After upgrade to HighSierra Finder's Sidebar do not work anymore I have a 13" early 2014 MacBook Air which had been running El Capitan for some time now. Yesterday I successfully upgraded to High Sierra (10.13.3), but since then a problem keeps occuring:

All "Favorites" and some "Devices" have the generic file icon (looking like a sheet of paper with a dog-ear). When clicked, the system thinks for a few seconds (rotating beach ball) and then displays an error, e.g.:

  "Documents" can't be opened because the original item can't be found.

As you can see, this happens to custom as well as to system Favorites.

So, my question is: How can I restore Finder's full functionality?

What I've tried so far:

Turning it off and on again
Force-quitting Finder
Trying to delete the not-working Favorites (beach ball, error from above, Favorite still there)
Trying to change Finders side bar's preferences (Initially: No Favorites' boxes are checked, if checked by me, they become unchecked again after a few seconds. Now: Trying to access the side bar ridget of Finder's preferences invokes the beach ball until I close the menue.)
Trying to delete com.apple.finder.plist and com.apple.sidebar.plist from ~/Library/Preferences/ restarting imidiately afterwars (result: Looks to be working for a few seconds after restart, then back to old problem. However, my custom fevorites are gone, only the default ones remain.)

Some additional information:

It is possible, to access the directories manually. They do exist and have not moved (as far as their path is concerned).
The user name did not change.
"Go To" works fine.

Two things could be going on here:
1
First with the introduction of macOS High Sierra you can now synchronise your Desktop and Documents folders with iCloud Drive.
macOS does some screwy things with them as officially they are actually still in /Users/{username}/(Desktop|Documents) which you'd expect but Finder relocates them into iCloud Drive if you have this feature enabled, this could be why your old shortcuts aren't working.

If this isn't something you want you could disable this by going to System Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Drive and unchecking "Desktop & Documents Folders"
2
The system update didn't go quite to plan, this is the route of trouble shooting you've already been testing and the work you've done so far is perfect.
2a
Next steps assuming it's not just what I've said in option 1 above, would be to create a new user account, and see if that resolves the issues. If it does you can use the /Users/Shared folder to transfer all your files manually, but you will need to re-setup all your preferences and some software may have only been licensed in that user account, not across the system, but from what you've described you seem pretty technically competent and would be able to manage that, if not come back and we can give you further help.
2b
If that also didn't work you should backup your files manually, and perform a full system restore, there are instructions on Apple.com here:
macOS Sierra: Erase and reinstall macOS
The instructions are the same for High Sierra.


How to configure the colors for Terminal Profiles I thought it might help me to color code some of my terminal windows, e.g. made my Redis terminal red.

But setting the color seems to have zero effect on the actual color of the terminal window

The result when the window is activated is still grey

Thanks for any info

Just to the right of the colour selector, there's a setting that right now says "Image: Solid Colors". This means that Terminal will grab an image from some system directory containing solid-colour images and use that as a background, overriding whatever background colour you have set. Change that setting to "No image" (or something like that; my Mac is set to Swedish...) and it should work.


Is there a dock available that can dock an iPhone (with bumper) The Apple dock cannot take the bumper, you need to take off the bumper.

I need a dock for work and at work where I can just slip my phone in (bumper and all).

Any ideas?

Amazon sells a dock from Oriongadget which will allow you to dock an iPhone with his bumper. It will cost you $23.00.


Continuity limitations As I understand it, continuity enables a wifi only device to work in conjunction with an iPhone to make / receive calls.  If an inbound phone call is picked up on the iPad and the iPhone's battery fails in the middle of the call, will the call drop?  I am trying to understand exactly how the call is routed and if the call is a VOIP call through the internet or router through the iPhone's GSM radio.

Calls are received as a normal call on your phone and then it uses wifi to tell other devices on the same network that a phone call is incoming. If accepted on other devices, the phone is used as a proxy. Voice data is transferred from the device to the iPhone over wifi and then to the cellular network and vice versa. If your phone dies the call will drop. If your phone goes out of wifi, I think the call will be transferred to your iPhone.

This is different from Wi-Fi calling which doesn't require your iPhone on the same network.


Can't install programs nor change system settings because admin password is not recognized on Mac OS Lion I can't install programs nor change system settings. I have admin privileges and I can successfully login into my account. I can even perform admin operations in terminal using sudo command.

But, when I try to install new software and enter the admin password, it always give me an "incorrect password" message.

Have you done any of the obvious fixes yet?

repair file system
repair permissions
check keyboard encoding when prompted for password entry
...

Have you looked into the system.log for possible hints?


Mail.app opens spontaneously Mail.app opens spontaneously. Not on startup, but during my work. Even if i don't touch keyboard or mouse mail.app can open a half window.

I'm working with IDE in fullscreen mode and Mail.app splits screen spontaneously.

Is there a way to detect, who is opening Mail.app?

I found that this worked for some users:

  Open and login to Google Calendar (https://calendar.google.com)

  Select the Setting gear icon (upper right-hand corner), then select
  “Setting” from the pull-down menu

  Below the “Calendar Settings” header select the Calendars link

  To the right of the calendar name under NOTIFICATIONS, select Edit
  notifications

  There are five options in the section “Choose how you would like to be
  kept up-to-date:” - remove all of the checkmarks under the Email
  column

  Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page


How can I stop DiskUtilities from requesting permission every time I try to create an image from a CD I have a big stack of CDs from the 90s that I want to keep the data from, but don't want the physical CD anymore. So I'm using Disk Utility to create the disk images.

Every time I do (by right-clicking the volume in Disk Utility and clicking "Image from {volume name}"), I get this message:

The first time it happened, I figured it would be a one-time thing, but it happens every time. Googling the message results in no helpful information. How can I prevent it from asking for permission each time?

Running macOS 10.13.6, Disk Utility 17.0.3, using an Apple USB SuperDrive with a MacBook Pro 15" from 2016.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard is a DVD not a CD and I'd imagine some of the other discs you're trying to copy are DVD's too. Anyway, I can replicate your situation however, I also can do it from Disk Utility without being prompted for my password.

To do that, first unmount the disc and then select the parent node, e.g. on my Apple SuperDrive it's HL-DT-ST DVDRW GX40N, and option-click (right-click) and select: Image from HL-DT-ST DVDRW GX40N Media

In the subsequent dialog box change Save As: to something more user friendly, and change Format: to: DVD/CD master

Click the Save button and the disc will then start coping without being prompted for your password.

When finished click the Done button.

You can mount then disc image by double-clicking on it in Finder.

The above instruction are for Data DVD/CD discs  not Audio CD discs. Also note that I do not have a Hybrid Data DVD/CD/Audio CD disc to test whether or not the method shown above will work with that kind of disc.


Audio player that can adjust playing speed Please recommend an audio player for Mac that has features like

freely available
can play .wav files
Adjust the playing speed (ex. 1.1x speed etc)
(if possible) truncate the audio file (ex. removing the last 5 minutes from the meeting recording)

The VLC media player is probably best suited.

It is Free
It plays .wav (and almost 100% of anything else out there)
It shows the Playback Speed settings.

It allows speed setting as fine as 0.04 X increments.


Getting odd indentation or word-wrap behavior in pages I've recently started using Pages more for a large project I'm working on and it, of course, just started doing something odd. I'm wondering if anyone knows what might be going on.

Essentially, when my type reaches the new-line point, my next lines indent like this:

If I place my cursor before 'been' and hit enter, my entire line backs up to where it should be. I'm having to do this for every line.

Question

Do I have a setting wrong? If so how do I stop this behavior and return pages to its defaults?

IT looks like a hanging indent to me. In the Layout tab of the Format inspector panel, check to make sure First and Left are both set to 0 in the Indents section. The ruler is hidden by default, but the triangle and horizontal tick mark on the left margin of the ruler being set apart from one another will also produce either a hanging indent or first line indent (the upper tick mark represents the first line, the triangle represents the left margin aside from the first line).


How to start to recovery mode in a Mac OS X VM in Parallels? Is it possible to start into Recovery/Internet recovery mode in a virtualized Mac OS X in Parallels?

It would come in handy to take screenshots of those UIs or running apps to exemplify some steps especially here at askdifferent.

I've found a way:

Enable Select boot device at startup in the virtual machine

After the startup of the VM press any key to enter the boot device menu

Select Boot Maintenance Manager

Select Boot from file

Search your recovery volume (usually it's the 2nd one listed)

Select com.apple.recovery.boot

Select boot efi

Recovery mode:

In Yosemite the mouse acts flaky though and i can't hoover the mouse over the menubar (e.g. to start /Utilities/Terminal) - it immediately jumps to the framing window. Menu navigation with CtrlF2 to circumvent this malfunction doesn't work.

In Mavericks everything seems to work bug-free.

**Addendum: You may access the menubar with your pointer after enabling FileVault 2 on the VM's system drive. **


Mac OS X, passwd, and keychain As far as I'm aware, passwd doesn't change the keychain password on Mac OS X. Is there a way to do this properly from the command line with a single command? If not, what about with multiple commands?

You can use security set-keychain-password:

$ security set-keychain-password
Old Password:
New Password:
Retype New Password:
$

The password and keychain can also be specified as arguments:

security set-keychain-password -o oldpassword -p newpassword file.keychain


iOS 10.2 + Safari + Client Certificates crashes Safari Yesterday I updated my iPhone 6S to iOS 10.2, and now I cannot access web sites requiring client certificates. Safari prompts me for the client certificate to use but then immediately crashes. I tried with my iPad running iOS 10.0.1 and it works just fine. On my Mac / PC it works with any browser whatsoever.

Can someone else confirm this problem?

Ok. This clearly has something to do with StartSSL / WoSign (client) certificates.

Even though there is no error and Safari just crashes, everything works when I try self signed client certs or client certs from another root CA.

Very weird ...


Lion Internet Recovery Problem Okay so I decided to reinstall Lion on a MacBook Air 11' Mid June/July which my dad gave me after he used it for a while. I restarted using Command + R and erased the Macintosh HD first and then tried the Lion Internet Recovery.

The problem i'm facing is it downloads all the way and then in between/by the end i get this error:

'Additional Components of Lion were unable to download. Please try again.'

