Chris Capelle - Macintosh Computer & Apple Products Expert

04/13/2026

What is a Passkey?

If you’ve attempted to log into a site recently, and it’s asking for a passkey, what do you do? Or maybe you inadvertently created one, but don’t realize you did. (Don’t feel badly, a few sites almost trick you into creating one.) Want the rest of the story? Here it is:

Email from Chris Capelle - Macintosh Computer Expert April 2026 Macintosh Computer and Apple Products Infoletter   Chris Capelle Macintosh Computer & Apple Products Expert April 2026 Infoletter www.ch

03/22/2026

Quick Tip of the Month:

Love it or loathe it, Microsoft's word processing program, Word, is the industry standard. But how do you enable a new document to open in your preferred font (and size) every time?

To customize your new document setting, open Word, create a blank document, and then pull down the FORMAT menu at the top and select FONT.

There, you're able to select your font, size, and style. Once you've done that, click on the DEFAULT button in the lower left corner of the window, and every new Word document you create will open with your preferred font.

👉🏻 Important note: Older versions of Word (if you're still running them) don't allow this option.

www.chriscapelle.com

03/12/2026

Understanding Storage: Here, There & Everywhere

One issue that I’m constantly asked is storage. When a “storage nearly full” message appears, many don’t know exactly what storage it refers to.

Simply put, there are two types of storage: Physical and cloud.

Physical storage, such as the hard drive inside your computer or phone is a finite number of gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB). In most instances, these can’t be easily upgraded.

Cloud storage, which we all are assigned a number by our email providers, as well as other services (Apple Account, a.k.a. iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.). This storage is on somebody else’s computer and is easily upgradable (for the most part) by paying more for it.

When a “storage full” message appears, it’s important to discern exactly what storage is full. If it’s one of your devices, you’ll have to offload some data. A full device will soon stop functioning properly, and can crash, causing a data loss.

If it’s your cloud storage (which includes your email provider), changes are that you can throw money at the problem and upgrade to the next tier; a solution that is far less time consuming than trying to figure out what to delete.

www.chriscapelle.com

02/22/2026

February's Quick Tip: It Might Be the Cable!

Computers, by design, have cords and cables attached to them. Some are for power, others are to connect peripherals (printers, external hard drives, iPhones, displays, etc.)

Usually there's no issues with the computer recognizing these devices. But once in a while, no matter how many different ports you test, an attached device refuses to be recognized.

The knee jerk reaction is to blame the device (or the computer), not the connecting cable itself. Trying with another cable or connect to another computer to see where the breakdown lies.

👉🏻 Important note: Some devices connected through a hub (or other adapter) don't behave as well as they should. And rarely does a device connected by two adapters or hubs work well.

02/01/2026

Zen and the Art of Macintosh Maintenance

Computers, like other devices such as cars and appliances, require some maintenance to keep running smoothly. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to drag your computer into the store every three months (or have somebody stop by to handle this sort of thing), but there are some things you can do to keep your computer (whether used for work or pleasure), none of which take up too much time and effort.

Gone is the era of having to “defrag your hard drive,” a time-consuming operation that was purported to speed up your computer but made it unusable during the process. (It was also used as an excuse to work overtime back in my days working on the corporate hamster wheel, as the excuse was to handle it after hours, ergo the overtime.)

But – both the defrag thing and my corporate days are both pleasant memories. However, there ARE still a few things you can do on a semi-regular basis to keep your computer well maintained. And a well-maintained computer is a happy computer.

• Check your disk storage: By pulling down on the apple icon (upper left corner of the screen) and selecting SYSTEM SETTINGS, navigate to GENERAL>STORAGE. Once there, you’ll see how much data resides on your internal storage (a.k.a. hard drive). If you have less than 10% free space remaining, you’ll want to clear some data off that drive. (Look for a blog on that next month.)

• Update your software: Again, while in SYSTEM SETTINGS, navigate to GENERAL>SOFTWARE UPDATE to keep your Mac up to date, at least as far operating system goes. Other software packages (Adobe, Microsoft Office, and Zoom (among others) must be done when that application is open. Generally, one of the pulldown menus has a “check for updates” option.

• Restart the computer on a regular basis: You don’t have to turn it on and off multiple times a day – simply a couple of times a week.

• And while you’re at it, uncheck the “Reopen windows when logging in” check box. That’s a real downer when it comes to things running smoothly. You can open the windows you want once the computer reboots.

• And probably most importantly, AVOID any type of “Mac Cleaners” or “Tuneup” software and apps. These things cause more problems than they solve. That’s only my opinion, but then again, I’ve been doing this stuff for a very long time!

www.chriscapelle.com

01/11/2026

A Little Something on Password Managers

Virtually everybody I know is frustrated with their password saving scenario (or lack thereof), so there is no “best way” or killer app to solve the issue. However, there ARE better alternatives to posting a sticky note on your computer or other nearby surface.

Apple now includes a passwords app (cleverly named “Passwords”) with its iOS 18 (late 2024) and MacOS 15 (Sequoia) and is the natural successor to its clunky “Keychain.” One good thing about it (besides the fact it’s secure), is that is syncs via iCloud, so it works on all your devices. (Update your devices if you fall below these thresholds.)

That’s a great starting place. If you want to explore this area further, the two biggest (at least what I’ve seen) password managers are 1Password and LastPass. (In that order.)

www.chriscapelle.com

08/02/2025

Does your Optimum email stink? Find out here - August's blog post is LIVE!

http://blog.chriscapellemac.com/what-to-do-when-your-email-provider-fails-you-or-dig-your-well-before-youre-thirsty

01/01/2025

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Email from Chris Capelle - Macintosh Computer Expert January 2025 Macintosh Computer and Apple Products Infoletter Chris Capelle Macintosh Computer & Apple Products Expert January 2025 Infoletter www.

01/01/2025

My first blog post of 2025 is now live!

January 1, 2025 Zen And The Art of Archiving Welcome to 2025! With the new year comes a fresh start, time to say goodbye to yesterday. And because your computer’s hard drive has a finite amount of space available, the first of the year is a good time to clean things up when it comes to the data on...

05/01/2024

May's blog post is ALIVE!

May 1, 2024 Keep Calm and Back Up Your Mac! OK, I sound like a broken record (as the old folks used to say), BACK UP YOUR DATA! But why? For one reason, most of your “stuff” is digitally based these days, so instead of making paper copies like people did in ancient times (pre-1999), it’s all o...