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12 Ways to Open Files on a Mac

Posted on March 16th, 2021 by Kirk McElhearn

You open files every time you work on your Mac, most often, probably, by double-clicking them. But did you know that there are lots of different ways to open files? You can use your mouse, your trackpad, or even your keyboard. You can open files in windows, from menus, and from dialogs. Here are a dozen ways you can open files on a Mac.

1. Double-click to Open Files

The basic way to open a file on the Mac — and on Windows as well — is to double-click a file. By default, it opens with the application that is assigned to work with its file type; so, if you have Microsoft Office on your Mac, a .doc file opens in Word, and an .xls file opens in Excel. Only one app can open each file type when you double-click it, but as you’ll see below, you can open files with other apps, and you can change the default app that opens a given file type.

If you receive a file as an attachment to an email, you can open it by double-clicking it, as you would a file in the Finder.

2. Drag and Drop to Open Files

You can open a file by dragging it onto an app icon, either in a Finder window, or in the Dock. If that app can open the file, the icon will highlight, and when you drop the file the app will launch (if it’s not already running) and display the file.

3. Open Files from the Keyboard

You can also open a file from the keyboard. Select a file in a Finder window or on the Desktop, and press Command-down-arrow. As with double-clicking, the file opens with the app its file type is associated with.

You can also press Command-O to open a selected file.

4. Open any File from an Open Dialog

As discussed in a recent article on The Mac Security Blog about using the Open and Save dialogs, you can open any file from an app’s Open dialog (if that app supports the file type). Just press Command-O in your app, navigate to the file, select it, and click Open or press Return.

If you want to view a file when you’re in an Open dialog, you can select and it press the space bar to view it in Quick Look.

5. Re-Open a File from the Open Recent Menu

If you’ve worked on a file in a specific app, you can re-open it from that app’s Open Recent menu. Choose File > Open Recent, then select the file. Note that this menu only stores a limited number of files. You can adjust this number in System Preferences > General, by selecting the Recent Items menu at the bottom of the pane and choosing a number from none to 50.

6. Open Files from a Dock Icon

If you click and hold an app icon in your Mac’s Dock, you’ll see that there’s a menu showing recent items, if the app can open files. Select a file to open it with that app. As above, this menu only contains a limited number of files.

7. Open Files from the Recent Items Menu

If you choose the Apple menu, then Recent Items, you’ll see a list of recent apps, documents, and servers. Select a file from the Documents section, and it opens in its assigned app. As above, you can control how many items display in this menu in the General preferences. The difference between this and the Open Recent menu in apps is that this menu shows recently opened files from all apps, whereas each app also has its own Open Recent menu that only shows its own files.

8. Use Spotlight to Open Files

You can use Spotlight to search for files — by their name, or even by keywords in their content — and open them from the results. Just use the arrow keys to select a file and press Return, or double-click it.

If you want to display a file you’ve found in Spotlight, press Command-Return, and a new Finder window opens with that file highlighted.

9. Open Files from the Dock

If you have added files to [the right-hand section of the Dock](https://www.intego.com/mac-security-blog/get-to-know-your-macs-dock/) (or the bottom, if you position the Dock on either side of your screen), a single click will open that file.

And if you have folders in that part of the Dock, click and hold a folder icon to see a list of the files it contains. Select one to open it.

10. Use Quick Look to Open Files

If you select a file in the Finder then press the Space bar, you’ll see a preview of the file. If you then want to open the file, you can click the Open With… button at the top of the preview window. This will show the name of the app that is assigned to open that file type, and it will say, for example, Open With Preview.

11. Right-Click to Open Files

If you right-click a file in the Finder, you’ll see two menu items: Open and Open With. The former lets you open the file with the app associated with its file type, and the latter displays a sub-menu containing all the apps that can open that file. This is the best way to open a file with an app other than the one that opens its file type by default.

You can also select a file and choose File > Open With to access the same sub-menu.

12. From the Command Line You Can Open Files

If you use the command line, you probably already know that you can open files in the Terminal app. Just type the open command, followed by a space then the full path to the file, then press Return. Your command should look like this:

There’s a quicker way to do this, if you can see the file in the Finder. Type open, then a space, then drag the file onto the Terminal window. This copies its file path. Press Return to open the file with its associated app.

