How to Add Custom Buttons to the Touch Bar on the New MacBook Pro
We’re back with another Tech 911 on Apple, where I try my best to help you sort out the problems you have with your computer, smartphone, device or life.
This time I’m getting personal. My friend Jessica just got a new MacBook Pro – hell with keyboard problems.
Moving from physical buttons to the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar can feel a little frustrating, especially if you’re used to just pressing function keys using system commands in macOS.
I don’t remember exactly how she put it, the gist of Jessica’s question was, “Where is that button that makes all my windows pop up?”
She was referring to the flight control button on her previous MacBook, which is the F3 function key by default. When you look at the macOS desktop, there is no F3 key on the touchpad of the new MacBook. The strip is almost empty, with a gaping gap between the Esc key and the control strip.
You can bring up the function keys by simply pressing the function button, but you still won’t see the icons that used to be under them. (And obviously, pressing a virtual button like F3 after pressing a function button will do what F3 does, rather than invoking Flight Control.)
So where did the Mission Control Center go? If you look at the default touchpad icons found in the control bar, you won’t find what you are looking for. However, if you click on the far left arrow, the control bar expands to show you the full range of shortcuts that you used physical buttons to access on older Macs. And there, fourth from the left, is the Mission Control Center.
However, it’s a confusing way to access it, and there are a few tricks you can do to make Mission Control or other virtual buttons more visible on your new MacBook.
How to customize the Mac Control Panel
First, click the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your Mac and choose System Preferences (or simply click the icon in the Dock).
Select Keyboard and then select Customize Touchpad. You can now move your mouse cursor down on the Touch Bar to remove unnecessary icons from the control bar or, if you expand it first, across the entire Touch Bar. Replace what you have with what you need, or rearrange the icons to better suit your needs.The power is yours .
However, there is one important caveat: the control panel can only be that big. You get four easy-to-access icons, but nothing more.
If this does not suit you – and it certainly does not suit me – return to the keyboard settings window. There, find the option “Press Fn to …” and set it to Expand Control Bar to make it easier to display even more keyboard shortcuts.
You can also configure the Touch Bar to display an extended control bar by default (via the “Touch Bar Shows …” menu), but this is a double-edged sword: it will make it easier to use the various system controls. , but you will lose the specialized application controls that appear and disappear when switching between different programs.
I’ll never know why Apple can’t just let you extend the default control bar and flip the touchpad over to control apps when needed. I think the best thing to do is just remember the function key trick, which will give you all the old hardware keys you gave up without destroying much of the touchpad.
Do you have technical issues that are keeping you awake at night? Tired of searching and troubleshooting Windows or Mac issues? Looking for advice on applications, browser extensions, or utilities that you can use to accomplish a specific task? Let us know! Let us know in the comments below, or better yet, write to david.murphy@lifehacker.com .