MacFormat UK – June 2019

macformat.com @macformat JUNE 2019 | MACFORMAT | 25

Spotlight is the tool that searches

your Mac and the internet, making it

as easy to find iTunes albums, IMDB

entries and YouTube videos as it is

files on your Mac. It’s also employed

when you use the search bar in a

Finder window, and when you search

in Mail, Photos and many other apps.

Sometimes when you use Spotlight,

you may not get the results you expect.

In that case, you should rebuild its

index. Go to  > System Preferences >

Spotlight and select the Privacy tab.

Drag the folder you want to reindex

from Finder into the list. Spotlight is

then prevented from searching that

location. You can add your Home

folder or even a drive into the list

if you want to reindex all your files.

Select the item in the list and click

‘–’ (minus) to remove and reindex it.

3

Use Finder’s sidebar

Another option for faster access

to folders is to drag them into Finder’s

sidebar. They’re then a click away in

every Finder window, and in Open and

Save dialogs. To remove an item, ≈-click

it and pick ‘Remove from sidebar’.

4

Use tabs in Finder

Tabs are an alternative to multiple

Finder windows, particularly when you’re

moving files from one folder to another.

With a Finder window open, press ç+t

to open a new tab. Drag and drop a file

onto a tab to move it to that tab’s folder.

5

Use Desktop Stacks

A cluttered desktop makes it more

difficult to find files, slowing you down.

Stacks solves that by grouping files. Click

an empty area of the desktop and choose

View > Use Stacks. Pick the attribute used

to arrange by in View > Group Stacks By.

(^3)
Get rid of unwanted
menu bar items

If these aren’t included
in your login items, open
the preferences in the
associated app, and locate
and turn off its menu bar
item, which may be called
‘Open at Login’ or similar.
(^4)
Keep your apps
up to date
Apps are updated for all
sorts of reasons, including
fixing bugs and adapting
to changes in macOS.
To keep your Mac running
smoothly, make sure your
most frequently used
apps are up to date.
Browser extensions
Remove extensions you
don’t use. In Safari’s
preferences, look under
Extensions. In Firefox,
click the More button
and choose Add-ons >
Extensions. In Chrome,
type: chrome://extensions.
Tell Spotlight
to re-index files