My 2021 New Mac Setup

I set up a new Mac for work today. Here's everything I use on a Mac for fullstack web development.

Unlike Mina Markham, I choose not to automate my setup because I only do it about once a year and I want the ability to make conscious changes each time.

I previously tracked my new mac setup in an old version of this page from 2018-2020.

1hr Video Walkthrough

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OS/Browser Settings

• Browser: Download Chrome, set to default.
• Log in to: (this helps with logins for the other services below)
  • Twitter
  • Github (more setup instructions below)
  • Gmail
• System Settings:
  • Disable Spotlight search for all miscellaneous crap except apps and system preferences
    • including stupid Developer option (make sure to add Xcode.app to /Applications not /user/swyx/Applications)
  • Disable Ask Siri
  • Set to Big cursor for accessibility during presentation
    • some reports of memory leaks when doing this
  • Fix trackpad direction: Trackpad -> Scroll & Zoom - Natural off
  • Disable dictionary lookup: Trackpad -> Point & Click -> Look up & data detectors off
  • (if using windows keyboard) remap alt and cmd keys for ergonomics
• Finder settings:
  • Preferences → show filename extensions
  • Enable showing dotfiles (just hold Cmd + Shift + . (dot) in a Finder window)
  • Show path bar in footer for easier navigation
  • Prune the excessive sidebar bookmarks
    • create "Work" folder and pin it
• Keyboard:
  • remap command+Q to literally anything else - to prevent accidental close-all
  • Shortcuts: copy picture of selected area to clipboard -> Cmd+E
• MacOS Dock:
  • Remove everything from the Dock except: Finder, System Preferences and Trash
  • Turn Dock Auto Hiding on
    • turn this on for MacOS Menu bar as well
• Chrome extensions: (tied to Chrome account)
  • Paywall blocker https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome/
  • See Tweets about any page https://github.com/sw-yx/Twitter-Links-beta (my blogpost here)
  • Morpheon Dark theme
  • Lastpass
  • Display Anchors
  • React Devtools
  • Refined Github
  • Code Copy
  • Video Speed Controller ← VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
  • Palettab
  • Privacy Badger
  • RescueTime
  • uBlock Origin
  • Octolinker
  • async render toolbox (i made this)

Setup Terminal

• Copy my dotfiles (vimrc, zshrc, .gitignore_global): https://gist.github.com/sw-yx/7fa1009e460ecb818d5e6d9ca4616a05

• Install ZSH (first usage of git will prompt you to install git - takes 15 minutes)

  • git config --global init.defaultBranch main
  • git config --global user.name "swyx"

  • git config --global user.email [e-mail]

    • Font - Inconsolata for Powerline
    • autosuggestions

    • syntax highlighting

      • may need to chmod stuff or warnings show at start of every session

      $ sudo chmod -R 755 /usr/local/share/zsh
      $ sudo chown -R root:staff /usr/local/share/zsh
      
      

• Hyper Terminal

  • settings: shell: '/bin/zsh'
  • settings: fontFamily: '"Inconsolata for Powerline", Menlo, "DejaVu Sans Mono", Consolas, "Lucida Console", monospace',
  • Fig - context-aware autocomplete for terminal. Waitlisted now, but you can skip the waitlist here (i get nothing from this)
    • More CLI tools recommended by Brendan Faik (founder of Fig) - bat, exa, ripgrep, and other Rust CLI alternatives. Also zsh abbreviations
    • More CLI tools from Earthly - HN here
      • broot - a better tree
      • funky - simple shell functions
      • fzf - fuzzy finder
      • mcfly - guesses commands based on your history
      • zoxide - a better cd
      • gitupdate - use file names to create a more meaningful commit message

Set up apps/environments

• Install Homebrew - /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

  i have a bunch more stuff in brew list but i'm not sure what i use actively. You can mass install these: brew install $(cat packages.txt)
  

  bat             gdbm            libuv           python@3.9
  brotli          gh              libyaml         readline
  c-ares          go              mpdecimal       ruby
  deno            gradle          nghttp2         sqlite
  diff-so-fancy   icu4c           node            xz
  fnm             jemalloc        openjdk         yarn
  fzf             libev           openssl@1.1     z
  

• brew update on m1's have turned out to be super annoying. this helped me: arch -x86_64 brew install YOUR_PACKAGE

