10 Life Hacks Every MacBook Air User Should Know
Apple’s MacBook Air is a great value for the money, even after the company significantly increased its price . The Air combines the best of both worlds: it’s a lightweight laptop with a powerful Apple chip, without the extra features found in the Pro line. Most of us would probably be perfectly happy with the Air— if not the Neo —which explains why so many people own and use them every day.
While you can do a lot with the Air right out of the box, there are plenty of ways to get the most out of it. Below, I’ve compiled 10 life hacks, tips, and tricks to help you get the most out of your Apple laptop.
Get an external SSD drive to avoid slowdowns and crashes.
If you purchased a MacBook Air with the maximum amount of storage, you may not need this method. However, if, like many of us, you bought the base model MacBook Air—especially back when Apple started with 256GB of storage—you should consider an external SSD drive.
Additional storage is always useful, but it’s not the main purpose of this life hack. By adding an SSD to your system, you’ll significantly reduce the likelihood of your MacBook Air’s storage becoming overloaded, which in turn will improve its performance. Like all computers, your MacBook Air requires a certain amount of available space to function properly. If your MacBook also has limited RAM, it will use the SSD for swap space. The closer it gets to filling up the drive, the higher the risk of slowdowns or crashes.
Due to global demand for memory and storage, external SSDs have become more expensive than they used to be, but you can still find great deals to upgrade your system. Take this 2TB option from Seagate, for example . For $145, you can potentially increase your MacBook Air’s available storage by eight times, giving it plenty of internal storage for optimal performance.
Replace your power adapter to charge your MacBook faster.
MacBook Air laptops released in 2022 and latersupport power adapters up to 140W , but yours may have shipped with only a 30W adapter. If your MacBook spends most of its time plugged in, this may be sufficient. But if you’re often on the go and need to charge your device as quickly as possible, you’ll want a power adapter as close to 140W as possible . Consider the cable itself, too: if you want to take advantage of fast charging on your MacBook Air, you’ll need a MagSafe 3 cable or a USB-C charging cable . (By the way, not all USB-C cables are created equal. For more information , check out Lifehacker’s explanation of USB-C charging cables .)
Set a charging limit to extend battery life.
Most of our discussions about batteries focus on ways to increase battery life in everyday life, but equally important is how to extend the life of the battery itself. Lithium-ion batteries, used in most modern devices, wear out over time and lose their ability to hold a charge. A three-year-old battery that’s been frequently charged will last less than a new one after a full charge. Slowing this aging process can prevent your MacBook Air battery from losing capacity too quickly.
It’s impossible to completely prevent battery aging, but you can slow the process by reducing the number of charge cycles. One of the simplest ways is to set a limit on the battery’s charge level while connected to a power source, preventing overcharging when the extra power isn’t needed. Your MacBook Air attempts to do this automatically with a feature called Optimized Battery Charging, which analyzes your computer’s usage and sets appropriate charging limits. You can override this automatic process and set your own charging limit. This way, you can limit charging to 80% at all times, so that no matter how long your MacBook is on charge, the charge level almost never exceeds 80%—except for rare occasions when it charges to 100% to “accurately estimate the battery’s charge level.”
But that’s where things get a bit more detailed. The gist is, you can set charge limits between 80% and 95% to prevent your Mac’s battery from charging when you don’t need it. Here’s how: Open System Preferences , then select Battery . Click the (i) icon next to Charging, then adjust the slider next to Charge Limit.
Use the clipboard manager to improve copy and paste functionality.
Copying and pasting is pretty simple: you select something, copy it, and then paste it somewhere else. However, if you spend a lot of time copying and pasting on your MacBook, you know how tedious it can be to constantly switch between windows to copy something new. Clipboard managers come to the rescue. These tools are indispensable for those who frequently copy and paste because they keep a history of everything you copy on your Mac. When you need to find something, you open the clipboard manager, click on the item you need, and then paste it, eliminating the need to switch between windows all day.
My clipboard manager is indispensable , and I’ve been using it for over a decade. While third-party solutions have been a necessity on the Mac for years, Apple attempted to implement its own clipboard manager in macOS 26 by integrating the Clipboard menu into Spotlight. I tried replacing my third-party clipboard manager with this built-in solution, but I found it too cumbersome and limited in features. There are many options, but my favorite is CopyClip . It’s free and located in the menu bar, so your entire clipboard history is accessible from anywhere in macOS.
Use a window manager to streamline your workflow.
On the other hand, a window manager has proven indispensable for me when working with multiple windows simultaneously. If you use side-by-side windows on your Mac, you’ll never have to drag windows again—a good window manager will let you quickly dock windows in place using keyboard shortcuts. I often use this tactic when writing: I place the editor on one half of the screen, and the source files on the right. If you have a large enough screen, you might even want to use a three-pane layout—I think placing chat apps in a third pane would also be quite useful.
