MacBook Air Essentials Look around your new Mac Get a quick intro to MacBook Air ports, connectors, accessories, and other features. Take a tour of MacBook Air Want to get started? Start your MacBook Air by lifting the lid or connecting it to power, or by pressing any key. Follow the Setup Assistant prompts, and you’re up and running.
Stay in sync Access your documents, photos, contacts, and more across all your devices with iCloud. And use your MacBook Air with your iOS and iPadOS devices to make phone calls, copy and paste across devices, or create an Instant Hotspot. Use your MacBook Air with iCloud and Continuity Unleash your creativity Your MacBook Air comes with apps for everything you want to do. Edit and share your photos. Enjoy music, books, movies, and more. Create presentations.
Discover new features Find out about new features in macOS, your included apps, and your MacBook Air. Learn about new features on your MacBook Air To explore MacBook Air Essentials, click Table of Contents at the top of the page, or enter a word or phrase in the search field. You can also download the guide from Apple Books (where available). If you need more help, visit the MacBook Air Support website. Not all features and content are available in all countries or regions.
MacBook Air at a glance Take a tour of MacBook Air Note: This guide is for the current 13-inch MacBook Air. If you’re not sure which model you have or want to find information about other models, see the Apple Support article Identify your MacBook Air model. The MacBook Air has the following features: Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports: Charge your computer, transfer data at Thunderbolt / USB 4 speeds (up to 40 Gbps), connect to a display or projector, and more.
FaceTime HD camera: Make FaceTime video calls or take pictures and video. If the light is glowing, the camera is on. See FaceTime. Touch ID (the power button): Press to turn on your MacBook Air (or just lift the lid). When you first start up or restart, you need to log in by typing your password. After you set up Touch ID, you can authenticate with a touch instead of typing your password (after your first login), and use Touch ID for Apple Pay purchases. See MacBook Air Magic Keyboard with Touch ID.
Accessory Description USB-C Charge Cable (2 m): To charge your MacBook Air, connect one end of the USB-C Charge Cable to any Thunderbolt port on your MacBook Air and the other end to the USB-C Power Adapter. 30W USB-C Power Adapter: After the power adapter is connected, fully extend the electrical prongs on the AC plug, and plug the adapter into an AC power outlet. Other adapters and accessories are sold separately. Visit apple.
Use Touch ID (the power button).Press to turn on your MacBook Air (or just lift the lid or press any key). When you first start up or restart the computer, you need to log in by typing your password. After setup and initial login, whenever you’re asked for your password, you can just place your finger lightly on the Touch ID sensor to authenticate. Press the Touch ID key to quickly lock your screen. You can also use Touch ID to make online purchases securely with Apple Pay.
Media keys (F7, F8, F9): Press to rewind, to play or pause, or to fast- forward a song, movie, or slideshow. Mute key (F10): Press to mute the sound from the built-in speakers or 3.5 mm headphone jack. Volume keys (F11, F12): Press or to decrease or increase the volume of sound from the built-in speakers or 3.5 mm headphone jack.
MacBook Air trackpad You can do a lot on your MacBook Air using simple trackpad gestures—scroll through webpages, zoom in on documents, rotate photos, and more. With the Force Touch trackpad, pressure-sensing capabilities add another level of interactivity. The trackpad provides feedback—when you drag or rotate objects, you feel a subtle vibration when they’re aligned, allowing you to work with greater precision. Here are some common gestures: Gesture Action Click: Press anywhere on the trackpad.
Customize other trackpad features Tip: If you find you’re force clicking when you don’t intend to, try adjusting the click pressure to a firmer setting in Trackpad preferences. Or change the “Look up & data detectors” option from the “Force Click with one finger” default setting to “Tap with three fingers.” For examples of force click options, see the Apple Support article How to use the Force Touch trackpad.
Battery usage history. Click Battery in System Preferences, then click Usage History to see your battery’s usage over the past 24 hours or the last 10 days. Conserve battery power. To extend battery life on a given charge, you can reduce the display brightness, close apps, and disconnect peripheral devices you’re not using. Click Energy Saver in System Preferences to change your power settings. If your MacBook Air is in sleep when a device is connected to it, the device’s battery may drain. Learn more.
MacBook Air accessories The following Apple accessories are available to connect your MacBook Air to power, external devices and displays, and more. Cable or Adapter Description USB-C to USB Adapter: Connect your MacBook Air to standard USB accessories. USB-C to Lightning Cable: Connect your iPhone or other iOS or iPadOS device to your MacBook Air for syncing and charging.
Connect a Bluetooth device. Turn on the device so that it’s discoverable, then open System Preferences and click Bluetooth. Select the device in the list, then click Connect. The device remains connected until you remove it. Control-click a device name to remove it. Turn Bluetooth on or off. Click the Control Center icon in the menu bar, click the Bluetooth icon , then click the control to turn Bluetooth on or off. Your MacBook Air comes with Bluetooth turned on.
Connect a USB-C display: Connect the display to a Thunderbolt / USB 4 port on your MacBook Air. See MacBook Air accessories for details about adapters to use for connecting external devices. Adapters and other accessories are sold separately. Visit apple.com, your local Apple Store, or other resellers for more information and availability. Review the documentation or check with the manufacturer to make sure you choose the right product.
Get started Set up your MacBook Air The first time your MacBook Air starts up, Setup Assistant walks you through the simple steps needed to start using your new Mac. Tip: Press the Escape key to hear how to set up your Mac using VoiceOver. Press Command-Option-F5 to view accessibility options. To learn more, see Accessibility on your Mac. Choose a country or region to set the language and time zone for your Mac.
