Default Folder Adds Handy Features To Mac OS X.

Mac users understand the “personal” in personal computer better than Windows PC users.

Through the years, Mac users develop and use an excellent list of add ons, utilities, and must have apps.

One that I’ve used for years and dearly love is Default Folder. Once you use it you’ll wonder why it’s not included in Mac OS X.

If you’re in a Mac application, select File, Save As… What do you get? A typical Mac dialog box, right?

Most dialog boxes work the same way. Name the file you want to Save As..., then navigate to the location, then save the file.

Most Mac users have come to expect that simple process with every dialog box. It’s time honored and it works well. There’s little confusion about what’s going on.

What’s going on is not enough. Default Folder is one of those ingenious Mac utilities which attaches itself to your Mac’s dialog boxes and gives you more functionality.

At the basic level, Default Folder displays five icons which add features to the dialog box.

The Utility Menu lets you assign specific folders for each application on your Mac.

So, if you’re in Microsoft Word, and have a Word folder, the dialog boxes remembers where it is and goes there automatically.

The Computer Menu lets you browse all over you Mac in triple the speed of the basic dialog box navigation using a hierarchical pop-up menu.

The Favorites Menu gives you instant control of your favorite folders, and lets you add or remove favorites on the fly, while you’re in the dialog box.

The Recents Menu will let you select from 100 of your most recent folders. They can be organized by date or name.

The Finder Windows Menu lets you open or save to from the Finder’s windows.

That’s the list of basic features in the dialog box and the Default Folder menu selections. What if you’re not using a dialog box within an application?

Default Folder lets you use the pop-up menus without the standard Open and Save dialog box. There’s keyboard shortcuts to open specific folders in each application and within Mac OS X’s Open and Save dialog boxes.

Personal computer means we get to customize various aspects of our Macs to make it work, well, personal-- to suit our tastes and needs.

A good Mac utility works the same way. It’s personal and customizable. So it is with Default Folder.

Not only can you create custom folders which open with a keystroke, you can also create specific sets for different projects, tasks, or applications.

My favorite feature is Rebound. It does what you think and bounces back to the last item used in any given folder.

For those few Mac applications which don’t play nice-nice with the Mac’s dialog box or Default Folder, they can be excluded from use.

Your Mac is a personal computer, right? It’s made more personal with delightful time-saving applications like Default Folder.

What nifty Mac utility have you added to your Mac that makes it more personal, more efficient, and more productive that OS X by itself? Share your experience and thoughts with other Mac360 readers via the Comment section below.

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