Tip for New Mac User #01
A series of tips for the newish Mac user, mind you some of these tips are now several decades old (as in I was using them with my first Mac back in the late '80s).
Technorati Tags: Mac OS X
The Open & Save dialog's on the Macintosh seem to be a mystery to a lot of new users (and some not so new users). The first problem that people have is missing the small interface clue that allows you to expand the dialog window to a larger more detailed version.
If you have a look at the "Save" dialog below you will notice to the right of the file name an Aqua blue button with a downward pointing arrow. I've highlighted it for you. :)
When you click on this arrow the dialog will expand to show you a detailed view like the one in the next screenshot. As you would expect clicking the same blue button (now with an upwards pointing arrow) will return you to the mini or simplified view.
Now, if you're Terminal proficient, you can actually set your User account to default to the expanded view, as described in this post on MacOSXTips (the UK site). Scroll down to Tip #5.
Before we leave this post a couple of quick points about this expanded interface:
- Like most Mac OS X dialog's you can TAB around the interface, for example in the image above the focus ring is around the File Name field. Pressing the TAB key will move the focus to the Sidebar, the Search field or the Multi-Column file directory view.
- The Sidebar is exactly the same as your Finder, so anything you drag into it in the Finder will appear in your Open & Save dialog's - you'll note mine has a few custom folders showing and that it has a scroll bar indicating that there is more to show.
- In the bottom right corner of these dialog's you will see the standard drag patch, simply drag this out to increase you viewing real estate. (For the sake of this post I've reduced the size of mine, normally its much larger and make my navigation experience much quicker).
- The Sidebar and the File Directory view respond to all of the Arrow Keys (Up, Down, Left & Right) and navigation by other keys also works in the File Directory.
- You can use Apple-[ (
-[ ) to step backwards through directory changes (just like walking backwards through pages in Safari) and Apple-] ( -] ) to step forwards. - If you want to replace an existing file, simply click on that file in the Directory view and its name will be copied into the File Name field.
- And finally don't forget you can generally use the Enter/Return key to "press" the "Save" button (actually whatever button is denoted in Aqua blue) or press the "Esc" key to Cancel the dialog.
There you go a quick 5 minute read that should save you at least that much time each day :)
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