Transfer information: If you’re setting up a new computer and you haven’t previously set up a Mac, click “Don’t transfer any information now.” If you want to transfer your data from another computer now or later, see Transfer your data to your new MacBook Air. Sign in with your Apple ID: Your Apple ID consists of an email address and a password. It’s the account you use for everything you do with Apple—including using the App Store, Apple TV app, Apple Book Store, iCloud, Messages, and more.
Set up Apple Pay: You can set up Apple Pay for one user account on your MacBook Air during setup. Other users can still pay with Apple Pay, but they must complete the purchase using their iPhone or Apple Watch that’s been set up for Apple Pay (see Use Apple Pay on your Mac). Follow the onscreen prompts to add and verify your card. If you already use a card for media purchases, you might be prompted to verify this card first.
Update account, security, and payment information. In System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select an item in the sidebar to review and update the information associated with your account. Overview: The Overview pane lets you know if your account is set up and working properly—if not, you see tips and notifications here. Name, Phone, Email: Update the name and contact information associated with your Apple ID. You can also manage Apple email newsletter subscriptions.
iCloud: Select the checkbox next to an iCloud feature to turn the feature on. When you turn on an iCloud feature, your content is stored in iCloud and not locally on your Mac, so you can access any content on any device with iCloud turned on and signed in with the same Apple ID. Media & Purchases: Manage the accounts linked to Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple TV, and Apple Books; select purchasing settings; and manage your subscriptions. See all your devices.
Find your way around The desktop, menu bar, and Help on your Mac The first thing you see on your MacBook Air is the desktop, where you can quickly open apps, search for anything on your MacBook Air and the web, organize your files, and more. Tip: Can’t find the pointer on the screen? To magnify it temporarily, move your finger rapidly back and forth on the trackpad. Or if you’re using a mouse, slide it back and forth quickly. Menu bar. The menu bar runs along the top of the screen.
Apple menu . The Apple menu contains frequently used items and always appears in the upper-left corner of the screen. To open it, click the Apple icon . App menu. You can have multiple apps and windows open at the same time. The name of the app that’s active appears in bold to the right of the Apple menu , followed by that app’s unique menus.
Sync devices. When you connect a device like an iPhone or iPad, you can see it in the Finder sidebar. From there you can back up, update, and restore your device. Gallery View. With Gallery View, you can see a large preview of a selected file, which gives you a quick way to visually identify images, video clips, and other documents. The Preview pane shows information to help you identify the file you want. Use the scrubber bar at the bottom to quickly locate what you’re looking for.
Quick Actions. At the bottom right of the Preview pane are shortcuts that let you manage and edit files right in the Finder. You can rotate an image, annotate or crop an image in Markup, combine images and PDFs into a single file, trim audio and video files, and create custom actions through Automator workflows (for example, watermarking a file). To show the Preview pane options in the Finder, choose View > Show Preview.
Open an app or file. Click an app icon in the Dock, or click the Launchpad icon in the Dock to see all the apps on your Mac, then click the app you want. You can also search for an app using Spotlight (in the top-right corner of the menu bar), then open the app directly from your Spotlight search results. Recently opened apps appear in the center section of the Dock. Close an app. When you click the red dot in the top-left corner of an open window, the window closes but the app stays open.
Notification Center on your Mac Notification Center has been redesigned to keep all of your important information, reminders, and widgets in one convenient place. Get details about calendar events, stocks, weather, and more — and catch up on notifications you might have missed (emails, messages, reminders, and more). Open Notification Center. Click the date or time at the top right of the screen, or swipe left from the right edge of the trackpad with two fingers. Scroll down to see more.
Interact with your notifications. Reply to an email, listen to the latest podcast, or view details about calendar events. Click and hold a notification to view options, take action, or get more information. Customize your widgets. Click Edit Widgets to add, remove, or rearrange widgets. You can also add third-party widgets from the Mac App Store. Set your notification preferences. Open System Preferences and click Notifications to select which notifications you see.
control on the left, then click “Show in Menu Bar” or “Show in Control Center.” You see a preview of where the control will appear in the menu bar. Some items can’t be added to or removed from Control Center or the menu bar. Tip: To quickly remove an item from the menu bar, press and hold the Command key and drag the item out of the menu bar. Learn more. See Use Control Center on Mac in the macOS User Guide. Also see Use AirDrop on your Mac and Use AirPlay on your Mac.
Update macOS. In System Preferences, click Software Update to see if your Mac is running the latest version of macOS software. You can specify options for automatic software updates. Spotlight on your Mac Spotlight is an easy way to find anything on your MacBook Air, such as documents, contacts, calendar events, and email messages. Spotlight Suggestions offer info from Wikipedia articles, web search results, news, sports, weather, stocks, movies, and other sources. Search for anything.
Convert currencies and measurements. Enter a currency—like $, €, or ¥—and an amount, then press Return to get a list of converted values. Or specify a unit of measure for measurement conversions. Open an app. Type the app name in Spotlight, then press Return. Turn off Spotlight Suggestions. If you want Spotlight to search only for items on your MacBook Air, open System Preferences, click Spotlight, then click to deselect Siri Suggestions.
Siri on your Mac You can talk to Siri on your MacBook Air and use your voice for many tasks. For example, you can find files, schedule meetings, change preferences, get answers, send messages, place calls, and add items to your calendar. Siri can give you directions (“How do I get home from here?”), provide information (“How high is Mount Whitney?”), perform basic tasks (“Create a new grocery list”), and much more.
Tip: To learn about more ways you can use Siri, ask “What can you do?” at any time, or click the Help button . Play some music. Just say “Play some music,” and Siri does the rest. You can even tell Siri, “Play the top song from March 1991.” Find and open files. Ask Siri to find files and open them right from the Siri window. You can ask by filename or by description. For example, “Show me files Ursula sent,” or “Open the spreadsheet I created last night.” Drag and drop.
