Import, and then selecting the Contacts archive you saved earlier.
• If, on the other hand, everything looks good, then you’re all set—and remember, if you’re an iCloud user (and it sounds like you are, Martin), all your merged contacts should sync automatically with any iCloud-connected iPhones and iPads.

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

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If so, try this: just set your Mac or Windows PC to shuffle some or all of your favorite desktop wallpaper (or “background”) photos, at any interval you choose.

Think of it as turning your desktop into an endless slideshow.

Here’s how…

On a Mac:

• Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, select System Preferences, click the Desktop & Screen Saver icon, then make sure the Desktop tab is selected. Or, here’s an easier way to get to your wallpaper settings: just right-click on the desktop, then select “Change Desktop Background” from the menu.
• Pick a photo folder from the left-hand column (if you don’t see the one you want, click the little “+” button), then check the “Change picture” box at near the bottom of the window.
• Select a time interval, anything from every five seconds (which could get a little dizzying) to once a day.
• Want your Mac to shuffle your wallpaper rather than just flip through them in order? Check the “Random order” option.
• Do you use different Mission Control desktops on your Mac? If so, you can set specific wallpaper settings for your individual desktops—meaning, for example, you could have Desktop 1 set to just a single background, while Desktop 2 shuffles through different wallpaper images every five minutes.

Just select two or more images to start shuffling your Windows desktop wallpaper.

On a Windows PC:

• Open the Windows control panel (you can access it though the Start menu, or by searching for it from the Windows 8 Start screen), click Appearance and Personalization, then click the “Change Desktop background” link. You can also just right-click on the desktop, select Personalize, then click Desktop Background near the bottom of the window.
• You should now see a window showing a selection of different desktop wallpapers, with a check next to your current wallpaper. Go ahead and check a few more wallpapers, or pick another folder of photos by clicking the Browse button. Don’t forget the Select All and Clear All buttons while you’re at it.
• Once you select more than one wallpaper, the “Change picture every…” selector will turn on. Pick an interval for Windows to swap out your wallpaper–anything from every 10 seconds to once a day.
• Want Windows to shuffle your wallpaper? Just click the checkbox next to Shuffle.
• All set? Click the “Save changes” button, and get ready for a show.

Bonus tip

Want to stretch a wallpaper image to fill your entire desktop—or want to try tiling your desktop with an snapshot instead? No problem.

On a Windows PC, go back to the Desktop Background window and fiddle with the “Picture position” setting.

On a Mac, open the Desktop preferences window and click the pull-down menu next to your selected image.

Looking for more Windows tips? Click here, or click here for help with your Mac.

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Now, some of these programs might be actually be ones that you do want to launch automatically, such as the Safari web browser, or Apple Mail. But other, not-so-necessary programs may be piling up in your Mac’s “login items” list, too—ones that set themselves to launch automatically without asking first.

Another factor that may be slowing down your system is the Mac’s “Resume” feature, which re-opens any and all apps you had running when you shut down your Mac. That could lead to a crush of apps all trying to launch themselves at startup.

Last but not least, you may have specific programs on your Mac with “Launch at Startup” settings that you’ll need to find and disable.

Now, if you’re the patient type, waiting a little longer for your Mac to boot up so that your programs appear just as you left them might be a fair trade-off.

But if you’d rather shave a few seconds—or even minutes—off the time it takes for your Mac to settle down after hitting the power button, read on.

1. Cross items off your Mac’s “Login Items” list

Your Mac launches a series of programs each and every time it starts up. Some of these programs are critical for the smooth operation of your system; others, not so much.

To see a list of all the programs your Mac opens automatically, click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of the screen, select System Preferences, click the “User & Groups” icon (it’s under the “System” heading), pick a user (you, most likely), and finally click the “Login Items” tab.

You should now see a list of everything your Mac is launching (or trying to launch, anyway) whenever it starts up.

Some of the items will be easy to identify—in my case, I’ve got Dropbox  and Google Drive (the handy file-sharing apps) listed, as well as something called an “Eye-Fi Helper” (an app that lets my Mac receive wireless images from my digital camera) and “AirPort Base Station Agent” (which keeps tabs on my AirPort Wi-Fi base station).

