The Mac Beginners' Guide

Whether you’re new to computers in general or have switched to Macs from Windows PCs, this guidebook is for you. Over the next 132 pages, our in-depth tutorials and plain-English guides get to the heart of your new Apple desktop or laptop, its macOS Big Sur operating system and its in-built apps and features. It’s fully illustrated, so our guides are easy to follow, and as well as bringing you the bare-bones basics, we also show you some of the more advanced features of your Mac, macOS and its apps. Can You Run macOS Big Sur? Older Macs cannot be updated to the new operating system, so if you want to upgrade your Mac to macOS Catalina, it must be one of the following models: MacBook MacBook Air MacBook Pro…

1 Your first step is to choose your territory, that is, where you live and will be using your Mac. You can scroll the list of countries up and down to find your own, or start to type it to get there quicker. Click your country to highlight your choice, then click Continue. 2 Now select your language and input source. The default ones for your chosen territory are offered, but if you want to change them, click Customise Settings and set the language your Mac uses and the keyboard layout to suit your needs. 3 Now choose your Wi-Fi network. Scroll up and down the list until you find your router’s SSID (service set identifier) and click on it. Enter the password in the field provided and move on.…

1 Command Centre – The Command Centre is where you can access Bluetooth, Wi-Fi settings, display brightness, volume, keyboard brightness, Screen Mirroring and much more. 2 Apple Menu – From the Apple menu you can log out, shut down, restart or put the computer into sleep mode, get comprehensive information on the computer’s hardware and software, access the System and Dock preferences and open items you’ve recently closed. 3 Desktop Wallpaper – Why have a plain background when you can spruce it up with your favourite photo? If you’re bored with the same one day after day, set it to change regularly. You can even use your own photos as wallpaper. 4 Folder Icons – In macOS, folders work just like their real-world counterparts. You can use them to store files, data and other…

Connected Mac 1 Make sure that your Mac is within range of your wireless router’s Wi-Fi signal, then click on the Command Centre icon in the upper-right of the desktop (next to Siri). If the Wi-Fi is indicating it’s off, click the icon to switch it on. 2 Within the Wi-Fi icon you’ll see the option for Other Networks, click this to list the currently scanned and available Wi-Fi networks. Click your Wi-Fi network and enter your access password. Consult your router/ISP for the Wi-Fi password. 3 Ensure that the Remember this network option is ticked, so you don’t have to keep entering the password every time you boot your Mac. When the Wi-Fi is connected, you’ll notice the radar-like icon on the menu bar at the top of the desktop; this indicates…

The Apple Menu 1 The Apple menu is found in the top left corner of the desktop. To open it, click on the Apple icon once, then choose an option. It’s always there, whatever you’re doing on your Mac. 2 Choose About This Mac for a window showing you technical information about your computer. Tabs at the top of this window let you delve further, looking at its Display, Storage and more; and you can get a full System Report by clicking a button too. 3 The System Preferences option opens the Mac’s System Preferences, which we discuss later in this book. 4 This option opens the App Store. If updates are available for your Mac or any of its apps, this is noted here too. 5 Hover your pointer…

1 Window Control Options: Use the gumdrops to close or minimise the window or open it in full-screen mode. We’ll cover this on the next page. 2 Navigation Controls: The chevron buttons found under the gumdrops in the top left corner of the window take you forwards or back through your navigation history. 3 View Options: These four buttons let you set-up how you view the files and folders in the Finder window; whether as icons, a list, in columns or as a cover flow which gives you a much larger visual preview. 4 Item Arrangement List: Click on the button shown here to order the contents of the window; according to date, alphabetically and more. 5 Share Button: The Share button is found in many places throughout macOS. Here you can highlight a file…