Without undermining iOS 17 or iPadOS, macOS Sonoma has looked more elegant than its siblings. Aside from several notable security features, Sonoma has put a significant spotlight on customization. If customizing the user interface for a more personalized experience is what appeals to your taste, there is a good chance macOS 14 will bowl you over. On this very note, it’s time to explore the 65 best macOS 14 Sonoma hidden features.
Best Hidden macOS 14 Sonoma Features: Digging Time Kickstarts Now!
From a muscular gaming mode primed to entice gaming aficionados to a bunch of dashing new add-ons to ramp up video conferencing to beautiful widgets readied to deck up your desktop to adorable 3D augmented-reality effects designed to enhance your FaceTime, macOS Sonoma has got the tricks to floor you. If you were thinking only these handful of add-ons are there in the wild, be warned this is just the tip of the iceberg.
1. Collaborate on Apple Music Playlist
What better way to kickstart this massive roundup than talk about Apple Music’s collaboration feature? You can now invite your friends and loved ones to join your playlist. Once your dear ones have accepted your invitation, the seamless collaboration will kick off.
That means everyone can add, reorder, and even remove songs. Notably, you and your dear ones can also use emoji to react to the song choice which will go a long way in keeping everyone cheerful during a long drive.
2. Create a Safari Profile for a More Personalized Experience
For a more personalized browsing experience, Safari lets you create a profile that helps keep your browsing segregated to ensure your personal searches don’t mix up with your professional ones. Notably, Safari profiles also enable you to separate your extensions, Tab Groups, favorites, and history. With an instant switching option, you can easily switch between different Safari profiles while browsing.
3. Clear Safari History of Specific Profiles on Your Mac
If you are dealing with multiple Safari profiles, you would like to have the flexibility to clean up the history of specific Safari profiles.
- To do so, launch Safari on your Mac -> click on the History menu at the top -> Clear History -> click on the drop-down menu next to All History and Website Data.
- Next, select the Safari profile which history you want to wipe out and click on Clear History.
4. Automatically Lock Your Private Browsing Window
Safari has further enhanced private browsing. The stock browser can now automatically lock your private browsing window when they are inactive, thereby completely blocking trackers from loading on pages. In addition, the web browser also wipes out all the tracking IDs added to URLs as you browse.
5. Use a Super Handy Keyboard Shortcut to Quickly Lock Safari Private Browsing Mode
If you don’t want to take the usual route to lock the Safari private browsing mode or prefer to use a quick keyboard shortcut to enable or disable a common feature, this tip is for you.
- Just press the Control + Command + L keys at once to instantly lock the incognito browsing mode in Safari on your Mac.
6. Automatically Remove Tracking Identifiers from URLs in Safari
To put an end to cross-website tracking, Safari can let you automatically strip tracking identifiers from URLs while browsing or copying a link. Though this functionality does come at the cost of a personalized browsing experience, privacy-conscious folks won’t mind this trade-off.
- Open Safari on your Mac -> Click on the Safari menu at the top left -> choose Settings -> Advanced tab.
- Now, check the box for Use Advanced Tracking and Fingerprinting Protection -> Then, click on the drop-down, and choose In All Browsing.
7. Find Out Who Locked/Unlocked the Door
The Home app has gotten way smarter now. In the Activity History, you can see who locked/unlocked the door and when. What’s more, the Activity History now also displays the recent activity for contact sensors, garage doors, and security systems.
8. Use Dictation and Keyboard at Once
Unlike before, macOS Sonoma can let you use Dictation and the keyboard together. Hence, you can swiftly move between Dictation and typing without being forced to stop dictating.
- To bring it into play, head into the Apple menu at the top left -> System Settings -> Keyboard.
- Under the Dictation section, turn on the toggle.
- To choose a preferred language for the dictation, click on the drop-down menu next to languages and then select your favorite language.
9. Choose the Desired Shortcut for Activating Dictation
macOS provides multiple shortcuts to let you activate dictation in line with your convenience.
- Visit the System Settings app -> Keyboard -> Dictation section -> click on the drop-down menu next to the Shortcut and choose the shortcut that you wish to use. For instance, you can press the microphone icon to activate the icon or press the globe icon twice or press the control key twice to trigger it.
- If you don’t want to go with the pre-defined options, click on Options and then set up the custom dictation shortcut.
10. Enable or Disable Auto-punctuation
Decide whether to use auto-punctuation for dictation or keep it disabled.
