Mac Setup

audience all
level all
topic setup
subtopic use

UI Settings for a New Mac

Settings for macOS UI behavior. Mac settings for user interaction. Setting up a new MacBook, iMac, Mini, Studio, or Pro.

This article is part of a series on Mac Setup.

You may wish to change settings for:

  • Battery
  • Accessibility
  • Appearance
  • Control Center
  • Desktop & Dock
  • Displays
  • Screen Saver
  • Siri
  • Wallpaper
  • Lock Screen
  • Privacy & Security
  • Spotlight
  • Keyboard
  • Trackpad

Items here roughly correspond to the order of categories in macOS Sequoia System Settings.

Battery

You'll only find this setting on a laptop. You'll want to leave the Low Power Mode set to "Never" and only change it if you're running out of battery and can't recharge right away. Low Power Mode reduces CPU speed and screen brightness to save battery life.

Accessibility

Accessibility settings are useful for everyone, not just users with sight, hearing, or movement limitations. You may want to change settings for:

  • Accessibility > Display > Increase Contrast makes the UI more readable.
  • Accessibility > Display > Reduce motion reduces distracting animations.
  • Accessibility > Display > Text size can be increased for easier reading.

Appearance

  • Choose Dark mode if you prefer it.
  • Appearance > Show scroll bars > Always gives you a visual cue about how much of window or browser page you're able to see.

Control Center

Control Center is the panel that appears when you click its icon in the Menu Bar. It gives you quick access to screen brightness, volume controls, and other settings, similar to the Control Center on iOS phones and tablets. You can customize the Control Center by going to System Settings > Control Center. This is also where you control what appears in the Menu Bar.

Desktop & Dock

Title Bar Click Behavior

You can set behavior for double-clicking the title bar of a window, with options to Fill (maximize to full screen size), Zoom, or Minimize the window.

  • Desktop & Dock > Double-click a window's title bar to > Minimize

The Minimize setting is a good way to quickly reduce clutter on the desktop by moving windows to the Dock.

Desktop Click Behavior

In the "Desktop & Stage Manager" section, change the "Click wallpaper to reveal desktop dropdown" from "Always" to "Only in Stage Manager". This is the universally annoying feature that hides all your windows when you click on the desktop.

  • Desktop & Dock > Desktop & Stage Manager > Click wallpaper to reveal desktop dropdown > Only in Stage Manager

Hot Corners

At the very bottom of the Desktop & Dock window, you'll find a button that opens the Hot Corners settings. The Hot Corners setting is difficult to find but very useful.

I recommend setting a corner to "Lock Screen" and disabling screen savers and sleep mode, so you can keep your display active and easily lock your screen when you leave your desk. If your laptop has Touch ID, you can press the Touch ID button to lock the screen, but sometimes it's easier to use a Hot Corner.

If you like to use Launchpad to start applications instead of searching with Spotlight, you can set a Hot Corner to open Launchpad.

Some people like to use Mission Control to switch between applications, instead of clicking windows or icons in the Dock. You can set a Hot Corner to open Mission Control.

More options for the Dock

For a more advanced Dock setup, with settings using the command line, see Dock Settings.

Displays

Displays settings are where you change the resolution, the refresh rate, and the color profile for an external monitor. Users recommend the commercial BetterDisplay application for more control over external monitors.

You may want to turn off Displays > True Tone if you don't like the warm color tint it gives to the screen.

Screen Saver

The screen saver appears when your computer is idle. You can choose a decorative screen saver. I prefer to keep my screen active at all times and use a Hot Corner to lock the screen when I leave my desk.

Settings for the screen saver are in System Settings > Lock Screen panel.

Siri

I don't like to tallk to my computer so I turn off Siri. Turn off Siri or adjust preferences in Siri settings.

Wallpaper

You can set a preference for wallpaper (the background image on the desktop) or upload your own image. I prefer a black background to reduce distractions. For a black background, or another solid color, scroll to the bottom of the window for a selection of colors.

Lock Screen

Settings for screen saver behavior are in the System Settings > Lock Screen panel (not the "Screen Saver" panel). Personally, I don't like the screen saver to start when my computer is idle, so I set "Start Screen Saver" to "Never" and use a Hot Corner (or the Touch ID button) to lock the screen when I leave my desk.

  • Lock Screen > Start Screen Saver > Never
  • Lock Screen > Turn display off on battery when inactive > For 5 minutes
  • Lock Screen > Turn display off on battery when inactive > For 10 minutes
  • Lock Screen > Require password after screen saver begins... > Immediately

Just in case you lose your computer, and an honest person finds it, you can set a message (including phone or email address) to display on the lock screen.

  • Lock Screen > Show message when locked > On > Set

Privacy & Security

Storage is always encrypted on Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3 chips). With disk encryption, your data can't be accessed if your computer is lost, stolen, or recycled. All FileVault does on Apple Silicon is add the user's password as an additional key. That said, it's a good idea to enable FileVault and store a recovery key safely in case you forget your password. FileVault has a negligible performance impact with modern Macs and fast solid-state drives.

  • Privacy & Security > FileVault > Turn On

FileVault is at the bottom of the Privacy & Security panel.

Spotlight

Spotlight is the search feature that appears when you press Command + Space or select the search icon in the Menu Bar. You can customize what Spotlight searches for in the System Settings > Spotlight settings. In the early days of the Mac, Spotlight returned filenames and file contents, but now it returns a lot of other stuff, like web pages, email, and contacts. If you prefer Spotlight to behave like a fast, indexed, full-disk grep command, you can disable everything except Applications, Documents, and Folders. Enable:

  • Applications
  • Documents
  • Folders

Add other categories if you want them.

Keyboard

You'll change keyboard settings if you are a fast typist or if you prefer to control everything from the keyboard without reaching for a mouse.

  • Keyboard > Key repeat rate > Fast
  • Keyboard > Delay until repeat > Short

The settings for Keyboard > Keyboard navigation > Keyboard Shortcuts are important for keyboard-centric users. Additional keyboard settings are in the Accessibility > Keyboard panel.

Turn off auto-correction and other smart typing features. These are difficult to find. Look under Keyboard > Text Input > Input Sources > Edit. Then:

  • Correct spelling automatically > Off
  • Capitalize words automatically > Off
  • Show inline predictive text > On
  • Add period with double-space > Off
  • Use smart quotes and dashes > Off

Trackpad

A Mac trackpad has a rich set of gestures. You can customize the gestures in the System Settings > Trackpad panel.

  • Trackpad > Point & Click > Tap to click > On
  • Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom > Scroll direction: Natural > Off

Some Trackpad settings are in the Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options panel. You may want to use the trackpad for dragging without pressing down the trackpad. First, enable Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options > Use trackpad for dragging. Then, select Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options > Dragging style > Three Finger Drag.

Other settings

See articles for:

What's next

My mac.install.guide is a trusted source of installation guides for professional developers. Take a look at the Mac Install Guide home page for tips and trends and see what to install next.