OS X 10.11 Settings

OS X Settings

OS X 10.11 Settings

Introduction

Here are some of my OS X 10.11 El Capitan settings and preferences. See also: Operating Systems, BIOS Settings, Device Settings, System Info, Installation Order.

OS X 10.11 El Capitan Settings

System Preferences

General

Appearance: [Blue]

[ ] Use dark menu bar and Dock (works with Adobe Flash Professional and Steam)

Highlight color: [Blue]

Sidebar icon size: [Medium]

Show scroll bars: (*) Automatically based on mouse or trackpad (or (*) Always)

Click in the scroll bar to: (*) Jump to the next page

Default web browser: [Google Chrome.app]

[x] Ask to keep changes when closing documents

[x] Close windows when quitting an app

Recent items: [10] Documents, Apps, and Servers

[x] Use LCD font smoothing when available

Desktop & Screen Saver

Desktop

Apple: Desktop Pictures: Galaxy (Finder Sidebar looks better with "Galaxy" than with "Aurora", because I don't like a violet Finder Sidebar)

Apple: Nature: Aurora (this default desktop background for Snow Leopard makes the Finder Sidebar look violet, which I don't like)

Apple: Solid Colors: "Solid Mint" or "Solid Gray Light"

Screen Saver

Screen Savers: Message

[Screen Saver Options...]

Message: [Mac]

Start after: Never (setting "1 Hour" is too soon)

[ ] Show with clock

[Hot Corners...]

Top Left Corner: [Start Screen Saver]

Dock

Size: 4/10

[ ] Magnification: approximately 8/10

Position on screen: (*) Left

Minimize windows using: [Scale effect]

[ ] Double-click a window's title bar to [zoom]

[ ] Minimize windows into application icon

[x] Animate opening applications

[x] Automatically hide and show the Dock

[x] Show indicators for open applications

Mission Control

[x] Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use

[x] When switching to an application, switch to a Space with open windows for the application

[ ] Group windows by application

[x] Displays have separate Spaces

Dashboard: [Off] (check that this is disabled after upgrading the operating system)

Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts

Mission Control: I don't need this (default: Control + Up Key)

Application windows: I don't need this (default: Control + Down Key)

Show Desktop: F11

Show Dashboard: F12

Language & Region

Preferred languages

Comments: to change the operating system interface language, drag preferred language to the top (for example English or Suomi).

English

Suomi

Svenska

Deutsch

Region: [Finland (Custom)]

First day of week: [Monday]

Calendar: [Gregorian]

Time Format: [x] 24-Hour Time

List sort order: [Universal]

Advanced...

General

Format language: [English]

Number separators: Grouping: [ ] Decimal [,]

Currency: [Euro (€)]

Grouping: [ ] Decimal [,]

Measurement units: Metric

Dates

Short: 05 01 15

Medium: 05 Jan 2015

Long: 5 Jan 2015 (Jan instead of January)

Full: Monday 5 January 2015

Times

Short: 23 : 55

Medium: 23 : 55 (seconds removed)

Long: 23 : 55 : 55 GMT+2

Full: 23 h 55 min 55 s GMT+02:00

Security & Privacy

General

[x] Require password [5 seconds] after sleep or screen saver begings

[x] Disable automatic login

Allow applications downloaded from:

(*) Anywhere

FileVault

Turned on

Firewall

Firewall: On

[Firewall Options...]

(Applications)

x means "Allow incoming connections", otherwise it's "Block incoming connections".

[x] Adium.app

[x] FaceTime.app

[ ] Final Cut Pro.app

[ ] Finder.app

[x] GoogleTalkPlugin.app

[x] GrowlHelperApp.app

[ ] iTunes (I don't share my music or videos on LAN)

[ ] Pinball HD.app (strange)

[ ] Safari (I shouldn't need to enable Safari, because other browsers are not listed here either)

[x] Spotify.app

[x] Steam.app

[ ] VLC.app

[ ] Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections (disabling this may help with socketfilterfw bug)

[x] Enable stealth mode ("Don't respond to or acknowledge attempts to access this computer from the network by test applications using ICMP, such as Ping.")

