Using Terminal Commands to Unlock Hidden Features on Your Mac

Even without becoming an expert in Apple's terminal app, you can use simple commands to achieve things your Mac won't let you do in any other way. If you're a beginner or just getting used to terminal, Apple Insider has some tips for you now.

Before we begin, I have to warn you that you should be careful with the commands that you enter and you should always make sure to close down terminal when you're done. To open the terminal, go to your Mac's spotlight search at the top right of your screen, type "terminal" and hit enter. I'll be posting all these commands in the video description below so you can easily copy and paste them if you're curious.

One thing you might want to check how long it's been since you've last restarted or shut down your Mac. To do this with a simple command, just type "uptime" into the terminal and hit enter. You can see that my Mac hasn't been rebooted in 11 days, one hour in one minute now. This is honestly quite a while, and it may be a good hint that I should reboot the system to clear the memory and start it up fresh.

We've all been there when we're trying to download a large file from the internet like a game for example, but our computer ends up going to sleep and pausing or canceling the download. Yes, you can go into your energy saver preferences and prevent it from going asleep, but then there's the chance you'll forget to switch it back and you'll end up with the dead battery on your Macbook. Well, there's a simple terminal command for that. Just type "caffeinate" and your Mac will stay on as long as the terminal stays open.

Now, what if you're going to bed and you have a download that has only two hours left before it's finished? You can actually set a timer to the caffeinate command just by adding "-T" and then the number of seconds you want it to stay enabled. 3,600 seconds equals one hour, so if you want the Mac to stay on for three hours to make sure the download finishes, type in "10,800". Your Mac won't go to sleep for three hours to end early. Just close the terminal.

Sometimes your Mac can freeze and crash or just lose power for a split second during a storm. There's a terminal command that will automatically start your Mac back up again. Enter this command, and you'll find it in the video description. You'll then be asked to answer your Mac's password, but once you've entered it, you'll never have to use this command again.

One thing I love about using a Mac is how easy it is to take a high-quality screenshot. To do this, hold Shift + Command and tap 3-2 or the whole screen. You can select an area to screenshot by tapping for instead of the whole screen, and then you can select a whole window by tapping space. Screenshot save as a PNG file by default, and there's actually a way to make them always be saved in various formats like JPEG, TIFF, BMP, or even photo shops PSD. Simply type in this command in screenshots will now save in another format just switch out the format at the end with the one you want using a format like jpg can help save storage if you take a lot of screenshots.

You can also quickly and easily change the default name of your screenshots if you want to stay organized while taking screenshots for a specific project. Simply enter this command into the terminal just switch out the words at the end with whatever you want but make sure they're within quotation marks. Now, every time you take a screenshot, they'll be titled with whatever you want before the next project.

