The Multi-Touch Trackpad is one of the best things about Apple MacBooks. Most Mac users find it difficult to navigate the macOS operating system without trackpad gestures. And those who use trackpad gestures swear by it. Check out some useful Multi-Touch Trackpad gestures you can use on your MacBook to boost your productivity.
Apple introduced the hugely successful Force Touch to the Mac’s trackpad in 2015. The trackpad on the Mac is now a single layer, meaning the trackpad doesn’t actually go down when you press it. The haptic motor underneath understands how hard the user is pressing and then reacts to the press. With new technology, Apple has added even more movement to its macOS operating system.
You may be familiar with a gesture or two like two-finger scrolling or two-finger pinch zooming, but there are plenty of little-known swipes and taps that can unlock extra functionality on your Mac. Check out our top fifteen MacBook Force Touch Trackpad gestures to use.
1. Application Introduction
App Exposé is one of the all-time favorite gestures among many macOS users. While macOS has a minimal window management system, this gesture helps when you have multiple Chrome windows open. Swiping down with four fingers invokes App Exposé, which lets you view all open windows of an app side-by-side on your screen.
2. Move Windows Easily
Moving windows on macOS is a painstaking task. This gesture allows you to easily move any window around your desktop. Move the mouse pointer over a window and now use three fingers to swipe in the direction you want the window to move.
3. Show Desktop
This is always the case when you have many windows open at the same time and you want to add this single file from your desktop to Mail. This is where this move helps. Spreading your thumb and three fingers apart on your Mac’s trackpad will slide all windows sideways, revealing the desktop. And now you can easily add that single file to your Mail.
4. Toggle Notification Center
With the new macOS Big Sur update, apps offer more integration and information in Notification Center. Whether it’s to check for new widgets or an important notification, you must have found yourself turning Notification Center on and off several times a day. Swiping two fingers from the right edge of the trackpad to the left reveals Notification Center on Mac. Similarly, you can turn off Notification Center using the reverse gesture.
5. Go Back and Forward in Web Browser
Although quite common, this is one of the most used trackpad gestures out there. This gesture lets you quickly go back and forth in your browser. You can swipe left with two fingers to go back one page, and swipe right with two fingers to go forward.
6. Rotate Images and PDFs
This gesture helps you rotate any image or PDF in Preview. With two fingers placed on your Mac’s trackpad, simply rotate your fingers as if you were rotating a real object.
The image or PDF will rotate according to your movements.
7. Open Launchpad
Launchpad is like ‘Application Library’ in macOS. All apps look like that and it’s one of the most convenient ways to find installed apps. Just pinch using four fingers and the Launchpad will appear.
8. Summon Mission Control
This gesture will be very useful if you are in the habit of using apps in full screen. Swiping up using three fingers on your trackpad will reveal Mission Control, where you can see all your app windows and desktops.
9. Switch Between Windows, Apps, and Desktops
If you’re like us, you always have at least four apps running. You can quickly switch between all of your Mac’s windows by placing four fingers on your Mac’s trackpad and swiping left or right.
10. Quickly Attach Images to Mail and Messages
This gesture allows you to ‘take’ any image from Google Images or any website for that matter and quickly attach it to a mail, document or folder. Hover over an image on the web and drag and drop using three fingers on your Mac’s trackpad.
Macs released after 2016 come with a ‘Force Touch’ trackpad. Allows you to perform various functions by hard pressing the trackpad. These are some of the best Force Touch gestures to use on your Mac.
11. Look Up
Look Up is a great tool. If you have trouble understanding the meaning of a word, Look Up will display contextual information such as the meaning of the word or information from Wikipedia through the Dictionary app. Press hard on a word to activate Look Up. Disappointingly, Look Up is only working on one word for now.
12. Preview Files and Links
Previewing files and hyperlinks just got easier with Force Touch. While in Safari, press hard on a link that will open a small window and show you a ‘preview’ of the link. Similarly, you can use this feature to preview the contents of a file or folder.
13. Rename Files and Folders
With the introduction of Force Touch, renaming files and folders just got easier. Press hard on the name of a folder/file and the rename text box will appear.
14. Draw Pressure Sensitive Annotations
If you take a lot of screenshots on your Mac, you must have found yourself in a position where you need to mark up or annotate an object. Now you can annotate your PDFs and screenshots with pressure sensitive annotations using Force Touch gestures on Mac, without using a third-party pen or software.
15. Dynamic Forward Speed in QuickTime
Using the new Force Touch technology, the Mac can sense how hard you press the trackpad. Pressing the rewind and fast forward buttons in QuickTime changes the speed of actions depending on how hard you press.
Master macOS Gestures
These Trackpad gestures can save a lot of time on your MacBook and let you experience some of the essentials without missing out on a mouse too much. Pressure sensitivity support in the new Force Touch Trackpad is a great way to interact with various apps on macOS.
Next: Is your Mac overheating? Read the post below to know why this happens and how to fix it.
