How to Use a MacBook For Beginners: The Basics Explained

I’m genuinely excited for you if you’ve just welcomed a new MacBook into your life. Stepping into the Apple ecosystem, especially from another platform like Windows, can feel like learning a new language, but trust me, it’s a rewarding journey. I’ve seen countless people successfully navigate this transition, and with a little guidance on the fundamental building blocks, you’ll be feeling right at home in no time. Think of this as your essential guide to the basics – the must-knows to get you started and comfortable.

Getting Started: The Desktop Layout

When you first boot up your Mac, you’ll see the desktop, which might look a bit different from what you’re used to. There are a few key areas you’ll interact with regularly:

The Menu Bar: This runs across the very top of your screen. Crucially, it changes depending on which app you’re currently using. Most apps have their menus here, offering options like File, Edit, View, etc.. On the far left, you’ll always see the Apple menu (). This is your central hub for system-level actions like checking storage, accessing System Settings, restarting, or shutting down your Mac, and even force quitting unresponsive apps. On the right side of the menu bar is the status bar, showing things like battery level, Wi-Fi, and the time.

Control Centre & Notification Centre: Clicking icons in the status bar or the date and time can reveal hidden gems. The Control Centre gives you quick access to settings like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sound, display brightness, and more. You can even customise what appears here. Clicking the date and time opens the Notification Centre, where you’ll find app notifications and a space for widgets.

The Dock: Typically sitting at the bottom of your screen, this is where you’ll find icons for your frequently used apps, as well as minimised windows and the Downloads folder. Think of it like a supercharged taskbar. You can launch apps from here or drag and drop files onto app icons. You can also pin any app, document, or folder to the Dock for quick access. Folders pinned here can expand to show their contents.

Navigating Your Files with Finder

The Finder is your file manager on the Mac. It’s how you view, access, and organise pretty much everything on your computer. You can open a Finder window by clicking its icon (a blue face) in the Dock.

The Sidebar: On the left of a Finder window is the sidebar, providing quick access to common locations like Applications, Documents, Downloads, and iCloud Drive. You can customise this sidebar to include folders you access often and remove those you don’t need.

Viewing Items: Finder offers several ways to view the contents of your folders: Icons, List, Column, and Gallery view. Column view is often recommended for beginners as it clearly shows the folder structure as you navigate. You can switch views using the buttons in the toolbar.

Organisation: You can create new folders to keep related files together. Just like in Windows, you can drag and drop items between folders. You can also use features like tags to categorise files across different locations or create Smart Folders that automatically collect files based on criteria you set.

Quick Look: A handy feature! Select a file in Finder and press the Space bar to instantly preview its content without needing to open the associated app. Press Space bar again to close the preview.

Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Macs use the Command (⌘) key much like Windows uses the Control key for many common actions. Getting used to these is a game-changer for efficiency. Here are some fundamental ones:

Command-X: Cut the selected item.

Command-C: Copy the selected item.

Command-V: Paste the item from the Clipboard. You can even use Option-Command-V to move the files from their original location when pasting in Finder.

Command-Z: Undo the previous command. Shift-Command-Z will Redo (reverse the undo).

Command-A: Select All items.

Command-F: Find items in a document or open a Find window. In Finder, this starts a Spotlight search within the window.

Command-H: Hide the windows of the front app.

Command-M: Minimise the front window to the Dock.

Command-O: Open the selected item or a dialogue to choose a file to open.

Command-P: Open the print dialogue.

Command-S: Save the current document.

Command-T: Open a new tab (in supported apps like Finder or web browsers).

Command-W: Close the front window.

Command-Q: Quit the front app.

Option-Command-Esc: Force quit an app.

Command-Space bar: Show or hide the Spotlight search field. Spotlight is a powerful tool to quickly find files, apps, and information on your Mac.

Command-Comma (,): Open settings or preferences for the front app.

Shift-Command-N: Create a new empty folder in the Finder.

Shift-Command-G: Open a “Go to Folder” window in Finder, allowing you to type a specific path.

Shift-Command-3: Take a screenshot of the entire screen.

Shift-Command-4: Take a screenshot of a selected area (you drag a box).

