New Mac Setup: 20 Settings to Change First

A fresh Mac ships with defaults tuned for demos, not daily work. Tracking is on, hidden files are hidden, FileVault may be off, and the Dock wastes screen space. Fix the 20 settings below in about 30 minutes. Most take one click in System Settings, and the rest take one line in Terminal.

Quick Takeaways

• Security first: enable FileVault, the firewall, and Lockdown-adjacent privacy toggles before installing anything.
• Productivity next: tune trackpad, keyboard repeat, Dock, Finder, and Spotlight to cut daily friction.
• Power-user layer: use defaults write commands to expose file extensions, hidden files, and faster animations.
• Maintenance: turn on automatic updates and Time Machine so the Mac stays patched and recoverable.

Prerequisites and Environment

• OS tested: macOS Tahoe 26 (menu paths match Sonoma 14 and Sequoia 15 with minor label changes).
• Hardware: Apple Silicon or Intel.
• Account: an admin user. Some commands require sudo.
• Terminal: open /System/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app or use iTerm2.

Settings live in System Settings (the replacement for System Preferences). Command-line changes use the defaults tool, which writes to property lists in ~/Library/Preferences/.

How macOS Stores Settings

Every GUI toggle writes a key to a .plist file. The defaults command reads and writes those keys directly. Apps such as Finder and Dock cache values, so you must restart the process with killall for a change to appear.

Section 1: Security and Privacy (Settings 1-6)

1. Enable FileVault Disk Encryption

FileVault encrypts the whole APFS volume with XTS-AES-128. A lost laptop then exposes nothing.

GUI: System Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault > Turn On

Terminal:

sudo fdesetup enable

Check status:

fdesetup status

Store the recovery key in a password manager, not on the Mac itself.

2. Turn On the Firewall

The built-in application firewall blocks unsolicited inbound connections.

GUI: System Settings > Network > Firewall

sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --setglobalstate on
sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --setstealthmode on

• --setglobalstate on activates the firewall.
• --setstealthmode on stops the Mac from answering ICMP ping and port probes.

3. Require Password Immediately After Sleep

GUI: System Settings > Lock Screen > Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off > Immediately

Also set Turn display off on battery when inactive to 5 minutes or less.

4. Lock Down Analytics and Personalized Ads

GUI: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements

Disable Share Mac Analytics, Share with App Developers, and Improve Siri & Dictation. Then open Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising and turn off Personalized Ads.

5. Audit Location Services and App Permissions

GUI: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services

Review every app. Disable anything that does not need your location. Then walk through Full Disk Access, Accessibility, Screen & System Audio Recording, and Input Monitoring. Remove apps you do not recognize.

6. Verify Gatekeeper and System Integrity Protection

Gatekeeper blocks unsigned apps. SIP protects system directories such as /System and /usr.

spctl --status
csrutil status

Expected output: assessments enabled and System Integrity Protection status: enabled. Never disable either on a daily-driver Mac.

Section 2: Input Devices and Display (Settings 7-10)

7. Enable Tap to Click and Three-Finger Drag

GUI (tap to click): System Settings > Trackpad > Point & Click > Tap to click

GUI (three-finger drag): System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control > Trackpad Options > Use trackpad for dragging > Three Finger Drag

Three-finger drag moves windows and selects text without pressing down.

8. Speed Up Key Repeat

The default repeat rate is slow. Set it faster for editing and terminal work.

GUI: System Settings > Keyboard and raise Key repeat rate and lower Delay until repeat.

Terminal (faster than the GUI allows):

defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 2
defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15

• KeyRepeat is measured in 15 ms units. A value of 2 means 30 ms between repeats.
• InitialKeyRepeat sets the delay before repeating begins. 15 equals 225 ms.

Log out and back in to apply.

9. Disable Press-and-Hold Accent Popup

Press-and-hold opens an accent picker and blocks key repeat in editors such as VS Code.

defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

10. Turn On Night Shift and True Tone

GUI: System Settings > Displays > Night Shift (schedule it sunset to sunrise) and enable True Tone if supported.

Under Displays > Advanced, enable Automatically adjust brightness.

Section 3: Dock, Finder, and Interface (Settings 11-16)

11. Shrink and Auto-Hide the Dock

GUI: System Settings > Desktop & Dock. Set size to roughly 40%, enable Automatically hide and show the Dock, and disable Show suggested and recent apps in Dock.

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.3
killall Dock

• autohide-delay 0 removes the hover wait.
• autohide-time-modifier 0.3 shortens the slide animation.

12. Show File Extensions and Hidden Files

Hidden extensions disguise malware (invoice.pdf.app shows as invoice.pdf).

GUI: Finder > Settings > Advanced > Show all filename extensions

defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
killall Finder

Toggle hidden files on demand with Cmd + Shift + . instead if you prefer a cleaner view.

13. Set Finder Defaults: List View, Path Bar, Status Bar

defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "Nlsv"
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXSortFoldersFirst -bool true
killall Finder

• Nlsv is list view. Other codes: icnv (icon), clmv (column), glyv (gallery).
• _FXSortFoldersFirst groups folders above files.

