macOS setup

Last updated for macOS Sonoma

The reset

Whether you recently received a new Mac or are looking to rejuvenate the life of an old device, resetting your Mac will ensure a fresh start. With new Macs, this is important to remove a few preloaded apps such as Numbers and Pages, as well as cleaning up any unnecessary cache or other oddities that may slow your system down.

Starting with macOS Monterey, you can reset content and settings within the system settings. More information can be found on Apple's official support page.

The setup

I use a little shell script to do some of the heavy lifting for me whenever I reset (which is probably too often). The point of this guide, however, is to walk through each step to achieve everything manually. Find bliss in the process.

Install Command Line Tools

xcode-select --install

Alternatively, download the tools here from Apple.

System settings

• General:
  • Language & Region:
    • Add secondary languages, e.g. Italiano
    • Set temperature to celsius
    • Set measurement system to metric
  • Date & Time → Enable "24-Hour Time"
  • Sharing → Edit local hostname to be something fun
• Appearance:
  • Set appearance to auto
• Control Center:
  • Set automatically hide and show the menu bar to always
• Privacy & Security:
  • Full Disk Access → Add Terminal.app
• Desktop & Dock:
  • Enable "Automatically hide and show the Dock"
  • Disable "Recent applications in Dock"
  • Set widget style to monochrome
  • Disable "Automatically rearrange Spaces based on most recent use"
• Displays:
  • Night Shift → Set schedule to sunset to sunrise
• Keyboard:
  • Set key repeat rate to fast
  • Set delay until repeat to short
  • Disable "Adjust keyboard brightness in low light"
  • Set keyboard brightness to none
  • Keyboard Shortcuts → Modifier Keys → Map caps lock key to escape
  • Edit input sources:
    • Disable "Correct spelling automatically"
    • Disable "Capitalize words automatically"
    • Disable "Add period with double-space"
    • Disable "Use smart quotes and dashes"
• Mouse:
  • Set tracking speed to fast
• Trackpad:
  • Set tracking speed to fast
  • Enable "Tap to click"

Hidden options

Run set -k in your current terminal session for easier copy/pasting in Zsh

Enable key repeat for all apps:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Show only active items in the Dock:

# Remove all docked apps
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array

# Show only active apps
defaults write com.apple.dock static-only -bool true

Set Dock icon size:

defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 48

Modify screencapture:

# Set default save location
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Downloads

# Disable shadow
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

Copy SF Mono to Font Book:

cp -r /System/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/Resources/Fonts/. /Library/Fonts/

Application settings

• Finder:
  • Advanced:
    • Check "Remove items from the Trash after 30 days"
    • Check all under "Keep folders on top"
• Safari:
  • Search → Set search engine to DuckDuckGo
  • Advanced:
    • Check "Press Tab to highlight each item on a webpage"
    • Check "Show Develop menu in menu bar"
• Messages:
  • iMessage → Check "Enable Messages in iCloud"

Manage software

Using Homebrew, we can keep a list of all our packages in a Brewfile, e.g. personal example.

# Upgrade sources
brew upgrade

# Install packages listed in brewfile
# Change the location of the brewfile if necessary
brew bundle --file="$HOME/.config/dots/brewfile"

Next steps

If each day is spent preparing, no day is left for doing

Not everyone enjoys the process of setting everything from scratch. There are plenty of alternatives, such as Time Machine backups on macOS or writing a script that automates the process away. No matter the decision, preferring built-in apps and default settings when possible may prove beneficial.

Related

• Signing git commits
• Using a custom shell