Privacy

Location Services

[x] Enable Location Services

[x] Safari.app

Contacts

[ ] Color.app

[ ] SeaMonkey.app

[ ] Thunderbird.app

Diagnostics & Usage

[x] Send diagnostic & usage data to Apple

[x] Share crash data with app developers

Spotlight

Search Results

[x] Spotlight Suggestions

[x] Documents

[x] Folders

[x] PDF Documents

[x] Spreadsheets

[x] Presentations

[x] Images

[x] Music

[x] Movies

[x] Applications

[x] Other

[x] Developer

[ ] Conversion

[ ] Calculator

[ ] Definition

[ ] Mail & Messages

[ ] Contacts

[ ] Events & Reminders

[ ] System Preferences (unnecessary)

[ ] Fonts

[ ] Bing Web Searches

[ ] Allow Spotlight Suggestions in Spotlight and Look up

Privacy

Prevent Spotlight from searching these locations

Constant indexing

If you find constant indexing sounds annoying, you can drag all your hard drives to this window.

You can use the "minus" button for your hard drives, when you need to find something. Re-indexing may take only about 10 minutes if you have made many rules, like below.

Privacy List Error

If you get "(Privacy List Error) The item couldn't be added or removed because of an unknown error", drag all your hard drives to this window, and then add or remove folders.

mdutil

man mdutil

Location of index files

sudo du -m /.Spotlight-V100

1 /.Spotlight-V100/Store-V1

0 /.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2

1 /.Spotlight-V100

Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support ("Are you sure you want to prevent Spotlight...")

Macintosh HD/Library/Audio

Macintosh HD/Library/Automator

Macintosh HD/Library/Caches

Macintosh HD/Library/Developer

Macintosh HD/Library/Dictionaries

Macintosh HD/Library/Extensions

Macintosh HD/Library/Fonts

Macintosh HD/Library/Fonts Disabled

Macintosh HD/Library/Frameworks

Macintosh HD/Library/Google

Macintosh HD/Library/Image Capture

Macintosh HD/Library/Internet Plug-Ins

Macintosh HD/Library/iTunes

Macintosh HD/Library/Java

Macintosh HD/Library/Keychains

Macintosh HD/Library/LaunchAgents

Macintosh HD/Library/LaunchDaemons

Macintosh HD/Library/Logs

Macintosh HD/Library/Messages

Macintosh HD/Library/Modem Scripts

Macintosh HD/Library/Perl

Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences

Macintosh HD/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools

Macintosh HD/Library/Python

Macintosh HD/Library/QuickTime

Macintosh HD/Library/Ruby

Macintosh HD/Library/Scripts

Macintosh HD/Library/StartupItems

Macintosh HD/Library/Tcl

Macintosh HD/Library/Updates

Macintosh HD/Library/Video

Macintosh HD/Library/Widgets

Tip: make /opt directory visible, so you can select it: chflags nohidden /opt/

Macintosh HD/opt/local/var/cache

Macintosh HD/opt/X11/var/cache

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Accounts

Macintosh HD/System/Library/CacheDelete

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Caches

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Extensions

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Frameworks

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Java

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Kernels

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Keychains

Macintosh HD/System/Library/LaunchAgents

Macintosh HD/System/Library/LaunchDaemons

Macintosh HD/System/Library/LinguisticData

Macintosh HD/System/Library/LoginPlugins

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Messages

Macintosh HD/System/Library/OpenSSL

Macintosh HD/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks

Macintosh HD/System/Library/QuickTime

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Receipts

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Services

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Sounds

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Spotlight

Macintosh HD/System/Library/StagedFrameworks

Macintosh HD/System/Library/StartupItems

Macintosh HD/System/Library/SyncServices

Macintosh HD/System/Library/SystemConfiguration

Macintosh HD/System/Library/SystemProfiler

Macintosh HD/System/Library/Tcl

Macintosh HD/System/Library/TextEncodings

Macintosh HD/System/Library/UserEventPlugins

Macintosh HD/System/Library/WidgetResources

Macintosh HD/Users/Shared/Unity

Users/tomihasa/android-sdks

Users/tomihasa/AndroidStudioProjects

Users/tomihasa/git

Users/tomihasa/Jagex

Users/tomihasa/Downloads

Tip: make ~/Library directory visible, so you can select it: chflags nohidden ~/Library/