14. Search the Current Folder by Default

defaults write com.apple.finder FXDefaultSearchScope -string "SCcf"
killall Finder

SCcf limits search to the current folder instead of the whole Mac.

15. Stop Creating .DS_Store Files on Network Drives

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true

This prevents clutter on SMB and NFS shares, which matters on shared servers.

16. Save Screenshots to a Dedicated Folder

Screenshots flood the Desktop by default.

mkdir -p ~/Pictures/Screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "png"
killall SystemUIServer

• disable-shadow removes the drop shadow around window captures.
• type accepts png, jpg, pdf, or heic.

Section 4: Spotlight, Updates, and Backups (Settings 17-20)

17. Tune Spotlight Indexing

GUI: System Settings > Spotlight. Disable categories you never search (Fonts, Presentations, Events & Reminders).

To exclude a developer folder such as ~/node_modules projects, add it under Spotlight > Search Privacy. This cuts mds_stores CPU usage.

18. Enable Automatic Updates and Rapid Security Responses

GUI: System Settings > General > Software Update > (i) next to Automatic updates. Enable every option, including Install Security Responses and system files.

softwareupdate --list
sudo softwareupdate --install --all

• --list shows pending updates.
• --install --all applies them all.

19. Configure Time Machine

GUI: System Settings > General > Time Machine > Add Backup Disk

sudo tmutil setdestination /Volumes/BackupDrive
sudo tmutil enable
tmutil listbackups

Encrypt the backup disk when prompted. Exclude large caches:

sudo tmutil addexclusion -p ~/Library/Caches

20. Turn On Find My Mac and Set Up Remote Wipe

GUI: System Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Find My Mac > On

Enable Find My network so the Mac stays locatable offline. Activation Lock then blocks a thief from erasing and reselling the device.

Settings Comparison: GUI vs. Terminal

Automate the Whole Setup with a Script

Save the commands as a single file and rerun it on every new Mac.

#!/bin/bash
# ~/mac-setup.sh
set -e

# Keyboard
defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 2
defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

# Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.3

# Finder
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "Nlsv"
defaults write com.apple.finder FXDefaultSearchScope -string "SCcf"

# Screenshots
mkdir -p ~/Pictures/Screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/Screenshots
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

# Network drives
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true

for app in Dock Finder SystemUIServer; do killall "$app"; done
echo "Done. Log out and back in to apply keyboard changes."

Run it:

chmod +x ~/mac-setup.sh && ~/mac-setup.sh

• set -e stops the script on the first error.
• chmod +x marks the file executable.

For full machine provisioning, pair this script with Homebrew and a Brewfile:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
brew bundle dump --file=~/Brewfile

Troubleshooting: Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: A defaults write Change Does Nothing

Cause: The target process still holds the old value in memory.

Fix: Restart the process.

killall Finder
killall Dock
killall SystemUIServer

Keyboard settings need a logout. Verify the stored value:

defaults read NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat

Scenario 2: FileVault Stuck on “Waiting for Encryption”

Cause: The disk is encrypting in the background, or the Mac is asleep.

Fix: Keep the Mac plugged in and awake. Check progress:

diskutil apfs list | grep -i "FileVault"

Encryption on Apple Silicon is hardware-assisted and usually finishes within minutes.

Scenario 3: Terminal Cannot Modify Settings (Operation Not Permitted)

Cause: Terminal lacks Full Disk Access.

Fix: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access, then add Terminal.app and relaunch it.

Scenario 4: Spotlight Is Eating CPU After Setup

Cause: Initial indexing after migration or restoring from backup.

Fix: Wait 30-60 minutes. Check status and rebuild only if it hangs:

mdutil -s /
sudo mdutil -E /

• -s reports indexing status.
• -E erases and rebuilds the index.

Scenario 5: Reset a Setting to Its Default

Delete the key and restart the process:

defaults delete com.apple.dock autohide-delay
killall Dock

Verification Checklist

Run these after setup to confirm the critical items:

fdesetup status
sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --getglobalstate
csrutil status
spctl --status
tmutil latestbackup
softwareupdate --schedule

Each command should report an enabled or active state.

FAQ

What should I change first on a new Mac?

Enable FileVault, the firewall, and automatic updates. These three settings protect your data and keep macOS patched. Adjust trackpad, Dock, and Finder preferences afterward.

Is it safe to use defaults write commands?

Yes. Each command changes one key in a user-level .plist file and is fully reversible with defaults delete. Avoid sudo defaults write on system domains unless you know the key.

How do I show hidden files on a Mac?

Press Cmd + Shift + . in Finder to toggle them instantly. For a permanent change, run defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true and then killall Finder.

Does FileVault slow down a Mac?

No measurable slowdown on Apple Silicon or Intel Macs with a T2 chip. Encryption runs in dedicated hardware, so the performance impact is negligible.