“What time is it in Paris?” Learn more. See the Apple Support article How to use Siri on your Mac. Display settings for your Mac Match the light in your surroundings. Your MacBook Air has a Retina display with True Tone technology. True Tone automatically adapts the color of the display to match the light in your environment for a more natural viewing experience. Turn True Tone on or off in the Displays pane of System Preferences. Use a dynamic desktop.
Dark Mode is finely tuned for professionals who edit photos and images—colors and fine details pop against the dark app backgrounds. But it’s also great for anyone who just wants to focus on their content. Connect a display. See Use an external display with your MacBook Air. Learn more. See the Apple Support article Using a Retina display. Transfer your data to your new MacBook Air It’s easy to move your files and settings from another Mac or PC to your MacBook Air.
Tip: To transfer the information wirelessly from your old computer to your MacBook Air, make sure both computers are connected to the same network. Keep both computers near each other throughout the migration process. If you used Time Machine to back up your files from another Mac to a storage device (such as an external disk), you can copy the files from the device to your MacBook Air. See Back up and restore your Mac. Copy files from a USB storage device.
Back up and restore your Mac To keep your files safe, it’s important to back up your MacBook Air regularly. The easiest way to back up is to use Time Machine—which is built into your Mac—to back up your apps, accounts, preferences, music, photos, movies, and documents (it doesn’t back up the macOS operating system). Use Time Machine to back up to an external storage device connected to your MacBook Air, or to a supported network volume.
iCloud Photos: Open Photos, then choose Photos > Preferences. In the iCloud pane, select “Download Originals to this Mac.” Full-resolution versions of your entire photo library will be stored on your Mac and included in your backup. Restore your files. You can use Time Machine to restore all your files at once. Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar, then choose Enter Time Machine.
Learning For comprehensive details about Accessibility support in Apple products, go to Accessibility. Accessibility preferences. In System Preferences, Accessibility preferences are now organized around topics of vision, hearing, and motor, making it simpler to find what you’re looking for. Do it all with Voice Control. Now you can control your Mac with just your voice. All audio processing for Voice Control happens on-device, so your personal data is kept private. Accurate dictation.
Hover and zoom. Use Hover Text to display high-resolution text for screen items under your cursor. Press Command while hovering over text with the pointer, and a window with zoomed text appears on your screen. Zoom Display lets you keep one monitor zoomed in tightly and another at its standard resolution. View the same screen up close and at a distance simultaneously.
New enhancements for VoiceOver. If you prefer the natural voice of Siri, you can now choose to use Siri for VoiceOver or Speech. Simplified keyboard navigation requires less drilling into unique focus groups—making it even easier to navigate with VoiceOver. You can also store custom punctation marks in iCloud, and choose from International Braille tables. And if you’re a developer, VoiceOver now reads aloud line numbers, break points, and warnings errors in the Xcode text editor. Color Enhancements.
New features on your MacBook Air Your MacBook Air provides powerful performance, graphics, and other technology enhancements—including Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt / USB 4—to run your favorite apps faster than ever. Keyboard improvements include convenient new shortcuts for features like Spotlight and dictation. See MacBook Air Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. macOS Big Sur introduces a new look for your Mac desktop, designed to be more closely integrated across Apple devices.
Safari: Enjoy a faster personalized browsing experience in the biggest update to Safari since its original launch in 2003. Make your browsing experience your own with a new customizable start page, and find many additional extensions in the App Store. Navigate with ease using all-new Favicons in tabs and tab previews that appear when you hover over them. Click the translation icon to quickly translate webpages between seven supported languages.
Battery: Your MacBook Air now features Optimized Battery Charging and a chart of battery levels and usage history. See Charge the MacBook Air battery. Family Sharing: An improved family settings UI gives family members more clarity and control over how their family is set up. It's easier than ever to set up your family, add new members, and manage your family details. If the developer supports it, thirdparty app subscriptions can be shared among family members.
Spotlight: Spotlight is faster than ever and presents your results in an easy-to-use streamlined list. Spotlight now prominently shows your top five search results and suggestions as you type — making it even quicker to access high quality suggestions. It gives more consideration to documents and websites in the results to match the way you work on Mac. And if you need additional results, just click “show more.” Spotlight technology is used in the Find menus for apps like Safari, Pages, Keynote, and more.
Use MacBook Air with other devices Use your MacBook Air with iCloud and Continuity There are many ways to use your MacBook Air with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch. You can transfer files, share and edit documents, unlock your MacBook Air with your Apple Watch, turn your iPhone or iPad into an internet hotspot, answer calls or send texts from your MacBook Air, and more. Access your content across devices.
Access your iCloud content on your Mac iCloud is the easiest way to make sure all your important content is everywhere you are. iCloud stores your documents, photos, music, apps, contacts, and calendars, so you can access them anytime you’re connected to the web. You can use your Apple ID to set up a free iCloud account, which comes with 5 GB of free storage space. Purchases you make from the App Store, Apple TV app, Book Store, or iTunes Store don’t count toward your available space.
Here are some of the things you can do with iCloud. Automatically store your desktop and Documents folder in iCloud Drive. You can save files in your Documents folder or on your desktop, and they’re automatically available on iCloud Drive and accessible wherever you are. When working with iCloud Drive, you have access to files on your MacBook Air, on your iPhone or iPad in the Files app, on the web at iCloud.com, or on a Windows PC in the iCloud app.
Store and share photos using iCloud Photos and Shared Albums. Store your photo library in iCloud and see your photos and videos, as well as the edits you make to them, on all your devices. Share photos and videos with only the people you choose, and let them add their own photos, videos, and comments. To get started, open System Preferences, click Apple ID, click iCloud, then select Photos. To learn more, see the Apple Support article Set up and use iCloud Photos. Enjoy your purchases anywhere.