- Launch the System Settings app -> Keyboard -> Dictation section -> turn on or off the toggle next to Auto-Punctuation.
11. Change the Microphone Source for Dictation
If you have a liking for the much-improved dictation on your Mac, you would be glad to know that there is also a neat way to change the microphone source. Though by default, it uses the microphone of your Mac, you can switch to the microphone of your connected iOS device.
- Make sure your iOS device is connected to your Mac.
- Then, go to the System Settings app on your Mac -> Keyboard -> Dictation section -> click on the drop-down and select your device.
12. Enable Voice Isolation When Using Dictation on Your Mac
Make sure to take full advantage of voice isolation when using dictation on your Mac. Whenever enabled, it reduces the background noise to ensure the audio is clear.
- Click on the yellow microphone icon in the menu bar at the top and select Voice Isolation.
13. Trigger Siri by Saying Just “Siri”
With macOS Sonoma, you no longer need to say “Hey Siri” to invoke the virtual assistant. Simply, say “Siri” and the virtual assistant will be ready to answer your queries.
14. Amp Up Your Gaming with the Robust Game Mode
When the Game Mode is in action, macOS Sonoma automatically puts games at the top priority list of the CPU and GPU, thereby reducing usage for background tasks. That’s not all, it also lowers latency with wireless accessories such as your controllers, and AirPods in order to amp up responsiveness.
You will now be able to share your AirTag or Find My network accessories with up to five other people. Hence, everyone in the group will be able to view the item on a map and also play a sound to pinpoint the location of a shared item.
16. People Album Can Now Recognize Cats and Dogs
Did you ever wish the People album in the Photos app to identify your pets as well? If the answer is in the affirmative, this all-new feature is for you. The People album can now recognize cats and dogs that are part of your family.
17. Look Up Information on an Object in a Video Frame
Visual Look Up has vastly improved in macOS Sonoma. Using this handy feature, you can look up information on an object that shows in a paused video frame. So, the next time you would like to find out more about an interesting object that appears in a video frame, be sure to bring this feature into action.
18. Apple Mail Shows Travel-Related Emails at the Top of the Search Results
As your trip dates approach, Apple Mail now shows travel-related emails right at the top of search results so that you can keep a tab on your itinerary and plan accordingly. Even better, you can even add big emoji to your messages in order to express your feelings loudly.
19. Adjust the Video Frame with Zoom and Pan Controls
Sonoma lets you fine-tune the composition of your video when using Studio Display or iPhone as your camera. As interesting as it sounds, you can tweak the frame with zoom and pan controls. Furthermore, you also have the option to automatically place yourself in the center of the frame, which can play a pivotal role in enhancing your video-conferencing game.
20. Versatile Screen Sharing Picker
Another feature that is going to win a lot of hearts is the ability to easily share an app or multiple apps when on a video call, courtesy of the versatile screen-sharing picker. And that too, right from the window you’re in!
- Just hit the green button in the top-left corner of an app and share it in your ongoing call.
21. Swiftly Move Yourself Around the Screen
One of my favorite video-conferencing features is the ability to use a small overlay to appear in a movable bubble over the shared screen. Hence, it becomes a bit more convenient to be seen while presenting your work. Taking advantage of this neat video conferencing feature, you can smoothly move around the screen and show the important details.
22. Choose from Multiple Overlays During Video-Conferencing
The redesigned Presenter Overlay ensures that you remain part of the conversation when sharing your screen. Furthermore, it also offers you the flexibility to select from two overlays – large and small. Making full use of the large overlay, you can keep the focus on yourself, while the screen is neatly framed next to you on a separate layer. Therefore, you are able to move, walk, and talk in front of your content without feeling any constraints.
23. Automatically Sort Your Groceries Into Categories
Sorting items in the Apple Reminders app had never been so straightforward. The grocery lists in the Apple Reminders automatically sort items into categories to simplify your shopping. Moreover, the new Column View now organizes sections into different columns across your screen, thereby offering a better way to visualize your tasks.
24. Create a Personal Voice
Introduced as part of the Accessibility suite (System Settings -> Accessibility), Personal Voice is designed to help users with speech loss create a voice that sounds like them. Once a personal voice is created, they use it with Live Speech to communicate in FaceTime calls and in-person conversations.
