nerdsupremacist / fresh-mac-setup

How to set up a fresh Mac the way I like it

How to set up a fresh Mac the way I like it

Here's a simple list of steps to set up a Mac the way I like it. My setup is pretty simple except for my very specific trackpad settings.

Password Manager

• Install 1Password here
• Set up 1Password using QR code from phone

Settings

Trackpad

• Enable Tap to Click
• Set Secondary Click to Click in bottom right corner
• Set Tracking Speed to Fast
• Enable three finger drag:
  • It's hidden in Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Speed

Dock

• Disable Show recent applications in Dock

Desktop

• Use stacks

Menu Bar

• Get rid of keyboard icon
• Add volume icon (to be able to change output quickly)
• Show battery percentage

Safari

• Enable developer tools
  • It's in Advanced > Show Develop Menu in Menu Bar

Terminal

• Install Xcode CLI tools
  • xcode-select --install
• Install Homebrew
  • /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"
• Set up zsh
  • Install zsh
    • brew install zsh
  • Install oh-my-zsh
    • sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh)"
  • Run upgrade_oh_my_zsh
  • Download Powerline9K Theme
    • git clone https://github.com/bhilburn/powerlevel9k.git ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/themes/powerlevel9k
  • Install a compatible font from the repo.
    • You were last using Inconsolata
  • Set font in terminal to compatible font
  • Download .zshrc from the Password Manager
    • note: you don't need to store these in your Password Manager. I just put them there while I was storing my ssh keys there. Git is propbably a better choice for this. I just did it this way
• Download ssh keys from the Password Manager
• Download .vimrc from the Password Manager
• Download global .gitignore from the Password Manager

Apps

• Install software from the Mac App Store
  • Xcode
    • Enable Trimming of blank lines in Text Editing > Editing > While Editing
    • Set command click to jump to definition in Navigation > Command Click on Code
    • And to save you the trouble of debugging this for the millionth time:
      • Run sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
  • Slack
  • Telegram
  • AdGuard for Safari
  • Grammarly for Safari
• Install software from Homebrew
  • brew bundle will install:
    • Alfred
    • Sequel Pro
    • VSCode
    • MacDown
    • Git Tower
    • JetBrains Toolbox
    • Docker
    • Chrome (just in case)
    • WhatsApp
    • Discord
    • Steam
    • LaTeX
• Setup Alfred.
  • Set Spotlight Shortcut to something else
  • Set Alfred Shortcut to ⌘ + Space
  • Turn on Clipboard History
  • Hide hat on Window
  • Hide menu bar icon
  • Set up bunnylol as a search engine
• Add the LaTeX Workshop plugin for VS Code
• Install other Apps not available via Homebrew
  • TextSniper
• Install IntelliJ via JetBrains ToolBox
  • In case of working on Kotlin:
    • Install JDK 9 from here
    • Install JDK 17 from here
• Install NodeJS and NPM from here.

Rearrange Dock

Rearrange the Apps you want on the dock, however you like. As a reference this is my Dock right now: