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macOS Setup Notes

System Settings

  • WiFi, Bluetooth and Network
    • IPv4 DNS: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1.
    • IPv6 DNS: 2606:4700:4700::1111 and 2606:4700:4700::1001.
    • Disable: Open when no keyboard is detected.
    • Disable: Open when no mouse or trackpad is detected.
  • Battery:
    • Low Power Mode: Only on Battery.
    • Enable: Optimize video streaming while on battery.
  • General
    • Disable all Software Updates.
  • Accessibility
    • Enable keyboard shortcut to zoom.
    • Enable trackpad's three-finger drag.
  • Appearance: Set Show scroll bars to When scrolling.
  • Siri: Disable Show Siri suggestions in application and Learn from this application for all entries.
  • Control Center
    • Show Bluetooth, Airdrop, Sound, Battery and VPN (when available).
    • Clock: Display the time with seconds.
    • Spolight: Don't show in Menu Bar.
    • Weather: Show in Menu Bar.
  • Desktop & Dock
    • Dock
      • Position on screen: Bottom.
      • Minimize windows using: Scale Effect.
      • Enable: Automatically hide and show the Dock.
      • Disable: Animate opening applications.
      • Enable: Show indicators for open application.
      • Disable: Show suggested and recent apps in Dock.
    • Desktop and Stage Manager
      • Click wallpaper to reveal desktop: Only in Stage Manager.
      • Stage Manager: Disabled.
      • Show recent apps in Stage Manager: Disabled.
      • Show Widgets: Disabled for both Desktop and Stage Manager.
    • Widgets
      • Show Widgets: Disable both On Desktop and In Stage Manager.
      • Use iPhone widgets: Disabled.
    • Windows
      • Prefer tabs when opening documents: Always.
      • Disable all tilling options. Mission Control
      • Disable: Automatically rearrange Spaced based on most recent use.
      • Enable: Group windows by application.
      • Hot Corners: Cmd + top right to show the Desktop.
  • Displays
    • Disable iPad interoperability.
    • Night Shift: Sunset to Sunrise. Move the temperator slider to the beginning of More Warm.
  • Spotlight
    • Disable results for Contacts, Definition, Folders, Fonts, Movies, Music, Siri Suggestions, System Settings, Tips and Websites.
    • Disable: Help Apple improve Search.
  • Sound
    • Disable: Play sound on startup.
    • Reduce alert volume to half.
  • Lock Screen
    • Start Screen Saver when active: Never.
    • Require password: After 5 seconds.
  • Privacy and Security
    • Enable: Show location icon in Control Center when System Services requests your location.
    • Disable location access for Suggestions & Search, HomeKit and Mac Analytics.
    • Set Apple Terminal permissions: Full Disk Access and Developer Tools.
    • Disable: Apple Intelligence Report.
  • Wallet & Apple Pay: Disable Add Orders to Wallet.
  • Keyboard
    • Create five more virtual desktops before entering this section.
    • Set Key repeat rate and Delay until repeat to their max value.
    • Turn off keyboard backlight after 30 seconds of inactivity.
    • Set globe key to Change Input Source.
    • Keyboard Shortcuts
      • Mission Control
        • Disable F11 to Show Desktop (consider disabling some others too).
        • Enable all ^<n> Desktop chords.
      • Input sources: Disable ^Space and ^+Opt+Space chords.
      • Function Keys: Use F-keys as standard function keys.
      • Modifier Keys: Map Caps Lock to Escape.
    • Disable all automatic actions in Input Sources.
    • Remove all Text Replacements.
  • Trackpad
    • Set tracking speed to one point bellow the maximum.
    • Enable App Exposé with Swipe Down with Four Fingers.
  • Mouse: Set tracking speed to two points bellow the maximum.
  • Other
    • Programmatically set the hostname
      • sudo scutil --set HostName <hostname>.local.
      • sudo scutil --set LocalHostName <hostname>.
      • sudo scutil --set ComputerName <hostname>.
    • Folders in the Dock
      • Add Applications, Documents and Downloads.
      • Set all to display as Folder.
      • For Applications, set View content as: Grid.
      • For Document and Downloads, set View content as: List.
      • Scale down Applications folder icons with Cmd+/Cmd-.

