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We all collect a lot of information and apps on our Macs and it can sometimes be challenging to keep track of it all — especially when you run low on space. In this tip Darcy explains how the Finder on your Mac can help you get a better grasp on where your information is stored. He then takes you through Apple's built-in tools to optimise your storage by removing what is taking up a lot of space and that you may not be aware is sitting there.

Universal Control was missing from the initial release of macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15, but Apple have now released this great new feature in a recent OS update. From a single Mac you can easily control additional Macs or iPads from a single keyboard and mouse or trackpad. Your iPad can be accessed to run its own apps or as an extension to your Mac's display. Don shows you all about it in this short video.

Apple's Activity Monitor is one of the most important troubleshooting tools for your Mac. It allows you to view all of the processes running on your machine and is invaluable when you have a rogue application or process affecting the performance of your Mac. In this tutorial, Don takes you through the updated interface of Activity Monitor and gives some basic guidance on monitoring and, when necessary, killing or terminating processes.

We typically focus on protecting our digital assets whilst we are alive, but not much thought or planning goes into what happens to them when we die.

Kudos to Apple for introducing Digital Legacy Contacts with iOS 15.2. This is a mechanism built into iCloud to allow nominated individuals to have access to some of your iCloud data when you pass. Don shows you how to set it up in this video.

In this tutorial, Don takes you through some of the new features in Mail on macOS Monterey v12.1, including Mail Privacy Protection and Hide my Email.

In the second half of the screencast, you learn about two apps and one service Don uses each day to manage his email and keep things under control.

In this screencast, you take a deep dive into using Focus Modes on the Mac as well as iOS. Don looks at the basic features on both platforms, and shows you a neat way to create custom home screens for your iOS devices, that are based on the Focus Mode you select.

Continuing our profile of browsers in the Mac ecosystem, Lee takes a deeper look at Safari on macOS in this screencast. With competition from other browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox and DuckDuckGo, Safari has been pushed to keep parity with its feature sets in recent years.

Lee shows you how to use this latest version of Safari on the Mac, and takes a leisurely stroll through the preferences, where you learn how you can modify them to make Safari behave the way you want it to. There is quite a bit there that you may not have been aware of!

It's been a part of macOS for a very long time, yet Calculator is a utility that offers quite a bit to the user. There are hidden depths to this app, far above the basic mathematical operations.

With his admittedly limited knowledge of the topic, Lee shows you the two other views that the calculator offers, Scientific and Programmer, and goes over some of the extra functionality that they contain.

macOS Monterey includes several applications to help you manage and enjoy various types of media. This week, Todd walks you through the main features of the Music, Podcasts, TV, and Books apps on the Mac. These apps have gone through some subtle but important changes over the last few years and this fresh look brings you up to speed.

Todd also covers the benefits of AirPlay 2 for sharing audio throughout your home.

In this second preview video, Don explores another set of new features to be released as part of macOS Monterey. These include photo collections in Messages, Shortcuts for Mac, the greatly-improved Maps, as well as a new built-in password manager.

In this first pre-release look at macOS Monterey, Don explores some of the new features, including Live Text, Quick Note, and Focus.

With macOS Monterey due for imminent release, now is a good time to start preparing for the upgrade to version 12 of the Mac operating system. In this special Friday tip show, Don takes you through some standard tasks you should perform in preparation for this upgrade. He also explains the slight change he has made in his backup recommendations this time around.

You're probably very familiar with System Preferences if you've been using macOS for any length of time. Over the years, however, Apple has added more and more functionality and options into the various Preference Panes so it's hard to know every trick buried within.

This screencast is not a methodical walk-through of every available feature. Instead, Allison cherry-picks some of the more interesting and buried options that you may not know about.

In this tip show, Rosemary shows you some lesser-known features of the Messages app!

Preview is a long-standing core application on macOS that is frequently overlooked in favor of more feature-rich, often costly programs. It is a great utility for viewing and annotating both PDF files and images alike.

In this video, Lee shows you the basics of Preview and highlights little-known annotation functions, such as Mask and Loupe effects.

On the face of it, Apple Reminders is a simple application. So simple in fact that you may have overlooked just how powerful it is. Combined with Siri, it can be extremely flexible and is available on every device. Reminders is not just for setting up things you want to be reminded about; you can use it for so much more.

In this episode Don covers most of the features of Reminders on both macOS and iOS, some of which may even surprise you.

The standard Contacts app has some hidden gems of functionality that need to be exposed. In this tip video, Don explores some of these and demonstrates some useful but not obvious features of Contacts.

In this second tip video covering some of the handy features of Apple Notes on the Mac, Don looks at using the various views and the Attachments Browser. You also get a few tips on organising and identifying important notes using custom images.

In this tip, Rosemary shows you the Time Machine local snapshots feature, and how it can be used to retrieve a file you might have deleted by mistake, even if your backup drive isn't plugged in.

Apple Notes is a very capable app and as it's available on Mac as well as iOS, it can be the go-to app for your note-taking needs, and more.

This week, Don takes you through organising your notes, using emojis to make folders more identifiable, and creating a makeshift tagging system.