• After copying an element click on theis 4 keys combination ꜛSHIFT+⌥Option+⌘Command+V to clear the styling format from what is in your clipboard BEFORE pasting it as plain text. If you find this too much, scroll down to see how to create your own « App Shortcut » for the command Paste and Match Style.

• ⌘Command+L : Set focus in address bar.

1. ⌘Command+Spacebar : Opens Spot light (floating window) to search on macOS.
2. ⌥Option+⌘Command+Spacebar : Opens the Search field within Finder window.

• ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+C : Copy color values as text. More about Digital Color Meter native app is available on support.apple.com.

1. Toggle keyboard’s input sources languages using one of those two options:
   (request to enable shortcut in Keyboard settings)
   • fn⬆ (when NOT within a text editor),
   • If within a text editor ⮕ ⌃Ctrl+⌥Option+Spacebar
2. Emoticons 🎭👉 ⌃Ctrl+⌘Command+Spacebar

1. fn⬆+F11 : Toggle from the actual view to Desktop and back.
2. ⌘Command+↦Tab : Navigate through open apps.
3. ⌘Command+h : Hide the active window.

1. Focus on an image + Spacebar : Opens preview while you keep the key down.
2. ⌥Option+⌘Command+Spacebar : Focus on the Search field within Finder window.
3. ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+. : Toggle system’s HIDDEN FILES visibility.
4. ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+g : Opens the « GO TO FOLDER » window.
5. ⌘Command+J : Show View Options
   • Check✅ Calculate all sizes : Displays FOLDER SIZE in Finder’s Sizes columns
   • Check✅ Show Library folder : Turns Library visible in the list.

1. Click on the date and time to toggle the Notifications window.
2. Scroll down the Notifications window and click on Edit Widgets to customize the view to your needs.

• Annotate email attachments.

1. ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+3 : Captures the entire screen.
2. ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+4 : Captures a portion of the screen.
3. ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+4+Spacebar : Captures the active window (or menu).
4. ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+5 : Take pictures or screencast using the Screenshot app.
5. ꜛSHIFT+⌘Command+6 : Captures the MacBook Pro Touch Bar.

You can use iPad as an aditional touch screen display for you macOS workstation. Up to iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 this was possible via the Sidecar option (Settings/Display/Sidecar) but this option is now obsolete, replaced by a different method:

1. Connect both your macOS computer and your iPad via a compatible USB cable.
2. Go to System Settings ➥ Displays.
3. Click on the Plus button + ▼ in the bottom-Right corner of the modal.
4. Select your iPad.
5. Your iPad should now appear on top of the modal as one of the displays.
6. Click the Arrange button next to the Plus button you clicked previously.

• Read more: Use your iPad as a second display for your Mac on Mac User Guide.

Try Shottr free app with incorporated features like ruler, pixelate area, remote saves, etc.

By default the screenshots are saved within ~/Documents/Screenshots/ as Screenshot YYYY-MM-DD at HH.MM.SEC.png.

If you want to reformat the screenshot file names you have the option of :

1. Edit only the prefix « Screenshot » without changing the formating of the date and time string « YYYY-MM-DD at HH.MM.SEC » that comes after by this command line in Terminal: defaults write com.apple.screencapture name "" && killall SystemUIServer.
2. Setup a custom local automated script screenshot-rename. See instructions by Claude.ai here
3. MacRumors post How to change where screenshots are saved on macOS

Native screen recordings (or screencasts) are saved within the (hidden by default) «User's Library» under ~/Library/ScreenRecordings/. Keep an eye on this folder size because it gets huge very fast.

• ~/Movies/iMovie Library.imovielibrary/*

find . -type f -name '._*' -delete

apple.stackexchange.com: dot_clean

These hidden characters are SO useful to get when you’re stuck with a keyboard layout that those not match the active language you are typing in.

For more characters visit the « HTML characters cheatcheat »

When you don't have Read & Write privileges on a file you may get Permission Denied message in the Terminal. Then simply run the “chmod 777” command line to allow access to the file.

chmod 777 example.txt

1. Select one or multiple files or folders,
2. ⌃Ctrl+🖱Click,
3. Select « Rename » from the contextual menu.

See renaming options and examples.

