10 Settings to Change on a New M5 Mac

macOS ships with sensible defaults for someone who has never used a Mac. If that is not you, ten settings are worth changing the day you set up an M5 Mac. Each one below has a menu path, and where a real Terminal command exists, the command to apply it and the command to put it back. Nothing here is risky, and nothing here is permanent.

Finder

1. Show all file extensions. Finder → Settings → Advanced, or:

   # Show extensions on every file
   defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
   # Undo
   defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool false
   killall Finder

   More in showing file extensions.
2. Show the path bar — View → Show Path Bar. See the path bar.
3. Stop .DS_Store on network drives if you share folders with Windows or Linux — .DS_Store files.

Speed

1. Reduce animations. They cost you fractions of a second on every action — disabling animations.
2. Speed up key repeat for faster typing and navigation — key repeat.
3. Kill the Dock auto-hide delay so it appears instantly — the instant Dock.

Screenshots and desktop

1. Move where screenshots save so they stop burying your Desktop — screenshot location.
2. Show hidden files only if you edit dotfiles — hidden files.

Comfort

1. Turn on Dark Mode or schedule it — Dark Mode.
2. Set natural scrolling the way your hands expect — natural scrolling.

Why do these first

Two reasons, both practical. First, a few of these settings only take effect for files and windows created after you change them — showing extensions, for instance, is cleanest before you have copied your whole file library across, so it applies to everything from the start. Second, if you use more than one Mac, changing them now while the machine is empty means you notice each one working, rather than wondering months later why this Mac behaves differently from your other one.

One habit worth building as you go: before you change any setting with a Terminal command, read its current value first. Every defaults write has a matching read:

# Read the current value before you change it
defaults read com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier

If it returns does not exist, the setting has never been touched and defaults delete is your undo. If it returns a number, write that number down — that is your undo, and it is more reliable than any article. That single habit is the difference between confidently tuning a Mac and being afraid to.

Which of these actually matter

Ten is a lot to change at once, so if you only do three, do these. File extensions is the one with a security argument behind it, not just convenience: without extensions showing, a file named invoice.pdf that is actually invoice.pdf.app looks identical to a real PDF in Finder. Turning extensions on makes that visible. Reduced animation is the one you feel most often, because it applies to every window you open all day. The path bar is the one that prevents actual mistakes, because knowing which folder a window is showing stops you saving into the wrong place.

The rest are preferences. Nobody is wrong for leaving hidden files hidden or keeping the Dock delay.

A note on macOS versions

Every command above works on Ventura, Sonoma and Sequoia, but two things shift between them. The System Settings layout was reorganised in Ventura, so older guides describing System Preferences panes will send you looking for panels that no longer exist under those names. And the Stage Manager and widget settings referenced in the desktop section only exist from Ventura onward. If a menu path here does not match what you see, check your macOS version in System Settings → General → About before assuming the setting is missing.

That is the core ten. When you want the rest, the hidden settings worth changing goes further, and the setup mistakes to avoid covers what not to do.