10 Tricks to Help You Master Apple’s Force Touch Trackpad Technology

10 Tricks to Help You Master Apple’s Force Touch Trackpad Technology
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One of Apple’s most useful  innovations is without a doubt the company’s Force Touch trackpad. As a cornerstone feature built-into the trackpads of newer 12-, 13-, and 15-inch MacBook models, as well as the company’s Magic Trackpad 2, Apple’s Force Touch offers users a “deeper” method of interacting with their machines — driven primarily by Cupertino’s patented Force Click technology, which in itself allows users to invoke a myriad of secondary actions.

Simply “going deeper,” quite literally, by applying more pressure to your Force Touch trackpad, will allow you to access these application-specific shortcuts. And a lot of them are actually quite useful, believe it or not. For those with a Force Touch-capable trackpad, we invite you to check out our exclusive list of the top 10 most useful Force Click shortcuts.

1. Instantly View All App Windows at Once

Simply Force Click on a particular app icon in your macOS/OS X app dock, and you’ll be shown an exposé preview of all open windows of that particular app.

2. Preview/Re-name a File

Before opening a file, simply Force Click on the document in macOS/OS X Finder to view a snapshot of its contents. Similarly, hover your pointer over, and Force Click on a document’s name to edit it.

3. Look Up a Word in the Dictionary

Want to know what a word or phrase means? Simply highlight and Force Click on the word or group of words, and you’ll be shown a definition, as well as commentary, from Dictionary and Wikipedia.

4. Preview a Website

To view the contents of a website before opening the link, simply Force Click on the link to view a popup menu of the page’s content.

5. Display Additional iMessage Details

To view additional details — such as location or attachments, for example — pertaining to a certain iMessage thread, simply hover over that thread and then Force Click to display the additional details menu.

6. View Calendar Event Details

To view details pertaining to a calendar event, such as time and location, simply Force Click on the event marker in Calendar to launch the details sub-menu.

7. Add New Calendar Event

To create a new calendar event, simply hover your pointer over a day and then Force Click to reveal a menu of options for creating events on that day.

8. Preview an Address

Force Click on an address in Mail, Messages, Safari, or Notes, and automatically bring up a menu displaying additional locations details — including a map.

9. Drop a Location Pin in Maps

Simply select a location from macOS/OS X Maps and then Force Click to reveal a menu allowing you to drop a pin there for future reference.

10. Track a Package

Force Click on a parcel’s tracking number in Mail, Messages, Safari, or elsewhere to reveal a popup menu displaying additional, courier-specific package tracking details.

How often do you use Force Touch on your MacBook or Magic Trackpad 2?
Let us know in the comments!

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