Navigate System Settings

The Mac's preferences interface has a new look and a new name

- IAN OSBORNE

REQUIRES macOS 13

YOU WILL LEARN How to open and navigate System Settings to configure your Mac

IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes

APPLE'S ONGOING PLAN to bring its operating systems closer together and form a single all-purpose ecosystem took another step forward with macOS Ventura, as System Preferences got an iOS-inspired makeover.

Now called System Settings, it functions in much the same way as the old System Preferences, but instead of being arranged in a grid of preference panes, it's now far more like the Settings app in iOS and iPadOS, with a long list of individual settings options. In macOS this list is set into a sidebar, with the settings options themselves in the main window.

Unlike Apple's mobile devices, it doesn't offer settings for individual apps that came bundled with the operating system or that you've installed yourself. These are still found in the app itself, under the pull-down bearing its name. But all the Mac system configurations are achieved through this new System Settings interface, so let's take a look and grasp its numerous options. 

HOW TO Configure your Mac in System Settings

1 Open the menu

To open System Settings, you can use apple> System Settings in the top-left corner of the screen, the Dock icon or the Launchpad. Or you can Ctrl-click on the Dock icon and go straight to the Settings window you need.