Resetting an Apple ID password can be annoying, though it’s made much easier if you have access to a device that you are already signed into. Without another device though, the process of resetting an Apple ID account login can be frustrating, but a Recovery Key makes this situation easier.
Apple ID Recovery Key serves as an additional way of authenticating your Apple account, and it can be used if you forget your password and lose access to another trusted device. Using a recovery key eliminates the need to visit Apple’s website to jump through hoops like verifying payment method details and answering security questions for a password reset. The ability to generate a recovery key from the Mac requires macOS Big Sur or macOS Monterey.
If you have a Mac, it’s pretty easy to generate and use a recovery key.
• Open “System Preferences” on the Mac (from Apple menu or Dock).
• This will open a new window on your Mac. Click on the Apple ID option located at the top-right corner.
• Now, click on “Password & Security” from the left pane. In this section, you’ll find the Recovery Key option below Trusted phone numbers. Click on “Turn on” next to the Recovery key option to continue.
• When you’re prompted to confirm your action, click on “Use recovery key” to proceed.
• Next, you’ll be asked to enter your Mac user password. Type in the password and click “OK”.
• If you have an iPhone, you’ll also be prompted the enter the passcode you use to unlock your iPhone.
• Now, your unique recovery key will be shown to you on the screen. Make sure to write it down in a safe place that you’re able to easily access. Once you’re done, click on “Continue”.
• Next, you’ll be asked to enter your 28-character recovery key to verify that you’ve noted it down. Click on “Done” after typing it in.
• The feature is now turned on. If you want to change the recovery key for any reason, you can click on “Create new key”. You also have the option to turn this feature off at any time.
From now on, you’ll have just two ways to reset the password for your Apple account. You can either reset the password from a device that you’re already logged into, whether it’s your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, or you can use the recovery key instead. The latter could prove to be invaluable if you don’t have access to another trusted device, or if you only have one Apple device.
Note that when you disable and re-enable the Recovery Key feature, a completely new key will be generated for your account. If you lost your current recovery key somehow, you can replace the key with a new one on your Mac from the same menu using the “Create new key” option.
Did you know that your Mac has hidden fonts that are disabled by default? If your Mac is running macOS Big Sur, Catalina, or later, you can access all these hidden fonts and install them for free.
It turns out that Apple obtained licenses for a slew of new fonts in macOS that can be used system-wide, but these fonts aren’t installed on the Mac by default. Instead, these are an optional download and you might not necessarily be aware of this. Since these fonts can be used system-wide, you’ll get to use them in the documents or projects that you’re working on, for a unique look.
Before you get started with the following procedure, make sure that your Mac is running macOS Catalina or later, since these fonts aren’t accessible on Mojave and older versions.
• Click on the “magnifying glass” icon located at the top-right corner of your desktop to access Spotlight search. Alternatively, you can open Spotlight by pressing Command + Space bar.
• Next, type “Font Book” in the search field and open the app from the search results.
• Now, head over to the “All Fonts” section in Font Book, and scroll down to view all the available fonts.
• The fonts that are grayed out in this list are the hidden fonts that Apple recently added to macOS. Clicking on the fonts will give you a preview of what it looks like. To install these fonts, right-click on the font and choose the download option as shown in the screenshot below.
• When you’re prompted to confirm, click “Download”. Once the download completes, the font won’t be grayed out anymore and you’ll be able to use it in your favorite apps.
That’s about it, you can repeat the steps to install all the hidden fonts you want on your macOS machine.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to install all the hidden fonts on your Mac at once. You’ll have to do it one by one which could be a tedious process for many, but on the plus side you’ll get to preview each font before installing it, and you have the option to install just the fonts you actually want to use.
From now on, you can make your Pages documents, Keynote presentations, and Motion projects stand out with these new additional fonts that most people aren’t aware of.
Many apps automatically save versions of documents as you work on them. Apple offers a built-in feature for its document-focused apps, like Pages and Numbers, and a framework that some other developers tie into as well. It resembles Time Machine, but doesn’t require that you are using a Time Machine backup.
A version is saved automatically every hour, or more frequently when you’re making many changes, when you open, save, duplicate, lock, rename, or revert a document. You can also explicitly save a version.
To browse, restore, duplicate, and delete versions:
- Open the document, then choose File > Revert To > Browse All Versions.
- Click tick marks along the timeline to browse versions.
- Display the version you want, then do one of the following:
- Restore your document to this version: Click Restore.
- Duplicate this version in a new document: Press and hold the Option key, then click Restore a Copy.
- Delete this version: Move the pointer to the top of the screen to show the menu bar, then choose File > Revert To > Delete This Version.
- Leave your document as is: Click Done.
To revert a document to the last opened version:
- Open the document, choose File > Revert To, then choose Last Opened, Last Saved, or Previous Save.
To explicitly save a version:
- Open the document, then choose File > Save. To save the document using a different filename, location, or format, press and hold the Option key, then choose File > Save As.
