For me, it was finding that I can use "Stacks" in Finder to clear desktop. For years, I was irritated with screenshots lying all over my desktop screen but didn't have the energy to sort them manually. When I found out Stacks, I was like ...
Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
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Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#2Wait until you find out you can change which directory screenshots save to. I have a dedicated "screenshots" directory in my home directory. And then a stack in the Dock for it similar to the one for the Downloads folder.
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#3Creating one-file pdf from large pdf file with simple page drag to the home screen using Preview.
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#4Preview can modify images. There's a button with a pencil icon that toggles a toolbar for simple image editing, such as adding lines, shapes, or texts.
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#5Cmd + Shift + ? = Easy way to access menus via keyboard
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#6Wait until you find out you can change which directory screenshots save to. I have a dedicated "screenshots" directory in my home directory. And then a stack in the Dock for it similar to the one for the Downloads folder.
Even better, you can just have those screenshots save to only your clipboard. Just add ctrl to your combo, _or_ you can remap it in Keyboard under System Preferences.
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#7The keyboard shortcut in finder to take you to your home directory, cmd + shift + h if I recall correctly. Makes it trivial to keyboard navigate to anything when you can easily start from the same place every time!
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#8Setting most (but not all) system preference using the terminal. It made doing clean installs every year so much easier. https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/main/.macos
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#9I solved the screenshot on the desktop problem by using a program called Hazel. It can automatically move and sort files based on any number of criteria. I set it up to move all screenshots on my desktop to a ~/tmp directory. This has worked pretty well for keeping my desktop completely empty which is my preference.
Re: Ask HN: What feature did you find after years of using macOS?
#10Dictionary word lookup with a single gesture.
