Mac Inside & Out · System Settings & Accounts · Lesson 1 of 5

Finding Your Way Around System Settings

Search System Settings and change how your Mac looks and alerts you.

Search first, then click

System Settings is the app where you change how your Mac works. To open it, click the Apple menu in the top left corner of the screen, then choose System Settings. You can also click its gray gear icon in the Dock.

The window has two parts. The sidebar is the list of sections down the left side. When you click a section, its settings show on the right.

There are many sections, so don't hunt by hand. At the top of the sidebar is a search field, a box where you type what you want. Type a few words, like text size or wallpaper. Matching settings appear in the sidebar, and you click one to jump straight there.

Here are three places people visit often:

• Appearance sets the overall look. Choose Light, Dark, or Auto. Dark Mode uses dark backgrounds with light text, which some people find easier on the eyes at night. Auto switches between the two through the day.
• Displays controls your screen. You can choose a setting closer to Larger Text, which makes everything on screen bigger, or closer to More Space, which fits more on screen but makes it smaller.
• Text size lives in Accessibility, under Display. Its slider makes words bigger in the sidebar, on the desktop and in many apps, without changing everything else.

Changing a setting is safe. If you don't like the result, go back and change it again.

On Windows, the same job is done by the Settings app, which also has a search box.

On the practice computer, search text size and make the text larger. Then turn on Dark Mode in Appearance. Last, open Users & Groups and look at what kind of account you have and what kind Kids has.

Notifications and Focus

A notification is a small message from an app, like a new email or a calendar reminder. On a Mac, they slide in at the top right corner of the screen.

Missed one? Click the date and time in the top right of the menu bar, the strip along the top of the screen. This opens Notification Center, which keeps recent notifications in one list.

In System Settings, open Notifications to choose which apps may bother you. Click an app to set its alert style:

• None means no pop-ups at all.
• Banners appear and then go away on their own.
• Alerts stay on screen until you click them.

Turning off notifications from apps you don't need makes your Mac calmer.

Focus is a feature that quiets notifications for a while. Do Not Disturb is the simplest Focus. There are others, like Sleep, Work and Personal. For each one, you can let certain people or apps still reach you, such as family.

To turn a Focus on quickly, click Control Center in the menu bar. It is the icon that looks like two small switches. Then click Focus and pick one. You can also set a Focus to turn on by itself on a schedule, like every night at 10 PM.

If your iPhone uses the same Apple Account, a Focus can be shared, so turning it on in one place turns it on in the other.

On Windows, the closest match is Do Not Disturb in notification settings.