Where are the Settings on Mac - How to Change Mac Settings

You can find most of the system settings on your Mac in System Preferences. By managing these settings, you can make your working process more convenient and efficient. In this article, we will explain where the Settings on a Mac are located and how to adjust them in System Preferences.

Contents:

What are system settings on Mac?
Where are the settings on Mac?
How to change the default settings on a Mac.
How to customize Mac System Preferences.
How to change Finder’s settings.
Where to find application settings on Mac.
Mac settings that you might not need.

What are system settings on Mac?

Every operating system has a control panel where the users can configure the appearance or actions of applications and system processes. These are usually called “preferences,” “settings,” or “options.” While on Windows the settings are located in Control Panels, on macOS, you can find most settings in System Preferences. Also, some settings can be changed in the Preferences windows of default or third-party applications.

In Mac System Preferences, you can set up your screen appearance, configure bluetooth, Internet, printer/scanner connections, make changes in security and privacy settings, and more.

Note, that on macOS Ventura System Preferences are renamed to System Settings and they have a new design look.

Where are the settings on Mac?

To manage the settings on your Mac, you must first open the System Preferences app. You can access System Preferences right from the Apple menu.

Here is how to get to settings on your Mac:

Click on the Apple icon in the top menu on your screen.
Select System Preferences.
In the window that appears, you can manage settings of different options on your Mac.

Another way to get to Mac settings is to go to the Applications folder in Finder or to the Launchpad. From there, click to open System Preferences. Also, you can find System Preferences using the Spotlight.

If you often need to access System Preferences, you can add its icon to the Dock bar for quick access.

The System Preferences icon looks like a set of interlinked cogs. Once you add Mac System Preferences to your Dock panel, you can right-click on its icon and quickly choose the proper category of settings you wish to review.

Read also: How to use System Preferences on Mac.

How to change the default settings on a Mac

You can change your Mac’s default settings in System Preferences. Once you launch System Preferences, you will see a window with different categories of options.
Mac System Preferences panel contains many various icons, each of which will lead you to a specific group of settings. Here you can manage your Apple ID, check for new software updates, change the Dock panel and Menu bar appearance, select a new desktop wallpaper, control language preferences, check the battery level, take control of extensions, change startup programs, and so on. You simply need to go into the proper category and adjust the settings as you wish.

System Preferences on macOS Monterey (or earlier versions)

The System Preferences options are divided into three parts. On the top, you can see your user account name and the Apple ID and Family sharing sections. Below that, in the central part of the window, you will see system settings connected with your personal usage of the device. The bottom part of the window represents the settings that will help you manage interaction with the hardware. In the General category, you can manage the basic settings of your Mac. Here, you can modify the screen appearance, select light or dark themes, adjust sidebar icon size, and view scrolling options. Also in the General settings section, you can change the default browser and tabs and windows preferences. By default, when you click to open a link on your Mac, the system opens it in Safari. However, you can change this if you want. Just select any installed web browser on your Mac that you want to use as the default.

System Preferences on macOS Ventura

On macOS Ventura, the System Settings window has an absolutely new look. The main categories are located in the left sidebar. Some categories of settings changed their locations. But you can still use the searh to find settings you want to change.

How to find options in System Preferences

If you cannot find an appropriate settings option in System Preferences, you can use its search option. This allows you to find necessary settings even if they are not mentioned in the icons’ names. To do this, type what you are searching for in the search field, and you will see a highlighted section where you can find those settings. The search panel in the System Settings app on macOS Ventura is located on the top-left corner of the window.

How to customize the System Preferences window

You can customize System Preferences, for example, by organizing the icons alphabetically or by categories. You can even remove unneeded icons from the System Preferences window, for example if you don’t use a specific option and don’t want to be confused by the large variety of settings categories in it.

Open System Preferences.
Click on View in the menu bar.
Select Customise.
Uncheck any unused categories.

Note, that on macOS Ventura, you can’t customize the System Settings app.

How to customize Dock & Menu bar

One more setting you can change in System Preferences is the appearance of the Dock panel. For this, on macOS Monterey, do the following:

Open System Preferences.
Go to the Dock & Menu bar section.
Here, you can change the Dock panel size and its position on your screen, enable magnification, manage whether or not to show recent applications, and more.

System preferences showing dock and menu bar tab

To learn more interesting tricks on how to add or rearrange icons on the Apple menu, read our article: “Mac menu bar: How to use and customize it.”

To customize the Dock panel on macOS Ventura, do the following:

Open the System Settings app.
Click Desktop & Dock in the sidebar.
Here you can configure different option to customize the Dock panel.

