Teach Yourself VISUALLY MacBook Pro & MacBook Air. Guy Hart-Davis

on the right side of the Dock are for files, folders, and minimized windows. The default Dock includes the Downloads folder for files you download from the Internet.

       Trash/Eject

      macOS puts items you delete in the Trash; to get rid of them, you empty the Trash. When you select an ejectable device, such as a DVD, the Trash icon changes to the Eject icon.

Point and Click with the Trackpad

To tell the MacBook what you want to do, slide your finger across the trackpad to move the on-screen pointer over the object with which you want to work. After you point to an object, you press the trackpad down to click, telling the computer what you want to do with the object. The number of times you click, and the manner in which you click, determine what happens to the object you point at.

      Point and Click with the Trackpad

      Point and Click

      

Slide your finger across the trackpad until the pointer points at the appropriate icon.

      

Press the trackpad once to click the trackpad. This is a single click.

       The object becomes highlighted, indicating that it is now selected.

      Double-Click

      

Slide your finger across the trackpad until the pointer points at the appropriate icon.

      

Click the trackpad twice.

      Your selection opens.

      Point, Click, and Drag

      

Slide your finger across the trackpad until the pointer points at the appropriate icon.

      

Press down the trackpad and hold it.

The object at which you were pointing becomes attached to the arrow and remains so until you release the trackpad.

      

Drag your finger on the trackpad to move the object.

      

When you get to the object’s new position, release the trackpad.

      Note: Dragging an item to a different external drive, flash drive, or disk volume copies it there. Changing an item’s location on the same drive moves the item instead.

      Secondary Click (Control + Click)

      

Point to an object in a Finder window or on the desktop, or to the desktop itself.

      Note: To select more than one item at the same time, click the first item, and then press and hold while you click each other item.

      

Press + click the trackpad.

      A contextual menu appears.

      

Point to the appropriate command on the menu and click the trackpad once to give the command.

      Tip

      Why do things I click stick to the arrow?

      You can configure the trackpad so you can drag items without having to hold down the trackpad. When this setting is on and you click an item, it gets attached to the pointer. When you move the pointer, the item moves too. To configure this setting, see the section “Configure the Trackpad or Other Pointing Device” in Chapter 2.

Connect to a Wireless Network

If a wireless network is available, you can connect your MacBook to it. Wireless networks are convenient for both homes and businesses because they require no cables and are fast and easy to set up.

      Your MacBook includes a wireless network feature that uses some of the wireless network standards called Wi-Fi. You can control wireless networks directly from the Wi-Fi menu at the right end of the menu bar. To connect to a Wi-Fi network, you need to know its name and password.

      Connect to a Wireless Network

      Note: If you connected your MacBook to a wireless network during setup, you do not need to set up the connection to the same network again.

      

Click Wi-Fi status () on the menu bar.

      The menu opens.

      Note: If the list of wireless networks appears on the menu, go to step 4.

      

Set the Wi-Fi switch to On ().

      macOS turns Wi-Fi on.

      

Click Wi-Fi status () on the menu bar.

      The menu opens and displays a list of the wireless networks your MacBook can detect.

       A lock icon () indicates that the network is secured with a password or other security mechanism.

       The signal strength icon () indicates the relative strength of the network’s signal.

Click the network to which you want to connect your MacBook.