macOS GENIUS TIPS
macOS
quick-fire
questionsYou can delete your oldest
backups to recover space,
but will then lose access to
older versions of those files.Launchpad keeps
rearranging its
icons...
> Changing System
Prefs or installing an
app can cause Catalina
to rearrange its icons.
Resetting Launchpad
in a Terminal command
and restarting can
temporarily fix this, but
it appears to be a bug
which Apple has to sort.How to stop
Reminders waking
my Mac?
> MacBook Pro and Air
batteries will discharge
more rapidly if woken by
notifications. Open the
Notifications pane, and
select Do Not Disturb.
Tick the boxes to turn
it on when the display is
sleeping, and uncheck
them so it doesn’t
allow calls.APRIL 2020 | MACFORMAT | 591
Check the lock
In Catalina on a Mac with a T2 chip,
Secure Boot and 2FA for your Apple ID,
Activation Lock is automatically enabled
when you turn Find My Mac on. Confirm
this in the Hardware item in System
Information (listed in the last line).2
Switch it off
Find My Mac and Activation Lock
can prevent a service technician from
repairing your Mac, or lock out someone
you lend it to. Turn Find My Mac off in
Catalina’s Apple ID pane in the iCloud
item, or in the iCloud pane for older OS.3
Remote disable
If you forget before parting with
your Mac, you can disable this through
iCloud.com, but you then have to erase
that Mac before you can disable Find My
Mac. Click Find iPhone, select the Mac to
erase and disable, then click Erase Mac.HOW TO Disable Activation Lock
different methods to work out what needs
backing up, but none is smart enough to
recognise the data in those files hasn’t
changed, just the permissions.
The only way you could reclaim this space
from backups is to remove previous backups,
which inevitably reduces coverage. You could
delete all backups made before, but you’d then
lose access to those older files. Time Machine
thins old backups to minimise storage, but
can’t help when so much has changed.Thinning Time Machine backups
macformat.com @macformatQ
When I repaired permissions on my
Home folder, it changed so many
files my next backup was huge.
How can I reclaim the space?
by MIKE PATELA
If repairing permissions results in
many changes, in Time Machine’s
next backup all those files and folders
will need to be backed up, as they’ve changed
since the last. Different versions of macOS useChanging permissions
throughout a large folder
updates each changed file
and folder.