If you need to quickly offer help to another Mac user you know, there's no quicker way to remotely provide assistance than via Apple's own Messages. Here's how to take control of another person's Mac on their behalf, and how to allow others to do the same to your desktop.
As part of the Messages app in macOS, it is possible to establish a remote desktop session where you have control of a Mac across the Internet or someone else has control over your Mac desktop. What's more, as well as being simple to get going, it also doesn't require any real installation of extensions or other components.
What does Messages' screen sharing feature do? When a screen share is initiated, the screen from the Mac being controlled will be streamed as a live video feed to the other participant, the Mac that will be used for control. This will allow the user on the controlling Mac to see what is on the desktop of the Mac being controlled. At the same time, a FaceTime Audio call is started between the two users, providing two-way audio. This enables the users to speak to each other, such as advising on what they are doing for the other user or additional instructions. The feature doesn't automatically enable the ability to remote control the other person's display by default, but the option is presented. If control isn't provided by one party to the other, the screen is shared but it is not remotely controllable.
To share your screen with another user:
• Open Messages on your Mac.
• Select the conversation with the person you want to share the screen with. If no prior conversation exists, send a message to them.
• In the main menu, select Conversations then Invite to Share My Screen. The sharing and audio call will begin automatically once the remote user accepts the invitation.
To request another user shares their screen:
• Open Messages on your Mac.
• Select the conversation with the person you want to share the screen with. If no prior conversation exists, send a message to them.
• In the main menu, select Conversations then Ask to Share Screen. The sharing and audio call will begin automatically once the invitation is accepted.
Once sharing is enabled, a new window appears called Screen Sharing, which will host the call and show the sharing user's desktop. There are also some options within the window that can be used. Clicking the mouse pointer icon in the menu will send a request to the sharer to enable remote control of the Mac. Clicking on the remote display will highlight elements on the shared Mac, which can be useful for pointing out elements of an app's interface without taking control. When you have control of the remote Mac, you can also control the Clipboard, which means you can copy and paste text and images between the two computers. This is handy to save you from retyping a URL into a remote browser when you have the link locally. You can even transmit files from the remotely-controlling Mac to the shared Mac by dragging and dropping them onto the window.
To end a screen sharing session:
• For the screen-sharing Mac, click the Sharing icon in the menu bar then End Screen Sharing. Alternately, you can select Pause Screen Sharing if you want to stop for a while.
• The remote controlling Mac can do the same by selecting Screen Sharing in the menu followed by Quit Screen Sharing.
If screen sharing doesn't work, make sure the user of the Mac being shared is signed in to iCloud on that Mac using the same Apple ID that they are using for messages. If they are using different IDs, add both Apple IDs to the same contact within the Contacts app and try again. Also, make sure that they are not limited by Screen Time. If one party is restricted and the initial Messages communication cannot be established, that could prevent Screen Sharing from functioning properly.
macOS Big Sur has been out for a while now, but macOS releases never get quite as much attention as iOS releases, so there may still be some features that you're not aware of.
• AirPods Auto Switching - With macOS Big Sur and iOS/iPadOS 14, your AirPods will swap automatically to the device that you're using at the current time, with no need to manually change the device you're using them with. AirPods will work with iPhone, iPad, or Mac you're actively using and listening to audio on.
• Drag and Drop Menu Bar Icons - If you open up the Control Center, you can click and drag on any of the options to add it to the menu bar. So if you want Do Not Disturb to have a one-click menu bar toggle, just drag it to the menu bar from Control Center. This works for Now Playing, AirDrop, DND, and more.
• Enhanced Voice Memos - When you use Voice Memos in Big Sur, there's a new option to automatically reduce background noise and echo with a single click, useful when you're recording lectures or meetings.
• 4K YouTube Videos - YouTube videos can be watched in 4K HDR in macOS Big Sur because the OS supports YouTube's VP9 codec. Note that 4K YouTube options are going to be limited to newer Macs by default, but there's a trick to enable them on older Macs. Enable the Develop menu in Safari settings (Safari > Preferences > Advanced), select Experimental Features, and make sure both VP9 Decoder and VP9 SW Decoder on Battery are enabled.
• Resize Widgets - macOS Big Sur has a new widget interface, and if you right click on any widget that has sizing options, you can choose a new size.
• Silent Notifications - On any incoming notification in the Today center, if you right click you can select "Deliver Quietly." This setting will prevent future notifications from that app from popping up on your screen, but you'll see them in the notifications list.
• Message Effects - Messages in Big Sur is a lot more like the Messages app on iOS devices. You can use Message Effects to enhance messages, find GIFs and insert photos. Just click on the little "A" on the left of the text bar to see a dropdown list of the options.
• Disable Tinting - Want a Dark Mode that's even darker or a Light Mode that's brighter? That's possible if you turn off window tinting. Open up System Preferences, choose General, and uncheck "allow wallpaper tinting in windows." With this disabled, windows won't be affected by the wallpaper that you're using.
