10 things to tweak when setting up a new MacBook - CNET 08/12/18, 2(14 PM

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15 things to tweak when setting

up a new MacBook
Just bought your first MacBook? Start out by checking or
changing these settings.
B Y M AT T E L L I O T T | J A N U A R Y 1 8 , 2 0 1 8 4 : 3 5 P M P S T

Sarah Tew/CNET

After you have jumped through the initial screens from the Mac
Setup Assistant that had you log in with your Apple ID, connect to
a network and so on, your work is not done. Here are 15 settings
to change or at least check on your new MacBook.

1. Check for updates

Has Apple released an update to MacOS High Sierra since it built
your MacBook? Find out by clicking the Apple button in the

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upper-left corner of your screen and then clicking About This

Mac. You should be staring at the General tab of the About This
Mac window. If so, click the Software Update button, which will
launch the App Store app and check for updates.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Watch this: 7 things to tweak when setting up a

new MacBook 3:00

2. Show battery percentage

Like an iPhone, a MacBook displays a small battery icon at the
top of the display to show how much battery power remains. It's
more helpful if next to this icon it also displays the percentage of
battery you have left. To show the percentage, click the battery
icon in the menu bar and click Show Percentage. (If you don't
see a battery icon, go to System Preferences > Energy Saver
and check the box for Show battery status in menu bar.)

Matt Elliott/CNET

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3. Set up Siri
Siri should be enabled by default, but if you would prefer to use
Siri only on your iPhone, then you can disable Siri by going to
System Preferences > Siri and unchecking the box for Enable
Ask Siri. If you plan on using Siri frequently, then you can use this
Siri window to choose Siri's voice, language and a keyboard
shortcut.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

4. Customize the Touch Bar

If you have a new MacBook Pro model with the Touch Bar, then
head to System Preferences > Keyboard and click the
Customize Control Strip button and then simply drag the buttons
you want to show up on the default view of the Touch Bar to the
Touch Bar below the display. Don't worry, they'll make the leap
from your display across the hinge and to the Touch Bar. (And
please don't ask me why Apple calls it the Control Strip in some
places and Touch Bar in others because I don't know.)

Matt Elliott/CNET

5. Sync folders via iCloud

I find it incredibly useful to sync the Desktop and Documents
folders between my two Macs and my iOS devices. To sync these

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two folders, go to System Preferences > iCloud and click the

Options button for iCloud Drive. Next, check the box for the top
item, Desktop and Documents folders.

Matt Elliott/CNET

6. Choose default browser

Even though it uses more system resources than Safari, I use
Chrome instead of Safari because the favicons help me keep
track of all of my open tabs. To set a default browser, go to
System Preferences > General and make a selection other than
Safari for Default web browser.

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Matt Elliott/CNET

7. Set scrolling direction

A MacBook's "natural" scrolling direction doesn't feel natural to
me. If you want the two-finger swipe gesture to scroll vertically in
the opposite way, head to System Preferences > Trackpad and
click on the Scroll & Zoom tab. Next, uncheck the box for Scroll
direction: Natural.

Matt Elliott/CNET

8. Get your Dashboard

MacOS Sierra lets you juggle multiple desktops via Mission
Control, which you can swipe through using the three- or four-
finger swipe gesture. The Dashboard is a special desktop that
lets you pin various apps to it for quick access to current weather
conditions, your calendar, a calculator and other info. To enable
the Dashboard, go to System Preferences > Mission Control and
change the Dashboard setting from Off to either As Space or As
Overlay. The former sets up the Dashboard as your leftmost
desktop, and the latter overlays it on your current desktop with
the press of the F12 key.

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Matt Elliott/CNET

9. Add and remove items from Dock

Apple throws a number of stock apps into the Dock at the bottom
of the screen. You can make room for the apps you use most
frequently by removing others you don't need in the Dock. To
remove an app from the Dock, simple click on its icon in the Dock
and drag it to the desktop until you see Remove appear above
the icon and then let go. Poof, it's gone! To add an app to the
Dock, open it and then right-click on its icon in the Dock and
mouse over the Option line in the menu and click Keep in Dock.

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Matt Elliott/CNET

10. Move the Dock

The Dock sits at the bottom of your screen, but on a widescreen
MacBook display, you might find it better to have it on the side. To
move the Dock, go to System Preferences > Dock and choose
either Left or Right for Position on Screen. While you're there,

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you can also drag a slider to adjust the size of the Dock. You can
also make it disappear from view when you aren't using it by
checking the box for Automatically hide and show the Dock.

Matt Elliott/CNET

11. Set up Safari

Safari now combats two of the bigger internet annoyances:
autoplay videos and ad trackers. Ad tracking is stopped by
default, but there is a global setting for stopping autoplay videos
that you'll want to enable. Open Safari's Preferences and click on
the Websites tab. Choose Auto-Play from the left panel and for
When visiting other websites at the bottom of the window, select
Never Auto-Play or Stop Media with Sound (if you are okay with
muted videos playing) and sit back and rejoice in the silence.

safari-preferences

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

12. Enable Night Shift

Staring at a blue screen before bed can shift your body's natural
clock and make it difficult to get a good night's sleep. With
Apple's Night Shift feature, the colors of your display are shifted
to the warmer end of the spectrum during the evening hours.
Head to System Preferences > Displays and click the Night Shift
tab. You can set Night Shift to come on from sunset to sunrise, or
you can select a custom time period. Use the slider to adjust the
color temperature of the effect between less warm and more.
Once you start using Night Shift, you'll wonder how you ever sat
in front of a cold, blue screen in the evening hours.

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macos-night-shift

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNETmacos-night-shift

13. Set hours for Do Not Disturb

Along with overly blue screens, notifications have no place in my
home after a certain hour. As with iOS, MacOS lets you disable
notifications in the evening so you aren't disturbed while
watching Netflix or sleeping. Go to System Preferences >
Notifications and check the box Turn on Do Not Disturb. By
default, it's set for the hours of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. but you can set
your own Do Not Disturb Window. There are options to enable
the feature when your MacBook's display is sleeping or when you
are mirroring the display to a TV or projector (and presumably
watching a movie or show or video). You can also let calls come
through (if you use your MacBook to answer calls) or just
repeated calls, which might mean there is an emergency or
something urgent to which you may need to respond.

macos-do-not-disturb

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNETmacos-night-shift

14. Set app download tolerance level

If you want to download apps from the web at large and not just
from the Mac App Store, you'll need to tell MacOS to loosen up
on the reins a bit. Go to System Preferences > Security &
Privacy, click the lock in the lower-left corner and enter your
password to make changes. Next, for Allow apps downloaded
from choose App Store and identified developers.

macos-allow-apps-downloaded-from

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNETmacos-night-shift

15. Choose how quickly your MacBook

locks
While on the Security & Privacy page, you can set the length of
time your MacBook can sit idle before the screen locks. It's more
convenient to set a longer time but also less secure. The time
period to set here doesn't start ticking until the screen saver
begins, so you also need to set the length of time before your

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screen saver kicks in. Go to System Preferences > Desktop &

Screen Saver and you can select the style of your screen saver
and also the time by using the drop-down menu in the lower-left
corner.

Editors' note: This story was originally published on January 6,

2017 and has since been updated with new tips.

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