• brew install bat

• Github CLI: brew install github/gh/gh

  • you need to login to git - if you have 2fa enabled, you cant use your normal github password. try pushing to a repo and enter in a Personal Access Token for password.
  • then run gh auth login
  • add GitHub SSH key (not optional)

• brew install fzf - fuzzy finder - usage example is here

• brew install node

  • Node.js/NPM
  • npm login
  • npm config set loglevel
  • sudo npm install netlify-cli -g
  • npm i -g sign-bunny fortune-node parrotsay
  • npm install -g undollar for removing $
  • sudo npm install -g trash-cli

• brew install yarn --ignore-dependencies - yarn note

• you may need to work around Mac OS Sierra

• brew install z - REALLY GOOD TRY IT

• Misc

  • pip3 install --user powerline-status
  • go to a neutral folder and git clone <https://github.com/powerline/fonts> && cd fonts && ./install.sh
  • fnm faster alternative to nvm: curl -fsSL <https://fnm.vercel.app/install> | bash or brew install fnm
  • Anaconda Python distro - be careful they tend to [modify your bash prompt without asking](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1026383/why-does-base-appear-in-front-of-my-terminal-prompt\)
  • Docker Desktop
  • brew install ffmpeg and then
  • https://github.com/tombonez/noTunes
  • download Audacity - and install ffmpeg
  • brew install java - you could download Java Development Kit from Oracle but fuck them for putting it behind signup wall
  • brew install go you may need to export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin
  • brew install diff-so-fancy - then set git config --global core.pager "diff-so-fancy | less --tabs=4 -RFX" - makes for much nicer git diff
    • You can also diff with this bash function dif() { git diff --color --no-index "$1" "$2" | diff-so-fancy; } or with VSCode code --diff file1.js file2.js.
    • You can also try https://github.com/dandavison/delta

Setup Apps

• Emojis: https://matthewpalmer.net/rocket/
• Password Manager: I use 1password for company and lastpass for personal
• Window Manager: https://www.spectacleapp.com/ launch at login
• Clipboard Manager: https://clipy-app.com/ or https://yippy.mattdavo.com/ (untested)
• Loom: https://www.loom.com/desktop
• Zoom: https://zoom.us/download
• Screenshots: https://cleanshot.com/ (previously used https://zapier.com/zappy). Browser extension - Lightshot
• Caffeine (Keep Mac awake for talks): https://intelliscapesolutions.com/apps/caffeine
  • used to be http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/
  • maintained version: Amphetamine (thanks Matt Mischuk!)
• NoTunes - disable itunes/apple music
• Video capture: https://getkap.co/
• Dual Screen: https://www.duetdisplay.com/
• Gifs: Licecap
• Slack or Discord
• OBS: https://obsproject.com/
• Transcribing: https://www.descript.com/download/mac
• SkyFonts: https://www.fonts.com/web-fonts/google
• Microsoft Todo: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1274495053?mt=8
• Stretchly: https://hovancik.net/stretchly/
• Disk Space: Disk Inventory X - you can clean node modules with this bash command or as a cronjob
• Replay: download - https://www.notion.so/Replay-Docs-56758667f53a4d51b7c6fc7a641adb02
• SimpleNote: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simplenote/id692867256?ls=1&mt=12
• Superhuman for Mac and https://mail.superhuman.com
• Notion: https://www.notion.so/desktop
  • https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/notion-web-clipper/knheggckgoiihginacbkhaalnibhilkk?hl=en
• App Search/Utils: https://www.alfredapp.com/
  • set to Alfred Dark
  • airdrop to iphone/ipad
  • Cupcake Ipsum

• Editor: Download VS Code (I used to use Insiders but the popups are super annoying). use Settings Sync to sync across machines

  • have to set up powerline fonts "Meslo LG M for Powerline" (download)
  • auto-close-tag v0.5.6
  • auto-rename-tag v0.0.15
  • Bookmarks v9.1.0
  • code-settings-sync v3.1.2
  • debugger-for-chrome v4.10.2
  • es7-react-js-snippets v1.8.7
  • graphql-for-vscode v1.12.1
  • mdx v0.1.0
  • prettier-vscode v1.6.1
  • python v2018.9.2
  • python v0.2.3
  • rainbow-brackets v0.0.6 - this is now deprecated, use the native "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true
  • shades-of-purple v3.17.0
  • vscode-graphql v0.1.5
  • vscode-import-cost v2.9.0
  • vscode-styled-components v0.0.23
  • vscode-wakatime v1.2.3
  • TabNine AI completions
  • GitHub Copilot
  • to try: File Utils - recommended by Stolinski
  • Here's the full list you can run from command line