Bonus Tip: How to Associate a File Type with an Application

I mentioned above that file types are associated with applications. For each file type — such as .doc, .xls, .txt — there is one and only one app on your Mac that will open the files automatically, such as when you double-click files. But you can change this.

Take as an example .txt files. By default, they open with Apple’s TextEdit. But you may have a preferred text editor and want all these files to open with this app.

Select any .txt file in the Finder, then press Command-I. In the Open With section, you’ll see a menu showing that TextEdit is the default app. Click the menu and select your preferred text editor, then click Change All. The Mac will remember to open all .txt files in your selected app.

Note that you will still be able to open these files with other apps, by dragging onto app icons, from the Open With contextual menu, and so on. Give these tips a try and you’ll soon discover how they will make you more productive!

New to Mac? Learn tips and tricks at our New Mac User Center!

Share Mac files with Windows users

To let users connect to your Mac from a Windows computer, turn on file sharing and enable SMB sharing.

Set up file sharing on the Mac

On your Mac, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, then click Sharing.

Select the File Sharing tickbox, then click Options.

Select “Share files and folders using SMB”.

In the Windows File Sharing list, select the tickbox next to the user account that will be used to share files with Windows users, enter the password for that user, then click OK.

Choose View > Network, select your active connection, then click Advanced.

Click the WINS tab, then enter the workgroup name used by the Windows computer.

If you don’t know the workgroup name, on the Windows computer open Control Panel > System and Security > System. (Windows computers normally use either WORKGROUP or MSHOME.)

Click OK, then click Apply.

Provide the information Windows users need

To connect to your Mac, Windows users need the network address for your Mac, and a username and password to use to log in to your Mac.

To find your Mac computer’s network address, choose Apple menu

> System Preferences, click Sharing, then select File Sharing. The address appears below the “File Sharing: On” indicator, and looks similar to this example: smb://17.212.167.33/.

Create an account on your Mac for each Windows user. To create accounts, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.

If you want to use an account that existed before you installed the latest version of macOS, you may need to reset the password for the account in Users & Groups preferences.

Because the passwords of user accounts used for Windows sharing may be stored in a less secure manner, turn off the account when it’s not being used. Before you turn off Windows sharing, turn off all the accounts you enabled. Otherwise, the passwords are still stored less securely.

Move your data from a Windows PC to your Mac

Use Windows Migration Assistant to transfer your pictures, documents, and other data from a Windows PC to your Mac.

Windows Migration Assistant transfers your contacts, calendars, email accounts, and more from a PC. It migrates this data to the appropriate places on your Mac. After migrating data to your Mac, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content that you download from the iTunes Store.

If you’re migrating from one Mac to another Mac, follow the steps to move your content to a new Mac.

Before you begin

To prepare for a smooth migration:

• Make sure that Windows is up to date. Migration Assistant works with Windows 7 and later.
• Make sure that you know the name and password of an administrator account on your PC.
• Connect your Mac and PC to the same network, such as your home Wi-Fi network. Or connect an Ethernet cable between the ports on your Mac and PC to create a direct network connection. Some Mac models require an Ethernet adapter, such as the Belkin USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter or Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.
• If you’re using Microsoft OneDrive on your PC, follow Microsoft’s instructions for uninstalling OneDrive before continuing. You can reinstall OneDrive after migration is complete.

Then use the check disk (chkdsk) utility on your PC to make sure that your Windows hard drive doesn’t have any issues:

1. Right-click the Start button, then click Run.
2. Type cmd and press Enter. Command Prompt opens.
3. At the prompt, type chkdsk and press Enter.
4. If the utility reports that it found problems, type the following, where drive is the letter that represents your Windows startup disk, such as D:
5. Press Enter.
6. At the prompt, type Y , then restart your PC.
7. Repeat this process until the check disk utility reports no issues. If the utility can’t fix every issue that it finds, you might need to have your PC serviced. Then migrate your data to your Mac.

Move your data

This section guides you through migration, post-migration, and what to do if the steps don’t work for you.