Now i wish i hadnt erased my HD first. I've tried it for like 5 times with different connections. Still no luck.

Is there a solution guys? Or is my best bet to take it to the iStore here in India.

Thanks in advance.

If you have access to another computer, you could try downloading the Lion installer from the App Store, right clicking on it and clicking "Show Package Contents" and finding the "InstallESD.dmg" file and restoring this to a flash drive (8GB+). Then you can hold alt on startup and select the drive as your boot option. You should be able to install Lion on the air without needing to download the additional components, but it may still try. Even if it tries, it might still work since you're installing from a different drive. It's worth a shot.


How to stream music from a Mac to an iOS device? I have an MP3 file that I'd like to stream from my Mac to an iOS. I think VLC can be used to achieve this, but I couldn't find the right settings on the VLC app and in iOS.

If I pick RTP multicast, for instance, how can I listen to this stream in iOS?

Eventually, I'd like to be able to do this from a live audio from the microphone, but I think the MP3 stage should come first.

Any thoughts?

Airfoil from Rogue Amoeba can stream audio from the Mac to many other devices, including iOS. It will capture any audio running on your system, either from a specific input (e.g. Mic), application, or the entire system audio.

  Airfoil Speakers Touch

  Airfoil Speakers Touch runs on iPhones, iPods
  Touch, and iPads running iOS 4.0 or higher. Use it to send audio to
  your iOS device when connected to your local network! Airfoil Speakers
  Touch works exclusively with Airfoil for Mac and Airfoil for Windows.


A single shortcut that changes text color in Notes? When using Notes I often find myself changing the color of the text (usually to blue or red) as an additional way to indicate emphasis (alongside italics and bold).

The shortcut for displaying the available colors is Command-Shift-C but that still requires the user to use the mouse to click on a particular color.

Does anyone know how I can add a single shortcut that will switch to a given color and then, when pressed again, switch back to black? (So it, in effect, works the same way the italics and bold shortcuts work).

I don't need to make a shortcut for every color--one for blue would do just fine. Any ideas?

This isn't exactly what you were asking for, but perhaps it is close enough.

Just below the menu place where you bring up the color picker (Format->Font->Show Colors) are two other menu items: Copy Style and Paste Style. This is what worked for me:

Select some text in your note
Manually set the color, like you do now (via Show Colors)
Set the cursor anywhere inside the colored text (don't select any text, just put the cursor there)
Choose Format->Font->Copy Style
From now on (including across relaunches of the Notes app) you can select the text you want to color and simply use the keyboard shortcut for Paste Style!

Hope this works well enough for you.


How can I restore photos from an iCloud backup to a new iPhone? My iPhone fell into water and is now broken, completely! I desperately try to recover my photos via iCloud. I downloaded the iCloud manager for Windows since I never backed up my iPhone with my computer.

In this manager I can see that I have an online backup file of about 4.5 GB. iCloud is almost full. However, when I check the Photo Stream folder that got created, I only can see about 130 pictures. (I assume the 4.5 GB must be the rest of my pictures.)

Are my other pictures included in this online backup and how can I get to them, like backup to my new iPhone? Since this one has another ID can I restore only the pictures without messing up the data of my current iPhone?

Photo Stream and iCloud Backup are separate — your photos are stored in your iCloud Backup and many of them are duplicated and stored in Photo Stream (unless you deleted them from your camera roll in which case they're not duplicates).

The iCloud backup can be restored whole to your device. You can't restore parts of it — it's all or nothing.

However, there is a workaround:

Make a backup of your new device to iTunes.
Reset your device to factory settings and restore the iCloud backup.
Use Image Capture or iPhoto/Aperture to import the photos.
Reset your device to factory settings and restore the iTunes backup.
Copy the photos back to your device.


How to make selection from AppleScript dialog list with keystroke? I've created an application with AppleScript in Automator.

The application, right off the bat, presents the user with a dialog list.

By default, there are two ways to select an item from the list:

Using your mouse.
Using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

However, what I would like to do is offer the user a third option: to select the item based on a keystroke or keyboard shortcut. I would also like the selected item to be submitted directly after the keystroke or keyboard shortcut is pressed.

For example:

on run {input, parameters}

    set FruitList to {"Banana (#1)", "Kiwi (#2)", "Mango (#3)", "Coconut (#4)", "Pear (#5)"}

    set FavoriteFruitAnswer to choose from list FruitList with title "Fruit Dialog" with prompt "What's your favorite fruit?" default items "Banana (#1)"

    if FavoriteFruitAnswer is false then
        error number -128 (* user cancelled *)
    else
        set FavoriteFruitAnswer to FavoriteFruitAnswer's item 1 (* extract choice from list *)
    end if

    return input
end run

The preceding code produces the following:

What I want to occur is if the user presses the number "2" on their keyboard, therefore "Kiwi (#2)" is selected and then the "OK" button is automatically pressed. If the user presses the number "4" on their keyboard, therefore "Coconut (#4)" is selected and then the "OK" button is automatically pressed. And so on.

Is this possible?

What I know is possible is to create a dialog box with a text field where the user types in the number manually and then the user hits enter manually and the number is assigned to the corresponding fruit type.

But that's not a particularly pretty solution.

AppleScript is not robust enough to do exactly what you're asking, however if you want to be able to select by number then put the number ahead of the name of the fruit, although enter will still need to be pressed after the number is pressed. Otherwise, pressing whatever the first character of the list item entry is will select it too.

For example, change the following two lines of code from:

set FruitList to {"Banana (#1)", "Kiwi (#2)", "Mango (#3)", "Coconut (#4)", "Pear (#5)"}
set FavoriteFruitAnswer to choose from list FruitList with title "Fruit Dialog" with prompt "What's your favorite fruit?" default items "Banana (#1)"

To:

set FruitList to {"1. Banana", "2. Kiwi", "3. Mango", "4. Coconut", "5. Pear"}
set FavoriteFruitAnswer to choose from list FruitList with title "Fruit Dialog" with prompt "What's your favorite fruit?" default items "1. Banana"

As a side note, double-clicking a list entry to select it with the mouse does also trigger the enter key press automatically.


How do I activate markers and link text in iBooks Author? I want to have text in one place/page, to tap on it and go to another place/page.

I'm new in iBooks Author, I've tried several options and I don't know how it works.

Its not possible, hopefully Apple will make the App functional in the future. You can only hyperlink to bookmarks within a project and you cant bookmark a page!


How to map PageDown to Option? I have not been able to figure out how to map PageDown to Option. I have KeyRemap4MacBook installed, but the options they have in the "Change Key" pane don't allow me to do this.

How can I map PageDown to Option?

Try saving something like this as private.xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<item>
<name>test</name>
<identifier>private.test</identifier>
<autogen>--KeyToKey-- KeyCode::PAGEDOWN, KeyCode::OPTION_L, VK_OPTION</autogen>
</item>
</root>

I'm not sure, but it might not work if you don't have another keyboard with an option key connected.

If KeyCode::PAGEDOWN doesn't work, you can see the key code constants in the source and the hexadecimal key codes with Key Codes.

The test folder has an XML file with all the predefined remappings.


F11 key changed functionality F11 on my Mac used to show Desktop. Something changed in my function keys and I cannot figure out what. The F11 key now decreases volume on my speaker, and the only way to see my Desktop is to now use the keyboard shortcut Fn + F11. This is very annoying.

My keyboard shortcut under System Preferences shows that F11 (by itself) is supposed to show Desktop.

The F12 key used to be set to a particular function in Adobe InDesign but is no longer working either. I didn't knowingly change my keyboard.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Go to System Preferences app → Keyboard → Keyboard and check Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.


Window manipulation software Possible Duplicate:
  Do any window managers allow me to snap windows to the sides of the display?

I was wondering if there is software out there that will make OS X windows act like Windows 7. For instance, you can "bump" a window at the top of the screen and it will fill the screen. Or, "bumping" the left/right will make the window become half-screen.

I just found a nice app for these functions! It's called cinch and it is aviable in the appstore for 7$ (but you can also use the demo)


What to do about keyboard protector grime left on MacBook Pro screen? For the first couple of years that I had this MacBook Pro (Early 2015, 13 inch) I had a keyboard protector on it. After awhile, the protector left some pretty obvious marks on the screen from it rubbing up against the screen when laptop was closed. I eventually took it off and tried to clean the screen, but none of the regular methods have seemed to do the trick. Instead, they just spread whatever grime was on the screen over the screen more. Never really bothered me, but now I'm looking to sell this laptop and want to fix this issue so it doesn't affect the resell value.

Does anyone have any ideas for a solution? Has anyone else had this same problem?

Cleaning is easy. Follow the steps Apple recommends.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204172

For glass, that means

  To clean the screen on your MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air, first shut down the computer and unplug the power adapter. Dampen a soft, lint-free cloth with water only, then use it to clean the computer's screen.

The 3M gray microfiber cloth is a great option if you don’t have lint free cloths around.

Anything else risks damaging the surface coating, which is what you likely have. The physical rubbing first erodes the anti glare covering and then if it continues, etches and erodes the glass itself.

No solvent or cloth will repair that damage, just mask it temporarily with some types of glass cleaners.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Glass-Cleaner/

These can damage hardware so use with sense and caution. Depending on your damage, these may make the glass look worse.


What is the power draw of the iPad Air? I am trying to hook a dragonfly dac to my iPad Air using the lightning to USB3 camera adapter kit.

When powering the camera adapter kit using a backup battery supply that outputs 5V/1000ma, the dragonfly will not work and the iPad says that it draws too much power and will not output sound through the lightning port.

When I use the same configuration but plug the lightning power cable into an electrical outlet, everything works and the DAC captures and processes the sound.

I cannot determine how large a power supply I would need to have the iPad keep working with the dragonfly plugged into the camera adapter kit.

The iPad Air comes with a 11.73 W charger (2.3 A at 5.1 V), so I would go for at least that much.


How does the built-in Audio of the Thunderbolt Display compare to the MacBook Pro Retna? I'm trying to understand which device has better audio capabilities.  I tried to do independent research, but the Apple site only has generic information for the MacBook Pro and the Thunderbolt Display

What are the detailed audio specs of each device and which one is better for Audio?