  code --install-extension 2gua.rainbow-brackets
  code --install-extension ahmadawais.shades-of-purple
  code --install-extension austenc.tailwind-docs
  code --install-extension bradlc.vscode-tailwindcss
  code --install-extension cpylua.language-postcss
  code --install-extension dbaeumer.vscode-eslint
  code --install-extension dsznajder.es7-react-js-snippets
  code --install-extension esbenp.prettier-vscode
  code --install-extension formulahendry.auto-close-tag
  code --install-extension formulahendry.auto-rename-tag
  code --install-extension GabrielNordeborn.vscode-graphiql-explorer
  code --install-extension GitHub.copilot
  code --install-extension golang.go
  code --install-extension heybourn.headwind
  code --install-extension jpoissonnier.vscode-styled-components
  code --install-extension kgscott.retreon
  code --install-extension kumar-harsh.graphql-for-vscode
  code --install-extension luyizhi.vscode-graphql
  code --install-extension ms-python.python
  code --install-extension ms-python.vscode-pylance
  code --install-extension ms-toolsai.jupyter
  code --install-extension msjsdiag.debugger-for-chrome
  code --install-extension NickScialli.svelte-dark
  code --install-extension octref.vetur
  code --install-extension oderwat.indent-rainbow
  code --install-extension sdras.night-owl
  code --install-extension silvenon.mdx
  code --install-extension svelte.svelte-vscode
  code --install-extension TabNine.tabnine-vscode
  code --install-extension ThreadHeap.serverless-ide-vscode
  code --install-extension tht13.python
  code --install-extension WakaTime.vscode-wakatime
  code --install-extension Wattenberger.footsteps
  code --install-extension wix.vscode-import-cost
  

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Other good "new laptop setup" lists:

• Tania Rascia's setup
• Nick Nisi's dotfiles
• Mathias Bynens macos defaults
• Jamon's MacOS maintenance tips
• Vendasta: https://github.com/vendasta/setup-new-computer-script
• You can automate dotfiles/homebrew setup with Sheldon Hull's tool
• Physical equipment setups from prominent people: https://setups.co/
• please send me yours!

Comments

[Fabien Hiegel]

Thank you for the share !

I have some other tools I prefers :

I use SdkMan (sdkman.io) for install java, and managing my different java versions

I use "Rectangle" instead of "Spectacle" for managing windows, installed from brew

brew install --cask rectangle

I use "CopyQ" instead of "clippy-app" for clipboard manager

brew install --cask copyq

Note : the link to your dotfiles gists, is pointing to a Notions workspace
Note2 : thank you for all your "Learn In Public" resources

[Chris Bongers]

Nice Shawn!

Very complete list, took some inspiration from this as I'm currently building a new brew formula to do most of this for me when I'm reinstalling my Mac again.

Also going to give Z a shot 👍

[Horacio Herrera]

I use a dotfile to setup almost everything!
github.com/horacioh/dotfiles/blob/...

there are a lot of people with this mode, you can search for repos named “dotfiles”

[Preslav Rachev]

That's a nice one. I have recently started my own long-term project in the same direction. I am collecting about a decade of knowledge and insider tips into a (won't call it a book yet) scrapbook of sorts. I have released a very early version of on Gumroad: p5v.gumroad.com/l/setting-up-your-mac Anyone generous enough to back my little project at this stage will enjoy its full value over time. Thanks!

[Yuriy Boev]

Why do you need another app for clipboard history when you have this built in in Alfred already?

alfredapp.com/help/features/clipboard

[Yuriy Boev]

Why do you need another app for clipboard history when you have this built in in Alfred already?

alfredapp.com/help/features/clipbo...

[Bramus!]

To automate (most of) these steps I created github.com/bramus/freshinstall that does the job for me. Might need a few tweaks to continue working with the latest macOS/etc versions.

[swyx]

looks very handy! thx for sharing!

[Bruce Bentley]

Do you have all of this configured in a dotfiles repo somewhere?

[Yuriy Boev]

Why do you need another app for clipboard history when you have this built in in Alfred already?

[Yuriy Boev]

Why do you need another app for clipboard history when you have this built in in Alfred already?