Finder, iCloud and Safari

  • Finder
    • General
      • Show all items in Desktop.
      • New finder window shows: Home folder.
      • Enable: Open folders in tabs instead of windows.
    • Sidebar: Show home folder, show all disks and hide tags.
    • Advanced: When performing a search: Search in Current Folder.
    • View: Show Path Bar and Hide Preview.
    • Show View Options:
      • For Home and Applications folders:
        • Icons view.
        • Set icon size to 40x40.
        • Reduce grid size by one point.
        • Sort items by name.
      • Other folders:
        • Column view.
        • Set Always open in column view.
        • Group By: Kind / Sort By: Name.
        • Disable Show icon preview.
      • Specifically for the Desktop view:
        • Sort by: kind.
        • Icon size: 36x36.
        • Enable: Show item info.
        • Enable: Show item preview.
    • Add the following locations to Spotlight Privacy list:
      • System: /opt, /usr/local, /Library and /System/Library/Frameworks.
      • User: ~/{Developer,Library,.cache,.config,.local,.m2,.ssh}.
  • iCloud
    • Delete the user's local contact card in the Contacts app.
    • Authenticate with the iCloud account.
    • Disable the synchronization of Stocks, Home, Wallet and Siri.
    • Consider disabling Private Relay.
    • Set AirPods connection strategy to When last connected to this Mac.
    • Enable FireVault with iCloud authentication in Privacy & Security.
    • Allow Apple Watch to unlock macOS in TouchID & Password.
    • Sign out of Game Center.
  • Safari
    • View: Show status bar.
    • General
      • Safari opens with: All windows from the last session.
      • New windows open with: Start page.
      • New tabs open with: Start page.
      • Homepage: https://github.com/parteincerta.
      • Disable Open "safe" files after downloading.
    • Search
      • Search engine: DuckDuckGo.
      • Disable: Also use in Private Browsing.
      • Private search engine: Google.
      • Disable: Include search engine suggestions.
      • Disable: Preload Top Hit in the background.
      • Disable: Show start page.
    • Security: Disable: Warn when visiting a fraudulent website.
    • Privacy: Disable: Require Touch ID to view locked tabs.
    • Advanced
      • Disable: Allow websites to check for Apple Pay and Apple Card.
      • Enable: Save articles for offline reading automatically.
      • Enable: Show features for web developers.
    • Developer: Turn on Disable site-specific quirks.
    • Restart Safari and clear its favion cache: rm -rf ~/Library/Safari/Favicon\ Cache

Development Environment

  • Disable GateKeeper.
    • Open the Terminal and run sudo spctl --global-disable.
    • Open the Settings app, go to Privacy and Secutiry and enable Allow applications from Anywhere.
  • Manually install the latest Command Line Tools from Apple Developer.
    • Note: Using xcode-select --install would be easier but it's causing problems with Homebrew when upgrading packages.
  • Clone this repo and run ./bootstrap.sh. Setup 1st-party apps while the bootstrap is running.
  • Import the tokyo-night profile for Apple Terminal and set it as default.
  • Start neovim and let the installation of TreeSitter grammars and LSP servers finish.
  • Clone personal repositories and set git config user.name and git config user.email.
  • Set Developer Tools permissions for Ghostty/Kitty.

Wrap up

  • Start by configuring: SpaceId, BetterDisplay, Mac Mouse Fix and AltTab.
    • Add SpaceId to the Login Items list and enable Automatic launch at login for BetterDisplay.
  • Disable automatic updates across all apps, when possible.
  • Setup Docker.
    • Configure startup settings, resources, folder permissions and notifications.
    • Move the Docker folder to the auxiliary/external volume (desktop hosts only).
    • Install the Disk usage, Logs Explorer and Resource Usage extensions.
  • Install VSCode plugins: bash shared/scripts/install-vscode-plugins.sh --silent [--plugins-list <file>].
  • Setup Brave.
    • Set Tab Scrolling to tab shrink to pinned tab width in brave://flags.
    • Enable Parallel downloading in brave://flags.
    • Delete browsing data.
  • Lock specific apps to prevent auto-updates: bash shared_macos/scripts/toggle-application-lock.sh.
  • Configure iCloud Sync, Notifications, Login Items and Siri.
  • Press Cmd+Shift+5, select Options and select the folder where screenshots/recordings must be stored.
  • Install DBeaver's connections.
  • Setup the Docker containers.
  • Configure VPNs and show the VPN icon in the Menu Bar.
  • Setup 3rd party Remote Desktop connections.
  • Clone and configure 3rd party git repositories.
  • Disable SiP.
  • Disable services: bash macos_shared/scripts/disable-services[-oclp|-vm].sh
  • Reboot.