you have one MacBook new in your hands, you turn it on for the first time and you feel that mixture of excitement and paralysis: where do I start? Don’t worry, it’s happened to all of us. Before installing apps or customize wallpapers, there are a series of essential settings that make the difference between using your Mac in a mediocre way and making the most of it in your daily life. Here I tell you the 5 that you can’t skip.
The first adjustments that no one tells you but that change everything
1. Set the appearance mode and Highlight shortcuts
The first thing you should do is go to System Configuration → Customary and choose between light, dark or auto mode. This isn’t just aesthetics: Auto mode adjusts the screen based on the time of day, minimizing visible fatigue during long work sessions. If you use your Mac at night, dark mode can be a lifesaver for your eyes.
Take the opportunity to also configure the Highlight keyboard shortcut (the system’s quick search). By default it is ⌘ + Space, but if you have it blocked by another app, you can reassign it in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts. Highlight is literally the fastest way to open apps, search for files, and do calculations without touching the mouse, and many new users don’t even know it exists.
2. Disable the apps that open when the system starts
This is one of those settings that people discover late and regret not having activated sooner. Go to System Settings → Customary → Login Items and disable everything that you don’t need to start automatically when you turn on your Mac. Every app that opens by itself at startup employs RAM and processor from the first second, which makes it take longer for the team to be ready to work.
If your MacBook has 8GB of RAM (which is the minimum recommended in macOS Sequoia), this setting is especially critical. Keep only what is strictly necessary at the start and notice the difference in speed from the first day.
3. Activate FileVault and review privacy permissions
FileVault is Apple’s disk encryption and is disabled by default. Find it in System Settings → Privacy and security → FileVault and activate it without thinking twice. If your MacBook is ever lost or stolen, FileVault makes your data virtually inaccessible to anyone who finds it. It’s the most powerful privacy shield you have and it’s there, free, waiting for you to use it.
While you are in that menu, Also check which apps have access to your camera, microphone, location and contacts. It is surprising how many permissions some applications request without the user uncovering it. Spend five minutes on this section and avoid scares in the future.
4. Set Focus Modes to work without distractions
macOS Sequoia includes the Concentration Modesa brutal tool for productivity that many people ignore. Go to System Configuration → Concentration and create a custom work mode that silences specific notifications during your productive hours. You can even program it to be vigorous automatically at certain times of the day.
The philosophy behind this is simple: minimize distractions and maximize focus. You can also combine this function with the Virtual desktops (Mission Control): Swipe up with three fingers on the trackpad, add a new desktop with the + button, and separate your tasks by workspaces. One desktop for email, another for design, another for social networks. A small change that transforms the way you work.
5. Optimize the Dock and customize the Finder from scratch
He Dock It is what you are going to use the most each day, so dedicate time to it from the beginning. Go to System Settings → Desktop and Dock and adjust the size, activate the hover zoom and, most importantly, activate the option Automatically hide and show the Dock. This gives you extra screen space without giving up having your apps close at hand.
He finder It’s also worth a quick visit. Go to Finder → Preferences (or Settings) and activate the tab bar, the path bar and the status bar. From Finder → View → Show Sidebaradd your most used folders for one-click access. It seems like a minor detail, but when you are managing dozens of files a day, having the Finder well configured save minutes that turn into hours at the end of the week.
These five adjustments won’t take you more than 20 minutes in total, but they’ll completely change your MacBook experience from day one. It doesn’t matter if you have a MacBook Air M5, a MacBook Pro, or any acceptable model with macOS Sequoia: these changes apply to everyone and are the starting point to becoming a macOS power user without needing to be a technical expert.
Keep reading:
• MacBook Neo vs MacBook Air M5: how to know which of the two really suits you in 2026
• MacBook Neo, Air M5 or Pro M5: which one is best for you in 2026?
• Apple launches the new MacBook Air-with M5: more power, more storage and a design that continues to fall in love