To delete these or other startup items from the list (but not from your Mac, mind you), just select them and click the “-” button at the bottom of the list.

2. Keep “Resume” from re-launching previously open apps

Don’t get me wrong—”Resume” is one of the handiest Mac features, especially for those of us who like to pick up in Safari or the Calendar app right where we left off.

But if you don’t want Resume relentlessly re-launching all the apps you had open when you last shut down your Mac, you can stop it from doing so.

The next time you select Shut Down or Restart from the Apple menu, take a closer look at the window that pops up; in addition to the “Cancel” and “Shut Down” or “Restart” buttons, you’ll also see a checkbox labeled “Reopen windows when logging back in.”

Click the box to clear out the checkmark, and the only apps that’ll re-launch the next time your power on your Mac are those listed in the Login Items menu.

3. Check for program-specific “Launch at Startup” settings

So, you emptied the “Login Items” list and turned off the Resume feature, but there’s still a program that’s launching itself at startup. What gives? Well, it could be that the stubborn program has its own “Launch at Startup” setting.

Open the program, make sure it’s the active app on your desktop (just click its window if it isn’t), then find its Preferences menu; generally speaking, you’ll find it under its main menu in the Mac menu bar (like “Spotify” in the case of Spotify).

Once you’ve opened the program’s Preferences menu, look around for a “Launch at Startup” setting. If there are lots of different Preferences categories, start with “General,” then try “Advanced.” (In Spotify’s case, I found a “Open Spotify automatically after you log into the computer” setting under its “Advanced” settings.)

Found the “Launch at Startup” (or the equivalent) setting? Go ahead and disable it, then rinse and repeat for any other programs that are still launching themselves when you turn on your Mac.

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Well, here’s the thing: you can add, remove, and rearrange the buttons in the “toolbar” of several familiar Mac programs.

Not every Mac application has a toolbar of buttons that you can customize, but many of them do, including Safari, Mail, Firefox, and even garden-variety desktop folders.

Just click View, Customize Toolbar to rearrange the toolbar buttons in your various Mac apps.

For example, say you wanted to add a Print button to the Mail app’s toolbar. To do so, just…

• Open Mail, click View at the top of the screen, then select “Customize Toolbar.” When you do, a menu with more than two-dozen available buttons will slide into view.
• Find the Print button, then click and drag it into the Mail toolbar.
• When the Print button is right where you want it (nearby buttons will scoot out of the way), release the mouse button.
• All set? Click the Done button.

You can also follow the same steps to add Zoom buttons in Safari, a Label button to the folder toolbar, and more.

And while you’re at it, you can drag unwanted buttons out of the toolbar, add more space between buttons, or even add or remove a Search box (assuming Search is an available option).

Bonus tip

Want to hide a toolbar? Just click View, then Hide Toolbar, or use the OPTION + COMMAND + T keyboard shortcut.

To bring the toolbar back, click View, Show Toolbar, or press OPTION + COMMAND + T again.

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

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Read on for 10 ways to make the most of your Mac’s desktop, including how to zoom your display, take a “quick look” at a file, pause your alerts and notifications, and more.

1. Customize the dock

Thanks to the handy Dock at the bottom of your Mac desktop, your favorite programs, files, and folders are never more than a click away—and if you know where to look, you can make the Dock behave practically any way you want.

Indeed, you can expand, shrink, move, and otherwise tweak the Mac’s desktop Dock in just a few steps, as well as rearrange your Dock items, access programs shortcuts from the various Dock icons, and more.

Read more…

2. Control your desktop with “hot corners”

Whenever I want to switch to a bird’s-eye view of all the windows and desktops on my Mac via Mission Control, I don’t bother with tapping the keyboard or clicking the Mission Control icon in the Mac desktop dock.

Just flick your mouse into the corner of the desktop to launch Mission Control, reveal the desktop, start your screensaver, and more.

Instead, I just flick my mouse to the bottom-right “hot corner” of my screen, and voilà—I’m in Mission Control mode.

