Apple is known for its minimalist design. However, there are many ways to tweak your settings to customize your Mac desktop. This article is for those who want to spice up or personalize their Desktop. There are many cool ways to easily change your Mac’s look and feel. All you have to do is adjust some macOS preferences according to your taste. Here are some ways to customize Mac desktop:
1. Customize Your Wallpaper.
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The first thing you see when you open your computer is your desktop, and the first thing you’ll notice on your desktop is your wallpaper. Your wallpaper is your computer’s background, and of course you want to make it pleasing to your eyes. To change your wallpaper, follow these steps:
- Right-click anywhere on the desktop.
- Select Change Desktop Background. You can also open System Preferences, and then choose Desktop & Screen Saver.
- Click on your preferred image.
- Select how you want the image to fit the screen for Screen Savers and
- Close the window.
You can also set a picture you came across while browsing the internet as your desktop wallpaper. All you have to do is right-click on the image, and choose Set Desktop Picture. If you’re using an older version of macOS, choose Use Image As Desktop Picture.
You can also set your desktop wallpaper to change automatically. Select the folder from where you want the images to be drawn, tick off Change Picture, and then select the frequency. You can choose every hour, every few hours, or randomly. If you want a random interval, tick off the Random order box.
2. Add Spacers to the Dock.
Sometimes, going through all the apps on the Dock becomes confusing, especially if it is cluttered with many app icons. Adding a space in between the apps helps you identify the app icons easily.
To add spacers, we’ll have to add blank tiles by typing the following command in the Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add ‘{“tile-type”=”spacer-tile”;}’; killall Dock
The Dock will disappear for a while and will reload with the invisible tiles in between icons. If you want to remove the invisible tiles, you can just drag them out from the Dock.
3. Make Your Dock User-Friendly.
If you want a better-looking Dock, start by cleaning it up. Remove the apps and Dock icons that you don’t use often. To remove the icons, drag them out of the Dock and release them when the Remove prompt appears. To modify the appearance of the icons on your Dock, go to System Preferences > Dock. You’ll see there the options to change the size of the icons, magnification, and position of the Dock.
4. Upload Your Own Icons.
Replacing your icons is one of the easiest ways to customize Mac Desktop. This is perfect for files and folders. Before you start replacing your icons on the Desktop, make sure your files are neat and organized. Clean up your junk files and folders with Tweakbit MacRepair so your desktop is easier to tidy up.
Next, choose the replacement icon you want to upload. There are many icons you can download from the internet, just make sure that you download the highest resolution version of the file in GIF or PNG format.
To replace your icons, follow these steps:
- Double-click on the picture or icon to open it using Preview.
- Select everything by pressing Command + A or go to Edit > Select All.
- Press Command + C or go to Edit > Copy to copy.
- Close Preview.
- Choose the folder or file whose icon you want to replace.
- Press Alt + Command + I to open the Inspector window.
- Click the small icon found at the very top left of the Inspector window.
- Paste the new icon by tapping Command + V.
5. Change the Color Scheme.
Color plays a huge role in the overall look and feel of your custom Mac desktop. Changing the color scheme can also improve readability.
![Customized desktop wallpaper Customized desktop wallpaper](/uploads/1/3/4/2/134294147/253055493.png)
If you want to change highlighted text from color blue to something else, follow these steps:
- Open System Preferences, and then click General.
- Click Highlight Color, and then choose from the colors available.
- If you want a different color not listed in the options, click Other.
- Choose a color from the color picker.
- Close the System Preferences window.
If you don’t want a colorful desktop, you can choose the Graphite color scheme for a monochromatic look. To switch to Graphite, do the following:
- Go to System Preferences > General.
- Click Appearance.
- There are two options there – blue and graphite.
- Click Graphite
You can also change your menu bar to appear black. Go to System Preferences > General and tick off the box for Use dark menu bar and Dock.
To invert the colors on your screen, just go to System Preferences > Accessibility > Display, and tick off Invert colors.
Customizing your Mac desktop does not only mean making it more aesthetically appealing. Some of these changes are necessary to improve readability or accessibility.
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When you download an app on Android or Windows, you get an option, or it automatically creates a shortcut on the home screen or the desktop. On Mac too creating a folder or app shortcut is extremely easy. It hardly requires four clicks. We first make an alias and then move it to the desired location.