25. Automatically Blur Sensitive Photos and Videos
macOS Sonoma can automatically blur obscene photos and videos before you decide to view them. In what could play a major role in keeping sensitive images at bay, the “Sensitive Content Warning” feature not only works in the Apple Messages app but also in third-party apps.
26. Quickly Finish Words or Entire Sentences by Using a Nifty Shortcut
In macOS Sonoma, you can finish words or entire sentences by just tapping the Space bar. From what I can tell, this nifty keyboard shortcut is going to play a vital role in accelerating your typing speed.
27. More Powerful Display Contrast
The ability to adjust the contrast of the display has existed on macOS for ages but it never felt so powerful and intuitive before.
- Dive into the System Settings app on your macOS device -> Accessibility -> Display -> head over to the Display contrast and then use the slider to adjust the contrast to your liking.
28. Pet Recognition
Apple Photos app for both iOS and macOS can now recognize pets. Don’t get me wrong! Although animal detection has existed in the Photos app for quite some time, the app can now identify your beloved pets and showcase them in the “People and Pets” album. You can even add the names of your pets and exclude unwanted images.
29. Zoom and Pan Controls
Slightly under the wraps, the zoom and pan controls feature kicks in only when you are using either the Studio Display or iPhone camera on Mac. You can make use of this new add-on to tweak the composition of your video.
30. Automatically Underline the Autocorrected Words
Sonoma has got a neat feature to let you keep typos at a fair distance. It temporarily underlines autocorrected words to let you know what has changed. Therefore, you can easily revert back to the original word, if need be.
- Visit the Apple menu at the top left > System Settings > Keyboard > Edit > All Input Sources > Show inline predictive text.
31. Start Writing in Apple Notes and Finish in Apple Pages
In the latest iteration of macOS, the Apple Notes app and Pages app work in sync. As a result, you can start writing a document in Notes and finish in the Pages app. Thus, you can fine-tune fonts, add videos, and resize graphics with precision.
32. View Full-Width PDF Right in the Notes App
Apple Notes app can now let you view full-width PDFs and also flip through its pages. Furthermore, it can even allow you to keep multiple PDF files in the same note for hassle-free access to the related documents.
33. Make the Most of AutoFill to Quickly Fill Out Documents
With the more powerful AutoFill functionality, you can use information from Contacts to quickly fill out a PDF or a scanned document.
34. Pretty Cool “Catch-Up and Swipe to Reply”
Apple Messages app has got a new “Catch-Up arrow” to let you directly jump to the first message which you have failed to notice or haven’t seen in a conversation. Besides, you can also just swipe to the right on any message to reply.
35. Make the Most of 3D Augmented Reality Effects to React with Your Hands
Talking about the fun-loving Sonoma feature, it has to be the ability to add a reaction that elegantly fills the camera with eye-catching 3D augmented reality effects such as fireworks, confetti, hearts, and more. On top of all, it also lets you share a reaction with just a hand gesture.
36. Access All Your Stickers and Memoji Right from One Spot
Now, you no longer need to run from pillar to post to access your Memoji and stickers. macOS Sonoma keeps all your stickers and Memoji in one place so that you can instantly access and use them. Plus, macOS 14 also syncs your stickers with iCloud so that they are readily available across your iDevices.
There is a new way to share and view locations right from the “+” button in the Messages app. If any of your friends or loved ones share their location, you can view it directly within the conversation.
38. Combine Search Filters to Narrow Down Your Search
Tracking down a specific message has become incredibly simple. You can combine multiple search filters to narrow down your search in order to spot the message you are looking for.
39. Launch Web Apps Right from Your Mac Dock
Web apps in macOS Sonoma behave and work more like standard apps. You can not only enable notifications for web apps but also launch them right from your Mac Dock.
40. View More Relevant Suggestions in Safari
Searching in Safari has become faster and way more responsive. Apple browser now displays more relevant suggestions so that you can pick the right ones and get on with your task without wasting any time.
41. Access iPhone Widgets on Mac
After a long wait, Apple has allowed widgets to be placed on the desktop on Mac. But do you know what is the cherry on the cake as far as this feature is concerned? Well, it’s the ability to access all your iPhone widgets on your Mac thanks largely to the ever-beloved Continuity feature. Thus, you can design your Mac’s desktop using your stunning iPhone widgets without having to install the corresponding apps on your Mac.
