Mac Basics Part 1
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It’s all in the Finder

These tips all occur on your desktop, or in what is called the Finder in Mac land.

1. Empty the trash by going to the Finder menu from your desktop and choosing “Empty Trash.” You can also “Control-Click” the Trash icon in your dock and choose “Empty Trash” from the menu that pops up. If you get an error message that some items cannot be deleted because they are locked don’t be afraid. You can delete locked items from the trash by holding the “Option” key when you select “Empty Trash.”

2. To select more than one item in a folder hold the command key while clicking the items. If the items are next to or under each other you can click and drag a box around the icons.

3. Another way to send items to the trash instead of dragging items is to click the icon or icons and press the command key with the Delete key.

4. To make a new folder go to the File menu in the Finder and click “New Folder.” A new folder will appear and you can immediately type a name for it. Press return and start filling your folder.

5. To fill that new folder do one of the following:

A. Drag and drop icons directly onto the folder icon.

B. Double click the icon to open it and drag and drop files into the window that opens.

C. Copy and paste the files from one location to the other. Click the icons of the items you want to copy. Go to the Edit menu and choose “Copy. " Open the folder and choose “Paste” from the Edit menu.

6. To rename a file click the file’s name and press RETURN on the keyboard. The name will highlight and become editable. Type your new name.

Stay tuned for part 2 of this new series coming soon…..

This post is part of the series: Mac Basics and More

Tips for the beginner Mac user, and maybe even some tips that might be useful for some advanced users.

  1. Mac Basics and More Part 1
  2. Mac Basics and More Part 2: Address Groups
  3. Mac Basics and More Part Three – Screenshots to Ejecting a Disk and More
  4. Mac Basics and More Part 4: Keep Your Desktop Clean
  5. Mac Basics and More Part Five: Keyboard Shortcuts