According to the technical specifications, the thunderbolt display has 2.1 stereo speakers with a subwoofer and the system is rated at 49 W.

No one would consider the any MacBook Pro with the small internal speakers to be superior to the wall-powered solution that is part of the display.

You will want something like an external DAC if you are concerned about audio quality or want to connect speakers that are better amplified and suited to a special situation other than casual listening. The Display Port monitor is better than many $150 speaker systems, but you can also get quite amazing external sound starting at that price point in the US.


Xcode, change background color of selection Like text editing apps, i would like to change background color of some selection in Xcode editor.

Is this possible?

Have you checked the Font and Color Preferences?

You can customize the appearance of source code and console text by changing their colors and fonts in Fonts & Colors preferences.

Choose Xcode > Preferences and click Fonts & Colors.
Click either Source Editor or Console near the top of the preferences window.
Select a theme in the left column.
Select a syntax category in the detail area.

Then if you want, you can also customize colors for the: background, selection, cursor of the source editor and the console.


Is it possible to set a Custom quick look preview image in OS X? Is there any way to set a custom quick look image in OS X? I'd like a command line tool or applescript to change or embed a custom preview for a file using a jpeg.

No. The way Quick Look works is that a plugin, which recognizes your file, is required. Only such plugins can supply images to QL.


Connect from Macbook Air 2012 (thunderbolt port) to dell monitor (displayport) I just bought this Dell UltraSharp U2312HM monitor to use as an external monitor of my Macbook Air 2012 model.

And, I'm looking for a cable that will connect from thunderbolt port (mini displayport) to displayport of the monitor and wanted to confirm
if this cable is the right one.

Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Cable M-M 2m

Yes, that looks correct. If you want some other examples, then take a look at the newegg site.


Strange Wired Mac Keyboard behavior My wired mac keyboard is acting weird. Some keys perform weird extra insertions. The problem introduced itself when I relogged in after sleep mode and persists since then. The internal MacBook keyboard is not affected. I suspect some corrupted driver settings/files.

I tried the following already, without change:

login with a different user
restarting the mac
dis-/reconnecting the keyboard

Some of the extra insertions happening:

u => u[
7 => 7-
return => creates a new line and an *
m => m and a space character
j => j'
right arrow => performs a return

I am on OS X 10.9.5

Edit: I plugged the keyboard into a Windows machine, same problem. So it's a hardware issue ... or is it? Is it possible that the keyboard firmware is somehow corrupt? Since many keys are acting strange and not ONE key that's broken.

Can I reset the keyboard firmware?

I ended up carefully removing all the key caps (like shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Cue2IlXIg) and cleaning up the dust/dirt that accumulated over the past two years. I guess it messed with the electronic contacts.


How to copy my Mountain Lion system to another drive? I'm considering upgrading at long last to Mavericks, but need to feel confident that all my apps & workflows will work properly before committing 100%.  I boot off of an external Thunderbolt SSD normally, so that's where my current boot system is (with all my apps installed, etc.).

I have an internal drive with a secondary simple boot partition, also on Mountain Lion.  I basically use it on those occasions I need to boot from a different partition to do disk diagnostics, test things out in a "sandbox" of sorts, etc.

I'm wondering if I can copy my current Mountain Lion system volume - apps and all - to the internal boot partition, and then update THAT drive to Mavericks and run off it for a while until I'm confident that Mavericks is going to work for me.  At that point I would update my SSD and be committed.

Is this viable?  I know that back in the pre-OSX days it was trivial to just copy a system folder and presto - it would boot on a different drive.  But I'm not quite sure this is still the case.

To reiterate, the internal drive I want to copy my system to is already a bootable system partition, so there should be no special blessing or anything required I would think.

Cloned drives are generally not a problem. You don't want to do a simple drag/drop.
SuperDuper from ShirtPocket will clone your drive and ensure it's bootable. CarbonCopyCloner will do the same.

There are some more details in How can I get my laptop's existing system onto a new replacement drive?


Installing software on a MacBook I'm switching from PC to a MacBook and wondered the best convention for installing new software.

For example, I've downloaded the Atom IDE, unzipped the 4 files and put into the /Users/userName/Applications Directory (which was empty, but seemed like a good place).

I then added the /Users/userName/Applications/Atom directory to the \etc\paths file, but when I type 'atom' from the bash prompt, it is not recognized.

How should I be installing software, is there a convention on where it goes?

Do I need to update the \etc\paths file or is there a location where exe's are picked up by the command line?

Generally application (.app) bundles are meant to be stored in /Applications of ~/Applications. I recommend using /Applications for the vast majority of installations, since the apps there will be accessible to other users' accounts`.

Application bundles aren't directly executable. Instead, their executable file is stored within the bundle (right click and select "Show package contents"), in {APPLICATION.app}/Contents/MacOS/

To open an Application bundle from the terminal, you can use the wicked open command with the -a flag, like: open -a /Applications/Application.app. This comes in handy occasionally, though I don't know why you'd want to open applications through terminal, rather than through the dock, dock stack, or spotlight.


Need help creating reminders on iOS 5 After upgrading form iOS 5 beta to the final release, I cannot create any new reminders.

The issue seems to be caused by the fact that there is no reminder lists to which to add a new reminder, but I can't find any way to add a new list to the app.

In the screenshot, you can see I have the "Completed" list of tasks, that I made with one of the earlier betas of iOS 5, but there are no other lists.

The system's language is set to Italian, I hope that the screenshot is clear enough to show the situation.

On the iPad Reminders app, there is no + button when viewing Completed tasks.
What happens when you click on Data? Can you then add items?
Edit
It looks like others are having the same problem. Does this reply work for you:

here's the solution that seems to work... have tried it, reversed it, and retried and it worked twice.  Turn on reminders in icloud.  go to reminder app.... + should now be there.  i then turned off reminders becasue it seems to just drain the battery... but select option to keep remdiners on the iphone when it prompts you.


How can I make Apple menu shortcut keys work more like Windows? I recently converted from Windows to Mac, but one thing that I really liked on Windows was how easy it was to traverse the menu bar and the associated submenus with the keys.  Effectively, I would push the magic menu button and then type letters corresponding to menu options.  With Mac the analog is an awkward button combination followed by repetitively hitting up, down, left, and right.

So, is there any way to make my Mac behave like a Windows computer in this respect?

It works pretty much as you describe Windows.

If you want a better key combo to access the menu bar, you can customize it under System Prefs > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Keyboard & Text Input > Move focus to the menu bar.

Then type to select which menu you want, hit enter, then type to select the menu item.

Note that most menu items have keyboard shortcuts. These are written next to the menu item, often a single character preceded by the CMD key.


How do I make an iMovie 11 project into a DVD without iDVD? I'd like to do a dry run of how a slideshow in imovie-11 is doing to come out when I run it for real, if I decide that 'for real' means 'playing a DVD on a DVD Player with a projector.'

Other answers here have dissed idvd as an obsolete item, and I am noting that my 9:24 movie has idvd sitting there spinning a cursor for a very, very, long time. So I have other choices?

Apple has just issued an update to iDVD to make it more stable, and help with importing from iPhoto. With any luck, it will solve this. Get it through Software Update, or from here.


Mountain Lion - Are these different ways of encrypting a Time machine backup equivalent? I just setup two backup drives for time machine in two different ways:

1) By clicking the "encrypted" checkbox in the time machine dialogue.
After fininshing the backup, it spent a long time saying "encrypting..."

2) By formatting the drive as HFS+,Journalled,Encrypted using Disk Utility,
and then keeping the the encrypted checkbox on in Time Machine (see note a).

The results are strange.  The time machine preferences says that drive 2 is encrypted,
however

  diskutil cs list | egrep -i "size|status"

reports

       Size (Total):       1999702540288 B (2.0 TB)
       Size (Converted):   -none-

The time machine preferences does not say that drive 1 is encrypted, though it too
forever to do so.  Perhaps that's because it's not mounted now.

(a) I also explored approach 2 while turning off the checkbox, thinking this
would cause the material to be encrypted twice.  However it said something
indicating that it would decrypt the drive, so I stopped this.

With option 1 you are encrypting the files, not the drive. Option 2 encrypts the whole drive.


Greyed out songs when trying to add from iTunes to iPhone? I just got an iPhone 4 and downloaded the most recent version of iTunes onto my computer because I had a version that was too old. It told me I needed to convert the songs to create an AAC version of my library in order to sync them to my iPhone, which I had not synced because I didn't want to lose the existing music. When I converted the files, they copied to the phone, but are greyed out and won't let me play them, could somebody please help?

Try playing the greyed out songs directly on your iPhone. If you cannot do that, do the following.

Ensure that the greyed out songs are indeed playable within your iTunes library (not within the iPhone section of your iTunes library)
Connect your iPhone to your iTunes, navigate to your iPhone section > music, select all greyed out songs and delete them.
Make sure that the "Sync music" and "Entire music library" options are ticked under the "Music" tab and sync your iphone once again with iTunes.

This should resolve the issue.


Headphone jack broke and got stuck in headphone socket MacBook Pro The tip of the headphone jack got stuck in the headphone socket of my MacBook Pro and I have the following question:

The "Sound" option in the System Preferences displays sound output through the "Headphones"

However as the headphone's jack is broken, the headphone doesn't work.

If I pull the headphone out, the "Speaker" icon in the menu bar greys out and sound seems disabled.

If I plug in the headphone in, the "Speaker" icon in the menu bar appears as working however as the headphone itself is broken, there is no sound.

Where I live, it is not possible to buy a micro screwdriver to open the MacBook Pro and push away the headphone jack from the headphone plug.

As a temporary solution I would like to use some AppleScript or other program code to force sound output through the MacBook Pro's speakers instead of the headphones, while the headphones are plugged in.

Depending on the breakage, you may not be able to control the software if the "jack detection" sensor is intermittent. It will over rule whatever software setting you have made and send output to the headphone jack each time it senses an insertion.