Users/tomihasa/Library/Accounts

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Adobe

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/AndroidStudio[version]

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/App Store

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Atom

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/com.operasoftware.Opera

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Studio

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Firefox

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/GIMP

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Google

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/iCloud

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Java

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Microsoft

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Mozilla

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/NetBeans

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Oracle

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/SeaMonkey

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Skype

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/appcache

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/config

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/depotcache

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/logs

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/music

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/Steam.AppBundle

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/downloading

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/sourcemods

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/temp

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/workshop

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 2

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Telltale Games

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/TextWrangler

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Unity

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Unity Technologies

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Unity.<game name>

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/VLC

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Xcode

Users/tomihasa/Library/Application Support/Xtorrent

Users/tomihasa/Library/Caches

Users/tomihasa/Library/Cookies

Users/tomihasa/Library/Dictionaries

Users/tomihasa/Library/Frameworks

Users/tomihasa/Library/Google

Users/tomihasa/Library/IdentityServices

Users/tomihasa/Library/iMovie

Users/tomihasa/Library/Internet Plug-Ins (Adobe PDF, Java, Silverlight)

Users/tomihasa/Library/iTunes

Users/tomihasa/Library/Keychains

Users/tomihasa/Library/Logs

Users/tomihasa/Library/Messages

Users/tomihasa/Library/MonoDevelop-Unity-5.0

Users/tomihasa/Library/Mozilla

Users/tomihasa/Library/Preferences

Users/tomihasa/Library/Safari

Users/tomihasa/Library/Saved Application State

Users/tomihasa/Library/Spelling

Users/tomihasa/Library/Suggestions

Users/tomihasa/Library/TextWrangler

Users/tomihasa/Library/Thunderbird

Users/tomihasa/Library/Unity

Users/tomihasa/Library/Voices

Users/tomihasa/Music/Audio Music Apps

Users/tomihasa/Pictures/iPod Photo Cache

Users/tomihasa/work/bin

Disc 2/Audacity Projects

Disc 2/Backups

Disc 2/Final Cut Pro Documents

Disc 2/Media

Disc 2/Torrent Complete

Disc 2/Torrent Incomplete

Disc 2/Torrent Index

Disc 2/Unity

In Finder search for all programming books and drag & drop all of them to "System Preferences, Spotlight, Privacy" window, because the programming examples contain cache and other unnecessary files.

In Finder search for _Arkisto (name for your own archive folder) and drag & drop all of them to "System Preferences, Spotlight, Privacy" window.

This can cause problems (avoid): In Finder you can search for Contents and drag & drop all of them to "System Preferences, Spotlight, Privacy" window.

Drag & drop from "Applications: <Application>: Package Contents" to the "System Preferences, Spotlight, Privacy" window:

(Right-click an app and select "Show Package Contents":)

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.app, Contents

Android Studio.app, Contents

App Store.app, Contents

Aquamacs.app, Contents

Atom.app, Contents

Cyberduck.app, Contents

Dashboard.app, Contents

Final Cut Pro.app, Contents

Firefox.app, Contents

GIMP.app, Contents

Google Chrome.app, Contents

iBooks.app, Contents

iTunes.app, Contents

Launchpad.app, Contents

LibreOffice.app, Contents

Mail.app, Contents

Maps.app, Contents

Messages.app, Contents

Microsoft Office 2011.app

Additional Tools

Office

Microsoft Silverlight, Show Original (this is already in /Library/Internet Plug-Ins)

Notes.app, Contents

Opera.app, Contents

Photos.app, Contents

Picasa.app, Contents

Preview.app, Contents

QuickTime Player.app, Contents

Reminders.app, Contents

Safari.app, Contents

Smart Switch

Smart Switch.app, Contents

Steam.app, Contents

System Preferences.app, Contents

TextEdit.app, Contents

TextWrangler.app, Contents

Time Machine.app, Contents

Utilities

Acticity Monitor.app, Contents

Bluetooth File Exchange.app, Contents

Console.app, Contents

Keychain Access.app, Contents

System Information.app, Contents

Terminal.app, Contents

X11.app, Contents

VLC.app, Contents

WinZip.app, Contents

Xcode.app, Contents

Drag & drop from the below folders to the "System Preferences, Spotlight, Privacy" window:

(Right-click an app and select "Show Package Contents":)

Users/tomihasa/Applications/<choose app>

Users/tomihasa/Applications/Chrome Apps

Tip: rename a folder by adding ".noindex" (without quotes) to the end of the name, so it will not get indexed (info).

