The Touch Bar puts access to your MacBook’s commands and controls right at your fingertips. It even adapts automatically, changing its available options based on the apps you’re using and what you’re doing. Pretty cool, right? But one of the most valued features of the Touch Bar is the fact that you can customize it, making frequent tasks and commands a breeze.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the Touch Bar feature on the MacBook Pro. We’ll walk you through the basic functions of the Touch Bar and how you can customize it for different apps and uses on your MacBook Pro.
What is the MacBook Pro Touch Bar?
The Touch Bar is a smart, multi-use touch-operated bar. The MacBook Pro was the first Mac to introduce the Touch Bar, which replaced the topmost row of physical keys on its keyboard.
If you don’t like the default options, you can add and remove buttons to customize the Touch Bar. Open a window in an app to edit the Touch Bar options and click View. (I’m using Pages for this tutorial.) 2. Select “Customize Toolbar”. Customize the Touch Bar on MacBook Pro. In the Finder and in many apps, such as Mail and Safari, you can customize the buttons in the Touch Bar. You can also customize the Control Strip. Choose View Customize Touch Bar to add, delete, or rearrange items in the Touch Bar. When you’re customizing the Touch Bar, the buttons jiggle.
The Touch Bar has the same functionality as the standard keys it replaces (including volume, brightness, and Function keys). What’s more: In a feat of versatility, the Touch Bar can also change its available options according to the app you’re currently working in.
Located on the far right of your Touch Bar is the Control Strip. The Control Strip’s default settings include brightness, volume control, Siri, and much more. Ismartphoto 1 6 6. Vuescan supported scanners.
Access classic functions
If you relied on the classic Function keys for a variety of uses, no need to worry! To use the typical F1–F12 keys on your MacBook Pro, press and hold the Function key (fn) on the bottom left corner of your keyboard. Holding the Function key will pull up each of the traditional Function keys across the Touch Bar.
How to customize your Mac’s Touch Bar
The Touch Bar allows you to customize its default functions. To change or rearrange these options, go to View in the Top Navigation bar and select Customize Touch Bar. This screen should appear:
In the upper left of this menu, you’ll see the Default Set. This is the set of options that will appear when this application is running.
To customize these options, simply click and drag the icons to the bottom of your screen and they will appear on the Touch Bar. You can also use your finger to select a command or function directly on the Touch Bar and move it to your new preferred location.
Customize the Control Strip
One of the best features of the Touch Bar is that you can customize it for each individual app you use.
If you want to customize the Touch Bar for a particular app, start by launching the desired application (it’ll need to be one that supports customization).
With the app open, navigate to View in the Top Navigation Bar and select Customize Touch Bar. Next, touch the Touch Bar’s Control Strip area to switch over to Control Strip customization. This screen should appear:
From here, you can customize your Control Strip to include Mission Control, Play/Pause, Night Shift, Screenshot, Screen Lock, and much more.
Using Touch Bar with native applications
The Touch Bar has a wide range of functionality within native (Apple) applications.
In the Messages app, for example, you can create a new message, access a variety of your frequently used emojis, and even use a few quick replies. In Apple Mail, you can use Touch Bar to easily compose, reply to, archive, mark as junk, and flag messages.
Using the Touch Bar with third-party applications
The Touch Bar also has some great functions in third-party applications. Spotify in particular lets you use the Touch Bar to search for music, control volume, play/pause, and rewind or fast forward through tracks.
Other ways to tune up your Mac (and boost its speed)
There are other small customizations you can try on your Mac. Did you know you can speed up your Mac’s startup? Or delete large hidden folders scattered around your drive? This is possible with a Mac tune-up app, CleanMyMac X.
It’s notarized by Apple, so it’s perfectly legit to use on your Mac.
Tricks you can do with CleanMyMac X:
- Find large hidden files and space wasters
- Disable Launch Agents and hidden background apps
- Tune your Mac for maximum speed
- Find long lost and unused applications via Uninstaller
And lastly, with CleanMyMac X’s System Junk tool, you can reclaim wasted space and clean up your Mac to achieve maximum performance.
You can run start with a free version of CleanMyMac X. It’s available here.
So, you eventually decided to splurge and invest in one of the high-end MacBook Pros that come with the Touch Bar in substitute of the good old function keys. Without a doubt, the Touch Bar is one of the primary upgrades that Apple has put on their premium laptop line, and we know how Apple won’t just throw in new features. While the MacBook Pro Touch Bar was expected to be a game-changer, adding to the hype about the latest MacBooks, it is after the keynote and purchase that some users really realize what they’re in for.
What some users fail to realize upon unboxing their new Macs is that the power of the MacBook Touch Bar can only be fully unleashed through customization. So, if you are one of those who can’t seem to grasp the reality that there are none of those function keys on your MacBook Pro Touch Bar anymore, read on to know how you can customize and maximize this new feature.
How to Customize Touch Bar on Mac
It’s pretty easy to customize what keys and functions to show on the Touch Bar. Just follow these steps:
- First, click on the Apple menu (Apple icon) in the upper-left corner of your Desktop.
- Next, select System Preferences.
- Then, select Keyboard.
- Choose Customize Touch Bar. The existing Touch Bar icons will now begin to shake, indicating that they can now be moved, removed or replaced.
- You can expand the Control Strip first to show the full Touch Bar and see what icons are available for moving to the Control Strip, which is the visible part of the Touch Bar.
- You can now start removing and adding items to the Control Strip. Swap items that you don’t usually use with those that you often need access to.
- Move your cursor down to the Touch Bar (yes, your cursor can go “outside” the screen) to rearrange icons as you wish.
Mac Os Customize Touch Bar
Unfortunately, the Touch Bar can’t contain everything. You will get four easy-to-access icons in addition to the constant ESC button. You’ll have to tap the < icon to show the other items or tools. And if you’re wondering where Mission Control, Launch Pad, and the media keys that used to occupy the top row of the keyboard along with the function keys went, you’ll also have to tap the < icon on the Control Strip. Furthermore, the Touch Bar can be customized further to add shortcuts for specific apps that support it including Evernote, Adobe Photoshop, and Microsoft Office.
We hope that by customizing your Mac’s Touch Bar, you will be able to get more out of your new computer. To further help you with that, we suggest installing Tweakbit MacRepair to get rid of unnecessary files and cache and get a RAM boost.
How To Customize Touch Bar
If you’re running into errors and your system is suspiciously slow, your computer needs some maintenance work. Download Outbyte PC Repair for Windows, Outbyte Antivirus for Windows, or Outbyte MacRepair for macOS to resolve common computer performance issues. Fix computer troubles by downloading the compatible tool for your device.
See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy Policy.
See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy Policy.