The ten things people ask — on your Apple laptop
Every one of these is the same idea on every device. Only the name changes. Here is what yours calls it, and where to learn it properly in your own time.
Which account am I signed into?
Every device is signed into an account that owns the photos, the contacts and the backup. It is almost always an email address, and most people have more than one without knowing it.
On your Apple laptop it is called Apple Accountcalled Apple ID until 2024
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac1
My storage is full
There are two different storages and they are both called storage. One is the room inside the device. The other is the room in the cloud that you rent. Either can fill up, and the messages barely distinguish them.
On your Apple laptop it is called Storageunder General settings
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac2
Where have my photos gone?
Photos live in an app, and the app may or may not be copying them to the cloud. The copy is what survives a lost phone.
On your Apple laptop it is called Photosand iCloud Photos
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac3
Is any of this actually backed up?
A copy kept somewhere else, so that losing the device does not lose what is on it. Very often it is switched off, or the cloud is full, and nobody has looked in years.
On your Apple laptop it is called iCloudand Time Machine
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac4
Where are my passwords kept?
The device is already remembering most of them, in a list the person is allowed to open and read. Almost nobody has been shown it.
On your Apple laptop it is called Passwords appformerly Keychain
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/all5
Make it bigger and easier to read
Two separate things on every platform: the size of the text, and the size of everything. Changing one and not the other is why it still looks wrong.
On your Apple laptop it is called Accessibility → Displayand Displays
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac6
Why does it keep buzzing?
A list of who is allowed to interrupt you, which almost nobody has ever edited.
On your Apple laptop it is called Notifications
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac7
What can the apps see?
Camera, microphone, location, contacts, photos — granted app by app, and revocable one at a time.
On your Apple laptop it is called Privacy & Security
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac8
Finding it when it is lost
Make it ring, see it on a map, or lock it from somewhere else. Only works if it was switched on before the device went missing.
On your Apple laptop it is called Find My
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/mac9
Is this a scam?
The one that has no settings answer at all. It is a judgement, and it is the same judgement on every device.
On your Apple laptop it is called —
Learn it, free: train.computerpalshq.com/go/all10
The courses are free, and they come from Be Connected, run by the eSafety Commissioner — an Australian Government service written for older Australians. You do not have to sign up to read them.
Stuck on any of it? Bring this sheet to your next session and we will do it together. That is what we are here for.