How to change Finder’s settings on Mac

Unlike most Mac settings, you will not find the Finder’s settings in System Preferences. You can change Finder’s settings in its own Preferences section.

Here is how to find and change Finder’s settings:

Launch Finder.
Click Finder in the top menu and select Preferences (or use the CMD+, shortcut).
In the window that appears, you can set up Finder preferences.
- In the General tab, you can select which items will be shown on the desktop, and which folder will be displayed when you open a new Finder window.
- In the Sidebar tab, you can manage the folders that will appear in your sidebar. Tick the checkboxes of the items you want to be displayed in the sidebar.
- In the Tags tab, you can organize files by adding tags to them. You can even choose your favourite tags for quick access in the context menu.
- In the Advanced tab, you can manage the warnings, the position of the folders, and more.

Where to find applications settings on Mac

Typically, third-party applications have their own Preferences window where you can change the settings for that app. To manage application settings, do the following:

Launch your application.
Click on the application name in the top menu.
Select Preferences.
You will then see a window, where you can change the app’s settings.

Various applications have their own settings you can adjust. For example, in Safari settings, you can change your homepage, remove history items, choose the location for downloaded files, manage browser extensions, and more.

Application settings showing general tab

Mac settings that you might not need

There are some settings on your Mac that you probably don’t need and can turn off. Moreover, some default Mac preferences can affect your device’s performance and slow down the system. Below, we will show which options you should disable to speed up your Mac.

Note

A big number of startup programs and extensions and heavy apps eat up a significant amount of RAM memory, leading to a lack of free disk space – all this can lead to slow Mac performance. If you want to fix a slow Mac and clean up your disk from all unwanted junk files, use a special cleanup utility called MacCleaner Pro.

MacCleaner Pro allows you to remove caches, service files of already deleted apps, completely uninstall apps, find and remove duplicates, detect heavy-consumers, analyze disk space usage, and detect large unused files.

Download a free trial on MacCleaner Pro and optimize your Mac’s performance.

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Disable Startup programs

Startup programs are also called login items. These automatically launch applications when you start your Mac. However, when many unneeded applications start every time you boot your Mac, it might be irritating, and moreover, it can be one of the reasons why your Mac starts to work slowly.
To remove startup programs on macOS Monterey, follow these steps:

Launch System Preferences.
Go to Users & Groups.
Open the login items tab.
Select an app and click the “Minus” button to stop it from opening automatically when you log in.

To remove startup programs on macOS Ventura, follow these steps:

In the System settings app, click General in the sidebar.
Click Login Items in the right panel.
Select apps’ startup items and click the minus(-) button to remove them.

System Settings app showing startup programs

Note: In System Preferences you can disable login apps only. To take control of all startup programs and launch agents, you usually need to run each application separately and change the setting in their Preferences. Also, you can easily manage all startup programs with the help of MacCleaner Pro. This software tool allows you to disable, enable, or remove different types of startup programs. Also, with MacCleaner Pro you can detect other issues impacting your Mac’s performance and fix them.

Here is how to disable startup programs with MacCleaner Pro:

Download and launch MacCleaner Pro.
Go to the Speed up section.
Select Startup apps.
Use the toggle button to turn off unneeded apps and prevent them from starting automatically at Mac startup.

MacCleaner Pro window showing speed up tab

Turn off unneeded notifications:

A big number of notifications can be irritating, especially when you are trying to focus on your work. Moreover, when many applications are working in the background, this can drain your MacBook’s battery very quickly.

To take control of notifications and disable unneeded ones, do the following:

Open System Preferences.
Go to the Notifications section.
Select the app you don’t want to show you notifications.
Switch the toggle button to turn off notifications for this app.

On macOS Ventura, you need to do almost the same to turn off notifications. Open the System Settings app and go to the Notifications section. Here select the application and turn off the notifications for it.

Prohibit access to your location

Most applications can track your location. If you want to to check which apps have access to your location and change the permissions for some of them, do the following:

Open System Preferences.
Go to the Security & Privacy section.
Select Location Services in the sidebar.
Click the lock icon in the lower part of the window for changes.
Enter your user password to allow making changes.
Uncheck unwanted apps that you don’t want to track your location.
Once again, click the Lock icon and close the window.

To turn off location services for particular applications on macOS Ventura, do the following:

Open System Settings and click Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
Select Location Services.
Use the toggle buttons to allow or prohibit applications see your location.

System Settings app in macOS showing location services

Conclusion:

In this article, we showed you where the settings in macOS are located, how to change them, and the main Mac preferences that you should know about. Some settings should be checked so that they don’t slow down your Mac’s performance. Also, if you do face slow performance on your Mac, you can fix it with a special utility called MacCleaner Pro.