Often taking this to Apple at a genius bar is no cost if they can dislodge the broken piece with experience (and same for reputable repair shops). Also, you might only pay labor if the jack isn't broken. Usually there is more damage since why would a protected piece break off inside a perfectly functioning receptacle, but it's possible you broke the jack mostly or entirely before inserting it.

Give a shot at setting the sound in the System Preferences, but most of the times this happens, you'll need to get a repair if you can't use software to switch the output once and have it stick.


Time Machine: Local Snapshots and Backup while on Battery I like the idea of local Snapshots for having the possibility to restore accidentally deleted or changed files. My question is, when unchecking "Backup while on Battery Power" is Time Machine still creating those Snapshots?

The purpose of the switch "Backup while on Battery Power" is for you to choose if to continue the time machine backup while on battery or NOT.

The reason is to allow you to preserve battery power by unchecking it, but it will no longer create Snapshots.


How to add an icon to a keyboard layout? I am using ukelele to create some custom keyboard layouts.

I have created a .icns file which contains an image I would like to represent this keyboard layout.

How do I get my macOS Sierra MB Pro to associate this keyboard layout with this icon file? I cannot find an option in ukelele, if there is even one.

I am not sure if ukelele itself implements a way to do this, but the solution turned out to be trivial.
Locate your .bundle file which is being used. Mine was at /Library/Keyboard Layouts/#British.bundle.
With a terminal, cd into the Contents and then Resources subdirectories of the bundle. Now the command open . should open finder at this location.
Have fun replacing the .icns file within.


Hazel rule using Python script I am using a Hazel (Noodlesoft) rule with Python script.   Using the "Passes Shell script" option.   Placing the path to my python install /usr/local/bin/python (my python install v. 2.7.3) in the shell box.   Correctly goes to plack if it finds it and red if it cannot find it.  Using the simplest script

import sys
sys.exit(1)

According to the tooltip exit status 0 indicates passing the rule.   I assume anything else fails rule.   Problem is that the rule matches regardless of the exit code returned.
Am I using the wrong command to provide Hazel with exit code or is it bug in Hazel.  I am using the Latest (just released 3.1)  Have not tried on previous versions.

It was a bug that crept in with Hazel 3.1 ... Confirmed from Mr Noodle at Hazel.  Works fine from 3.1.1 to current 3.1.1 now.

Just thought I'd complete the thread


Using automator and AppleScript to move a file to a different folder and subfolder based on name and content of a file I'm a total newbie on Automator and Scripting... I have read a lot of answers to problems a bit similar to mine, but I don't succeed to adapt with Automator + AppleScript.

Here is what I want to do:

When I download a file to a directory /Volumes/Macboot /Downloads, (yes there is a space in the HDD's name), e.g. statement_EUR_2020-05-01_2020-05-31.pdf.

I verify if the file is with extension pdf + it contains an IBAN + the name contains "statement".

If the file corresponds, I want to verify the year and month in the name and move it accordingly to the good Google Drive folder:

  /Volumes/Macboot /Travail en cours/Google
  Drive/Company/Comptabilité/2020/05/Compte Transferwise 1/

With help from @Solar Mike, here is what I'm attempting:
What I am doing without success right now:

on run {input, parameters}
    tell application "Finder"
        activate
        set theFile to input as text
        set copyFile to input as alias
        set yearName to ((characters 34 thru -1 of theFile) as string) --trim first 35
        set yearName to ((characters 1 thru -22 of yearName) as string) --trim last 23
        set monthName to ((characters 39 thru -1 of theFile) as string)
        set monthName to ((characters 1 thru -19 of monthName) as string)
        set destinationFolder to ("Macboot :Travail en cours:Google Drive:Company:Comptabilité:" & yearName & ":" & monthName & ":Compte Transferwise 1:Relevé PDF + fichier CSV:" as alias)
        copy copyFile to (destinationFolder)
    end tell
end run

No error... but no copied file.
yearName is good, as is monthName and destinationFolder, but perhaps I don't use the good method to copy?

Thanks to @Solar Mike, I've tried line by line and found how to do it.
My code :

on run {input, parameters}
    set theFile to input as text
    set yearName to ((characters 34 thru -1 of theFile) as string) --trim first 35
    set yearName to ((characters 1 thru -22 of yearName) as string) --trim last 23
    set monthName to ((characters 39 thru -1 of theFile) as string)
    set monthName to ((characters 1 thru -19 of monthName) as string)
    set destinationFolder to ("Macboot :Travail en cours:Google Drive:Company:Comptabilité:" & yearName & ":" & monthName & ":Compte Transferwise 1:Relevé PDF + fichier CSV:" as text)
    tell application "Finder"
        activate
        move theFile to destinationFolder -- use "copy source_file to folder (target_folder as alias)" to copy the files
    end tell
    set result to {yearName, monthName, theFile, destinationFolder}
    return result
end run

The problem from my early attempt was just with "copy" copying the name, not the file. But as I need it to be moved, now it's good.


How do I add VTT subtitles to a MP4 video to view on an iPhone iOS? I have a .mp4 and .vtt file with the same name. I tried to synch both the files to iTunes by importing them at the same time, but when I play the video, there are no captions. The video plays in the browser (Chrome) with captions fine. How do I add the .vtt subtitles to the .mp4 video? I would prefer a raw, native way to do it, without using a third-party app (except for iTunes). If not possible I would be OK with FFMPEG if needed.

Wow I finally found a solution. I found
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/FFMPEG_An_Intermediate_Guide/subtitle_options
and
https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/HowToBurnSubtitlesIntoVideo
so I tried a few things and found this worked.

  C:\Users\Chloe\Videos>"\Program Files\WinFF\ffmpeg.exe" -i russian_ark.mp4 -i russian_ark.vtt -vcodec copy -acodec copy -scodec mov_text russian_ark_sub.mp4

Unfortunately WinFF doesn't have options for subtitles in the GUI. I don't know what mov_text is but luckily FFMPEG can understand VTT and convert to it and Apple can understand mov_text. I tried to use -scodec srt but it kept giving me an error track 2: could not find tag, codec not currently supported in container. Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): Operation not permitted. I didn't want to hard-code the subtitles as described in the second link, but I was almost ready to.

Thanks to Insomniac Software for letting me know Apple can't do this automatically, not even with iTunes.


App on iPhone shows installed but can't find it to open or uninstall I have a weird behavior with one of the apps on my iPhone. As you may see on the picture it's not installed but at the same time I can't seem to uninstall it because I can't find it on my iPhone, neither on the screens neither through search. Does anyone have an idea how to solve this?

It's an iMessage app.

How to delete an iMessage app:

Tap the App Store icon in the iMessage conversation view
Tap the apps icon on the bottom left (4 rounded grey rectangles)
Long-tap the app you want to delete (they’ll start wiggling)
Delete just like you’d delete any app on your phone
Done


Can softwareupdate be used to automatically download (but not install) on the terminal? Could the Terminal command softwareupdate be used to download (but not install) any MacAppStore updates, say with a scheduled Calendar running an Automator/AppleScript script?

From man softwaredownload:

-d | --download
    Each update specified by args is downloaded but not installed. The values of args are
    the same as for the --install command. Updates downloaded with --download can be sub-
    sequently installed with --install, or through the App Store (as long as they remain
    applicable to your system).  Updates are downloaded to /Library/Updates, but are not
    designed to be installed by double-clicking the packages in that directory: always
    use --install or the App Store to actually perform the install.

So yes, that is possible. AFAIK iCal has lost the ability to run AppleScript commands a few releases back, so you might be better of with a launchd job.


MAS showing an application I never bought (CodeBox) Mac Os  X version: 10.11.6

Since a few months, the Mac App Store application keeps telling me there is an update available for my system. Some application called "CodeBox" (website).  If I try to perform the update, it tells me it is linked to another account and thus cannot perform it. But I can't remove it neither, as it is nowhere to be found on my machine!

I tried to find it via a full text search: grep "CodeBox" -R -l / but it only showed a few irrelevant files.
Also tried:
- mdfind "CodeBox"``
-softwareupdate -l` (returns "no new software available).

Note that this is a legit version of Mac Os X (some forums threads say it could come from a cracked version of Mac Os X found on torrent sites).

I'm at loss here. Any idea?

Its not in a backup on an external drive? As I've seen that before an application in a backup of a old users home folder that showed there were updates even though the applications were not installed on the Mac. Removed the external drive and the App Store no longer showed any available updates. Then deleted the old backup on the external drive so it wouldn't prompt again.


Suggestions for Multiple 24" LED Cinema Displays and MacBook Pro I have two Apple 24" LED Cinema Displays and a mid-2010 17" MacBook Pro. I've used one display with the computer for a long time, but recently acquired the second display.

Given that I have these two monitors, what are my realistic options for using both with the same MacBook Pro? What is the current state of multi-monitor support? Moving to a Thunderbolt display is not an option.

I've looked into this in the past, and from what I know, you have a few options:

I'd never really recommend it, you can get a usb adaptor that essentially adds another display port to your computer.  Make sure the one you pick is Mac compatible - there are some that exist.
DualHead2Go is an interesting product that emulates a single double-wide monitor to your computer.  There are some catches:

There is a maximum resolution the device supports
It works best if the monitors are the same dimensions and resolution
It's currently ~$230
The computer doesn't see the monitors separately, which means that when you configure/use it, it will act accordingly.  If you put the menubar on the external 'monitor,' it will stretch across both; maximized windows will be two monitors wide etc.

I can't find anything to back it up at the moment, but at one point I do believe I saw an ExpressPort/34 video card or a breakout box for a PCI card.  The only thing I can find now is XGP, but I'm near certain I saw a Mac-specific solution at one point.

Each has its benefits and drawbacks.  If you're not on a tight budget and your monitors will work for it, I'd recommend the DualHead2Go.


When does Safari on iPhone change the text size when the orientation changes? I've noticed that when I am browsing a web page in Safari on the iPhone and change the orientation from portrait to landscape, sometimes the text size and/or wrapping changes.

For example, in portrait there may be 10 words on a line, but when I turn it sideways the text size changes and there are maybe 8 or 12 words on that line. Usually when I turn it back to portrait again it stays at that number instead of going back to 10.

I don't remember any specific examples off-hand but they were just regular sites (not mobile versions). Text appeared to be in a fixed column, it wasn't just wrapping to the entire window width.

