Think you know everything there is to know about OS X? Here’s a list of secret features and shortcuts known only by the most elite nerds. Test your knowledge and see if you are a good candidate to stand at the Genius Bar and wear a clever T-shirt.

We’ll start with some simple features before moving on to the more obscure. Topics covered include downloading YouTube videos using Safari, accessing an entire second clipboard, placing widgets on your desktop, and taking control of your system volume!

Screenshots

Screenshot

Everyone knows that OS X has built-in screenshot functionality, but few are aware of how deep the functionality actually runs. Here’s a rundown of all the shortcuts:

⌘+Shift+3 (Full Screen)
⌘+Shift+Ctrl+3 (Full Screen to Clipboard)
⌘+Shift+4 (Selection)

• Hold option to grow selection from center
• Hold shift to lock in the vertical or horizontal position
• Hold space to move the selection while locking the aspect ratio
• Hold shift + space to lock in horizontal or vertical while moving the locked selection
• Hit “esc” or ⌘+Period to cancel
• Hit space to grab a window

⌘+Shift+Ctrl+4 (Selection to Clipboard)

• Hit space to grab a window
• Hold option to grow selection from center
• Hold shift to lock in the vertical or horizontal position
• Hold space to move the selection while locking the aspect ratio
• Hold shift + space to lock in horizontal or vertical while moving the locked selection
• Hit “esc” or ⌘+Period to cancel

To change the format of the screenshot, type the following into Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture type png
killall SystemUIServer

The default is png, but you can replace this with jpg, pdf, tiff, etc.

To change the default location of the screenshot file, type the following into Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/Josh/Documents/Screenshots
killall SystemUIServer

Just replace the path with your own desired destination.