tip-of-the-day Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Speed up Empty Trash

by Michael Rose (Jul 10th, 2011)

If you've got a bunch of locked files in your Trash, the 'really delete?' warnings can be a drag. You can speed up the Empty Trash process and bypass all the warnings (use with caution!) by holding down the Option key before choosing the command ...

Quick-change your audio devices

by Michael Rose (Jul 3rd, 2011)

The stealthy and powerful Option key strikes again. If you need to quickly switch between audio input or output choices, no need to open up System Preferences and click around. Just hold down Option and left-click on the Sound menu icon at the ...

Clearing old addresses from Mail's auto-complete list

by Michael Rose (Jun 30th, 2011)

If you find yourself inadvertently emailing friends or colleagues at the address they quit using years ago, chances are Mail.app's Previous Recipients list is at fault. It's easy enough to clear out the cruft; just go to Mail's Window menu and ...

Wiping down your iPhone for resale

by Michael Rose (Jun 23rd, 2011)

It's time to hand off your old iPhone to its new owner, but you definitely want to scrub it clean of all your data beforehand. Simple enough: in the Settings app, tap General, then scroll down to Reset and tap it. The option to 'Erase All Content ...

Chrome's Warn Before Quitting

by Michael Rose (Jun 21st, 2011)

It may not be nearly as important once Lion gives us all instant-resume for our apps, but the latest version of Google Chrome (v12) adds a delightful feature called Warn Before Quitting. Set it in the File menu, and from then on Chrome will ignore ...

Microphone for Mac

by Michael Rose (Jun 19th, 2011)

Got a pair of iPhone headphones with a built-in mic? If you've got an Apple laptop made after 2007, chances are that microphone will work just as well with your computer. Plug it in, then check in the Sound system preferences pane for the 'External ...

Midnight slowdowns

by Michael Rose (Jun 17th, 2011)

Do you notice your Mac getting sluggish right around midnight? Chances are you've got Remote Admin turned on, and it's the build_hd_index process that's kicking into gear. Apple's tech note gives you the details on disabling it -- but be sure to ...

Mac screen brightness

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Jun 9th, 2011)

To adjust the brightness on your Mac, go to System Preferences > Display and adjust the slider to your liking. ...

Inverting colors

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Jun 3rd, 2011)

To invert colors on your Mac's screen, go to System Preferences > Universal Access > and under the Seeing tab there's Display, with an option for White on black. This will invert all colors on the screen if you have issues with brightness or ...

TUAW Tip of the Day

by TUAW Blogger (Jan 3rd, 2005)

In OS X applications such as iChat where you can select a photo to use as an avatar, you can rotate the image in addition to resizing it or selecting a specific area to use in the picture-selection window. Rotate the image by holding the option key ...