Human interface elements – Mac Desktop

List of basic human interface elements on Mac Desktop: Apple menu, Application menu, Menu bar, Status menu, Spotlight icon, Notification Center icon, Dock

Apple menu: Top left corner of the screen. Click it to access System Settings, Force Quit, Sleep, Restart, Shut Down and more

Application menu: Contains menus for the application being used. The name of the application appears in bold next to the Apple menu

Menu bar: Contains the Apple menu, active app menu, status menus, Spotlight, Control Centre and Siri app icons and Notification Center

Status menus: Icons represent useful things and show the status and let you make changes, e.g. click Wi-Fi to show a list of available networks, or click Display to turn Dark Mode or Night Shift on or off, turn off Bluetooth, or mute your computer’s volume. Tip – Press and hold the Command key and drag and drop to reposition an icon or remove it by dragging it out

Control Centre on a Mac: An orange dot next to the Control Centre icon in the menu bar indicates the microphone on your Mac is in use; a blue dot (macOS 13.3 or later) indicates your location is in use. When you open Control Centre, the top of the window contains a field that shows which apps are using them

Notification Centre: Click the date and time to open Notification Centre, where you can view appointments, notes, weather and more

Desktop: This is where your applications’ windows will appear. You can add more desktops using Mission Control

Dock: Quick access to your most frequently used applications, folders, and files. With a single click the application, folder or file opens. The icons on the dock are shortcuts. You can add or remove without affecting the actual application. To remove an item from the dock just drag it out and hold it over the desktop. After a second or so, a ‘remove’ label shows up. Release the icon and the application shortcut is removed from the Dock