10 Mac Productivity Hacks You Didn’t Know About

Juggling a million tabs, windows, tasks, files, and folders can be a challenging task on your Mac. Thankfully, macOS comes with handy tricks to streamline your workflow. Whether you are a seasoned macOS user or a recent switcher, master these tips to revolutionize the way you work.

Related

macOS Sequoia hands-on: Apple finally figured out how to snap windows

macOS Sequoia is like macOS Sonoma, but with window snapping built-in.

10 Use Focus mode

macOS comes with different Focus profiles, such as DND, Personal, Sleep, and Work. You can use these Focus profiles to silence notifications from specific apps and people. You can even set a schedule to enable Focus based on a set time or location, or a certain app. You can even create a custom Focus based on your preferences. Let’s create one as an example.

1. Open System Settings on Mac. Scroll to Focus.
2. Select Add Focus.

   

3. Click Custom. Give it a name, assign an icon, and click OK.

   

4. Select Allowed People to receive messages and calls from important contacts. You can also select Allowed apps and receive real-time alerts from your work apps like Slack and Outlook.
5. You can also select Add Schedule and auto-enable Focus at a specific time or location or when you launch an app.

   

We have created a Writing Focus and set it to enable when we launch Slack on Mac. There is an option to share Focus across devices, too. That way, if you enable Focus on Mac, the system would also switch to the same Focus mode on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch using the same Apple account.

macOS supports both the Mac and iPhone widgets. Thankfully, these widgets don’t hide behind the notification center only. You can easily drag and drop them on the desktop for a quick glance at important information you may want to be able to check throughout the day.

macOS is even smart enough to fade out the widgets when you are working with an active app window.

8 Mirror iPhone and notifications

Following the macOS Sequoia update, iPhone users can finally mirror their iPhone and notifications on the Mac. We no longer need to pick up the iPhone to glance over incoming alerts. Simply search for iPhone Mirroring in Spotlight and hit Return. Now, follow the steps below to enable and customize iPhone notifications.

1. Head to Settings and open Notifications.
2. Select Allow notifications from iPhone.

   

3. Enable the option. You can disable alerts from specific iPhone apps from the same menu, if desired.

   

7 Open your preferred apps at startup

If you frequently use specific apps and services on your Mac, you can set them to automatically launch at startup to save some time.

1. Head to System Settings and scroll to General. Select Login Items & Extensions. Click +.

   

2. Select applications from the Finder menu that you want to open at startup.

   

6 Use keyboard text replacement

This is one of the neat productivity hacks to enhance your workflow. You can create text replacements for your frequently used phrases and words. For example, you can create text replacements for your email addresses, website URLs, and other common terms.

1. Head to System Settings> Keyboard> Text Replacements.

   

2. Click +. Enter a shortcut text that you want to replace and type the phrase you aim to replace it with.

   

3. Click Add.

   

5 Generate unique and random email addresses

If you have an iCloud+ subscription, you can generate unique and random email addresses to share on the web. That way, you don’t need to share your primary email ID on random websites and apps.

1. Open System Settings and scroll to iCloud.
2. Select Hide My Email.

   

3. Click +.

   

4. Copy a generated email address, give it a relevant label, add a note, and click Continue. Your email address is ready to use.

   

4 Use a calculator in Spotlight

Apart from finding apps, files, folders, photos, and websites, the Mac Spotlight Search is also turbocharged with calculator functions. You can simply type command + space, write down your math equations, and get instant results. You don’t need to open the default calculator app for quick calculations.

The default Finder app has quite a few basic image editing tools. You can use markup tools, create a PDF out of any photo, remove the background, and convert an image to a different file type. Simply select an image, right-click on it, expand Quick Actionsand glance over the options.

If you have one of the latest Macs with an annoying notch at the top, your active apps and services can quickly fill up the space in the menu bar. Since there is no native way to manage your menu bar items, you need to use a third-party app called Bartender to get the job done.

With Bartender, you can create different folders and even change the entire menu bar look. It costs $16 as a one-time payment.

Bartender 5

1 Easy window tiling

Apple finally supports window snapping with the macOS Sequoia update. The company calls it window tiling, which you can enable by dragging an app window on the sides, corners, or the bottom. From now on, you don’t need to rely on third-party apps to become a multitasking warrior on Mac.

Bonus tip: Become a keyboard master

If you have switched from Windows to Mac, make sure to memorize some of the popular keyboard shortcuts to fly through macOS. Whether you want to open the force quit menu, lock your Mac, or open AirDrop menu, read our dedicated post below to learn the top essential macOS keyboard shortcuts.

Related

Maximize your Mac efficiency

Whether you are a creative professional, a student, or a multitasking wizard, the productivity tips above will help you save precious minutes every day. Make sure to apply these tips to your workflow and your future self will thank you.

macOS also has a robust ecosystem of productivity apps to transform your Mac experience. Check out our separate guide to find the top productivity apps for Mac.