Notifications

Do Not Disturb

[ ] From 23:00 to: 07:00

[x] When the display is sleeping

[x] When mirroring to TVs and projectors

(Application list)

Calendar

Alert style: Alerts (Alerts won't disappear, Banners will)

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[x] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Messages

Alert style: Alerts

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[x] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Reminders

Alert style: Alerts

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[x] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

FaceTime (in case I get contacted with this app)

Alert style: Alerts

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[x] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Adium (in case I get contacted with this app)

Alert style: Alerts

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Firefox (Firefox has working RSS feeds)

Alert style: Banners

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Google Chrome (a website may try to send a notification, but the browser has the final say)

Alert style: Banners

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Skype (instant messaging)

Alert style: Banners

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[x] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Colloquy (IRC)

Alert style: Alerts

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Creative Cloud (Adobe Flash Professional, etc.)

Alert style: None

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Game Center

Alert style: None

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Mail

Alert style: None

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

iTunes

Alert style: None

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Cyberduck

Alert style: None

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

TextWrangler

Alert style: None

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[ ] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

Safari

Alert style: Banners (social media)

[ ] Show notifications on lock screen

[x] Show in Notification Center: [5 Recent Items]

[x] Badge app icon

[x] Play sound for notifications

CDs & DVDs

When you insert a blank CD: [Ask what to do]

When you insert a blank DVD: [Ask what to do]

When you insert a music CD: [Ignore]

When you insert a picture CD: [Ignore]

When you insert a video DVD: [Open DVD Player]

Displays

HP ZR24w

Resolution: (*) Best for display (1920 x 1200)

MacBook Pro 15.4" Antiglare

Resolutions: 1680 x 1050

Brightness: approx. 4/10

[ ] Automatically adjust brightness

Energy Saver

Comment

Energy Saver does not make computer sleep if there are unfinished print jobs in "EPSON AL-CX11.app"

Battery (MacBook Pro)

Computer sleep: 1 h 30 minutes

Display sleep: 1 hour

[x] Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible

[ ] Slightly dim the display when using this power source

[x] Automatically reduce brightness before display goes to sleep

[ ] Restart automatically if the computer freezes

[x] Show battery status in the menu bar

Power Adapter

Computer sleep: Never

Display sleep: 1 hour

[ ] Put the hard disks to sleep when possible (disable for Mac Pro, Enable for MacBook Pro)

[ ] Wake for Ethernet access (Mac Pro once turned on when waking was on)

[x] Allow power button to put the computer to sleep (Mac Pro)

[ ] Start up automatically after a power failure (Mac Pro)

Keyboard

Keyboard

Key Repeat Rate: 5/7

Delay Until Repeat: 4/6

[ ] Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys

[x] Adjust keyboard brightness in low light (MacBook Pro)

Text

[ ] Correct spelling automatically

Spelling: [Suomi (Voikko)] (or: Automatic by Language)

[ ] Use smart quotes and dashes

for Double Quotes: ["abc"]

for Single Quotes: ['abc']

Shortcuts

Screen Shots

[x] Save picture of screen as a file

[x] Copy picture of screen to the clipboard

[x] Save picture of selected area as a file

[x] Copy picture of selected area to the clipboard

Mouse (Logitech Notebook Optical Mouse Plus+)

[ ] Move content in the direction of finger movement when scrolling or navigating

Tracking Speed: approx. 8/10

Scrolling Speed: 8/8 (Mac Pro: 8/8, MacBook Pro: 6/8)

Double-Click Speed: 9/11

Primary mouse button: (*) Left

Trackpad

Point & Click

[ ] Look up & data detectors

[x] Secondary click: [Click in bottom right corner]

[x] Tap to click

Tracking speed: 4/10

Scroll & Zoom

[ ] Scroll direction: natural

[x] Zoom in or out

[x] Smart zoom

[ ] Rotate

More Gestures

[ ] Swipe between pages (not wise when editing a page (Google Sites), blog post or forum post)

