A major innovation in macOS Big Sur is the Control Panel. In this tip you can read what you can do with the Control Panel and how it works.
macOS Big Sur Control Panel: This is how it works
The new macOS Big Sur is mainly notable for its fresh design, but there are of course many more improvements. One of these is the Control Center, a function we know from iOS (and iPadOS) and is now also coming to the Mac. The Control Panel collects the most important default settings for your Apple computer.
You can think of the WiFi network you are connected to, the Bluetooth and AirDrop connection and useful functions such as ‘Do not disturb’ and ‘Synchronous display’. You will also see sliders in the Control Panel to, for example, adjust the screen brightness of your Mac (Book), or activate the lighting of your keyboard. So many options that you normally see in the macOS menu bar are collected in the Control Panel.
Add buttons
What you probably don’t know is that you can also add buttons to the Control Panel, which makes the overview a bit more extensive. Follow the steps below to expand the Control Panel. Pay attention: you cannot remove or relocate the default settings in the panel.
- Open the System Preferences from the Apple logo in the top left or click on the System Preferences icon in your Dock;
- Choose ‘Dock and menu bar’ and scroll down until you see the heading ‘Other modules’;
- Here you can add different buttons to the Control Panel, such as the ‘quick accessibility options’ or ‘Battery’;
- You do this by clicking on the module and then placing a check mark at ‘Show in control panel’.
That was it! It is also possible to drag options from the Control Panel to your menu bar. This is useful if, for example, you want a bluetooth or AirDrop icon in the bar. First, open the Control Panel, click the option and drag it to the menu bar. If you want to remove the option from the menu bar, just drag it away again.
More about macOS Big Sur
The macOS Big Sur update is the biggest Mac upgrade in years and available now. Do you want to know more? Also take a look at the overview of the most important new functions of macOS Big Sur. This way you know exactly what to expect when you download and install the update.
Keep iPhone In addition, keep an eye out for more tips about the new macOS version and of course we will soon also publish an extensive review of Big Sur. Follow us through the website, daily / weekly newsletter or download the free iPhoned app.
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