Shift-Command-5: (macOS Mojave or later) Open tools for taking screenshots or screen recordings.

These are just a starting point; there are many more, but mastering these will significantly speed up your workflow.

Getting Around with Trackpad Gestures

MacBook trackpads are renowned for their Multi-Touch gestures, allowing you to interact with your Mac in intuitive ways. They use one or more fingers to perform actions. You can see and customise these in System Settings.

Tap to click: Instead of physically pressing the trackpad down, you can simply tap with one finger. This can be enabled in trackpad settings.
Secondary click (right-click): Click or tap with two fingers.
Scroll: Slide two fingers up or down.
Zoom in or out: Pinch with two fingers.
Swipe between pages: Swipe left or right with two fingers to go back or forward in documents or web pages.
Open Notification Centre: Swipe left from the right edge with two fingers.
Mission Control: Swipe up with four fingers (or sometimes three, depending on macOS version) to see all open windows.
App Exposé: Swipe down with four fingers (or sometimes three) to see all windows of the app you’re currently using.
Swipe between full-screen apps or desktops: Swipe left or right with four fingers (or sometimes three).
Show desktop: Spread your thumb and three fingers apart.
Launchpad: Pinch your thumb and three fingers together to see all your apps.

These gestures can make navigating your Mac feel incredibly fluid.

Understanding Ports

Your Mac has ports to connect various external devices. On newer Macs with Apple silicon, you might need to approve new USB or Thunderbolt devices and SD cards when you connect them for the first time. You can change this approval setting in Privacy & Security settings.

Common ports you might see or use include:

USB-C / Thunderbolt / USB 4 / Thunderbolt 4 / Thunderbolt 5: These versatile ports can be used for charging, transferring data, and connecting displays using the appropriate cables or adapters.

HDMI: For connecting directly to an HDTV or external display.

Headphone: For connecting headphones or external speakers.

SD or SDXC Card Slot: To import images from cameras or access data on SD cards.

Ethernet: For wired network connections (may require an adapter on some models).

If a connected device isn’t working, make sure it’s powered on, connected correctly, and check if any necessary software is installed.

Using Siri

Siri is your built-in intelligent assistant, ready to help you perform everyday tasks using voice or text commands.

Turning On/Off: You can enable or disable Siri in the Apple menu > System Settings, then Apple Intelligence & Siri (or Siri). You need an internet connection to use Siri.

Activating Siri: You can typically activate Siri by pressing and holding the function key with the Siri symbol on your keyboard, clicking the Siri icon in the menu bar, or by saying “Hey Siri” or “Siri” if those options are available and turned on.

You can ask Siri to set reminders, find information, open apps, and much more.

Printing Documents

Printing from a Mac is straightforward.

Opening the Print Dialogue: With a document open, choose File > Print from the menu bar, or use the shortcut Command-P.

Print Options: The Print dialogue window appears with a preview. Here, you can select your printer, choose presets, specify the number of copies, select the page range, choose colour or double-sided printing, adjust paper size and orientation, and even scale the document.

Sending the Job: Once your settings are correct, click Print.

The options you see might vary depending on your specific printer and the app you’re using.

Managing Storage Space

It’s always good to keep an eye on your Mac’s storage space to ensure smooth performance and make room for new files.

Checking Storage: Go to Apple menu > System Settings, click General, then Storage (macOS Ventura 13 or later). In earlier versions, it’s Apple menu > About This Mac, then click Storage. This window shows you how your storage is used by different categories like Applications, Photos, and System Data.

Freeing Up Space: Your Mac has tools to help optimise storage, including using iCloud. You can also manually free up space by moving files to an external drive, deleting media you don’t need, cleaning out your Downloads folder, emptying Mail’s junk and deleted items, deleting old iPhone/iPad backups, uninstalling unused apps, removing data from old user accounts, compressing files, and importantly, emptying the Recycling Bin (Trash). Items moved to the Recycling Bin don’t free up space until the Bin is emptied.

This covers the absolute fundamentals to get you comfortable using your new MacBook for everyday tasks. There’s a wealth of other features and shortcuts to discover as you become more familiar, but mastering these basics will give you a strong foundation. Welcome to the world of Mac!