42. Colors of the Widgets Instantly Adapts and Fade for Better Focus
Worried that adding eye-grabbing widgets on your desktop will distract you or play a spoilsport for your productivity? Well, you can’t be more wrong about this. As the colors of the widgets instantly adapt and also fade into the background, you can carry out your task without any distractions. So, go ahead and deck up the desktop of your Mac using a variety of widgets knowing that they won’t ruin your focus.
43. Edit Widgets Right from the Desktop
Editing desktop widgets is a breeze, especially if all you want is to just change the size of the widgets.
- Right/control-click on a specific widget -> choose Edit Widget in the menu and then select Small, Medium, or Large as per your preference.
44. Customize Widget Style
Right from the get-go, I have loved using the desktop widgets on Mac. So, it’s refreshing to know that there is a hidden way to customize the widget style as well.
- Launch the System Settings app on your Mac -> Desktop & Dock -> go to the Widgets section and click on the drop-down menu next to Widget Style.
- After that, choose Full-color, Automatic, or Monochrome.
45. Show or Hide iPhone Widgets in the Widgets Library
All of your iPhone widgets are automatically synced with your Mac so that you can use them to deck the desktop in style. But if you don’t like this auto-syncing behavior or prefer to keep your Mac’s widgets library decluttered, you can stop the syncing.
- Launch the System Settings app -> Desktop & Widgets -> Widgets -> turn off the toggle next to Use iPhone widgets.
46. Show or Hide Widgets from Mac Desktop
Widgets are exactly what you need to spruce up your Mac’s desktop or prevent boredom from creeping in. But, at times, they can cause distractions. If you tend to get distracted by the presence of eye-catching widgets while working, you can keep them concealed.
- Open the System Settings app -> Desktop & Widgets -> Desktop -> turn off the toggle next to Show Widgets.
- From now onwards, whenever you open an app’s window, the widgets will get automatically hidden. Besides, you can also hide or show them by clicking on the wallpaper.
- If you decide to stop it from happening and would like to always show the desktop widgets on your Mac, go to the System Settings app -> Desktop & Widgets -> Desktop -> and then turn on the toggle for Show Widgets.
47. Recover Accidentally Deleted Passwords
With the arrival of macOS 14, you will no longer have to worry about losing any accidentally deleted passwords. The built-in password recovery feature automatically stores deleted passwords in a separate folder called “Recently Deleted” and keeps them for up to 30 days. Hence, you can recover any passwords which you have deleted in the past 30 days.
48. Automatically Delete Verification Codes from Apple Messages and Mail
If you don’t have the habit of removing the expired verification codes from time time, chances are your Messages and Mail could be cluttered with too many useless codes lying around. Thankfully, you can now automatically clean them up once you have inserted them using the AutoFill functionality.
49. Enable Sensitive Content Warning
With macOS 14 and iOS 17, you can take advantage of the “Sensitive Content Warning” feature to automatically blur nude photos and videos. This way, you can avoid viewing sensitive content. To ensure you can take a safer decision, Apple also offers helpful guidance.
- Go to the System Settings app -> Privacy & Security -> Sensitive Content Warning and turn it on.
50. Link Your Apple Notes
Apple Notes app can now let you link other notes inside a note. Yeah, you got that right! The stock not taking app has got hyperlinking functionality so that you can connect your ideas and navigate to them with ease.
- Simply head over to the text you want to hyperlink inside a note -> After that, right-click on the text -> choose Add Link -> search for the note, and select it. Then, click OK and you are done!
51. Copy, Edit, and Remove Hyperlinks in Notes With Ease
Just like its iOS counterpart, the Notes app for Sonoma also allows users to copy, edit or remove hyperlinks with ease.
- Control or right-click on a link and choose Copy Link, Edit Link, or Remove Link as per your needs.
52. Instantly Access Up to 12 Recent Notes When Linking Notes
While the Notes app for iPadOS and iOS shows up to 6 recent notes, the Notes app for macOS displays up to 12 recent notes in a menu through a keyboard shortcut for quick hyperlinking. If you want to add the link to one of the most recent notes inside a note, this time-saving keyboard hack will come into the picture.
- Open the Notes app -> go to the spot where you would like to add a link -> enter the greater sign twice (>>) -> and then choose the note you want to add from the menu.
53. Control Communication Preferences
In macOS Sonoma, there is a new setting for customizing communication preferences.
- Head into the System Settings app -> click on your profile -> Personal Information.
- Now, click on the Info button next to Communication Preferences and then choose to receive notifications for new releases and announcements or block them out.
