How to Use the Stack Feature on MacBooks to Clean up your Desktop. The folder is an incredibly common method of organization for a lot of computer users currently. Both the folders and the files inside can get named and organized in various ways, but what about the desktop?
How to Use the Stack Feature on MacBooks to Clean up your Desktop
The desktops of our computers tend to wind up being used as a catch-all for all manner of files. Usually, the default spot is to drop most of our files as we work every day, from newly downloaded to things that we are currently working on, so they end up sitting around in a cluttered mess for several weeks (or months, or even years).
We would be going over the stacks feature that is available in macOS Mojave, Catalina, big sur, and one of the most recent versions of the OS given the title Monterey. This feature also can be accessed in macOS High Sierra, but there it’s tied to the Dock (the quick-selection bar located at the bottom if the screen) rather than the desktop. We would be exploring steps on how to make use of the feature to keep your MacBook’s Desktop more organized by taking out the need to drag and drop a file or sift through folders when saving something.
Using Stack in MacOS Newer Version
Several versions of the MacOS including Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, and Monterey, can all make use of stacks in your MacBook’s Dock just like High Sierra. With several versions of the MacOS newer than High Sierra, you get to also make use of stacks right on your Desktop.
Control-click on the desktop and select Use Stacks to activate this feature. This would immediately group all of the same file types leaving out your folders. The stacks are separated by your file type, meaning that you would not find .jpg sorted alongside a .png or something like that.
What Stacks Does to your Desktop
Scroll down through the files in a stack without having to open anything by moving your cursor over it, then left or right using your two fingers right on your trackpad or with one finger right on the Magic mouse. You also get to expand a stack just to see everything in one single click. Once it has been expanded, the main location of the stack that is on your desktop is replaced using an arrow icon that is pointing down. Click on the down arrow icon to close up the stack once again.
You can choose to make changes to the way the stacks are organized by Control-clicking on the desktop and moving the cursor over Group Stacks By. Stacks can get grouped by Kind, Date Last opened, Added, Date Created, Date Modified, or even tags. This group stacks by organization feature that can also be located right under the view drop-down menu located at the top of your screen.
If you are looking to making use of larger or smaller icons, either control-click on the desktop or open the view drop-down menu and then choose show view options, Inside the view options menu, you get to adjust the icon slider to make your desktop icons much larger or even smaller.
How to Turn off Stacks on MacOS
If you choose not to make use of the stacks anymore, Control-click on the desktop and then uncheck the Use Stacks option. You should be aware that this would make all the files that are in your desktop appear individually.