Screen Time on Mac Screen Time shows you how you spend time in apps and on websites. It also lets you monitor what your kids are doing on their Apple devices. Set your limits. Set limits to control how much time you spend with specific apps, categories of apps, and websites. You can also view reports to see how much time you’re spending with apps and websites, and schedule downtime away from your Mac. Family sharing.
Use Handoff on your Mac With Handoff, you can continue on one device where you left off on another. Work on a presentation on your MacBook Air, then continue on your iPad. Or start an email message on your iPhone, then finish it on your MacBook Air. View a message on your Apple Watch, and respond to it on your MacBook Air. You don’t have to worry about transferring files.
Use across apps. You can copy and paste images, text, photos, and video between any apps that support copy and paste on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Copy and paste files. You can quickly move files from one Mac to another using Universal Clipboard. Copy a file on your MacBook Air and paste it to a Finder window, Mail message, or any app on a nearby app that supports copy and paste. You must be signed in with the same Apple ID on both Macs. Learn more.
Tip: If you don’t see your iPad in the AirPlay menu, make sure it has Wi-Fi or Bluetooth turned on. You also need to be signed in with the same Apple ID on both devices. Wired or wireless. Connect your iPad with a cable and keep it charged, or use it wirelessly within ten meters of your Mac. Extend your desktop. When you connect your iPad, it automatically becomes an extension of your Mac desktop. To get started, just drag your apps and documents onto your iPad. Mirror your desktop.
Learn more. See Use your iPad as a second display for your Mac in the macOS User Guide. Continuity Camera on your Mac Use your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to scan documents or take a picture of something nearby, and it appears instantly on your Mac. Continuity Camera is supported in many apps, including Finder, Mail, Messages, and more. Note: To use Continuity Camera, you need an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 12 (or later) or an iPad with iPadOS 13 (or later) installed.
The photo or scan appears where you want it in your document.
Learn more. See Insert photos and scans with Continuity Camera on Mac in the macOS User Guide. Continuity Sketch and Continuity Markup on your Mac With Continuity Sketch, you can use your nearby iPhone or iPad to draw a sketch and instantly insert it into a document on your Mac—for example, in an email, a message, a document, or a note. Or use Continuity Markup to edit a document using your finger on an iOS device or with Apple Pencil on an iPad, and see those markups on your Mac.
Learn more. See Insert sketches with Continuity Sketch in the macOS User Guide and the Apple Support article Use Markup on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Use AirDrop on your Mac AirDrop makes it easy to share files with nearby Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices. The devices don’t need to share the same Apple ID. Note: AirDrop for iOS or iPadOS requires devices that have the Lightning or USB-C connector and iOS 7 (or later) or iPadOS 13 (or later).
Support article How to adjust AirDrop settings. Tip: If you don’t see the recipient in the AirDrop window, make sure both devices have AirDrop and Bluetooth turned on and are within 30 feet (9 meters) of each other. If the recipient is using an older Mac, try clicking “Don’t see who you’re looking for?” Receive items using AirDrop. When someone uses AirDrop to send an item to you on your Mac, you can choose whether to accept and save it.
Tip: To temporarily turn off notifications about phone calls, messages, and more on your Mac, turn on the Do Not Disturb feature. Click the Control Center icon in the menu bar, then click Do Not Disturb and choose a time limit. Send and receive messages. Use iMessage to send unlimited messages to friends who use Mac, iOS devices, iPadOS devices, and Apple Watch. Send and receive SMS or MMS text messages right from your MacBook Air.
Tip: If you’re asked for a password, make sure your devices are set up correctly. See the Apple Support article Use Instant Hotspot to connect to your Personal Hotspot without entering a password. Check the status of your connection. Look in the Wi-Fi status menu to see the strength of the cellular signal. When you’re not using the hotspot, your MacBook Air disconnects to save battery life. Learn more. See Use an iPhone or iPad to connect to the Internet in the macOS User Guide.
Set up two-factor authentication for your Apple ID. To turn on two-factor authentication, go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Apple ID > Password & Security, then select Set Up Two-Factor Authentication. See the Apple Support article Two-factor authentication for Apple ID. Make sure “Disable automatic login” is also selected. (You won’t see this option if you’re using FileVault, but you can still use the “Auto Unlock” and “Approve with Apple Watch” features.
Set up Apple Pay. Apple Pay uses the Apple Card or other credit or debit cards you’ve already set up on your iPhone or Apple Watch, so no extra setup is required. You must be signed in to an iPhone or Apple Watch that has Apple Pay set up with the same Apple ID you’re using on your MacBook Air. The default payment card, shipping, and contact information that’s set on your iPhone or Apple Watch will be used for purchases on your Mac. Make a purchase using Touch ID.
Use AirPlay on your Mac Show whatever’s on your MacBook Air on the big screen using AirPlay Mirroring. To mirror the MacBook Air screen on your TV screen or to use the HDTV as a second display, connect your HDTV to Apple TV and make sure the Apple TV is on the same WiFi network as your MacBook Air. You can also play web videos directly on your HDTV without showing what’s on your desktop—handy when you want to play a movie but keep your work private. Mirror your desktop using AirPlay Mirroring.
Apple TV is sold separately at apple.com or your local Apple Store. Learn more. To learn more about AirPlay, see Use AirPlay to stream what’s on your Mac to an HDTV in the macOS User Guide. To learn more about using a second display with your MacBook Air, see Use an external display with your MacBook Air. To troubleshoot, see the Apple Support article If AirPlay or screen mirroring isn’t working on your device.
Apps Apps included with your Mac Your MacBook Air comes with a collection of great apps for things you do every day, like surfing the web, sending mail and messages, and arranging your calendar. It also comes with apps like Photos, Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, the Apple TV app, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote—so you can be creative and productive right from the start. The apps that come with your MacBook Air are described in the following sections.