[x] Swipe between full-screen apps

[ ] Notification Center

[ ] Mission Control

[ ] App Exposé

[ ] Launchpad

[x] Show Desktop

Printers & Scanners

[ ] Share this printer on the network

Default printer: [EPSON AL-CX11]

Default paper size: [A4]

Sound

Sound Effects

Play sound effects through: [Digital Out] (MacBook Pro: Internal Speakers)

Alert volume: 4/4 (I can hear Facebook notifications about posts in Facebook Groups in Firefox and Safari)

[ ] Play user interface sound effects

[ ] Play feedback when volume is changed

[x] Show volume in menu bar

Output

Digital Out (Mac Pro)

Internal Speakers (MacBook Pro)

Input

Line In (Mac Pro)

Internal microphone (MacBook Pro)

[x] Use ambient noise reduction (MacBook Pro)

iCloud

[ ] Photos (This might be enabled! See all the options here! The minus sign "-" in the box [-] before "Photos" may lead you to thinking your photos are not in the iCloud, but they might be!)

[ ] Keychain (why would I want to save my passwords on a remote server?)

[x] Find My Mac (MacBook Pro, WiFi required)

Internet Accounts

iCloud

Gmail

Network

Mac Pro: Static IP Address (with ASUS DSL-N55U, 6/2014)

Configure IPv4: [Using DHCP] Comment: ASUS DSL-N55U manual recommends DHCP setting instead of a manual address.

Comment: this was changed to "Using DHCP" maybe because I switched from ZyXEL to ASUS.

IP Address: [192.168.1.46]

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Router: 192.168.1.1

DNS Server: 109.204.194.2, 109.204.194.3

Comment: DNS server was changed to "198.168.1.1" maybe because I switched from ZyXEL to ASUS.

Bluetooth

Comment: you need to enable "Bluetooth Sharing" also for download/upload between devices. You do not need to enable "File Sharing".

Mac Pro and MacBook Pro: sending file does not work, but browsing Public folder (from Bluetooth menu) does work.

Does not work with: iPod Touch 3rd gen. with iOS 5 (additional app needed: try Intuitive Commander using WiFi) (11/2012), HTC HD7 with Windows Phone 7.5 (11/2012).

Works with: Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, both ways, from Xperia's Album app to Mac Pro: about 100 - 200 KB/s (12/2012), Nokia Asha 300 (11/2012).

Tip: See also Sharing settings: Bluetooth Sharing.

Tip: Use "+" only on one Mac computer to start discovering a Bluetooth device.

Tip: Use cogwheel icon: "Show More Info".

Tip: Android: ColorNote: open a document in ColorNote, "Send", "Bluetooth", "Choose Bluetooth device". The "Choose Bluetooth device" list might be empty first, so switch to another app and switch back to ColorNote.

[x] On (Mac may wake up from sleep if this is turned on)

[x] Discoverable (disabled after I have setup my Bluetooth devices)

[x] Show Bluetooth status in the menu bar (there you can see "Send File" and "Browse Device")

Advanced...

[ ] Open Bluetooth Setup Assistant at startup when no input device is present (enabled for Mac Mini)

[ ] Open Bluetooth Setup Assistant at startup if no mouse or trackpad is detected (enabled for Mac Mini)

[ ] Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer (enabled for Mac Mini)

[ ] Reject incoming audio requests

Sharing

[ ] DVD or CD Sharing

Note: this is for local network.

[ ] Screen Sharing

Note: this is for VNC.

[ ] File Sharing (not necessary for Bluetooth sharing)

Note: this is for local network.

Finder: Preferences: Connected servers.

Works with ZyXEL P-2812HNU-F1 when Mac Pro is on LAN on MacBook Pro is on WLAN (4/2013).

[ ] Printer Sharing

Note: this is for local network.

[ ] Remote Login

Note: using SSH.

[ ] Remote Management

Note: using Apple Remote Desktop.

[ ] Remote Apple Events

[ ] Internet Sharing

Note: share your Internet connection with other computers.

