Desktop Management and Customization in macOS 11 Big Sur

Name: Desktop Management and Customization in macOS 11 Big Sur
Author: Nizar Dajani

Learn how to manage, organize, and customize the Mac Desktop

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Course: On-Demand

In this lesson, we will customize the desktop. In front of us here, we see a blank desktop, and it's currently using one of the macOS Fixer backgrounds. To change this background, I can right-click anywhere on my desktop and choose Change Desktop Background. This will open the Desktop & Screen Saver window. I will close it for a moment, and access this same window by going to the Apple menu, then System Preferences, then Desktop & Screen Saver, and we are right back to where we were a moment ago. Our first option is to set our background image to an automatic option, or light or dark. The automatic option means that the shade of the background image changes to a lighter shade during the day hours, but then dims down to darker tones during night hours. And this is based on your computer's time settings. If you don't want this dynamic option, you can choose to use the light option, which displays lighter tones, or we can change it to dark, which changes the background image to darker tones. Both light and dark options are non-dynamic options, meaning they are still and they don't change. Then a little down in the window, we see some other background images. This group of images are in the Dynamic Desktop category, and so they can be set up as either Dynamic, Light or Dark. If I click on this background, I can see how it looks by changing between the different options. I also have some other light and dark options I can choose from. And the next background section is the desktop pictures. These don't have light and dark options so they are as is and don't change by the time of day. If you don't want images as your background, you can make it a solid color by clicking on Colors on the left panel. From here, you can pick any of these salt colors or click on the Custom Color Button and have your pick as you like. You can also use the color picker icon, then go to any color on the screen and pick that color. So let's hover over to the red color in the Safari icon, and now our background color is the same red color. You can also make your background from an image in your photos or any image in any other folder of your choosing. Another option we can do is to change the background image every certain time interval. To do so, I will click on one of the main folders like Apple, and then down here, I'll check the box for Change Picture and then set the one option as I please. So if I set it to every five seconds, you can see this change in action. And right now, it's going through these images in order, but you can also randomize it by clicking this option. So now the desktop background is changing every five seconds by going through the images in a random sequence. Now I will revert the desktop background to the normal option that I had at the beginning of this lesson. Next, we have the Screensaver tab. Here, you can customize your screen saver to start after whichever time interval you choose. Then on the left panel, you can pick the screensaver of your choice and it shows up in the Preview window. You can also use a random screen saver just like what we saw with desktop backgrounds. You can also show the clock with a screen saver. And to see your settings in full preview, I'll go up here, then click on Preview. So this is what the screen saver will look like in full mode, and I see the time displayed as well. And to exit, I just move my mouse or click on any key. Then at the bottom of my corner of these settings, we have hot corners. And as this dialogue box shows, we can customize certain tasks to happen when we move our mouse to any of the four corners of our screen. Right now, I'm only using the bottom right corner to display the desktop. This is handy when I have several windows opened, and I want to see my desktop in one easy step. So let me open Safari, and TextEdit, and to access my desktop quickly, I'll move my mouse to the bottom right corner, and now all the apps are pushed away to make way for my desktop. And to return to the other view again, I just click at any edge and I'm back to the windows once again. So back to the Hot Corners dialogue box, I can configure any corner to do any of these options, or I can just do nothing at all. I originally had my top right corner as the option to show the desktop, but I noticed it conflicted with me going to the menu bar icons in the top right corner. So I made my bottom right corner as my hot corner because I rarely ever go there for any functionality. Now, let me close a few things that are opened and have a clean view of my desktop once again. Other things we can customize on the desktop are the folder names and the folder icons. I'll create a new folder on my desktop by right clicking and choosing New Folder. For the name, I can customize the name by using emojis. I'll launch my emojis by going to the Edit menu, then Emojis & Symbols. I'll now change the folder's name to one heart. And to customize the folder icon, I will open the image that I want to use for the folder icon, then I will go to the Edit menu, then copy this image. Then I will right click on the folder that I want to change its icon and go to the Get Info. This window appears, and up here, I will click on the folder icon to select it, then I will go to the edit menu and choose Spaced. And now our folder has a customized icon. Another thing we can also customize in our desktop is the View options. I'll right click anywhere in the desktop and choose Show View Options. From this window, I can customize the size of the folder icon to be bigger or smaller. I can also control the size of the text for the folder's name, as well as place the text to the right of the icon instead of at the bottom. So, in this lesson, we saw multiple ways to customize our desktop, like modifying the background, the colors, and folder icons, as well as the folder names. Thanks for watching.

Beginner Provider : Nizar Dajani 3 Lessons · 21m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

The desktop is the first thing that macOS users see when they sign on to any Mac. And you might have seen desktops filled with files and folders while other desktops that have nothing on them. We will determine which is better, and why?

In this module, you will learn about the desktop. There are best practices for how to use this space on the Mac machine. However, not everyone is aware of them. So, we will learn how to properly use the desktop, how to customize the Desktop, organize files and folders on the desktop, as well as use Workspaces to create multiple desktops on the same screen.

Leveraging the power and benefits of a single and/or multiple desktops is a great skill to master in macOS Big Sur. The desktop is simply one aspect of the OS that can make your computing experience far more productive and efficient.

What You'll Learn

Describe the desktop interface in macOS 11 Big Sur and how it appears when you sign on to a Mac
Recognize the different features of the desktop
Customize the desktop to suit your workflow
Organize files and folders on the desktop using best practices
Explain the concept of Workspaces and create multiple desktops on the same screen

Key Takeaways

The desktop is the first thing macOS users see when they sign on to any Mac, and how it is used can make the computing experience more productive and efficient.
There are best practices for using the desktop space on a Mac that not everyone is aware of, and the module teaches how to properly use, customize, and organize it.
Workspaces let you create multiple desktops on the same screen, and leveraging single and/or multiple desktops is a valuable skill in macOS Big Sur.
The module compares cluttered desktops filled with files and folders against empty ones to determine which approach is better and why.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this module cover?

It covers the macOS 11 Big Sur desktop: the desktop interface and its features, how to customize the desktop, how to organize files and folders on it, and how to use Workspaces to create multiple desktops on the same screen.

What lessons are included?

The module includes three lessons: Customizing the Desktop, Organizing the Desktop, and Workspaces.

What skills will I gain from this course?

You will build skills in Desktop Management, Desktop Environments, the Desktop Management Interface, Desktop Window Management, and Virtual Desktops.

Why is learning to use the desktop worthwhile?

The desktop is one aspect of the OS that can make your computing experience far more productive and efficient, and leveraging single and/or multiple desktops is described as a great skill to master in macOS Big Sur.