The MacBook Pros desktop contains icons that represent files, folders, mounted drives and aliases to files, folders and applications. A double-click on an icon accesses a folder, opens a file or launches a program. You can rearrange the icons on your MacBook Pros desktop manually or by choosing different sorting options.
Click any empty space on the MacBook Pro's desktop. Click View in the menu bar and select Show View Options.
Drag the Icon Size slider to the left to make icons smaller or drag it to the right to make them larger. Drag the Grid Spacing slider to the left to arrange your icons in a tight grid or drag it to the right to make a larger grid.
Click the Text Size drop-down menu and then click a size for the text label of each icon, such as 10 or 12. Click a Label Position radio button to make labels appear at the bottom or to the right of their icons. Click the Show Icon Preview check box.
Click the Sort By drop-down menu and then click an option such as Name, Date Modified or Size to arrange your icons accordingly.
Select None to enable free-form arrangements and then click and drag icons to any position on the desktop.
References
Resources
Tips
- Open any folder to arrange the icons in it. Click the "Gear" icon at the top of the window that shows the contents of the folder and select "Arrange By" to view the available options.
Warnings
- Information in this article applies to MacBook Pros running OS X 10.8. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.
Writer Bio
Julius Vandersteen has been a freelance writer since 1999. His work has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Wired and S.F. Weekly. Vandersteen has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from San Francisco State University.