Can anyone clarify in what ways this is changed or determined?

[also, I couldn't create 'safari' or 'zoom' tags]

Here's an estimation:

The site you're likely viewing has what is called a liquid-layout, which means that the content will spread to fill it's container.  So when you're rotating the phone, the viewport width is changing from the narrower portrait width to the much longer landscape width.  So the text itself might not be changing size, the webpage is just adapting to fit it's new window size.

Luckily the above link also has a liquid-layout, so you can see this in action.  Take the window on your computer and shrink it's width.  You'll notice that the text will shift around to fit it's new container size.  So it's the web page (more specifically the CSS) which determins how the text wraps.

tl:dr

CSS did it.


How to set the style in text string of MS Word via AppleScript? I would like to find a way to change the style to heading1 of a particular text string that I'm adding in an MS Word document using Applescript, but after hours of searching, and looking at the dictionary, I can't find a way to to it. Something like this:

    tell application "Microsoft Word"
    activate
    tell active document
        set ContTemp to content of text object
        set StartRange to (count of ContTemp) - 1
        set endrange to StartRange
        set theRange to create range start StartRange end endrange
        set style of format of theRange to style heading1
        set content of theRange to StringVar
    end tell
end tell

But it generates an error at "set style of format of theRange. . . ". Removing that single lines works to add the text StringVar (a simple text string) into the Word document. But I can't style it, and I need to have it set to heading1.

Thanks for the help!!

If you open the Microsoft Word dictionary in Script Editor you will see that a range does not have an attribute format, only an attribute style so the correct line is set style of theRange to style heading1.

After that your code complains that StringVar is not defined so I assume you are setting it before the code you have given us.


Best way to share one keyboard and mouse between a Mac & PC? I have a Mac and pc sitting beside each other. Each has an independent monitor. Currently I am using a two port usb switch to move between the two systems, but it can sometimes be cumbersome to switch between the two quickly. Anyone have any other suggestions for ways to switch between the two systems?

I have never used it, but you can give Synergy a try. It shares keyboard and mouse on one system with one or more systems using software. It works on macOS, Windows and Linux.


iPhone 4 Custom SMS Text Tones I read about how to add custom ring tones, but those don't show up in the SMS tone tab, just the phone ring tab, is there some way to add custom text tones without jailbreaking my iPhone? :(

There are new SMS tones as of 4.2, and you can assign a specific SMS tone to a specific person via the Contacts app also as of 4.2, but you still cannot create custom SMS tones in the stock firmware.


How do I identify which CPU a MacBook uses? I'd like to identify which CPU this notebook is using, in terms of code names such as "Ivy Bridge" and "Haswell". The little Apple logo in the upper left shows some information, but not this.

First off, you are not going to get the processor microarchitecture name (Broadwell, Sandy Lake, Ivy Bridge, etc.) because it's not a prominent branding scheme for the Intel processors.  Contrast that with Apple, the marketing department chooses to actively market the code names of their operatings systems (Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan).  It's a marketing convention, not a technical one.
For a list of all Intel Processors and their codenames, architectures and specs, Wikipedia's List of Intel Microprocessors has a good page.
So, to answer this question, I am going to provide three methods to find out what CPU you have, the first two, which should be good for most users, and a third method in which you can determine the microarchitecture number so you can look it up on Intel's support site.  You can "jump" to the section that applies to you.

About this Mac (general CPU info)
System Profiler (general CPU info)
Terminal (detailed CPU info)

About this Mac
Clicking on the Apple symbol at the top of your screen, select About this Mac

You will get a screen that gives you an overview of your system.  Your processor will be listed here.

System Profiler
Clicking on the button marked System Report... (green arrow) you get a complete profile of your system.  On the first page, it will give you more detailed info about your machine, including processor info

Terminal
I am a fan of Terminal in general.  Pretty much everything you see in the GUI in OS X can be accessed quicker and more accurately through the command line, IMHO.
To get the exact CPU model including the microarchitecture number, in Terminal, execute the following command:
sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string

You will get the exact processor that you are using.  For instance, on my iMac, it the command above responds with:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
You can then do a search for i7-3770 and pull up the code name and specs.
Just for reference, you can use the Terminal command:
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType

and get a result that looks just like the screen that I posted in the second section, System Profiler:
Hardware Overview:

  Model Name: iMac
  Model Identifier: iMac13,2
  Processor Name: Intel Core i7
  Processor Speed: 3.4 GHz
  Number of Processors: 1
  Total Number of Cores: 4
  L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
  L3 Cache: 8 MB
  Memory: 32 GB
  Boot ROM Version: IM131.010A.B09
  SMC Version (system): 2.11f14
  Serial Number (system): XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  Hardware UUID: XXXXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXX

(Credit to dante12 below)
So, if you needed your CPU or more commonly, your Model Identifier, you can use the same command coupled with grep.
system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep Identifier

It responds back with
  Model Identifier: iMac13,2


What does the iTunes backup of the iPhone include and what does it not include on Windows 10? I was under the impression that when I back up my iPhone with iTunes on Windows 10, everything is backed up, so that I can restore everything to a brand new iPhone.
iTunes iPhone backup size (6 GB)
However, when I look at the backup folder size at
C:\Users\<username>\Apple\MobileSync\Backup

it's only 6 GB.
Used storage on the iPhone (40 GB)
When I check the "storage" section on the phone, music alone is 9 GB, let alone another 14 GB of app data, photos etc.
Also, when I check iTunes, it shows "Documents & Data" being around 25 GB.
Discrepancy (32 GB)
Therefore, I was wondering, what's missing in the iTunes backup?
My research so far
I've googled for https://www.google.com/search?q=what+does+itunes+backup+include
and found articles saying "photos" and "music".
https://www.imobie.com/support/what-does-itunes-backup.htm
But that can't be true in my case. Or I'm missing something.
I've also not found any settings where I could configure what to include in the backup and what not. So I'd assume the entire iPhone would be backed up including the operating system and all the apps and all the data.
Versions

Windows 10, version 2004
iTunes version 12.11.0.26 (directly downloaded, not via the Windows app store)

straight from Apple themselves, as the first result on your Google search;

A computer backup of your device, which is not the same as a sync, includes almost all of your device's data and settings. A backup from a computer doesn't include:
Content from the iTunes and App Stores, or PDFs downloaded directly to Apple Books; Content synced from Finder or iTunes, like imported MP3s or CDs, videos, books, and photos; Data already stored in iCloud, like iCloud Photos, iMessages, and text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messages; Face ID or Touch ID settings; Apple Pay information and settings; Apple Mail data; Activity, Health, and Keychain data (to back up this content, you'll need to use Encrypted Backup in iTunes.)

your backup data should be located, by-the-by, at %appdata%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\.
the TL;DR is that a full iPhone backup will only actually back up data and settings important to the iPhone, such as keyboard layouts, dark/light mode settings, language preference, and more.
to back up your photos, music, contacts, and whatever "other" is classified as, you're looking for backing up with iCloud, which (unless manually disabled in Settings) is automatically done.


How can I make a keyboard shortcut for an item with unicode characters? I have used custom keyboard shortcuts for a long time, and as usual the new version of OSX Yosemite changes all the app translations to make them slightly different enough that none of them work. After going through all the shortcuts I discovered that the Spanish entries for next/previous item in Preview don't work. Here is a screenshot of the menu item:

And here is a screenshot of the option as set up in the keyboard preferences:

Despite both texts look the same (and therefore I should be able to override the default shortcut) the custom shortcut doesn't get assigned (it did in Mavericks!). My guess is that it stopped working because Yosemite uses a different unicode combination for the first letter. How can I figure out the correct unicode sequence so that the keyboard shortcut is assigned properly?

This is a comparison to mavericks (10.9.5) Preview

It looks like the only change is the back/forward keyboard shortcuts. Or maybe my Spanish is not up to the snuff.

I am not sure why would you try to make keyboard shortcuts that already exist.

But see this info: What do I type to produce the command symbol (⌘) in Mac OS X?

And this info: http://xahlee.info/comp/unicode_computing_symbols.html


Harddrive not connecting after login I have an external monitor with USB ports which is connected via mini DVI cable to my laptop and additionally via usb for the hub. An external hard drive is connected to this monitor.
Normally, when I connect my mac to the monitor, I first connect the mini DVI cable so the monitor switches on, as well as the USB hub within the monitor. Then I connect my USB cable.
My problem is, the Harddrive is not recognised by the system. I have to unplug and replug the disk so it gets mounted.

Is there something I can do about this?

I've found an old question on Superuser that may help:

  I found a preference that might do the trick:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/autodiskmount

  AutomountDisksWithoutUserLogin true

Please report if it helps


Disable mouse interference in input source overlay when switching? The problem described in Disable mouse interference in Cmd-Tab overlay? is annoying, but I can live with it. What I cannot live with is the very same problem, but happening when switching input sources, aka keyboard layouts. I use multiple keyword layouts and I need to switch them 500 times per day, reliably. I'm using this key to do that:

The issue is that in like half of the times I want to switch input sources, which is typically when I'm typing, the "mouse" cursor is parked in a position on the screen which interferes with the input source switching overlay, causing the wrong layout to be chosen and driving me completely mad. What can I do to ban the cursor from ruining my life? Thanks!

As I've never seen a keyboard with that 'globe' on the Fn key to switch layouts, I'm curious as to what your Control panel for it looks like.
System Prefs > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Input Sources.
If that's anything like mine, just switch it to another key command. I use Ctrl/Spacebar & like you I only have 2 languages, so it's a simple flip between the two.

This produces no screen overlay, but if you have the language menu bar item, you see the flags switch.


Change Partition size on internal AFPS drive A month or so ago, I added a new partition to my 500 GB SSD drive so I could have MacOS Mojave on a separate partition. After adding the new partition, I was left with two logical volumes that were 450GB and 50GB.

Fast forward to this evening. I went to update for the latest release and I needed more space. I added an unnamed partition and reduced the size of my 450GB partition to 400GB and I'm left with 3 logical partitions. I was thinking I'd resize the empty 50GB partition to zero and up the other 50GB partition to 100GB and I'd be on my merry way...I thought wrong.

