For a smart OS to be really smart, there have to be many things deeply embedded to make the usage and experience better for the users. macOS is one of those super-smart operating systems and Macbook PCs and laptops are quite capable of doing so much because of the OS. Many of us don’t take advantage of the OS fully because we don’t know much about what is possible. One of the easiest tips that we tend to ignore or don’t know about, is the unit conversion possible through Spotlight.
This feature of using Spotlight to do conversions, calculations, and stuff like that was introduced in macOS Sierra, and even the latest current version, i.e. macOS Catalina has the same feature.
Also check: How to take a screenshot on Mac
Spotlight appears in your mac when you either tap on the Search icon on the top menu on the right top corner or when you use the key combination of “Command + Space bar“.
Now, to do any calculation, you just have to type that in the Spotlight search. For example, if you want a bracketed calculation like (12×3)+(6×3), even that can be done. Just type it and Spotlight will present the answer instantly.
Now, for the unit conversion. Even that is possible in the Spotlight. Unit conversions include measurement, weight, and even currency conversion. You could either type a specific unit, for example, 1 cm, and it would automatically show the most common conversions in the results on the right, or you could specifically ask for a unit to unit conversion, i.e. 1 cm to 1 inch, and the result would be directly shown.
The currency conversions as well are done in the same place, where you just have to enter a currency, for example, INR 100 and the results would be shown straight away, but if you want to check for a particular currency, you can do that by typing “100 INR to yen” and the result would appear there. We are not sure what data is being pulled here as the currency conversion is updated on a daily basis, so Apple might be pulling the data from one of the sources.
Spotlight is usually the search for Mac but this is a much smarter search tool and the example of calculations and conversions is just a small one to show the possibilities here, as you can go deeper into finding notes or files through the text that is written in them. For more macOS tips and tricks, you can check out our dedicated section for the same.