Again, for years, accessing these features in macOS required choosing a third-party app. But in recent years, Apple has also added a new window management system. Now, you can hover over the green button of any window to display quick resize options, but you should definitely use keyboard shortcuts . This definitely works better than the Spotlight clipboard manager, and I recommend giving it a try if you’ve never used a window manager before.
But again, I still prefer third-party solutions. Keyboard shortcuts sometimes work erratically, and some app shortcuts override macOS shortcuts, causing you to end up doing things you don’t intend. There are plenty of options, but I’ve been using Magnet for years . It costs $4.99, but I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth out of it, and it’s definitely the best option for those who need more features than macOS’s built-in solution offers—for example, the ability to display third windows. However, before you make a final decision, try the built-in shortcuts and see if you like moving windows using the keyboard.
Use Safari for private browsing.
One of the first things most of us do when setting up a new computer is download a third-party browser. Chrome is the most popular option worldwide, so you probably use it too, but I’d recommend trying Safari. Apple’s browser has a number of excellent built-in privacy tools, including blocking trackers and preventing extensions from accessing your browsing history. If you have an iCloud+ subscription, you can use iCloud Private Relay to hide your MacBook’s IP address from websites while browsing. I also find Safari much more efficient than alternatives like Chrome, so it drains my battery less. I have to use several different browsers for my work, but for personal use, I almost always use Safari.
Use an ad blocker to make your internet experience more convenient.
The internet runs on advertising, but that doesn’t mean we have to accept it. I fully support websites that generate revenue from advertising, but that doesn’t apply to every corner of the internet. There are too many intrusive and malicious ads online, eager for your clicks, making it nearly impossible for me to use the internet without an ad blocker.Even the FBI recommends using such tools to ensure your online safety .
Safari combined with an ad blocker is a great solution. While the options were previously limited, there are now plenty, including uBlock Origin —though I’ve been using AdGuard for a while now . I’d recommend whitelisting websites you want to support with ads, although some may prompt you to do this manually. (Most will allow you to continue reading while using the ad blocker, but some may block access until you disable it.)
Use Voice Isolation for clearer video calls on your MacBook.
This is one of my favorite features Apple has added in recent years. If you frequently make video calls on your Mac, whether for work or via FaceTime, Voice Isolation is a must-have. It reduces background noise and focuses on your words, so other call participants hear your voice, not that of your dog, your kids, or the people chatting at the cafe. And, at least in my experience, it works well. My dog once started yelling at a passing car while I was on the phone, and I got confused looks when I apologized for the interruption. “Oh, really? I didn’t hear anything.”
To enable Voice Isolation, open a video calling app like FaceTime to activate your MacBook’s camera. Then, click the FaceTime icon in the menu bar. Here, you’ll find all the system controls for video calls, including “Microphone Mode” at the bottom. Click it, then select “Voice Isolation.” (You’ll also see “Wide Spectrum,” which does the opposite, amplifying all noise entering the microphone.) This feature is also available on iPhone and iPad, so I highly recommend enabling it on those devices as well.
Turn off Reactions to avoid awkward situations during important video calls.
I also highly recommend disabling Reactions if they’re enabled. Someone at Apple decided to add animated reactions tied to specific gestures during video calls : a thumbs-up gesture displays a 3D image of the thumbs-up emoji in a thought bubble above your head; a peace sign gesture releases balloons rising from the bottom of the screen. There are many such reactions, and some people might like them. However, the problem is that they apply not only to FaceTime but to all video calling apps on your Mac. This means that if macOS thinks you’re holding two thumbs-up gestures, it will start launching fireworks, regardless of whether you’re FaceTime with a friend or Teams with your boss. Save yourself a headache in the future and disable this feature now.
Double the number of fingerprint scans for Touch ID.
In macOS, Touch ID offers three fingerprint scans. This may be sufficient for most people, but there’s a hidden way to double the number of scans. This harks back to the days when Touch ID was standard on iPhones, before it was replaced by Face ID. Apple’s fingerprint scanning system appears to still support this feature on the Mac.
First, open System Preferences, then select “Touch ID & Passcode” from the menu. Under “Touch ID, ” select “Add a Fingerprint.” Once the scanner appears, scan two fingers instead of one. Place one finger on the scanner, lift it when macOS prompts, then place the second finger and repeat. Once the scan is complete, you’ll have two fingerprints stored in one entry. Do this for all three entries, and you’ll be able to unlock your Mac with six fingers.