This Terminal command will run the download speed test first and then check your upload speeds.

networkQuality -s

System Settings ➥ Keyboard ➥ Text input ➥ Input sources ➥ Edit to access the « All Input Sources » modal window,

1. Click [+] button located in the Bottom-Left and add your desired languages and select the input source type for each:
   • « Canadian English » = Apple Magic Keyboard en-US (with touch id)
   • « Canadian French - CSA » = Apple Magic Keyboard fr-CA
   • « Canadian French — PC » = Logitech K800 (French Canadian Layout)
2. In the main area of the modal window, toggle the following options:
   • Switch✅ Show input menu in menu bar,
   • Switch✅ Use smart quotes and dashes,
     • For double quotes: « abc »
     • For single quotes: 'abc'

• ⌃Ctrl+Space : Select the previous text source,
• ⌃Ctrl+⌘Command+Space : Select the next in input menu.

Add your own custom Quick Action to the Finder contextual menu via the Automator app to open a folder within VS Code's Explorer window.

Important: Make sure that you have setup the code command line (to enable VS Code command from Terminal) BEFORE starting these steps.

1. In Terminal, enter this line to validate where your VS Code is installed: which code.
2. Launch Automator,
3. Create a new Quick Action,
4. Choose the Quick Action type of document,
5. From the LEFT section,
   1. From the list click « Run Shell Script » (Library ➥ Utilities ➥ Run Shell Script)
   2. For the option « Pass input » select as argument,
   3. Copy/Paste this script /usr/local/bin/code "$*" (This contains the path you got from step 1)
6. From the TOP section,
   1. For the field « Workflow receives current » select files or folders,
   2. For the field « in » select Finder.app,
   3. Choose an icon and it's color.
7. If you don't see a SAVE button click ⌘Command+S,
8. Save as Open in VS Code

   The name you gives here is what will be displayed in the contextual menu.

The above instructions are a mix from this outdated tutorial about how to open anything in VS Code using a MacOS Quick Action via the Automator app and Claude.ai discussion to fix my VS Code preference with these two lines for settings.json:

   // "window.newWindowProfile": "Default",
   "window.openFoldersInNewWindow": "on"

In the Mac/Linux operating systems we refer to Volumes instead of Drives as we do on Windows PC.

How to move files or folders using the Linux mv command.

A « symbolic link », aka soft link or symlink, is a special kind of file that points to another file. A shell alias allows a string to be substituted for a word when it is used as the first word of a simple command.

This is useful for storing your apps files on your remote SSD drive without changing the default setup of those (Hello Adobe!) apps.

ln -s /Original Folder /Destination Folder

Example

ln -s /Volumes/YourRemoteDriveName/Projects ~/Projects

In macOS the naming convention cascade:

• Finder : « {{💻Computer name}} / Macintosh HD / Users / {{🏠Username}} »,
• Terminal : « {{⎆Local network name}} … {{🏠Username}}$ » as prefix to every new line.

Better choose a short database safe name (PascalCase or chamelCase) for your {{⎆Local network name}} since it will be used for Terminal lines prefix and probably some log reports.

In Mac wording, keyboard key's language layout refers to keyboard input sources.

• System Settings ➥ Keyboard ➥ Keyboard navigation Switch ✅

• System Settings ➥ Keyboard ➥ Keyboard navigation ➥ [Keyboard Shortcuts…]

  1. Scroll down to select App Shortcuts from the list,
  2. Click the [+] button. This will open a new modal,
  3. Fill the input field « Menu title » with this EXACT syntaxe : Paste and Match Style
  4. Focus in the field « Keyboard shortcut » and type your desired chain of characters. On my fr-CA keyboard I choosed ⌘Command+Ù,
  5. Click [Done] to close this modal,
  6. Toggle open the tree-view [▼] « All Applications » to see validate that it contains your new shortcut.