Hot corners make for a quick, easy, and even addictive way to jump to Mission Control, clear my desktop, start my screensaver, and more, all with a simple flick of my fingertip.

Read more…

3. Keep the iTunes “MiniPlayer” floating on your desktop

A tiny control panel that sits on your desktop and acts as a virtual remote for iTunes, the MiniPlayer lets you play and skip songs, search your music, queue up new tracks, and more, all without having to switch to the main iTunes window.

Of course, the MiniPlayer won’t do much good if its buried under an avalanche of desktop windows. Luckily, there’s a way to keep the MiniPlayer floating above the fray.

Read more…

4. Take a “quick look” at a file

Want to sneak a peek at a Word file, a folder full of photos, or a PDF without going to the trouble of launching a full-fledged application?

Meet “Quick Look,” a handy, built-in Mac tool that lets you take a quick glance at almost any file or folder on your desktop without committing to firing up a program.

Read more…

Squinting at your desktop? You can zoom your Mac’s display with a few keyboard combinations.

5. Zoom in on your display

Having trouble making out the tiny type on your computer screen?

In just a few clicks, you can magnify your Mac’s desktop—a handy trick, particularly for anyone with iffy eyesight.

Read more…

6. Click or pinch to see your tabbed web pages

The latest version of Apple’s Safari web browser offers a new, eye-popping way to view your open browser tabs.

Just click the new “show all tabs” button in the top-right corner of the Safari 6.0 interface, and presto: your tabs will simultaneously shrink and spread into a row, giving you a bird’s-eye view of all your tabbed web pages.

Read more…

7. Create a new desktop in Mission Control

Mission Control—the handy Mac feature that gives you a bird’s-eye view of all your open windows and virtual desktops—will go ahead and add a new virtual desktop whenever you activate the full-screen view for an app or a browser (just click the arrows in the top-right corner of the window).

But what if you want to create a new, blank desktop on your own?

Read more…

Need a break from the Notification Center? All it takes is a downward swipe on your trackpad.

8. Pause all your Notification Center alerts

The banners and alerts from the Mac’s new “Notification Center” all well and good when you want to keep an eye on your Mail inbox or worried about missing a meeting.

But what if you want to sit back and enjoy a movie on iTunes, or if you simply want a little peace and quiet for a few hours?

Well, good news: you can, in fact, put all your notifications on “pause” with a simple swipe and click.

Read more…

9. Get your missing scroll bars back

Wondering what happened to the scroll bars on your Mac’s desktop windows? Believe me, you’re not the only one.

Luckily, it’s easy to get those scroll bars back—not the old, larger versions, mind you, but at least you can keep the Mac’s new, skinny-mini scroll bars visible at all times.

Read more…

10. Create a “recent files” folder on your desktop

It’s easy to create a folder on your desktop that’ll display only the files you’ve created or worked with in the past day, week, month … you name it.

Read more…

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

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Well, one way to open your documents with the programs you want is to right-click the file in question and select “Open with…” from the pop-up menu.

But there’s also a way to permanently change the “default” program that opens a given type of document.

Right-click a file and select “Get Info” to pick a new default program for the document.

Here’s how…

• Let’s say you want Adobe Reader, and not Preview, to open your PDF files. The first step is to right-click a PDF on your desktop (any PDF will do) and select “Get Info” from the pop-up menu. When you do, a lengthy pane of information about the file will appear on your desktop.
• In the middle of the information pane, you’ll find a section titled “Open with”—and there, you’ll see a pull-down menu with the current default program for PDFs (Preview, in this example) selected. Click the menu, then select Adobe Reader. Keep in mind that Adobe Reader, or whatever program you want as the default choice for PDFs, must be installed on your Mac for it to appear in the menu.
• At this point, you’ve only designated Adobe Reader to be the default program for the single PDF file you’ve been tinkering with. To make Reader the default for all PDFs on your Mac, click the “Change All” button. Finally, click the “Continue” button on the “Are you sure…?” confirmation prompt.
• That’s it! You should now see that the folder icons for all your PDF files have switched from Preview to Adobe Reader—and when you double-click your next PDF, it will open in Reader by default.

Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!

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