Every icon here (if you see any) was installed by an app and isn’t officially part of macOS. In the next divider are the preferences that relate to your Mac’s hardware, including audio in- and output, your mouse or trackpad, Bluetooth, and your display.įinally, at the very bottom, you might see some extra preference icons that control third-party apps, such as Adobe Flash. These options control how the operating system works. If you’re signed in to your Apple account, you can click that area to change your personal account info, iCloud settings, App Store payment options, and more.īelow that is the area that primarily controls macOS software settings, including your preferences for the Dock, your desktop background, and notifications. RELATED: How to Launch Applications on Your Mac A Quick Tour of System PreferencesĪfter you open “System Preferences,” you’ll see a window full of icons divided into four regions.Īt the very top, you’ll see the Apple ID area. Both of these methods are equally as fast as the one we covered above. In both cases, you type “system preferences,” and then press Enter to launch System Preferences. You can also launch System Preferences quickly by using either Spotlight Search or Launchpad. If the System Preferences icon isn’t in the Dock, or you want a faster way to launch it, you can click the Apple logo at the upper left, and then select “System Preferences. It’s the gray icon that looks like a gear click it once to launch System Preferences. On every new Mac, you should be able to find System Preferences in the Dock by default. While Windows calls its configuration options “settings,” macOS usually calls them “preferences.” Before you change any preferences, you’ll have to launch the System Preferences app. A Mac’s Control Panel Is System Preferences

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