How to Select Programs for the Apple Shortcut
Every Mac sold by Apple comes with a variety of free programs already installed, so you can start using your computer immediately to perform tasks such as writing documents, browsing the Internet and listening to music. When you launch an application, its icon appears in the Dock. You can keep icons in the dock permanently for easy access to programs. Another method to access programs is to create an alias, sometimes referred to as a shortcut for each program, and put them on the desktop or in a folder. You can easily select the programs for which you want to make aliases.
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Instructions
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Select Programs
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Write a list of the programs you use most often. For example, you do work with your spreadsheet and email applications once every day, and use presentation software three times a week, making them good candidates for making aliases.
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Take notes about new applications that you want to evaluate, such as shareware or freeware programs that you download from a software developer's website. When you make aliases for them, you will be able to find them quickly and be reminded to try using them. Group them in one location, such as the upper-right corner of your desktop so you will notice them.
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Make categories of programs that you need to use for different activities. For example, you use a word processor to create letters to your clients, a financial application to generate invoices and a photo-editing application to work on pictures for your company newsletter. Based on this list, you could select these programs and make aliases of them inside a special "Work Tools" folder. Create another folder called "Recreation" and use it to store aliases of programs for listening to music, watching movies and playing games.
Create Alias
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Click on the icon of an application, then click "File" from the Finder menu, and then click "Make Alias" to make an alias of the application.
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Click on the icon of an application, then press the "Command" key and the "L" key simultaneously to create an alias using the keyboard.
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Drag the alias to another location on your computer, such as the desktop, into a folder that you set up to store frequently used applications, or into the Dock.
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Press and hold the "Option" key and the "Command" key simultaneously on the Mac's keyboard, then click on the icon of an application and drag it to create an alias in another location. Release the mouse button first, and then stop pressing the "Option" and "Command" keys.
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Click an application's icon and drag it into the Sidebar, the left panel in any finder window, to automatically create an alias for it. Click on an alias in the sidebar and drag it up or down in the list to change its position. For example, put work application aliases at the top of the list, and put video and music applications at the bottom. Drag an alias out of the Sidebar's left panel to remove the alias from the list.
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Tips & Warnings
Click on an application's alias to select it, then click "File" from the Finder menu, and then click "Show Original" to find the original application.
References
- Photo Credit David Paul Morris/Getty Images News/Getty Images