Find even more apps. Click the App Store icon in the Dock to find apps for everything you want to do. To learn more, see App Store. Get help for any app. Click the Help menu (in the menu bar at the top of the screen) when you’re using an app. See macOS User Guide. App Store Search the App Store to find and download apps, and get the latest updates for your apps. Find the perfect app. Know exactly what you’re looking for? Type the app name in the search field, then press Return.
your password, click “Forgot Apple ID or password?” to recover it. You must also set up an account with purchasing information to buy fee-based apps. Use iOS and iPadOS apps on your Mac. Many iPhone or iPad apps now work on your MacBook Air. Any available apps that you previously purchased for your iPhone or iPad appear on your Mac. You can also search for apps in the App Store. Play games.
Never lose your place or your markups. Your purchased books, collections, highlights, notes, bookmarks, and the current page you’re reading are available automatically on your Mac, iOS devices, and iPadOS devices, as long as you’re signed in on them with the same Apple ID. Find your way back. You can quickly go to pages you’ve bookmarked. Click the arrow next to to view your list of bookmarks. Tip: Change to Night theme to read more easily in low-light situations.
Learn more. See the Apple Books User Guide. Calendar Never miss an appointment with Calendar. Keep track of your busy schedule by creating multiple calendars, and manage them all in one place. Create events. Click to add a new event, or double-click anywhere in a day. To invite someone, double-click the event, click the Add Invitees section, then type an email address. Calendar lets you know when your invitees reply. Ask Siri. Say something like: “Set up a meeting with Mark at nine in the morning.
Tip: If you add a location to an event, Calendar shows you a map, estimated travel time and time to leave, and even the weather forecast. Force click any event in Calendar to see more details. See all your calendars—or just a few. Click the Calendars button to see a list of all your calendars; click the ones you want to see in the window. A calendar for every part of your life. Create separate calendars—for example, for home, work, and school—each with its own color.
Share across your devices and with others. When you’re signed in to iCloud, your calendars are kept up to date on all your Macs, iOS devices, iPadOS devices, and Apple Watch that are signed in with the same Apple ID. You can also share calendars with other iCloud users. Learn more. See the Calendar User Guide. FaceTime Use FaceTime to make video and audio calls from your Mac to a friend or a group of friends. Ask Siri. Say something like: “Make a FaceTime call to Sharon.” Make a FaceTime call.
Use FaceTime with a group.You can connect with up to 32 people in a group call. To create the group, enter a name, phone number, or email address for the first contact in the search field, press Return, then do the same for each contact. Click Audio or Video at the bottom of the screen to start the call. Sign language recognition. FaceTime detects when a participant is using sign language and makes the person prominent in a Group FaceTime call.
Make a phone call. If you have an iPhone with iOS 8 or later, make phone calls from your Mac using FaceTime. Just make sure your Mac and iPhone are signed in with the same Apple ID account and that both have the feature turned on. (On your Mac, open FaceTime, choose FaceTime > Preferences, then select “Calls from iPhone.”) Note: Your MacBook Air and iPhone must be connected to the internet and the same WiFi network to make or receive calls on your Mac. Learn more. See the FaceTime User Guide.
Set location alerts. Automatically send notifications to friends when you arrive at or leave a specific location. Set notifications when your friends leave and arrive, too. If your friends create notifications about your location, you can view them all in one place—click Me in the People list, then scroll to Notifications About You. Secure a lost device. Use Find My to locate and protect a missing Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, or AirPods.
Bring in the beat. You can quickly add drums to your project using Drummer Loops. Click the Loop Browser , then drag a Drummer Loop into an empty part of the Tracks area. You can customize Drummer Loops to fit your song, using a simple set of controls. Record your voice. Choose Track > New Track, then select the microphone under Audio. Click the triangle next to Details to set options for input, output, and monitoring, then click Create. Click the Record button recording.
Learn more. See GarageBand Support. Home With the Home app, you can easily and securely control all of your HomeKit accessories from your Mac. Accessory control. Accessories appear in the Home app as tiles with icons. Click an accessory tile to control it—turn lights on or off, lock or unlock the door, view live cameras, and more. You can also adjust the brightness of a light, or the target temperature of a thermostat.
Shared Access. You can share your home with family members or guests, so they can control accessories using the Home app on their own Apple devices. Create a scene. Create a scene that lets your accessories work together with a single command. For example, make a Good Night scene that turns off all the lights, closes the shades, and locks the door when you turn in for the night. To create a scene, click , then click Add Scene. HomeKit Secure Video.
iMovie iMovie lets you turn your home videos into beautiful movies and Hollywood-style trailers that you can share with a few quick clicks. Import a video. Import video from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, from a camera, or from media files already on your Mac. iMovie creates a new library and event for you. Record video with the built-in camera. Use the FaceTime HD camera on your Mac to record video and add it to your project.
Tip: Shooting video with a handheld device can produce shaky results, but you can stabilize the video so the playback is smoother. Select the clip in the timeline, click the Stabilization button , then click Stabilize Shaky Video. Learn more. See iMovie Support. Keynote Create professional, cutting-edge presentations with Keynote. Start with one of the more than 30 predesigned themes and make it your own by adding text, new objects, and changing the color scheme. Organize visually.
Practice makes perfect. To rehearse your presentation, choose Play > Rehearse Slideshow. You’ll see each slide along with your notes—and a clock to keep you on track. Share your presentation. If your manager wants to review your presentation or you want to share it with others on a conference call, choose Share > Send a Copy to send a copy by Mail, Messages, AirDrop, or even social media.
