I've been using MacBooks for about 15 years now, but there's still a lot about them that I don't know.
For instance, I was pretty surprised when I found out you can use the Spotlight tool as a calculator.
Here are some other tips and tricks for anyone else in the same boat, courtesy of BuzzFeed Community members and Redditors:
1. "Apparently, 'normal users' don’t know that Spotlight is faster and better than starting apps from the dock. Stop frittering with dock placement and sizing, and just learn to use Spotlight instead."
2. "I think my favorite Mac trick is that you can use an iPad as a second display with a setting called Sidecar. You can also control an iPad+Mac, Mac+Mac, etc., with one keyboard and mouse with a setting called Universal Control."
3. "Keep the system from sleeping using the terminal. Type caffeinate and press enter. You don’t need an external program to do this, but everyone and their mother here will recommend apps to do this simple operation. You can even make it stay awake for the duration individual processes need it to be."
4. "Hot corners. 😃"
5. "Cmd + Shift + . to show/hide hidden files quickly."
6. "If you don't like the default blue folder icons, you can change them by clicking on the folder, hitting get info (⌘+i), and dragging the icon you want to use to where the little version of the blue folder icon is at the top."
7. "Automator is a secret champion."
"A lot of Mac users don't know it exists, but this little workflow maker can turn hours of work into mere minutes without any coding skill required. For example, if you want to sequentially name a load of files, find and replace something in 1,000 filenames, or batch resize 1000s of images, Automator lets you drag and drop your workflow. It also is a gateway to AppleScript and running Bash scripts as part of a workflow, i.e. it makes getting into the harder stuff easier."
8. "Control + Command + Space -> emoji keyboard"
9. "Do use TimeMachine or backup your system in some other way. Not everyone loves TM, but if your needs are conventional, it's really a beautiful thing indeed, and it can save your bacon."
10. "Don’t close the screen with anything on the Mac; don’t use a camera cover."
11. "Command + shift brings up Spotlight search. Command + shift + 4 to take a screenshot that you choose the size of. Command + shift + 3 for a regular screenshot."
12. "Don’t put a hard plastic case. Just use a laptop pouch instead. I once had a Speck plastic case, and it builds up dust, which scratched my Mac a bit."
13. "Command + shift + 5 to screenshot and screen record."
14. "Option-clicking anything like volume or Wi-Fi gives you additional settings."
15. "The three-finger swipe up to see all windows became compulsive immediately."
16. "In Settings, change the trackpad so a tap counts as a press/click. It’s quiet and better IMHO."
