4 Cool Mac Terminal Tips to Make You More Productive

For Mac users, OS X Mavericks offers new features like Maps, App Nap, and Notification Center. However, it still lacks some essential functionalities. Let’s explore a few cool features that you can enable using the Terminal app to enhance your productivity on your Mac.

Note: If you are unfamiliar with Terminal, here’s a helpful article on getting started with this useful Mac tool.

Ready? Here they are.

1. Select Text Right From the QuickLook Preview Window

I’m sure this has happened to you before: There’s a text file or document with important information you need, so you scroll through several using QuickLook until you find it. But once you do, instead of just getting the data you need, you have to open the file using a native app and find the info again to copy it.

Using these commands on Terminal, you can forget about that issue and just select and copy text from the QuickLook window when previewing any text file as shown above.

First, enable this feature using the command:

defaults write -g QLEnableTextSelection -bool true

Then, restart the Finder for the changes to take effect.

2. Prevent the Preview and Quicktime Apps From Auto-Restoring Your Last Open File

This behavior of these two apps can be problematic depending on the circumstances, especially if you use your Mac both at work and at home. Opening Preview or Quicktime at work will also open the document or video you had been viewing previously.

While you can’t change this permanently through the apps’ settings, you can use these Terminal commands:

– defaults write com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false

– defaults write com.apple.Preview NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false

Sleeping prevents your Mac from wasting energy and resources when not in use. But if you want to keep it running even when you’re not in front of it, use this Terminal code: “caffeinate -t 7200”. The number 7200 represents the number of seconds you want your Mac to stay awake (2 hours in this case). Feel free to change this number to suit your needs.

4. Change the Location Where Your Screenshots Are Stored

All screenshots on your Mac are stored on the desktop by default. This behavior can clutter your desktop quickly if you take many screenshots in a short time. To change this, use the Terminal command below, replacing “ZZZ” with the desired screenshot folder location:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ZZZ

Cool Tip: Instead of typing the full path to the new folder, drag it to the Terminal window after the word ‘location’ in the command. There you have it. With just a little Terminal knowledge, you can save time and work more efficiently on your Mac. Enjoy!