How to Unlock hidden macOS behaviours

1 Hide other apps

Want to focus on one app? Rather than move it to a new desktop in Mission Control, ≈- click its Dock icon, hold å and choose Hide Others (or å- click its Dock icon). Other apps disappear; switch to one and its windows will reappear.

2 Quit and remember

Quitting an app usually causes it to forget its windows, unless you hold å and choose [app name] > Quit and Keep Windows. To make this the default (and use å to forget windows), turn off ‘Close windows…’ in System Prefs’ General pane.

3 Close other tabs

Ended up with a lot of Safari tabs open? You can close them one at a time by pressing ç+w, but press å+ç+w and all tabs but the current one will close. If the tabs are in multiple windows, use Window > Merge All Windows first.

4 Smarter folders

In Finder, choose File > New Smart Folder. Set a criterion, then hold å and the + button changes to an ellipsis (‘…’); click it to add a group of criteria; the Smart Folder can be set to match against all, none or any of the rules in this group.

5 Move files in one step

Dragging files to move them is, well, a drag – and on a trackpad, it’s easy to let go too soon. Use ç+C to copy items to the Clipboard, go to the destination and use å+ç+v to move them and not have to delete the originals manually.

6 Cumulative file sizes

With multiple files selected, File > Get Info gives you one window for each item. Hold å and the command becomes Show Inspector, which opens one window that updates with your selection (hold ç while clicking to add/remove items).

7 Browse old backups

Got an old Time Machine drive you need to browse? First, if Time Machine’s menu bar icon isn’t visible, turn it on in the feature’s pane in System Prefs. Next, click that icon, hold å, choose Browse Other Backup Disks and pick one.

8 Mute other tabs

If you end up with multiple Safari tabs playing audio at the same time, hold å and click the speaker icon on the one you want to hear – probably the one you’re looking at. There’s also a command for this in the Window menu.

9 Mute notifications

Rather than taking two clicks to turn on Do Not Disturb (Notification Centre’s icon, then a switch), when you want peace and quiet, simply hold å and click Notification Centre’s menu bar icon; it’s dimmer when notifications are muted.

10 Delete files right away

To remove a file immediately, without emptying everything else from the Trash – open Finder’s File menu, hold

å and ‘Move to Trash’ becomes Delete Immediately. Prefer keyboard shortcuts? Select the file and press å+ç+∫.

11 Resize to fill desktop

Rather than use a window’s green button or drag its corners to make it bigger, hold å and double-click a corner to fill the desktop. Hold å when resizing a window to do so in two directions at once – to make it wider, say, in one action.

12 Bypass dialogs

The ellipsis (‘…’) after a menu item means it’ll display a dialog. If the ellipsis disappears when you hold å, the dialog’s defaults will be applied. In cases like the Log Out command, this triggers the default (highlighted) button’s action.