How to move your information from a PC to your Mac

1. On your PC, download and install the appropriate Windows Migration Assistant, based on the version of macOS on your Mac:
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Big Sur
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Mojave and macOS Catalina
   • Windows Migration Assistant for macOS Sierra and High Sierra
   • Windows Migration Assistant for OS X El Capitan or earlier
2. Quit any open Windows apps.
3. Open Windows Migration Assistant, then click Continue.
   
4. Start up your Mac. Setup Assistant automatically opens the first time you turn on your Mac. If you’ve already set up your Mac, open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
5. On your Mac, follow the onscreen prompts until you get to the migration pane of the assistant. Select the option to transfer your information “From a Windows PC,” then click Continue.
   
6. When prompted, enter an administrator name and password.
7. Click Continue to close any other open apps.
8. In the migration window on your Mac, select your PC from the list of available computers. Then wait for the PC to show the same passcode that your Mac shows.
9. When both computers display the same passcode, click Continue on your PC and Mac.
10. Your Mac scans the drives on your PC to build a list of information to migrate. When the scan completes, select the information that you want to migrate to your Mac and click Continue. Learn about some of the data that you can transfer.
    

You can watch the progress and estimated time remaining on both the PC and your Mac. They tell you when migration is complete.

After you move your data

When migration completes, close Windows Migration Assistant on your PC. Then log in to the new user account on your Mac. The first time you log in to a user account migrated from your PC, you’re asked to set a password. You can use the same password that you used on your PC, or create a new password.

After logging in to the user account that you migrated, authorize your computer for iTunes Store purchases. It’s important to authorize before you sync or play content downloaded from the iTunes Store.

If you have issues moving your data

• Quit all open apps on your PC, then try migrating your content again. For example, you can press Alt-Tab to choose an open application, then press Alt-F4 to quit it.
• If your PC doesn’t appear in the Setup Assistant or Migration Assistant window on your Mac, make sure the computers are connected to the same network. You can create a network by connecting a single Ethernet cable between your Mac and PC. If that doesn’t help, check for firewall software on your PC and turn it off. After migration completes, you can turn firewall software on again.
• If Migration Assistant doesn’t open on your PC, turn off any antivirus software on your PC. Then try to open Migration Assistant again. After migration completes. You can turn that software on again.
• If you still can’t migrate your information successfully, you can use an external drive or file sharing to manually copy important data to your Mac.

What data can I transfer?

Migration Assistant lets you choose the data to move to your Mac. Here’s what moves over for specific apps and data types:

Email, contacts, and calendar information
Email messages, email-account settings, contacts, and appointments move based on which version of Windows you’re using and which accounts you have.

Outlook 1
Data from 32-bit versions of Outlook in Windows 7 and later move as follows:

• People move to Contacts 2
• Appointments move to the Calendar app
• IMAP and Exchange settings and messages move to the Mail app
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2

Windows Live Mail
Data from Windows Live Mail in Windows 7 and later moves as follows:

• IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2

Windows Mail
Data from Windows Mail in Windows 7 and later (excluding Windows 8) move as follows:

• IMAP settings and messages move to Mail
• POP settings and messages move to Mail 2
• People move to Contacts

Bookmarks
Bookmarks from Internet Explorer, Safari for Windows, and Firefox move to Safari.

System settings
Language and location settings, and custom desktop pictures move to System Preferences. Your web browser homepage moves to Safari preferences.

Pictures
Photos and other images move to your home folder. You can then add them to Photos, or open Photos and let it search your Mac for photos to import.

iTunes content
Migration Assistant transfers your iTunes media as follows: music to the Apple Music app, videos to the Apple TV app, podcasts to the Apple Podcasts app, and audiobooks to the Apple Books app.

Other files
Migration Assistant also moves these files:

• Files from the top-level folder of the currently logged-in user’s home directory
• Non-system files located in the Windows or Program Files folders
• Top-level folders located on the Windows system disk and other attached disks

1. Migration Assistant doesn’t support 64-bit versions of Outlook. You can manually migrate Mail, Contacts, or Calendars from Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016 by signing in and entering the content on your Mac manually.

2. Migration Assistant transfers only the Mail or Contacts data that belongs to the logged-in Windows user. To transfer data from another user account, use Migration Assistant again while you’re logged in to another Windows account. Each time you migrate, your Mac creates a new user account.

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