A complete guide to essential initial settings and useful shortcuts for MacBook beginners.

To get comfortable on a new MacBook quickly, adjust a handful of settings (trackpad, battery percentage, display space and Dock) and learn the shortcuts built around the Command (⌘) key. If you are buying your first MacBook or returning to the Mac after a long time, the interface and controls can feel quite different from Windows, from Korean-English switching to the trackpad. With proper initial setup and a few key shortcuts, you will soon be able to enjoy the convenience and productivity the MacBook is known for. This post summarizes the essential initial settings and the most useful shortcuts used in practice.

1. Which settings should you change first on a new MacBook?

Start with the trackpad, battery percentage, display resolution and Dock. The MacBook is great with default settings, but changing a few options to suit your taste creates a much more comfortable environment. Check the following items in System Settings.

Optimizing Trackpad Settings

The MacBook's precise trackpad is one of its biggest advantages, sophisticated enough to eliminate the need for a mouse. We recommend going to System Settings > Trackpad and enabling the following features:

• Tap to click: Set to click with a light tap rather than a firm press. Greatly reduces finger fatigue.
• Natural scrolling: As if you were scrolling through a smartphone screen, when you raise your finger, the screen goes down, and when you lower your finger, the screen goes up. It may be awkward at first because it is the opposite of the Windows mouse wheel, but you will quickly get used to it.
• Three-finger dragging: This feature is hidden in the Accessibility > Pointer Controls > Trackpad options. It is very convenient to move a window or select text by simply swiping with three fingers rather than holding down the trackpad.

How do you show the battery percentage (%)?

Turn on 'Show percentage' under the 'Battery' option in System Settings > Control Center (in the menu bar section). With only the battery icon in the menu bar, it is difficult to judge the exact amount remaining. Showing the percentage helps you avoid the power cutting out mid-task because the battery ran low.

Display resolution and spacing adjustments

The Retina display is very sharp, but screen real estate can feel a bit tight at its default resolution. If you change the resolution to 'More Space' in System Settings > Display, text gets slightly smaller, but you can keep more windows open on one screen, which is advantageous for multitasking.

Change Dock location and size

The Dock, the collection of app icons located by default at the bottom of the screen, takes up quite a bit of space. In System Settings > Desktop & Dock, try reducing its size or moving it to the left or right. On a 13-inch or 14-inch MacBook in particular, we recommend hiding the Dock or moving it to the side to gain a little more vertical space.

2. Which MacBook shortcuts should you learn first?

Learn the shortcuts built on the Command (⌘) key, which plays the role of the Control (Ctrl) key in Windows. It is no exaggeration to say that MacBook productivity comes from using shortcut keys.

Text editing and basic operation shortcuts

• Command(⌘) + C / Command(⌘) + V: The most basic copy and paste. Use the Command key instead of Windows' Ctrl key.
• Command(⌘) + X: Cut.
• Command(⌘) + Z / Command(⌘) + Shift(⇧) + Z: Undo and redo. This is essential when writing documents or working on designs.
• Command(⌘) + A: Selects all.
• Command(⌘) + F: Find text within a document or web page.

Window management and system shortcuts

• Command(⌘) + Space: Opens the Spotlight search box. From launching apps, searching files, making simple calculations, and even converting currency rates, you can do almost everything here.
• Command(⌘) + Tab: Used to quickly switch between currently running apps. Hold Command and press Tab repeatedly to move to the next app.
• Command(⌘) + W: Closes the currently active window. (This does not completely quit the app itself)
• Command(⌘) + Q: Completely quits the currently running app. This prevents it from taking up resources unnecessarily in the background.
• Command(⌘) + M: Minimizes the current window and sends it to the Dock.

How do you switch languages and type emoji on a Mac?

• Korean/English Switching: In the latest macOS, the default setting is to briefly press the 'Caps Lock' key to switch between Korean and English. The old method of 'Control(⌃) + Space' is still widely used.
• Emoji (emoticon) input: Press 'Control(⌃) + Command(⌘) + Space' and the emoji and symbol input window will pop up.
• Special characters and Chinese character conversion: When you enter a Korean consonant and press 'Option(⌥) + Return(Enter)', a special character table similar to pressing the Windows Chinese character key will appear.

3. Which built-in Mac apps are worth using?

Preview, the screenshot tools, Notes and Reminders cover most everyday tasks without installing any separate programs.

The power of the Preview app

The 'Preview' app that opens by default when you view a PDF or image on your Mac is not just a viewer. It offers quite powerful editing features, including resizing and cropping images, color correction, adding signatures to PDFs, merging and extracting pages, and more.

How do you take a screenshot or record the screen on a Mac?

The Mac's capture shortcuts are much more intuitive than Windows' Snipping Tool.

• Command(⌘) + Shift(⇧) + 3: Captures the entire screen and saves it on the desktop.
• Command(⌘) + Shift(⇧) + 4: The mouse cursor turns into a crosshair, and you can partially capture the desired area by dragging it.
• Command(⌘) + Shift(⇧) + 5: The capture options menu will appear, and you can use the full screen recording or selective recording function.

Notes and Reminders

The MacBook's built-in Notes and Reminders apps sync with the iPhone and iPad in real time; the strength of Apple's ecosystem comes from this interoperability. You can record and check ideas or today's tasks right away on any device, which is a great help for work efficiency.

Conclusion

Adapting to an environment different from Windows can take some time at first. However, if you apply the settings introduced here and learn the shortcuts one by one, you will soon come to appreciate the intuitive, comfortable usability unique to macOS. We hope you enjoy a smarter, more productive digital life with your new MacBook!