I took a look at this article from MacWorld, but it seems to be written to address a scenario for an external drive, not an internal drive.

When I'm done, I'd like to have Macintosh HD sized to 400GB and Mojave beta sized to 100GB.

Here are my questions:

1) How do I nuke an empty partition?

2) How do I resize the Mojave beta partition from 50GB to 100GB?

UPDATE

Progress. I selected the Apple SSD, clicked partition, highlighted the empty partition, and clicked "-", which removed it. I still can't resize the other two partitions. Ideas are greatly appreciated.

Ok, so it turns out this error -5344: MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation is caused by the fact that you are trying to expand a container backward into free space that exists before it on the partition list, even though Disk Utility (and by extension diskutil) can only expand partitions forward into free space that comes after the container in the partition list. Another notable error is your attempt to resize the Physical Store partitions on which the Container disks are stored (disk0s2 and disk0s4), rather than the Container disks themselves (disk3, disk4, and disk5 in the below example).

With a bit of trial and error I was able to figure out how to effectively merge Containers 2 and 3 into one, with no data loss to Container 1. Note that this will require the deleting of the Mojave beta partition, so make sure you either have it backed up, or have an installer on hand.

UPDATE: There is a way to do this without having to reinstall the second OS. In macOS versions up to Sierra (I haven't tried it in newer) you could create directly bootable backups of your entire system with (adjusting for the disk names you gave in your question) sudo ditto -V -X --nocache /Volumes/Mojave\ beta/ /Volumes/Untitled/ NOTE: for backing up the currently booted system, subsitute /Volumes/Mojave\ beta/ with /

For posterity please make sure you have a macOS installer (USB or Recovery HD) on hand for each OS you have installed.

Please also remember that these disk lables are just the ones for my disk on my system, always double check the names are correct for yours when running these commands by comparing them with the output of diskutil apfs list

In order to replicate your situation the best I could, using Disk Utility I formatted a 4 GB flash drive as APFS. I then partitioned the disk two separate times, which resulted in three APFS Containers, and three virtual volumes, in the following order:

  First Container
  Container disk3  -  1.85G
  Physical Store disk2s2
  Volume disk3s1

  Second Container
  Container disk4  -  0.94G
  Physical Store disk2s3
  Volume disk4s1

  Third Container
  Container disk5  -  0.94G
  Physical Store disk2s4
  Volume disk5s1

I then opened a terminal, and deleted the Third Container with: diskutil apfs deleteContainer disk5, which resulted in disk2s4 being converted into an HFS+ volume.

After this I deleted the partition disk2s4, and in so doing freed up the space necessary to expand the Second Container by running diskutil eraseVolume "Free Space" "" disk2s4

At this point the partition list looked like this:

  First Container
  Container disk3  -  1.85G
  Physical Store disk2s2
  Volume disk3s1

  Second Container
  Container disk4  -  0.94G
  Physical Store disk2s3
  Volume disk4s1

  Free Space  -  0.94G

Finally I was able to expand the Second Container to 1.85 GB with diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk4 1.85G. The final result of this is two APFS Container disks of equal value on the flash drive:

  First Container
  Container disk3  -  1.85G
  Physical Store disk2s2
  Volume disk3s1

  Second Container
  Container disk4  -  1.85G
  Physical Store disk2s3
  Volume disk4s1

Besides adjusting the commands so that the disk labels match those on your own machine, the one notable substitution you should make is changing 1.85G to 100G in the final command. Beyond that this should be all you need to make the conversion requested.


Partitioning a Windows drive? I'd like to partition a hard drive with Windows installed on it (with bootcamp). I've tried using Disk Utility and GParted to do this, but unfortunately neither would let me. Are there any other programs I can use to partition the hard drive?

A partition with a NTFS volume can be resized by booting to the Windows installation  media. This can be in the form of a DVD, flash drive or partition on a drive. The type depends on the model/year of your Mac. The command to use is diskpart.

Update:

If you macOS is High Sierra or Mojave, you can make a bootable Windows USB flash drive by using any of methods outlined in this answer. I assume your Windows is installed to EFI boot. If not post a comment. I assume you know how to boot to the flash drive installer. If not post a comment.

If first window to appear after select to boot from the flash drive should be the same as the image shown below.

When the above window appears, press the shift+F10 keys. This will open a Command Prompt window.

If you are having problems with the Windows volume, you may want to try repairing with chkdsk. The command below checks drive C, but does not make repairs.

chkdsk c:

The command below will attempt repairs.

chkdsk c: /f

If you get the message shown below, then close and reopen the Command Prompt window. Try the command again.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Chkdsk may run if this volume is dismounted first.
Would you like to force to dismount on this volume? (Y/N)

You can also check the volume for physical defects in the sectors. If found, an attempt is made to mark the bad sectors as unusable. This type of checking takes a very very very long time to complete.

chkdsk c: /b

You can use the diskpart command to shrink the NTFS volume C:.  After entering the command, you can get a list of all diskpart commands by entering help.

To get help for the shrink command enter the following.

help shrink

To see how small you can shrink volume C:, enter the following commands. If you get to small a value, then try booting to Windows and running the disk defragmenter.

select volume c
shrink querymax

To create a new 75 GB partition below volume C:, enter the following.

select volume c
shrink desired=75000
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs label="NewNTFS" quick

For ExFAT, substitute the following for the format command.

format fs=exfat label="NewExFAT" quick

If you want a FAT32 format, you probably will have to format with the macOS Disk Utility application.

When finished, close both windows.

Update 2

You can not enter all the commands on the same line. Entering the following will not work.

select volume c shrink desired=35000 create partition primary format fs=exfat label="NewExFat" quick

Instead enter the following

select volume c
shrink desired=35000
create partition primary
format fs=exfat label="NewExFat" quick

Below is an example where these commands are used.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.17763.107]
(c) 2018 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

X:\Sources>diskpart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.17763.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: MINWINPC

DISKPART> select volume c

Volume 1 is the selected volume.

DISKPART> shrink desired=35000

DiskPart successfully shrunk the volume by:   34 GB

DISKPART> create partition primary

DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.

DISKPART> format fs=exfat label="NewExFat" quick

  100 percent completed

DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.

DISKPART> exit

Leaving DiskPart...

X:\Sources>

Let me know if you have any questions.


"Battery Health" in macOS Catalina 10.15.5? I have just installed the macOS Catalina 10.15.5 update on my 11" Mid 2013 MacBook Air. The update is working fine.

The MacBook Air specifications on the Wikipedia page says that this model has a lithium-ion battery, 'tho I haven't unscrewed the case to look. But the new Battery Health controls in System Preferences → Energy Saver don't appear.

Not a lithium-ion battery? Or perhaps other differences in this model prevent Battery Health from showing up? Something else?

The feature is limited to Mac laptops with Thunderbolt 3 ports. While this isn't explicitly mentioned in the macOS 10.15.5 release notes issued by Apple, here's an article by The Verge mentioning it:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/26/21271179/macos-10-15-5-catalina-battery-health-group-facetime-portrait

  The new battery health feature will be turned on by default for new MacBooks that ship with macOS 10.15.5 or after you upgrade to macOS 10.15.5 if you’re using a MacBook that supports Thunderbolt 3 (which is any MacBook Pro released in 2016 or later or any MacBook Air released in 2018 or later).

The Battery health feature released in macOS Catalina 10.15.5 can be access by going to System Preferences app → Energy Saver and clicking the Battery Health... button. It is turned on by default.

You can learn more about by going to this Apple Support article:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT211094

Here's a list of all the current Apple laptops that have the Battery Health feature available:

MacBook Air

MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2018)
MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2019)
MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2020)

MacBook Pro

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2017)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2018)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2019, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2019)
MacBook Pro (16-inch, Late 2019)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)


Speeding up and improving directory listing from windows Servers? When I connect to windows servers (called PC-servers in OS X) getting the list of files in a directory is really slow (20-30s) in comparison to using a windows machine (<1s). Sometimes the files in a directory even disappear for a while! The network is not slow - copying files goes at 1Mbyte/s.

What can I do to improve this?

If you are using the Finder then try with another file manager or try run a ls in the terminal. Let us know if you are experiencing the same kind of delays using the command line.

Some good alternative file manager are muCommander and Midnight Commander. Try both.


How can I delete a (null) app in usage? In my usage list(settings>general>storage & iCloud usage>manage storage), there is an app that registers as (null) with no icon, a version number that doesn't match anything I've previously downloaded, and it's taking up storage space. I first noticed it about a week or two ago. And no, I can't download recent apps to find the one that it is, because I downloaded multiple apps recently, and didn't notice the (null) app until my storage was critically low and I was looking to delete something. I am running iOS 9.2.1 on an iPhone 5C.

You can try this way:

App Store>Updates>Purchased

View the apps you deleted
Find the app which about the same size with NULL app or version that match to the "Null" version
Download the app again
Remove it again and delete the cache

Hope it works for you.


Truncated “Recent Items” Label in OS X Mavericks General Preferences I’ve just upgraded to OS X Mavericks (Build 13A603) and discovered a truncated label in General Preferences. You can see the that the Recent Items can’t be read at all.

I’ve tried to overwrite the prefpane in, but the problem still remains:

/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Appearance.prefPane.

Do anyone else have the same problem?

I had the same problem, and figured out the solution.

Apparently, for whatever reason, 3rd party hacks or something else, the font size in the preference pane was incorrect. Since there's no way to change the size of System Fonts in the GUI, I used the TinkerTool utility to reset to defaults.

It was the fixed-pitch font that was incorrect, and TinkerTool had it highlighted. I just hit the Set to default button in TinkerTool's Fonts tab and that fixed it.

I'm glad I sorted this out and didn't have to re-download the 5+ GB Mavericks Installer!


How do i change the column type in Numbers from number to string I have a column in numbers with zipcodes. The zipcodes have leading zeros, only the column drops the leading zeros.

I assume this is because the column thinks it's a number and not a string.

I tried right clicking on the column header to get a menu item to to change the type but couldn't find anything.

How can I change the column type from number to string?

