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If you think you cannot customize your Mac, think again. Yes, you cannot make deep system changes. But you can perk up how your Mac appears and works to add a bit of fun to your daily workflow.
Let’s look at the customization tips and tricks that will change the monotonous look of your Mac and give it a new lease on life.
Change The Name of Your Mac
You might not have paid much attention to your Mac’s name when setting up. You may even have let macOS decide the name and never bothered yourself with it.
But if you AirDrop a lot of files or use Bluetooth to send and receive files, you may want to change name of MacBook, so it is found easily by your loved ones. Also, the modification may seem minor, but it will customize your system so it is easily identifiable as yours.
Whether you wish to change the name for fun or identification purposes, click the Apple menu > choose System Preferences (or System Settings if you are using macOS Ventura) > select Sharing > enter the name you want next to Computer Name and click anywhere outside the text entry box. That’s it! Your Mac has a new name.
Change The Wallpaper or Use a Photo From Your Library
The simplest personalization trick is to change the wallpaper. Setting a brand new wallpaper instantly freshens up the look of the Mac desktop. It might even make it exciting to switch on your device just to look at the wallpaper.
To swap the old wallpaper in favor of a new, vibrant wallpaper, follow these steps:
- macOS Ventura users must head to System Settings > click Wallpaper > choose a desktop picture from the different categories, such as Light & Dark Wallpapers, Dynamic Wallpapers, Pictures, Colors, and Add Folder/Add Photo Album. If you want the wallpaper to change throughout the day automatically, select Dynamic Wallpapers. The Add Folder/Add Photo Album option lets you choose your own photos and set them as wallpaper.
- macOS Monterey and earlier users navigate to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Desktop. Then, you can explore the different options to use one of the pre-installed pictures, dynamic wallpapers, or one of your own pictures.
You can also download pictures and wallpapers from the Internet and use them as your desktop picture.
Add Personality to App or Folder Icons
You can change the Finder icon sizes so they’re easily recognizable. To do this, click Show View Options in the View menu > use the controls next to Icon Size to scale the Finder icons up or down.
Next, target the app icons and customize them according to your preference. You can use JPEG or PNG images to change the app icons, but it is best to use Mac-compatible ICNS files. If you search for custom icons online, check for the .icns extension before downloading the icon images.
Then, personalize and add personality to folder or file icons. You can copy a new icon by pressing Command + C. Then, choose the folder whose icon you want to customize and click File > choose Get Info. In this panel, choose the icon at the top and click Edit > press Command + V to paste the copied image. If you are unhappy with the change, you can press the Delete button and switch back to the default one.
Organize The Dock To Look and Function Better
The Dock must be personalized to make it look organized. Also, an organized Dock will help speed up your workflow since you can find what you need and remove items that cause distractions.
Start decluttering the Dock by dragging an icon and clicking the Remove option. You can remove all the apps you don’t use anymore and replace them with your favorite ones. Next, drag your favorite apps and place them into the Dock. This will let you quickly access your regularly used apps.
Other changes you can make to the Dock are resizing the icons, repositioning the Dock, and setting the icons to magnify as you hover your cursor over them. These tweaks can be accessed by heading to System Settings or Preferences > Desktop & Dock.
Customize System Sounds
Extend your personalization efforts to customize system sounds so you can differentiate between urgent and non-urgent notifications. Go to System Settings > Sound > Sound Effects to personalize the macOS alert sounds.
Enable Dark Mode
To prevent eye strain, you can change the appearance of your Mac’s background and UI. Darken your Mac’s appearance by enabling Dark mode. This mode darkens the color scheme so that the content stands out, and it is especially important when you’re using your device in a dark environment.
- Apple menu > System Settings > Appearance > choose Dark for Ventura users.
- Apple menu > System Preferences > General > choose Dark for macOS Monterey and earlier users.
Final Thoughts
So, have fun with your Mac following the customization hacks mentioned above.
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