MacBook : Useful Settings

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Necessary UI Settings

All the commands can be located here.

Show Full directory path on Finder:

File path at the top of the toolbar on finder window

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true; killall Finder

Execute the command on terminal and the file path would appear like :-

Disable warning when changing file extensions:

defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool false; killall Finder

Useful toolbar items

Show Path Bar

Enabling the Path Bar for the OS X Finder

From a Finder window, pull down the “View” menu and select “Show Path Bar”

you can double-click the individual folders to jump directly to them, and you can even drag and drop files and folders to them

Path Bar appears at the bottom of the Finder Window

Open Finder and go to View > Show Path Bar.

Show Library folder

chflags nohidden ~/Library/;killall Finder;

Show Hidden Files

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Disable Delete message

defaults write com.apple.finder NSUserKeyEquivalents {"Move to Trash"="\U007F"}

Set Finder to display folders on top when sorting by name:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXSortFoldersFirst -bool true; killall Finder

Enable spring-loading for folders and windows:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain com.apple.springing.enabled -bool true; killall Finder

Set the spring-loading delay:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain com.apple.springing.delay -float 0.5; killall Finder

Enable quick look for directories:

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableXRayFolders -bool true; killall Finder

Disable the creation of .DS_Store files on network or USB volumes:

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores -bool true

Change the default view mode to column view:

defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle clmv; killall Finder

Change Screenshot File Type

alias screenShotType='defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "png"'

Change Screenshot Location

alias screenTypeDir='defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/nitin/Downloads'

Activate the two aliases

screenShotType
screenTypeDir

Terminal from Finder

Open the Keyboard system preferences and click on the “Shortcuts” tab.

Add Terminal (or iTerm2) shortcuts to the Services menu by

  • clicking on the “Services” category
  • scroll down to “Files and Folders”
  • enable “New Terminal at Folder” and “New Terminal Tab at Folder.”

Setting Terminal Prompt

Command prompt Variables: PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 and PROMPT_COMMANDPS1

PS1 – Default interactive prompt

echo $PS1
export PS1="\W]\$ "

\W The basename of $PWD.

\$ If you are not root, inserts a $; if you are root, you get a # (root uid = 0)

This change can be made permanent by placing the “export” definition in your ~/.bashrc or .profile file.

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