Highlight the cells you want to change.
Click the paintbrush icon to display the Formatting sidebar.
In the Data Format dropdown, select Text


Unable to access iCloud IMAP I'm having no luck adding my icloud email account to either the Evolution, Geary or Thunderbird clients. They all seem to complain about "IMAP username or password incorrect", or similar, although I have confirmed I use the right password by logging into the web interface at icloud.com with my apple-id credentials.

I'm following the directions in apple's support article, where they themselves sound unsure on what to do (!), e.g.:

  Username: This is usually the name part of your iCloud email address (for example, emilyparker, not emilyparker@icloud.com). If your email client can't connect to iCloud using just the name part of your iCloud email address, try using the full address.

...usually?

This support article is basically referred to or reflected in every QnA thread out there (except one that claims that omitting @me.com from the username also works for SMTP - not that @me.com directly applies to my case).

I'll concentrate on Thunderbird since it's easy to test it its UI:

Incoming

Host: imap.mail.me.com
Port: 993
SSL: SSL/TLS
Auth: Normal password
User: user.name

Outgoing

Host: smtp.mail.me.com
Port: 587
SSL: STARTTLS
Auth: Normal password
User: user.name@icloud.com

Thunderbird tells me "Username or password invalid" (the Geary client does the same).

I have tried both user.name@icloud.com and just user.name as the username for IMAP and SMTP. I have
even tried myAppleId@otherProvider.com in desperation even though I'm clearly instructed to do otherwise.
I have written my password in plaintext and pasted it in.
I have tried STARTTLS instead of TLS (Thunderbird edits the port automatically when I change).

I thought I had followed the (unassertive) instructions to the letter, but I must be overlooking something very basic here that I can't see.

Sometimes I get an Error Creating Account alert when trying to connect, doesn't seem very relevant to me though. It has had two different messages:

  Incoming server already exists.

  [Exception... "Component returned failure code: 0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE) [nsIMsgAccountManager.createIncomingServer]"  nsresult: "0x80004005 (NS_ERROR_FAILURE)"  location: "JS frame :: chrome://messenger/content/accountcreation/verifyConfig.js :: verifyConfig :: line 60"  data: no]

This was long ago but nowadays I would say that the problem is that you need to generate application specific passwords to access your iCloud email from third party applications.

It currently works fine with the Gmail app on Android.


Podcasts connect "Can't parse your feed" I'm trying to submit a podcast to Podcasts Connect and I get the error

Can’t parse your feed.

With a status of

Failed Validation

This is my feed. I've used multiple rss validators (Here's the list)

Podba.se
Castfeed validator
W3C rss validator

Among others. Every validator says that my rss is good or has nothing bigger than a few warnings, but whenever the Apple validator at Podcasts Connect gives this error I mentioned saying it cant parse the feed, but not any further description. Any Idea of what could my problem be or where is my mistake?
UPDATE: Just as a test I tried to submit it to Spotify and it didn't worked.

Ok so after a lot of trial and error I found what was causing the trouble.
My feed had this line at the very begining:
standalone="yes"

Inside the <?xml ?> declaration.
Removing that from the feed fixed it for both Apple Podcasts and Spotify.


In Terminal, when the the “cd” command is called, libwww-perl's “head” command is also executed Currently, in Terminal, when I execute a cd command, it also executes LWP's head command.

A copy of the Terminal output follows:

laptop:bin user$ cd ~
Unknown option: n
Usage: head [-options] <url>...
    -m <method>   use method for the request (default is 'HEAD')
    -f            make request even if head believes method is illegal
    -b <base>     Use the specified URL as base
    -t <timeout>  Set timeout value
    -i <time>     Set the If-Modified-Since header on the request
    -c <conttype> use this content-type for POST, PUT, CHECKIN
    -a            Use text mode for content I/O
    -p <proxyurl> use this as a proxy
    -P            don't load proxy settings from environment
    -H <header>   send this HTTP header (you can specify several)

    -u            Display method and URL before any response
    -U            Display request headers (implies -u)
    -s            Display response status code
    -S            Display response status chain
    -e            Display response headers
    -d            Do not display content
    -o <format>   Process HTML content in various ways

    -v            Show program version
    -h            Print this message

    -x            Extra debugging output
laptop:bin user$

I've reviewed the ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bashrc but there are only three export statements and no alias or something like that. It's as follows:

[[ -s "/Users/user/.rvm/scripts/rvm" ]] && source "/Users/user/.rvm/scripts/rvm"  # This loads RVM into a shell session.
### Added by the Heroku Toolbelt
export PATH="/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/bin:/usr/local/heroku/bin:$PATH"
export PATH=/Users/user/bin/Sencha/Cmd/3.1.2.342:$PATH
export SENCHA_CMD_3_0_0="/Users/user/bin/Sencha/Cmd/3.1.2.342"
export PATH=$PATH:/Applications/acquia-drupal/drush

From reading, it seems that installing LWP might have overwritten the /usr/bin/head command, but I've checked and it's the OSX one. However, when I call head from Terminal, it invokes the LWP head command instead.

Per patrix's request, here are the contents of ~/.rvm/scripts/rvm: http://pastebin.com/7rZVQAcy

I'll keep out trying things, and I'll update the question with new information if relevant.

Additional information:

laptop:dir user$ alias cd
-bash: alias: cd: not found
laptop:dir user$ which cd
/usr/bin/cd
laptop:dir user$ which head
/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/bin/head

The output of echo "$PS1"; echo "$PROMPT_COMMAND" is:

\h:\W \u\$
update_terminal_cwd;

The output of type -a update_terminal_cwd is:

update_terminal_cwd is a function
update_terminal_cwd ()
{
    local SEARCH=' ';
    local REPLACE='%20';
    local PWD_URL="file://$HOSTNAME${PWD//$SEARCH/$REPLACE}";
    printf '\e]7;%s\a' "$PWD_URL"
}

The output of type -a cd is:

cd is a function
cd ()
{
    if builtin cd "$@"; then
        __rvm_do_with_env_before;
        __rvm_project_rvmrc;
        __rvm_after_cd;
        __rvm_do_with_env_after;
        return 0;
    else
        return $?;
    fi
}
cd is a shell builtin
cd is /usr/bin/cd

I am going to assume you are using bash.

So in that case when you just type cd it should be running the bash built-in. This is what has the problem.

To confirm this try using the external version - at the command prompt type /usr/bin/cd and you should go to your home directory with no problems.

Now let's check what the other cd might be up to.

type -a cd should give us

cd is a shell builtin
cd is /usr/bin/cd

which head should give us /usr/bin/head

alias might give us a long list but nothing pointing towards an alias for cd

The CD environment variables should have sane entries:

CDARGS_NODUPS=1
CDARGS_SORT=0
CDPATH='.:~:~/bin:~/dev:/usr:/'

The same with:

PROMPT_COMMAND='history -a; history -n; printf "\e]1;${PWD}\a"'
PS1='\[\033[34m\]\h:\W \u$\[\033[0m\] '
SHELLOPTS=braceexpand:emacs:hashall:histexpand:history:interactive-comments:monitor

If all that is OK then my money would be on cd being redefined by a builtin function that has gone pear shaped. At the command line set | less will allow you to page through a dump of all your shell variables, aliases and functions. If you type / you can search through the file for cd (notice the space) and see if that is happening.

Once you have discovered that "someone" - in your case rvm - is defining a shell function called cd then you can either uninstall the culprit or find where it does the nasty work and change the name of the function to something like 'rcd' instead of 'cd'. As the shell function is listed first in the output of type the builtin cd is ignored except where it is getting called by the function (that's what the builtin cd in the function definition is doing - calling the builtin version).

I'd almost guarantee that the function is defined in /Users/user/.rvm/scripts/rvm.

I'd start by uninstalling rvm and then reinstall to see if that fixes it. Are you installing it using MacPorts or Homebrew?


Removing non App Store apps I use several apps installed using .dmg files downloaded from other sources rather than direct from the App Store.

When I try to remove them through Launchpad, these apps will not show the X button to allow me to delete them.

On the right: Mac App Store app; On the left: app from external source.

Is there any canonical safety way to remove them?

If I put them in Trash, will they disappear from my Mac without any related directories? How can I completely remove an app?

To remove just the app you can drag it to the trash, use ⌘ cmd+⌫ backspace, or right-click → Move to Trash the app.

To remove the app, its preference files, and other related files, you will need another app along the lines of the free AppCleaner application.

Here is a Lifehacker article titled "The Best App Uninstaller for Mac", which chose AppCleaner as the best uninstaller for the Mac (in 2011).


How to select message in Mail with ID using AppleScript? With the help of "Ask Different" I got my first AppleScript program working, and I'm trying to improve it. I'm again stymied though.

I have found the message number ID of a particular message in my account's INBOX. AppleScript tells me it is ID 167868. I hope that sounds reasonable, as I have only about 190 messages in my INBOX. I'm assuming that the id specifies exactly which message is concerned.

Now I want to activate Mail, select the INBOX of my account, sort the messages according to the "From:" field and select the message with that id. After that I want to use Mail interactively.

I've been trying to find out how to do this from various AppleScript manuals, but it's all a bit uphill for a beginner, and I would appreciate some help. I tried looking through some AppleScript dictionaries for Mail.app, but I couldn't find appropriate commands, except for "activate". I saw various things in sample code like "menu bar 1", but didn't know how to find the menu items in menu bar 1.

Sorry to ask elementary questions, but I need to get a program working, and this should be only a couple of lines away. After that, I'll be motivated to work more slowly and systematically through some tutorials, so that the level of my questions improves.

Probably not the only way to do it... And these are not my favourite type of scripts.

But here is an example of each of the syntax you describe.

Look up:

message viewer
selected mailboxes
selected messages

In the  Applescript library for Mail.

tell application "Mail"
    set theMailID to 543521
    set theM to mailbox "INBOX" of account "iCloud"

    set selected mailboxes of message viewer 1 to theM
    set sort column of message viewer 1 to from column
    delay 0.5 -- important delay or message selection may not happen
    set selected messages of message viewer 1 to (first message of (theM) whose id = theMailID)

end tell


Permissions of /Users keep changing back to drwxrwxrwx I use the Disk Utility to repair it. But the permissions change back after reboot.

