Is our Mac identical to all the others? Let’s see how to make it unique by customizing your desktop with integrated settings and apps
Compared to what is believed, customizing a Mac is very simple and within everyone’s reach: we are therefore not obliged to use the basic theme or the default desktop background, but we can customize the Mac using the settings present in the system or some purpose-specific apps.
In addition to the Mac settings to customize the “desk” (i.e. the desktop), there are some apps to download, so we can give a touch of class and personality to our MacBook or any other Mac we own.
READ ALSO -> System preferences to change on your Mac
1) Mac Desktop Settings
The first step towards customizing the Mac desktop is the wallpaper, which we can change quickly and easily by right-clicking on the desktop itself and pressing Change wallpaper; as an alternative method we can also press on the apple at the top left, click on System settings and open the menu Background.
In the new window we can choose one of the dynamic wallpapers provided by Apple itself (which change lighting based on the time of day) or use one of the available static backgrounds. Alternatively we can also set a uniform color for the background, start a color rotation (in the section Colors), load a single photo (by pressing on Add folder) or start the slideshow of a personal photo album (by pressing on Add photo album).
Other settings to customize your Mac’s colors and desktop can be seen below Settings -> Appearance; if instead we wanted to change the icons displayed at the top right we will have to go to the path Settings -> Control Center and choose what to display and what to hide.
For further information we can read our guide above how to create a custom photo wallpaper for your mac desktop.
2) Folder Colorizer Pro
The first third-party app that we can try to customize the Mac desktop is Folder Colorizer Proa paid app that however has a free trial.
This app, as the name suggests, allows you to create colored folders to be placed freely on the desk, so that you can immediately recognize the files stored inside using only the chromatic effect (we won’t even have to read the folder label to know what it contains).
In addition to changing color, it also allows you to add emojis or stickers as a distinctive sign of the folders, so as to satisfy anyone’s aesthetic tastes.
3) WidgetWall
Those who like to have lots of widgets on their desktop will definitely love the app WidgetWallwhich adds a framework capable of managing countless widgets on your Mac’s desktop.
We will thus be able to add the widget for the weather, for stocks, to get the latest news, to manage the calendar, to use the calculator, to monitor Instagram, to manage Spotify music and much more.
Also in this case the app is available for free trial.
4) uBar
What would Mac look like with a Windows-style taskbar? We can experience the thrill of this hybrid by downloading the app medicineavailable as a free trial for all Macs.
The app allows you to add a bottom bar that works similarly to Windows, with app icons, active program bars, the “Start” button and the system bar at the bottom right. The app can also be configured with an alternative Dock style, simpler and more linear than the original Dock present on all Macs.
5) iCollections
Another app that we can use to modify the Mac desktop is iCollectionsavailable for free and with various unlockable in-app purchases.
The app provides spaces where we can enclose apps, files or folders; these gathering spaces they can be positioned along the edges or anywhere on the desktop, so you can launch the apps by category or by need (for example all the work items, all the music apps or all the items needed for studying).
iCollections is a great way to keep your Mac desktop tidy, especially when we have a lot of things saved on it.
5) Vanilla
Do we have lots of system icons at the top right of the top bar? The app Vanilla is right for us: with it we can hide some of the icons shown at the top right under a convenient arrow, which we can open and close the icons at any time when necessary.
This icon actually replicates the functioning of the arrow icon used by Windows to hide the icons at the bottom right of the taskbar.
Conclusions
Using the recommended Mac settings and adding the illustrated apps we will be able to create a truly unique and sensational desktop for your Macwith the addition of useful widgets, a new taskbar, a convenient app, file and folder collector and a function to hide system icons.
Still on the Mac theme we can read our guides on How to get Mac features on Windows come on how to add menu bar tools on mac.