• System Settings ➥ Keyboard ➥ Shortcuts : At the bottom, Check✅ Use keyboard navigation to move focus between controls

• System Settings ➥ Keyboard ➥ Shortcuts ➥ Input Sources :

  • Switch✅ Select the previous input source,
  • Check✅ Select next source in Input menu,

• System Settings ➥ Mouse : Check✅ Scroll direction: Natural.

• System Settings ➥ Trackpad ➥ Scroll & Zoom : Uncheck⬜ Scroll direction: Natural.

• System Settings ➥ General ➥ About ➥ Computer name : {{💻Computer name}} (used in Finder’s sidebar).
• System Settings ➥ General ➥ Date & Time ➥ 24-hour time ✅.
• System Settings ➥ General ➥ Sharing ➥ Local hostname ➥ Click [Edit] : {{⎆Local hostname}}.
• System Settings ➥ General ➥ Language & Region ➥ Preferred languages : (1st) English (Canada) Primary then (2nd) French (Canada) CSA.
• System Settings ➥ Users & Groups ➥ Unlock👆🔓 ➥ Guest User : Check✅ Allow guests to log in to this computer.
• System Settings ➥ Internet Accounts ➥ Set your iCloud, Apple Game Center, Microsoft Exchange and/or Gmail accounts.

1. To display the path of the CURRENT FOLDER LOCATION within the Finder’s header, copy/paste the following command line in Terminal:
   defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES && killall Finder
2. Finder Preferences ➥ Sidebar ➥ Show these in sidebar:
   • Favorites ➥ Check✅ Applications
   • Favorites ➥ Check✅ Downloads
   • Favorites ➥ Check✅ {{🏠Username}}
   • Locations ➥ Check✅ {{💻Computer name}}
   • Locations ➥ Check✅ Hard disks
   • Locations ➥ Check✅ External disks
3. Finder Preferences ➥ Advanced:
   • Check✅ Show all filename extensions
4. Finder ➥ View ➥ Show View Options (⌘Command+J)
   • In the Info window, Check✅ Calculate all sizes : This will display the folder’s cumulative contents weight to display in the Finder’s Sizes columns.

You're gonna regroup all the three Apple medias, (iMovie) Movies, Music and Pictures libraries location on your remote USB 4 Thunderbolt compliant USB-C driver to keep precious space on your Mac's native HD exclusively for your application's files.

1. First create a dedicated « Apple Media Libraries files » at the root of your remote driver where all your media libraries will be located,
2. From Finder Settings's Sidebar tab, make sure that all 3 medias are checked to be visible in Sidebar,
3. Drag and Drop each of the following repository file from their original location to their new common folder.

• How To Move Your iMovie Library to an External Drive
• How To Move Your Music Library to an External Drive on a Mac
• How to move Photos (and Videos) Library to External Hard Drive on Mac

1. Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac
2. Designate a System Photo Library in Photos

Toggle the « (hover) Status Bar » : Safari App ➥ View ➥ Show/Hide Status Bar ⌘Command+/

1. Make the entire URL visible within the Address Bar :
     Safari Preferences ➥ Advanced ➥ Smart Search Field : Check✅ Show full website address.
2. Show access tools for developing websites :
     Safari Preferences ➥ Advanced : Check✅ Show Develop menu in menu bar.

1. General ➥ New window profile : Homebrew.
2. General ➥ Shells open with : Command (complete path) : /bin/zsh (IF you want Bash replace by /bin/bash).
3. General ➥ Check✅ Use ⌘-1 through ⌘-9 to switch tabs.

Since macOS Catalina, Apple is now using Zsh as the default shell. Zsh is only the default shell on newly created user accounts, so any existing accounts you have on an upgraded Mac will still use Bash by default unless you change it. Each user account has its own default shell preference.

Know what shell is active :

echo $SHELL

Toggle Terminal shell from Terminal :

# Switch to Bash
chsh -s /bin/bash

# Switch to Zsh
chsh -s /bin/zsh

Code Zsh Terminal | Upgrading Bash on macOS

See this documentation on how to customize your Zsh Terminal

cd /Volumes/usbT7r/Projects/www/

Using the utility app « Audio MIDI Setup » allows us to connect multiple audio input source at once by creating a custom Aggregated Device that we then use in the app where needed.