  Permissions differ on “private/etc/aliases”; should be lrwxr-xr-x ;
  they are -rwxr-xr-x .
  Permissions differ on “Users”; should be drwxr-xr-x ; they are drwxrwxrwx .
  Permissions differ on “Users/Shared”; should be drwxrwxrwt ; they are drwxrwxrwx .

System: Mac OS X 10.9.3

This problem was caused by a bug introduced by an Apple software update. iTunes 11.2.1 has been released to fix the issue.

  iTunes 11.2.1

  Impact: A local user can compromise other local user accounts

  Description: Upon each reboot, the permissions for the /Users and /Users/Shared directories would be set to world-writable, allowing modification of these directories. This issue was addressed with improved permission handling.

This vulnerability was assigned the security identifier CVE-2014-1347.


How to keep all the applications I've opened showing on my external monitor when I close laptop I have a Macbook Pro running Mojave 10.14.4 with an external montior, I have set up mirrored display and made the external monitor my primary display.

When I close the lid the monitor goes black, as expected, when I press key to get it to light up again all the applications I opened while the lid was opened are not shown on the external monitor. If I open up the lid the monitors go black and I press a key I can see all applications on both monitors. As I hope to just come in, plug in my Macbook  and see what I'm working on in my primary monitor it would be nice if I did not have to open up my secondary monitor to do so.

If you have the displays set to mirrored, they should be identical.

When you disconnect the external monitor, the windows must go somewhere, which is to the built-in display. If it’s mirrored, there can’t be a primary display.


Automatically convert cooking recipe units I am looking for a way to manipulate cooking recipe texts in such a way, that measurement in units foreign to me are converted to the ones I know. For example:

2 cups of milk → 568 ml of milk

Here is what I think needs to happen:

Look for {Number}{Space}{Unit}{Space}.
Replace foreign unit with known unit.
Multiply and round number to represent appropriate value in the new unit.

I was thinking of using GREP to achieve this, but do not know how to apply GREP to, say, a note in the Notes app, or text in TextEdit. But I have an open mind as to how this might be achieved.  Ideally this would be possible inside the Notes app on my iPhone however, since this is the place where I gather cooking recipes.

Here’s a shortcut I’ve made that does this: Apply Conversions.

Given input, either from

a note (tap the Share button in the upper-right)
selected text in any app (tap Share from the selection menu)
the current clipboard (run the shortcut from the app or the widget)

the output will be produced. See the example below:

When importing the shortcut from the link above, you will be asked to enter your conversions. These can be edited at any time by editing the shortcut.

The shortcut is as follows:


When waking up my MacBook Pro, the external monitor unpredictably displays "snow flakes" I can't seem to pinpoint a specific cause for this, but sometimes when I wake my MBP the external screen gets fuzzy, like a TV with no reception, but I can faintly see my desktop behind the noise. If I sleep the display again (with hot corners) and wake it up again it's fine. Anyone know how to fix this?

I have had the same problem with Maverick (in clamshell mode) / external monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 2443) when I lock my screen and use my bluetooth mouse or keyboard to wake up the computer.

I was able to fix the problem in 2 ways:

open the lid, login and unplu, replug the external monitor (pretty annoying)
when the multicolor static shows, press CTRL+SHIFT+Eject as if to lock the computer again, then wake up the computer again and I now have the normal login screen as normal (not ideal but less disruptive solution).

I hope this helps !


I want to lend my phone to my bro. How to save data that I can restore some other times? Is there a way to keep all data backed up? It's iphone. I want all data, like save games for my infinity blade to be stored somewhere.

I have used an iTunes backup to restore my phone on more than one occasion. I personally prefer an iTunes backup over iCloud for many reasons. The time required to complete a backup is significantly reduced with a wired connection. With iTunes you have the ability to backup any apps .ipa files. This is useful if you've ever updated an app you love and then immediately regretted the update.

Be aware that when you backup your data with iTunes, by default every time you backup your data it overwrites the old backup with the new one.  This is not always such a good thing but you can overcome this easily with the following steps.

Open iTunes and click Preferences in the menu bar
Once inside Preferences click on the section labeled devices.

In the Devices section you will find a list of backups for your device.
Right click on any backup listed and you should then see an option to Archive.
Select Archive for any backup you want to keep. This will prevent it from being overwritten the next time you back up your device and from any future backups.

If nothing is listed in the Devices section of Preferences, that means you don't have any saved backups for your device in iTunes and might want to go ahead and do that.

Hope this helps.


Is there a good one hand typing Mac app? Is there a (decent) Mac app that I could use to learn one handed typing?

It seems there is a program on the app store for this!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mirror-qwerty-one-hand-typing/id496021762?mt=12


Headphones Jack not pluggable into Macbook-pro retina socket I tried plugging in my apple headphone's jack into the socket, but I wasn't able to. Barely 70% of it goes in and the rest doesn't. There is no red-light coming out of the socket, but in the 'Sound' settings panel, the output device is 'Digital Out' -> 'Optical Digital Out Port'.

There is no sound emitted from the speakers and the sound icon in the taskbar is grayed out.

I managed to turn on/off the Analog to Digital switch inside the socket. The other (turn the switch 90º clockwise) solution, I haven't tried yet. The weirdest thing is that there's nothing stuck inside the socket! I looked with a led flashlight, but for some reason, this jack won't go in.

Is this a hardware issue?! What are the next steps?

--Edit--

Adding the picture of the jack and socket and another for the 'Red Light of Death'.

When you insert the headphone into the socket, it makes connections internally against a number of poles which connect to the different rings on the jack end (left audio, right, mic, ground, data etc..).  These are essentially tiny spring loaded contacts which the jack must push aside when inserting, that then rely on sprung pressure to maintain a permanent connection to the ring on the jack.  Here are a couple of pictures, a diagram, and a photo or a replacement part that shows one of the poles:

These poles can jam, get stuck, fail etc etc.  Usually a vigorous insertion is enough to free them, but this is relying on the chamfered edge of the jack to transfer vertical motion into a horizontal movement of the pole.  You could use something slimmer than your jack, and insert (carefully, ensuring you don't insert it too far) before applying sideways pressure directly to the poles to try to get more energy into making them move.


How to set Mail.app to always open URL's in the external browser in the background? I'm on Mountain Lion and in Apple Mail whenever I click a link in an email it opens my browser in front of Mail.

I'd like to keep reading the email and open all links behind Mail, then switch to my browser and read the links later.

I'm aware of right clicking a link and selecting "Open Link Behind Mail", and I know of the "command-click" method to achieve that. But I want that to be the default behavior, so I don't have to do any extra clicking, I just want the links to always open in the background. How do I set it to do that?

Is there anyway to make Apple Mail open all links in a browser behind
  Mail without the need to right click?

Command-click the link (same thing in Safari will open links in a background tab).


Is there a way to make Photostream take up less space on an iPad without turning it off entirely? A member of my family has a 16GB iPad which keeps reporting that it is out of space. One big occupier of space on the iPad seems to be Photostream pictures. Is there a way to a) figure out how much space Photostream is occupying on the device and b) limit or reduce that space without disabling Photostream entirely? I'd prefer something easy like a preference box I've just overlooked, but some sort of script-based hack that inserts a bunch of minimal-sized photos into the stream to take up space in the 1000 most recent but not take up much storage space could be an option.

FWIW, our main use for Photostream is to get the pictures taken on the iPad into iPhoto on the Mac automatically, and secondarily to get access on the iPad to photos taken by camera then copied into iPhoto on the Mac. I'd love to be able to still do these things but not have to give up the space to store 1000 photos on the iPad.

a) figure out how much space Photostream is occupying on the device

Go to settings
General -> Usage
wait until the top is done and then click on Photos and Camera
The next page under Photo and Camera has the space used for Camera Roll, Photo Library, and the Photo Stream.

b) reduce space.

After taking photos you can edit and crop, delete the ones that you do not want.  It saves the last 1000 photos for 30 days so if you take a lot of photos, copy them when you can.  Photo stream is there for you to easily sync your photos from one device to all.  After you have the photo, copy it to your mac and remove them from your photo stream.  After 30 days or over 1000 photos you might start to lose photos.


Removing free partition on Macbook Macintosh HD Let me tell you the story to understand the problem.
I installed Ubuntu 20.04 on my mac as the second OS. Later I decided to delete it, and being not good in all this stuff, I decided to just remove the 30gb partition I gave for Ubuntu. However, EFI partition was left.
I downloaded Paragon and erased this EFI. But it is not merged still with my Macintosh HD!

So my question is how to merge it (include literally the 314.57 Mb partition) with my hard disk (APFS-container)?
I tried to format it as HFS+ and then tried to make it APSF but my system felt and I had to install macOS again.
P.S. Disk Utility says that there is a trouble and to repair it, I need to go to recovery mode. But when I go to RM, it says the same thing - even though I turned off filevault as some sources say.
I will be very thankful to you for your response!

You a not suppose to remove the EFI partition. This partition was created when macOS was installed. To remove the Ubuntu files from the FA32 formatted volume stored in this partition, take the following steps.

Note: I realize, it is to late for you to follow these steps. I post the steps for others who may have the same question.

Boot to macOS and open a Terminal application window.

Enter the command below to mount the volume stored in the EFI partition. This volume will have the name EFI.
sudo diskutil mount disk0s1

Use the Finder application to remove the EFI/BOOT and EFI/ubuntu folders from the EFI volume.

Enter the command below to unmount the volume stored in the EFI partition.
diskutil unmount disk0s1


iPhone6 running iOS 11 is eating my battery My iPhone 6 recently got updated with iOS11. I observed that its taking too much battery power. I need to charge 3 to 4 times a day for my requirements.

What is the main reason behind is there any settings or other things can i do, so that i can save my battery power.

iOS 11 has severe battery performance issues. Please see the discussion on Apple Communities. Most of the responses show that the problem is common and will not be solved in the short term. (Some users state that even iOS 11.1 beta didn't solve the problem)

For now, the only solution to the problem seems to be downgrading back to 10.3.3.

I hope Apple gets out of this mess as soon as possible.