- Then, click on Done to confirm.
54. Manage Passkeys Access for Web Browsers
Sonoma has offered a better way to take control of the passkeys access for web browsers.
- On your Mac, go to the System Settings app -> Privacy & Security -> Passkeys Access for Web Browsers.
- On the next screen, apps that have requested access to view which websites and apps you have saved passkeys for will appear. Depending on your needs, you can allow or disallow apps to access your passkeys.
55. Smart App Management
There is pretty smart app management in macOS Sonoma. Unlike before, you can allow specific apps to not just update but also delete other applications that are useless.
- Fire up the System Settings app on your Mac –> Privacy & Security -> App Management.
- Click on the “+” button to add the app that you want to authorize to update and delete other apps.
- To remove any app from the list, just select it and then hit the “-“ button.
56. Better Way to Automatically Delete Safari History
If you prefer to automatically delete Safari history on your Mac, you would be glad to know that macOS has offered a better automatic deletion of browser history.
- Launch the System Settings app on your Mac -> click on the Safari menu at the top left -> Choose Settings in the contextual menu.
- Click on the drop-down menu next to Remove History Items and choose from several options like After one day, After one week, After two weeks, After one month, and After one year.
57. Show Battery Percentage in Menu Bar
With battery percentage, keeping an eye on the battery becomes a bit more straightforward. It also provides a clear idea about when exactly you need to plug in your Mac for charging to ensure you don’t get caught off guard.
- Open the System Settings app -> Control Center -> navigate to the Battery section -> turn on the toggle next to Show Percentage.
- Then, make sure that the toggle next to Show in Menu Bar is enabled.
58. Show Battery Percentage in Control Center
If you rather want to display the battery percentage in the Control Center, there is a way to do it as well.
- Open the System Settings app -> Control Center -> Battery section -> turn on the toggles for Show Percentage and Show in Control Center.
59. Show or Hide Widget in Stage Manager
Especially when using the Stage Manager, I prefer to hide the desktop widgets to ward off any distractions. If you are also like me, you would want to keep the widgets concealed as well.
- Open the System Settings app on your Mac -> Desktop & Dock -> go to the Stage Manager section and then click on the Customize button.
- Then, turn on off/the toggle next to Widgets and hit Done to confirm.
60. Hide or Show Tabs When Opening Documents
Based on your workflow, you can choose to keep tabs at your disposal when opening documents or keep them all under wraps.
- Open the System Settings app -> Desktop & Dock -> Windows.
- Click on the drop-down menu next to Prefer tabs when opening documents and choose Never, Always, or In Full Screen depending on your taste.
61. Ask to Keep Changes When Closing Documents
If you don’t want any documents to save changes without your permission, you can force them to ask for your permission.
- Launch the System Settings app -> Desktop & Dock -> Windows -> turn on/off the toggle next to Ask to keep changes when closing documents.
62. Close Windows When Quitting an App
In macOS Sonoma, you can automatically close windows when quitting an application.
- Launch the System Settings app -> Desktop & Dock -> Windows -> turn on/off the toggle next to Close windows when quitting an app.
63. Hide or Show Desktop Items
By default, desktop items always show on the screen. But there is a hidden way through which you can keep them all out of sight when using an app’s window.
- Navigate to the System Settings app on your macOS device -> Desktop & Dock -> Desktop section and then turn on the toggle next to Show Items.
64. Click Wallpaper to Show Desktop Items
When Stage Manage is active, you can hide or show desktop items by clicking on the wallpaper. If you are fond of this feature, you can make it an always-on affair.
- Get inside the System Settings app -> Desktop & Dock -> Desktop section.
- Now, click on the drop-down menu next to the Click wallpaper to show desktop items and choose Always or Only in Stage Manager.
65. Customize macOS Sonoma Wallpaper
macOS Sonoma’s wallpaper looks fascinating. To ensure it’s always in keeping with your taste, you can fine-tune it as well.
- Visit the System Settings app on your Mac -> Wallpaper -> click on the drop-down menu next to Sonoma and choose Automatic, Light (Still), or Dark (Still).
Stay Tuned In For More…
There you go! So, that wraps up this exhaustive lineup of the hidden macOS Sonoma features. Rest assured, we will keep on updating this roundup as soon as new add-ons are discovered. Therefore, remain tuned in for more…
Read more: 100+ Best iOS 17 Hidden Features: Time to Dig Deeper!