You can add shortcuts for folders and apps to the desktop or Dock of your Mac. The first method below is the one I prefer. The second method is also quick, but it at times copies the folder instead of making the shortcut. Anyways, here are two easy ways to create desktop shortcuts on Mac running macOS Catalina.
Customized Desktop Wallpaper
How to Create Desktop Shortcuts on Mac
Step #1. Decide which folder’s or app’s desktop shortcut you want to create. Find where the folder is located. If you cannot find it, see the end for instructions.
Step #2.Right-click on the folder or app name and click on Make Alias.
Step #3. You will see that a shortcut is immediately created for that folder or app. Press enter key. It has the word alias at the end of the name.
Step #4. Drag this shortcut to your desktop or Dock. You may also copy the shortcut and paste it on the desktop.
This is it!
You have successfully created the desktop shortcut for a folder or app. Now you may quickly use this to open that folder, or launch the app. You may repeat this with as many folders and apps you like.
https://eppkpig.weebly.com/gree-mac-app-store.html. If you wish, you may select the shortcut, press the enter key, and rename it to remove the word ‘alias.’
Finally, if you wish to see the original folder, right-click on the shortcut icon and click on Show Original.
Note 1: Even if you move the original folder to some other location, the shortcut you created still works. Beautiful! Isn’t it.
Note 2: You may use this method to create shortcuts even for files like image, document, zip, music, movie, etc.
Not able to Find the Folder Location?
Finding applications is clear. You click on Finder → Applications, and there you have all your applications. Knowing the location of the Folders you create is also straightforward.
But for some folders, especially system folders like Downloads, Documents, etc. it may be a bit tough to know the path. Here are some ways to know it.
#1. From Sidebar: Launch Finder, place your pointer on the folder name in left Sidebar, and then right-click. Finally, click Show in Enclosing Folder. Now follow the above steps.
#2. Using Path Bar: Be inside Finder and click on View from the menu bar. Now click Show Path Bar. A tab will be added to the bottom of the Finder. It has the location/path for the folder you click or select.
Customized Desktop Computers
#3. Use Spotlight Search: Launch Spotlight Search by clicking the search icon in menu bar or press Command (⌘) + Space Bar. Now type the folder name and then scroll to the bottom of the search result and click on Show all in Finder… Click on the folder and follow the above steps to make its shortcut.
#4. Use Siri: I do not like Siri on Mac, notably older Macs. Anyways, you may ask Siri on Mac to ‘Show Download Folder’ (or any folder) and then go to the bottom of the result and click on Show all results in Finder… Now you may follow the above steps. Please note that this does not always work.
Create Desktop Shortcuts on Mac Using Drag and Drop
The above method is swift and simple. It is the one I prefer. However, there is an additional way to create folder and app shortcuts on Mac.
Step #1. Be at the location of the folder or app you want to create the shortcut of.
Step #2. Press and hold Option (⌥) + Command (⌘) key together. Do not leave the hold. Now click on the folder or app and drag it to the desktop.
Note: When you use this method, there are chances that you may unwillingly and unknowingly copy or move the folder instead of making its shortcut. Don’t worry. Press Command (⌘) + Z to undo and try again, or use the first method.
Add Folder Shortcuts to Dock on Mac
I recently wrote a post where I explained how to add website shortcuts to Dock on Mac. It is an interesting article. Similarly, you may add shortcuts to your Dock too.
Follow any of the above methods and make the shortcut of the folder or app (you may directly add an app to Dock, but anyway). Now drag that shortcut from Desktop to the rightmost part of Dock (Second left to the Trash icon).
Wrapping up…
These were two easy ways to create shortcut icons on Mac. There is a third method that I know of, which requires Terminal and some command lines. However, it is tricky and beyond the simplicity of the average user. Also, if you change the folder location, the shortcut stops working. So I did not mention this method.
Secondly, on Macs running OS versions before Catalina, you may also click on a Folder or App and then press together Command (⌘) + L. It will instantly make the alias. It works on my old MacBook Pro running macOS Sierra, but on a different MacBook Pro running the latest version of macOS Catalina, this quick method does not seem to work.
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What are your thoughts regarding shortcuts on Mac? Have you used it on Windows? How was the experience there? Share your opinion in the comment section below.
Suraj is a digital marketing expert on the iGB's team. He contributes to the social media section along with tips and tricks for iPhone, Apple Watch. Apart from blogging, he likes to work out as much as he can in his gym and love to listening to retro music.
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