Draw them in. Get their attention by animating an object on a slide. Select the object, click Animate in the toolbar, click Action in the sidebar, then click Add an Effect. Tip: You can include a video in your presentation. Click where you want it to be, then click the Media button in the toolbar. Click Movies, then find the movie you want and drag it to your slide. Learn more. See the Keynote User Guide. Mail Mail lets you manage all your email accounts from a single app.
Focus on what’s important. See only the messages you want to see in your inbox. You can block messages from specific senders by moving their messages directly to the Trash, mute overly active email threads, and unsubscribe from mailing lists directly in Mail. Add events and contacts right from Mail. When you receive a message that includes a new email address or event, just click Add to add it to Contacts or Calendar. Force click an address to see a preview of the location, which you can open in Maps.
Never miss an email. Check the Mail icon in the Dock to see the number of unread messages. When you get a new email, a notification also appears at the top-right of the screen so you can quickly preview incoming messages. (Don’t want notifications? To turn them off, open System Preferences, then click Notifications.) Learn more. See the Mail User Guide. Maps Get directions and view locations using a map or a satellite image.
Create your own guides. You can create your own guides for your favorite places and share them with friends and family. To create a guide, move the pointer over My Guides in the sidebar, click on the right, then Control-click the new guide to see a menu of options. Explore in 3D. Click Look Around to explore select cities in 3D as you move smoothly through the streets in an interactive experience. See indoor maps for major destinations. Find your way around select airports and shopping malls.
Plan your cycling route. Maps gives you the info you need to plan your cycling trip, such as elevation, traffic conditions, and whether there are steep inclines. After you plan your trip, you can send it to your iPhone. Get live ETA updates. When friends and family share their ETA with you, Maps can show you where they are along their route. WARNING: For important information about navigation and avoiding distractions that could lead to dangerous situations, see Important safety information for your Mac.
Sign in and send. Sign in with your Apple ID to exchange unlimited messages—including text, photos, Live Photos, video, and more—with anyone with a Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch. For setup information, see the Apple Support article Use Messages with your Mac. Tip: You can also send and receive SMS or MMS messages on your Mac if your iPhone (with iOS 8.1 or later) is signed in with the same Apple ID to Messages.
Manage group conversations. Make it easier to identify a group by setting a photo, Memoji, or emoji as the group image. In a group conversation, you can direct a message to an individual by typing the person’s name or using the @ sign, and you can respond to a question or statement earlier in the conversation by adding your comment as an inline reply. When a conversation becomes too active, you can hide alerts for the conversation.
Send Memoji stickers. Messages automatically generates sticker packs based on your Memoji characters. To add a Memoji sticker to a conversation, click the Apps button , click Memoji Stickers, then click the one that best expresses your mood. Create your own Memoji. Design your own personalized Memoji—choose skin color and freckles, hairstyle and color, facial features, and more. To use a personalized Memoji as your Messages photo, go to Messages > Preferences.
Send a file, photo, or video. Easily share files by dragging them to Messages. Or quickly find and send photos and videos from your Photos library. In a conversation, click the Apps button , click Photos, then click a photo to add it. Type a keyword—for example, a person’s name, date, or location—in the search field to help you find a specific photo. When a text isn’t enough. Switch from texting to making an audio or video call in Messages.
Sing along. Click in the toolbar to display a panel with lyrics for the current song (if available). Tune in. Click Radio in the sidebar to tune in to Apple Music 1 live or listen to any episode from the Apple Music family of shows. Explore the variety of stations created for almost every genre of music. Ask Siri. Say something like: “Play Apple Music 1.” Sync with ease. Sync your music content directly in the Apple Music app. When you connect a device, you see it in the sidebar of the Finder.
News Apple News is your one-stop destination for trusted news and information, curated by editors and personalized for you. You can save articles for future reading—even offline or on other devices. Apple News+ lets you read hundreds of magazines, popular newspapers, and premium digital publishers for a single monthly price. Note: Apple News and Apple News+ are not available in all countries or regions. Customize your feed. Follow your favorite channels and topics to see them in the Today feed and sidebar.
Tip: When you’re signed in with your Apple ID and iCloud is turned on for Notes, your notes are kept up to date on all your devices—so you can create a to-do list on your Mac, then check off items on your iPhone while you’re on the go. Customize your toolbar. Right click anywhere in the tool bar to open the customized window. Drag your favorite items into the toolbar to make it work for you. Check off your list.
for reusing your weekly shopping lists. Add photos, videos, and more. Drag a photo, video, PDF, or other document from the desktop. Choose Window > Photo Browser to add items from your Photos library to a note. Add a table. Click the Table button to add a table to your note. You can even copy a table from a webpage or another app and paste it into your note. Lock a note. You can set a password to lock notes that you don’t want others to see.
Get organized with sheets. Use multiple sheets or tabs to show different views of your information. For example, use one sheet for your budget, another for a table, and a third for notes. Click to add a new sheet. Drag a tab left or right to reorder sheets. Formulas are a snap. Get built-in help for more than 250 powerful functions—just type the equal sign (=) in a cell, and you see a list of all the functions and their descriptions in the sidebar. Start typing a formula to get instant suggestions.
Pages Use the Pages app to create stunning, media-rich documents and books on your Mac. Open and edit Microsoft Word files, and track changes made by yourself and others. Look good! Pages includes professional, ready-to-use templates for books, newsletters, reports, résumés, and more, making it easy to start your project. All your formatting tools, in one place. Click the Format button in the toolbar to open the Format inspector.
Start on your Mac, finish on iPad. You can keep documents up to date across all your devices when you sign in with the same Apple ID. So you can start composing on one device, and pick up where you left off on another. Tip: Turn on change tracking to see the changes you and others make to a document. Each person’s edits and comments are color-coded, so you can see who made each change. Choose Edit > Track Changes to show the change tracking toolbar. Learn more. See the Pages User Guide.
