![\"\"](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/CatalinaDesktop1280-2-284x185.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIf you haven\u2019t upgraded yet, you may find these Rocket Yard guides helpful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- How to Upgrade Install macOS Catalina<\/a><\/li>
- How to Clean Install macOS Catalina<\/a><\/li>
- How to Use Migration Assistant with macOS Catalina<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
General macOS Catalina Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll start with some of the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finder Sync:<\/strong> Catalina split up iTunes into multiple individual apps that focus on specific media types. The new apps, Music<\/a>, Podcast, and TV, handle their respective media types. But what happened to the file syncing capabilities of iTunes? They\u2019ve been moved over to the Finder, which is a better fit for the task of syncing files between devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
iOS devices you connect to your Mac now show up in the Finder’s sidebar, along with your drives, shared folders, and networked devices. Selecting an iOS device in the sidebar brings up a number of options, including backing up and restoring information on the device, managing how connections are made, and updating software on devices if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll also find the usual syncing options for Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts<\/a>, Audiobooks, Books, Photos, and Files. Each category has its own sync settings you can configure. Using the Finder for media and file syncing appears to be an improvement over the all-in-one iTunes method, and provides plenty of options to manage the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/FinderSync1280-1.jpg\")
The Finder now takes care of syncing, backup, and software updates for connected iOS devices.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n App Tiling:<\/strong> Most apps and their windows support a new window tiling feature in macOS Catalina. Tiling divides your screen in two, with a left-hand and a right-hand side. The currently active window takes up one of the two sides, while other windows are reduced to tiles. The tiles are similar to thumbnails, though a bit bigger, and displayed on the opposite side of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selecting one of the tiled windows will expand the window to fit into one side of the screen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make use of tiles, open an app and hover your cursor over the green traffic light bubble. You\u2019ll see a dropdown menu listing three options: Enter Full Screen, Tile Window to the Left of Screen, and Tile Window to Right of Screen. Make a selection from the menu to activate window tiling for the app. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To exit window tiling, press the Escape key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Catalina](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Tiling1280-1.jpg\")
Window tiling options can be found under the green traffic light.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Apple ID in System Preferences:<\/strong> macOS Catalina moves the management of your Apple ID to its own dedicated system preference. This may not seem like much of an improvement, but with Catalina, you can manage all of your Apple account information from one place. You can review and edit account information, change password and security settings, including enabling two-factor authentication<\/a>, review or change payment methods and shipping information, manage media, and manage purchasing settings used with your account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, you can configure most of the iCloud settings as well as see all the devices associated with your Apple ID.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There may not be anything new in the Apple ID preference pane, but it’s handy having all the information in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
iCloud File Sharing<\/strong>: It took Apple a long time to implement this much wanted feature: the ability to share information in an iCloud drive with others. macOS Catalina lets you share iCloud folders and the information they contain. You control who\u2019s invited to share your information as well as what permissions they have, such as viewing only or the ability to make changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can find out more about iCloud Drive\u2019s new shared folders in the Rocket Yard guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
macOS Catalina Features: iCloud Drive Shared Folders<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Removing iCloud Drive Files<\/strong>: With Catalina, you can delete an iCloud Drive file you have locally on your Mac while keeping the file available on your iCloud Drive. This can be helpful for reducing the amount of storage you\u2019re using on your Mac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Files you remove from your Mac are still shown in your iCloud drive, but with an iCloud icon next to their name. If you need the file, you can click or tap the iCloud icon and the file will be restored to your Mac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To use this feature, open the iCloud Drive folder in a Finder window’s sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right-click the file you wish to remove from your Mac and select Remove Download from the popup menu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The file will be removed from your Mac and an iCloud icon will be placed next to the file\u2019s name to indicate it\u2019s still available in iCloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"You](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/RemoveDownload1280-1.jpg\")
Catalina allows you to remove just the local copy of a file, leaving a copy on
your iCloud Drive.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nmacOS Catalina Mail Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Here are a few tips for macOS Catalina\u2019s Mail app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unsubscribe From an Email List:<\/strong> Email lists can be a good way to keep up to date on a favorite hobby, product, or other topic, but after a while, you may decide the list isn\u2019t quite what you had in mind. It’s at this point you discover that getting off an email list can be a bit of a nuisance. Usually you have to send an unsubscribe email to a specific address, and sometimes figuring out the email address to use, or the format that the unsubscribe request must be in, can be a pain in the patootie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Catalina’s Mail app makes the process of leaving an email list as simple as clicking or tapping a button. Next time you receive an email from the list server, simply open the email; you\u2019ll find an Unsubscribe button in the message\u2019s header. Click or tap the Unsubscribe button and the Mail app will remove you from the email list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mute an Email Thread:<\/strong> Have you ever been on the receiving end of a mass email that went out to everyone and their cousins? Perhaps you just received your company’s announcement of a holiday party, and everyone, and I mean everyone, is using the reply all option. The upshot is, every few minutes you\u2019re receiving notifications of a new email message on a subject you no longer have any interest in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new Mute thread option will turn off notifications for any response to the thread, leaving you in peace. Muting does not delete or prevent the reply to the message from occurring; it just stops the pestering notifications from trying to grab your attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can find the Mute option by selecting the offending email in the message list and right-clicking it. The popup menu will contain the Mute option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Block Sender:<\/strong> You\u2019ve probably already been blocking senders by creating new Mail rules that sends emails that match the rule you created to the trash. This can be effective, but it\u2019s a bit time consuming. With macOS Catalina, Mail gets a new Block Sender option that does all the work for you, moving any message that matches up to the Block List to the trash for you. And you can enable blocking just by clicking the sender\u2019s name and selecting the Block option from the popup menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Mail](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Blocked1000-1.jpg\")
The ability to block senders is a new addition to Mail\u2019s junk mail system.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n There are also a number of blocking options available from Mail\u2019s preferences (look in the Junk Mail tab), including marking a message as blocked, but leaving it in your inbox, or moving blocked messages directly to the trash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Safari Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Safari browser has a few new or improved features. Here are two of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Safari Picture in Picture:<\/strong> Safari has had a picture-in-picture capability<\/a> for some time but its implementation varied, depending on the site you were visiting. Most sites offer a small picture-in-picture icon from the embedded video player\u2019s window. Others, such as YouTube, require you to double right-click to see the option to use picture-in-picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With macOS Catalina, Safari gains a simple way to enter picture-in-picture; just start the video playing, then right-click the speaker icon in Safari’s URL bar. A popup menu will include the option to Enter Picture-in-Picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Selecting the option will pop the video out into its own window, letting you watch the video while you continue browsing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Use](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/PicinPic1280-1.jpg\")
Picture-in-Picture can be entered from the speaker icon in Safari’s URL bar.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n - How to Clean Install macOS Catalina<\/a><\/li>
![\"The](\"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/NoteSharing1000-1.jpg\")