There are just a few simple terminal commands that allow you to do things you otherwise wouldn't be able to do without it. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on more videos like this one and we'll see you in the next one. If you enjoy this video, like it and hit that subscribe button also check out a price guide which makes it extremely easy to find the best deals and Apple products updated daily be sure to follow us on social media and we'll see you in the next video.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eneven without becoming an expert in Apple's terminal app you can use simple commands to achieve things your Mac won't let you do in any other way if you're a beginner or just getting used to terminal Apple Insider has some tips for you now before we begin I have to warn you that you should be careful with the commands that you enter and you should always make sure to close down terminal when you're done to open the terminal open spotlight search at the top right of your screen type terminal and hit enter I'll be posting all these commands in the video description below so you can easily copy and paste them if you're curious how long it's been since you've last restarted or shut down your Mac you can do so with the simple command just type uptime into the terminal and hit enter you can see that my Mac hasn't been rebooted in 11 days one hour in one minute now that's honestly quite a while and it may be a good hint that I should reboot the system to clear the memory and start it up fresh we've all been there when we're trying to download a large file from the internet like a game for example but our computer ends up going to sleep and pausing or canceling the download yes you can go into your energy saver preferences and prevent it from going asleep but then there's the chance you'll forget to switch it back and you'll end up with the dead battery on your macbook well there's a simple terminal command for that just type caffeinate and your Mac will stay on as long as the terminal stays open now what if you're going to bed and you have a download that has only two hours left before it's finished you can actually set a timer to the caffeinate command just add - T and then the number of seconds you want it to stay enabled 3,600 seconds equals one hour so if you want the Mac to stay on for three hours to make sure the download finishes type in ten thousand eight hundred now your Mac won't go to sleep for three hours to end early just close the terminal sometimes your Mac can freeze and crash or just lose power for a split second during a storm there's a terminal command that will automatically start your Mac back up again in terminal enter this command again you'll find it in the video description you'll then be asked to answer your Mac's password but once you've entered it you'll never have to use this command again one thing I love about using a Mac is how easy it is to take a high-quality screenshot hold Shift + command and tap 3/2 screenshot the whole screen tap for instead and you can select an area to screenshot tap for and then tap space and you can select a whole window screenshot save as a PNG file by default and there's actually a way to make them always be saved in various formats like JPEG TIFF BMP PDF and even photo shops PSD simply type in this command in screenshots will now save in another format just switch out the format at the end with the one you want using a format like jpg can help save storage if you take a lot of screenshots you can also quickly and easily change the default name of the screenshots if you want to stay organized while taking screenshots for a specific project simply enter this command into the terminal just switch out the words at the end with whatever you want but make sure they're within quotation marks now every time you take a screenshot they'll be titled with whatever you want before the next project use the command to switch the title again all right there you go guys there are just a few simple terminal commands that allow you to do things you otherwise wouldn't be able to do without it make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on more videos like this one and we'll see you in the next one if you enjoy this video like it and hit that subscribe button also check out a price guide which makes it extremely easy to find the best deals and Apple products updated daily be sure to follow us on social media and we'll see you in the next videoeven without becoming an expert in Apple's terminal app you can use simple commands to achieve things your Mac won't let you do in any other way if you're a beginner or just getting used to terminal Apple Insider has some tips for you now before we begin I have to warn you that you should be careful with the commands that you enter and you should always make sure to close down terminal when you're done to open the terminal open spotlight search at the top right of your screen type terminal and hit enter I'll be posting all these commands in the video description below so you can easily copy and paste them if you're curious how long it's been since you've last restarted or shut down your Mac you can do so with the simple command just type uptime into the terminal and hit enter you can see that my Mac hasn't been rebooted in 11 days one hour in one minute now that's honestly quite a while and it may be a good hint that I should reboot the system to clear the memory and start it up fresh we've all been there when we're trying to download a large file from the internet like a game for example but our computer ends up going to sleep and pausing or canceling the download yes you can go into your energy saver preferences and prevent it from going asleep but then there's the chance you'll forget to switch it back and you'll end up with the dead battery on your macbook well there's a simple terminal command for that just type caffeinate and your Mac will stay on as long as the terminal stays open now what if you're going to bed and you have a download that has only two hours left before it's finished you can actually set a timer to the caffeinate command just add - T and then the number of seconds you want it to stay enabled 3,600 seconds equals one hour so if you want the Mac to stay on for three hours to make sure the download finishes type in ten thousand eight hundred now your Mac won't go to sleep for three hours to end early just close the terminal sometimes your Mac can freeze and crash or just lose power for a split second during a storm there's a terminal command that will automatically start your Mac back up again in terminal enter this command again you'll find it in the video description you'll then be asked to answer your Mac's password but once you've entered it you'll never have to use this command again one thing I love about using a Mac is how easy it is to take a high-quality screenshot hold Shift + command and tap 3/2 screenshot the whole screen tap for instead and you can select an area to screenshot tap for and then tap space and you can select a whole window screenshot save as a PNG file by default and there's actually a way to make them always be saved in various formats like JPEG TIFF BMP PDF and even photo shops PSD simply type in this command in screenshots will now save in another format just switch out the format at the end with the one you want using a format like jpg can help save storage if you take a lot of screenshots you can also quickly and easily change the default name of the screenshots if you want to stay organized while taking screenshots for a specific project simply enter this command into the terminal just switch out the words at the end with whatever you want but make sure they're within quotation marks now every time you take a screenshot they'll be titled with whatever you want before the next project use the command to switch the title again all right there you go guys there are just a few simple terminal commands that allow you to do things you otherwise wouldn't be able to do without it make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out on more videos like this one and we'll see you in the next one if you enjoy this video like it and hit that subscribe button also check out a price guide which makes it extremely easy to find the best deals and Apple products updated daily be sure to follow us on social media and we'll see you in the next video\n"