All your photos on all your devices. With iCloud Photos, you can browse, search, and share all the photos and videos from all your devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID. When you take a photo on your iPhone, it’s automatically synced with your other devices. And if you edit photos, those edits appear on all of your devices. To get started, open System Preferences, click Apple ID, click iCloud, then select Photos. To learn more, see the Apple Support article Set up and use iCloud Photos.
Find the perfect shot. Photos identifies objects, scenes, and people in your photos and videos. Search your photos based on what’s in them, the date they were taken, people you’ve named in them, captions you added, and their location—if provided. Ask Siri. Say something like: “Show me photos of Sally.” People and Places. Photos understands your photos—who’s in them and what’s happening—and highlights important moments like birthdays, anniversaries, and trips.
Save episodes to your library. To save a single episode to your library, click . To keep up with new episodes for an entire podcast, click Subscribe. To download a podcast for offline listening, click . Discover new podcasts. Find a curated feed of new podcasts in Browse, or see which shows are trending in Top Charts. If you see a show you like, subscribe to the podcast or add an episode to your library for later. Search by host or guest.
Keep track with smart lists. Smart lists automatically sort your upcoming reminders into four categories. Select Today to see all your reminders scheduled for today, as well as any overdue reminders. Select Scheduled to see your reminders with dates and times in one chronological view. Select Flagged to see reminders you’ve marked as important. Select All to see all your reminders in one place. Use smart suggestions.
Get reminder suggestions in Mail. When you’re corresponding with someone in Mail, Siri recognizes possible reminders and makes suggestions for you to create them. Add a reminder quickly. Use natural language to quickly add a reminder. For example, write “Take Amy to soccer every Wednesday at 5PM” to create a repeating reminder for that day and time. Learn more. See the Reminders User Guide. Safari Safari is the fastest and most efficient way to surf the web on your Mac.
Customize your Safari start page. Your start page can show Favorites, Reading List items, a privacy report, and more. You can import a special photo to use as a background image, or choose one of the provided backgrounds. Click in the bottom right of your start page to set options for your start page. Discover extensions. Extensions add functionality to Safari to personalize your browsing experience.
in the App Store features Safari extensions with editorial spotlights and top charts to help you discover and download useful items. See App Store. After you get extensions, turn them on in Safari Preferences. Select the Extensions tab, then click checkboxes to turn on extensions. View multiple webpages in one window. Click at the far right of the tab bar or press Command-T to open a new tab, then enter an address. To keep a webpage handy, drag its tab left to pin it, and it stays in the tab bar.
Translate webpages. You can instantly translate entire webpages in Safari. When you encounter a page that Safari can translate, you see a translate button in the website address field. Click to translate between any of the following languages: English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese. The button changes color to show when a webpage has been translated. Tip: In a webpage, force click a word to see its definition, or a Wikipedia article if one is available.
Stocks The Stocks app is the best way to track the market on your Mac. View prices in the custom watchlist, click a stock to see more details and an interactive chart, and read about what’s driving the market, with stories from Apple News. Note: Apple News stories and Top Stories are available in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia. News stories in other countries and regions are provided by Yahoo. Customize your watchlist.
Read articles related to the companies you follow. Click a stock in your watchlist to see an interactive chart and additional details, and read the latest news about that company. Get a deeper view. Want to see what the market was doing last week, last month, or last year? Click the buttons above the chart to switch timeframes and see prices in the view you like best. Your watchlist on all your devices. Keep your watchlist consistent across all your devices when you sign in with the same Apple ID.
TV Watch all your movies and TV shows in the Apple TV app. Buy or rent movies and TV shows, subscribe to channels, and pick up where you left off watching from any of your devices. Get started with Watch Now. In Watch Now, browse a curated feed of recommendations, based on channels you’re subscribed to and movies or TV shows you’ve watched. Watch Defending Jacob on the Apple TV app Keep watching in Up Next.
Voice Memos Voice Memos makes it easier than ever to capture personal reminders, class lectures, and even interviews or song ideas. With iCloud, you can access the voice memos you record with your iPhone, right on your MacBook Air. Record from your MacBook Air. Click the Record button to start recording, then click Done to stop. You can rename a recording to make it easier to identify. Click the default name, then enter a new name. To play back your recording, click the Play button .
Mark a recording as a favorite. Select a recording, then click the Favorite button the toolbar so you can quickly find the recording later. Click the Sidebar button in to see all your favorites. Enhance a recording. Improve the sound quality of your Voice Memos by reducing background noise and room reverberation. Click Edit at the top of the Voice Memos window, click the Play button, then click the Enhance button Learn more. See the Voice Memos User Guide. .
Find answers macOS User Guide The macOS User Guide has a lot more information about how to use your MacBook Air. Get help. Click the Finder icon in the Dock, then click the Help menu in the menu bar and choose macOS Help to open the macOS User Guide. Or type a question or term in the search field, then choose a topic from the results list. Explore topics. To find a topic in the macOS User Guide, you can browse or search.
Find out what’s new. Click the Help menu, then choose “See What’s New in macOS” to find out more about the latest features of macOS. Tip: If you can’t remember the location of a menu item in an app, search for it in Help. Place the pointer over the result, and an arrow shows you the command. Learn more. See the macOS User Guide for Big Sur. Common questions about your Mac How do I get support for my MacBook Air? Go to MacBook Air Support. I’m new to Mac.
How do I take a screenshot on my Mac? Press Command-Shift-3 to take a screenshot of the entire screen. Press Command-Shift-4 to take a screenshot of a selected area of the screen. To learn more, see Take a screenshot on your Mac. Where is my serial number? Choose Apple menu > About This Mac. The serial number is the last item in the list. You can also find the serial number on the bottom of your MacBook Air. Ask Siri.