[x] Bluetooth Sharing (you can leave this on, because you only turn on Bluetooth when in use and may not remember to turn on "Bluetooth Sharing" every time Bluetooth is enabled)

When receiving items: [Accept and Save] (saves time when you don't need to response to each file individually with a trusted device)

[x] Require pairing

Folder for accepted items: [Downloads]

When other devices browse: [Ask What to Do]

[x] Require pairing

Folder others can browse: [Public]

Users & Groups

Current User

Password tab

[Change Password...]

Contacts Card: [Open...]

[ ] Allow user to reset password using Apple ID

[x] Allow user to administer this computer

[ ] Enable parental controls [Open Parental Controls...]

Login Items tab

(Uncheck an item when it is not in use (or even remove it). "Python path" should be fine as it is only a script.)

[ ] iTunesHelper

[x] _PythonPath

[ ] AdobeResourceSynchronizer

[ ] fuspredownloader (Samsung Kies; not needed, because I have Samsung Smartswitch)

Guest User

(not in use)

Login Options

Automatic login: [Off]

Display login window as: (*) List of users

[x] Show the Sleep, Restart, and Shut Down buttons

[ ] Show Input menu in login window

[ ] Show password hints

[ ] Show fast user switching menu as [Full Name]

[ ] Use VoiceOver in the login window

Network Account Server: [Join...]

Parental Controls

(not in use)

App Store

[x] Automatically check for updates (Not with mobile connection, because updates can take over 1 Mbps of bandwidth and accessing even email can be laggy.)

[ ] Download newly available updates in the background (With this option off Mac Pro's hard drive might be less noisy.)

[x] Install system data files and security updates

[Check Now]

Date & Time

Date & Time

[x] Set date and time automatically: [Apple Europe (time.euro.apple.com)]

Time Zone

Time Zone: Eastern European Summer Time

Closest City: [Tampere - Finland]

Clock

[x] Show date and time in menu bar

Time options:

(*) Digital

[x] Use a 24-hour clock

Date options:

[x] Show the day of the week

[x] Show date

Accessibility

Display

[x] Reduce transparency (Depends. Try using this setting with a solid color Desktop background. People have noticed less GPU usage with this disabled.)

Finder

View

Customize Toolbar

Back/Forward, Path (all I ever use is these two "button groups", this way I get more space for Spotlight search box on MacBook Pro)

Preferences

General

Show these items on the desktop:

[ ] Hard disks

[x] External disks

[x] CDs, DVDs, and iPods

[ ] Connected servers

New Finder windows show:

[Desktop] ("All My Files" is like a Spotlight search, which is slower)

[ ] Open folders in tabs instead of new windows

[x] Spring-loaded folders and windows

Sidebar

[ ] All My Files

[ ] iCloud Drive

[ ] Applications (I use the Applications shortcut instead)

[x] Desktop

[ ] Documents (I use the Documents shortcut instead)

[x] Downloads (I use the Downloads shortcut instead)

[ ] Movies (I don't watch local movies)

[ ] Music (I use iTunes to play/search for music)

[ ] Pictures (I visit my image folders instead)

[ ] tomihasa

[ ] Back to My Mac

[ ] Connected servers

[ ] Bonjour computers

[ ] Tomi's Mac Pro

[x] Hard disks

[x] External disks

[x] CDs, DVDs, and iPods

Launchpad

See Launchpad Settings

Dock: icons

Finder

Google Chrome

TextWrangler

Network Utility

Launchpad

Terminal

---

Documents (drag and drop an alias to Dock) (do not right-click Desktop icon on Finder's Sidebar and choose "Add to Dock")

Applications

Muistiinpanoja (drag and drop an alias to Dock)

Desktop (right-click Desktop icon on Finder's Sidebar and choose "Add to Dock") (do not drag and drop an alias to Dock: this icon gets broken)

Downloads (right-click Desktop icon on Finder's Sidebar and choose "Add to Dock") (do not drag and drop an alias to Dock: this icon gets broken)

Dock: reduce transparency

See System Preferences, Accessibility, Display (Reduce transparency)

Show Network Utility on Dock

See Networking Application Settings

Show hidden files

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

killall Finder

Unhide a certain folder

chflags nohidden ~/Library/

Last modified: March 17th, 2020

Author: Tomi Häsä (tomi.hasa@gmail.com)

URL: http://sites.google.com/site/tomihasa/os-x-10-11-settings