Guides, for jobs on a Mac.
Short, checked guides to jobs on a Mac: keeping it awake, dictating, opening Office files without Office, and working with AI agents.
- How to stop a Mac from going to sleepEvery free way to stop a Mac sleeping: Battery and Energy settings, display-off timing, caffeinate, closed-lid use, and what each method can’t do.
- How to dictate on a MacTurn on and use the free Dictation built into macOS: shortcuts, punctuation, languages, where speech is processed, and what Yap adds.
- How to open and edit a .docx file on a Mac without WordHow to open and edit a .docx file on a Mac without Word: Quick Look, TextEdit, Pages, Google Docs and LibreOffice, and what each one can’t do.
- How to open and edit a .xlsx file on a Mac without ExcelFour free ways to open and edit a .xlsx file on a Mac without Excel: Quick Look, Numbers, Google Sheets and LibreOffice, with steps and limits for each.
- How to open and edit a .pptx file on a Mac without PowerPointHow to open and edit a .pptx file on a Mac without PowerPoint, using Quick Look, Keynote, Google Slides or LibreOffice, with each method’s limits.
- How to let Claude Code edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on your MacHow to let Claude Code edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on a Mac: what it can do alone, and how to connect document apps over MCP or plain HTTP.
- What a PDF costs in tokens when Claude reads itHow to work out what a PDF costs in tokens when Claude reads it: per-page text and image costs, API limits, and how Claude Code’s Read tool handles PDFs.