As you probably know, macOS Mojave (a.k.a. version 10.14) was unleashed by Apple a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been running pre-release versions since July while I worked on macOS Mojave For Dummies. (Click the book cover on the right to pre-order it from Amazon.com when it ships in early November.)

The point is that I’m intimately familiar with Mojave’s best new features already and can’t wait to share them with you.

But First…

But, before I tell you about these three great new Mojave timesavers, I feel obliged to offer my standard advice to Mac users before a major system software upgrade like High Sierra—>Mojave. That advice is:

  1. Backup your startup disk.

  2. Backup your startup disk. Again.

  3. Test your backups by restoring files.

  4. Check your High Sierra apps’ compatibility with Mojave at RoaringApps.com.

  5. Install macOS Mojave.

Now that you’ve upgraded safely and sanely, here are three of my favorite new Mojave features guaranteed to save you time and effort every day.

Mojave Makes Screenshots Better (and Easier)

In the past, capturing your screen required memorizing arcane keyboard shortcuts like:

  • Command + Shift + 3 to capture the entire screen.

  • Command + Shift + Control + 4 to capture the entire screen to the clipboard (rather than saving it as a file).

  • Command + Shift + 4 to capture a selection.

  • Command + Shift + Control + 4 to capture a selection to the clipboard (rather than saving it as a file).

  • Command + Shift + Control + 4 followed by the spacebar to capture a window or menu instead of a selection.

The good news is that while these shortcuts still work in Mojave (for those who, like me, committed them to muscle memory long ago), you don’t have to memorize them. Instead, just memorize Mojave’s awesome new screen-shooting shortcut:

Command + Shift + 5

This one shortcut to rule them all now offers everything all those other shortcuts offer and more. What do I mean by more? Here are some new features you’ll find in Command + Shift + 5:

  • Capture a full-screen movie.

  • Capture a movie in a selection or window.

  • 5 or 10 second timer.

  • Choose the folder for automatic saves.

  • Show or hide the mouse pointer.

Here’s what you’ll see when you press Command + Shift + 5 in Mojave:

So teach your fingers this awesome new keyboard shortcut today—Command + Shift + 5 rocks.

Markup Tools Where You Need Them

Click this icon to use the Markup tools.

In a related improvement, Markup tools (formerly available in Mail and Preview) are now available almost everywhere. Just look for the Markup icon — a pencil (or a marker) in a circle — which you’ll now find in the preview panes of Mojave Finder windows, in Quick Look windows, and the new screenshot interface as well as in apps including Preview and Mail.

The Markup tools let you add circles and arrows and text and much more to the current document.

For example, all of the annotations in the guide to Command + Shift + 5 above were created with Markup tools. Here’s what the Markup toolbar looks like in a Quick Look window:

This is the Markup toolbar, as seen in a Quick Look window.


I used to use a commercial utility for screen shots and screen movies (Snapz Pro), and a different utility (Skitch) for annotation. I no longer use either one and feel obliged to say, “Thanks, Apple! Nicely done.”

Smile, You’re on Continuity Camera

One other new feature I’m loving a lot is the Continuity Camera, which lets you use the camera on your iPhone (or other iDevice) to shoot photos or scan documents and then seamlessly use them on your Mac!

It currently works in the Finder and many of the Apple apps that accept typed input (i.e. Pages, Keynote, Mail, Messages, Notes, and TextEdit to name a few). The easiest way to determine if it’s available is to right (or Control) -click in a document or on the Finder’s desktop. If Import from iPhone or iPad appears in the shortcut menu, select the iOS device you wish to use and choose Take Photo or Scan Document.

 

Right-click (or Control-click), and if Continuity Camera is available you'll see something like this!

 

If you right- or Control-clicked while working in a document, the photo or scan will appear at the insertion point

If you right-clicked in a Finder window or on the Desktop, the photo or scan will appear on the Desktop by default.

I’ve been using these useful Mojave tools and shortcut in my workflows for months already and they save me time and effort every day.

Try ‘em… I think you’ll like ‘em!

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