Except for Rosetta 2 most of these instructions are for a developer's workstation.

To install Rosetta 2 copy/paste the following command within the Terminal:

softwareupdate --install-rosetta

About brew

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS. It is one of the first tools you'll need to set up a local development environment for programming on a Mac. Use it to install (and remove) software programs for the terminal, or command line. It is like an app store for programming tools (but everything is free). Learn more : « Install Homebrew » by Daniel Kehoe.

For macOS on Apple Silicon ARM64 the $PATH has been changed to /opt/homebrew/ and since December 1st 2021 the brew cask now: brew.

1. Check the following folders
   1. ls /usr/local
   2. ls /opt/homebrew
2. If the following folders exists and contains stuff,
   1. If this is your case that means Homebrew is installed. Just run «brew update» to get the latest version.
3. If the folders do NOT exists,
   1. Check your Xcode app local : xcode-select -p. IF the path contains «white spaces» update to the latest version or simply delete it. Because white spaces will make the Homebrew installation problematic.
   2. Go to next step « Install Homebrew ».

If your own an Silicon ARM64 equipped workstations you should consider properly uninstallling Xcode from your computer BEFORE installing Homebrew. It seems to be the source of installation problems EVEN if the path of it’s location does not contains «white spaces».

Anyway the Homebrew installer includes the installation of missing «Xcode Command Line Tool (CMT)» in it’s script.

Run the following command line (as proposed on the official website: https://brew.sh)

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Those 3 hidden files located under «/Users/{{username}}/» containing specific path are required since Homebrew version 3 (December 2021).

At the end these brew lines should now print something.

1. brew doctorshould print:

   Your system is ready to brew

2. brew list should print the apps you installed via Homebrew,
3. brew help should print many paragraphs of info.

You can either install the full Xcode IDE available on developer.apple.com/xcode or, if you want to save space on your drive, install only the Xcode CLT.

xcode-select --install

To update to lastest version of Xcode Command Line Tools the easiest way is by first removing the old version of the tools then runing the install command line.

1. Remove the existing CommandLineTools

   sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

2. Go to System Settings ➥ Software Update. Under the Updates Available section you should see« Command Line Tools for Xcode »

   Click the button « Update Now ».

3. Return to the Terminal and type this command

   xcode-select -p

4. After receiving this message « /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer » [+] type this command

   sudo xcode-select --switch /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

If unsuccessful, get the .dmg file from the download link below.

developer.apple.com/download : Command Line Tools for Xcode

1. Java :
   • For the latest version:

     brew install java
     

   • For specific version the command «brew install java11» will install openjdk@11.
   • If you want you can manage multiple versions by switching Java JDK via alias from your .zshrc file.
2. NodeJS :

   brew install node

3. Dart Sass :

   brew install sass/sass/sass

4. Git :

   brew install git

5. ESLint

   brew install eslint

Here is my list of « Useful workstation tools »

1. Microsoft Visual Studio Code

1. Alfred
2. Audacity with the FFmpeg plugin (install via Terminal: brew install ffmpeg)
3. Magnet
4. PDFpen $ : (available within SetApp package).
5. Skitch : A companion app for Evernote. Better then the native Preview app for screenshots. Available on iOS devices.

• Gemini $ : Find and manage file duplicatas on your station.
• Spark $ : Mail reader that includes TEAM CHATS associated with a "by email" silos.
• Markdown note taker :
  • Obsidian on both macOs and iOS devices.
  • MarkText macOS free version updated for Apple Silicon by Peter Thomson via github branch.
  • Tot $ on iOS, Free on macOS : Cloud note taking micro-app accross all Apple devices and support Markdown.md format.

• iStat Menus $ : Minimalistic Mac system overview. (Or see Sensei below for a more advance app)
• Sensei $ : All in one Mac system overview that comes with the included Trim Enabler app that allow SSD disc maintenance.