Keyboard shortcuts on your Mac You can press key combinations to do things on your MacBook Air that you’d normally do with a trackpad, mouse, or other device. Here’s a list of commonly used keyboard shortcuts.
Shortcut Description Command-X Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard. Command-C Copy the selected item to the Clipboard. Command-V Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app. Command-Z Undo the previous command. Press Command-Shift-Z to redo. Command-A Select all items. Command-F Open a Find window, or find items in a document. Command-G Find the next occurrence of the item you’re searching for. Press Command-Shift-G to find the previous occurrence.
If you switched to the Mac from a PC, check out the Apple Support articles Mac tips for Windows switchers for a list of Mac keyboard shortcuts and the differences between Mac and Windows keyboards and What’s it called on my Mac?. For more keyboard shortcuts, see the Apple Support article Mac keyboard shortcuts.
Optimize storage. To see storage recommendations, go to Apple menu > About This Mac, click Storage, then click Manage. You’ll see different recommendations based on how you configured your Mac. If your Mac is low on storage, you’ll see an alert with a link to the Storage pane. Set options to: Store in iCloud: Store all files, photos, and messages in iCloud and save space on your Mac. Desktop and Documents: Store all the files from your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive.
Optimize Storage: Save space on your Mac by optimizing the storage of movies and TV shows in the Apple TV app. You can choose to automatically remove movies or TV shows from your MacBook Air after you watch them. You can download them again at any time. Empty Trash Automatically: Automatically erase items that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days. Reduce Clutter: Easily identify large files, and delete the files you no longer need.
macOS User Guide. Learn more. See Take screenshots or screen recordings on Mac in the macOS User Guide. Mac resources, service, and support You can find more information about your MacBook Air in System Report, in Apple Diagnostics, and through online resources. System Report. To get information about your MacBook Air, use System Report. It shows you what hardware and software is installed, the serial number and operating system version, how much memory is installed, and more.
To start Apple Diagnostics on MacBook Air, restart the computer and hold the power button for 10 seconds to open Startup Options, then hold Command-D to enter Diagnostics mode. If prompted, select the language for your location. Press the Return key or click the right arrow button. The basic Apple Diagnostics test takes a few minutes to complete. If an issue is found, a description of the issue appears with additional instructions.
Safety, handling, and regulatory information Important safety information for your Mac WARNING: Failure to follow these safety instructions could result in fire, electric shock, or other injuries, or damage to your MacBook Air or other property. Read all safety information below before using your MacBook Air. Built-in battery. Don’t attempt to replace or remove the battery yourself—you may damage the battery, which could cause overheating and injury.
Prolonged heat exposure. Your MacBook Air and its 30W USB-C Power Adapter may become very warm during normal use. The MacBook Air and its 30W USB-C Power Adapter comply with required surface temperature limits defined by applicable country regulations and international and regional safety standards. However, even within these limits, sustained contact with warm surfaces for long periods of time may cause discomfort or injury.
If debris gets onto the power port, remove it gently with a dry cotton swab. 30W USB-C Power Adapter specifications: Frequency: 50 to 60 Hz, single phase Line Voltage: 100 to 240 V (USB-PD) Output Voltage: 20 VDC/1.5A or 15 VDC/2A or 9 VDC/3A or 5 VDC/3A Take special care if you have a physical condition that affects your ability to detect heat against the body. Hearing loss. Listening to sound at high volumes may damage your hearing.
device and MacBook Air. Consult your physician and medical device manufacturer for information specific to your medical device. If you suspect MacBook Air is interfering with your pacemaker or any other medical device, stop using MacBook Air. Medical conditions. If you have a medical condition that you believe could be affected by using MacBook Air (for example, seizures, blackouts, eyestrain, or headaches), consult with your physician prior to using MacBook Air. Repetitive motion.
Using connectors and ports. Never force a connector into the USB-C ports. When connecting a device, make sure the port is free of debris, that the connector matches the port, and that you have positioned the connector correctly in relation to the port. Using the USB-C Charge Cable (2 m). Certain usage patterns can contribute to the fraying or breaking of cables.
Change hand positions often to avoid fatigue. Some computer users might develop discomfort in their hands, wrists, or arms after intensive work without breaks. If you begin to develop chronic pain or discomfort in your hands, wrists, or arms, consult a qualified health specialist. External mouse. If you use an external mouse, position the mouse at the same height as the keyboard and within a comfortable reach. Chair. An adjustable chair that provides firm, comfortable support is best.
Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Operation in the band 5150–5250 MHz is only for indoor use to reduce the potential for harmful interference to co-channel mobile satellite systems. Le présent appareil est conforme aux CNR d’ISDE Canada applicables aux appareils radio exempts de licence. L’exploitation est autorisée aux deux conditions suivantes : (1) l’appareil ne doit pas produire de brouillage, et (2) l’appareil doit accepter tout brouillage radioélectrique subi, même si le brouillage est susceptible d’en compromettre le fonctionnement.
Japan VCCI Class B statement ENERGY STAR® compliance statement As an ENERGY STAR partner, Apple has determined that standard configurations of this product meet the ENERGY STAR guidelines for energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR program is a partnership with electronic equipment manufacturers to promote energyefficient products. Reducing energy consumption of products saves money and helps conserve valuable resources.
Disposal and recycling information This symbol indicates that this product and/or battery should not be disposed of with household waste. When you decide to dispose of this product and/or its battery, do so in accordance with local environmental laws and guidelines. For information about Apple’s recycling program, recycling collection points, restricted substances, and other environmental initiatives, go to Apple’s Environment website.
Software License Agreement Use of MacBook Air constitutes acceptance of the Apple and third-party software license terms found at Software License Agreements. Apple Inc. © 2020 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Use of the “keyboard” Apple logo (Option-Shift-K) for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Apple may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws.
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