Whether you’re a longtime Mac user or just a beginner, you may or may not be familiar with Control Center. Many users like myself, have heard about it in discussions and forums but have never really used it or know where it is. If you’re unsure about it, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
Control Center gives you a quick shortcut to some of your most important settings. Once you start using it on a regular basis, you’ll find it so handy.
My name is Eric and as a software engineer and long-time computer enthusiast, I love to find tools and features such as Control Center that help make life easier. Many are unaware of these types of tools and features but once we learn about them, they can be of great help to us.
If you would like to find out more about where Control Center is on your Mac and how to use it, keep reading below. I will also discuss how you can configure Control Center so that it works best for you.
Contents
Where is Control Center on Mac?
If you are looking for Control Center on your Mac you won’t need to go any further than your desktop. Control Center is conveniently located on the right side of the menu bar at the top of your screen as shown below.
You will see a small icon that looks like a couple of switches. One looks like it is turned off and the other looks like it is turned on as shown below.
When you click on the Control Center icon, you will see a dropdown displaying the various controls that you can turn on, off, or adjust.
How to Use Control Center on Mac
Control Center is a handy little tool or interface that many are not even aware of. I myself, had never really used it. I had seen it there, but I often take the long way around to do some of the things that are readily available right there in Control Center.
You can do things like turn WIFI on/off or connect to another network. You can turn Bluetooth and AirDrop on/off and adjust other things like screen brightness or audio volume. These are just a few of the settings that you have quick and easy access to.
By default, your Mac will probably have the settings shown above already available, but there are others that can be configured to appear on the Control Center dropdown. You can also hide or turn off some of the settings if you don’t use them and want to make more space in the drop-down.
Overall Control Center is a tool or desktop item that keeps many of your important settings in one place where you can easily access them and change them when needed. Many of the components are configurable and we will discuss how to configure them in the next section.
How to Configure Control Center on Mac
As mentioned above, Control Center is configurable. Many of the settings available there can be removed and there are others that can be added. Your Mac gives you some flexibility to adjust which settings are accessible from Control Center.
In order to change the available settings on the Control Center dropdown, simply follow the steps below.
Step 1: Open System Settings.
Click on the Apple logo in the upper left corner of your screen and select System Settings.
Step 2: Select Control Center.
Click on Control Center on the left-side panel in the System Settings window.
Step 3: Configure your settings.
You can look through the many different settings for Control Center on the right side of the System Settings window. You will notice that many of the settings let you decide whether they are displayed on the menu bar as well as in Control Center.
You can scroll down through all of the settings to see what is available and how it can be configured. Once you make changes, Control Center will be updated immediately so you should see the change there as soon as you click on it.
FAQs
Below are a few questions that often come up when discussing where Control Center is on your Mac and how to use it.
Why does the Control Center icon look like two switches?
The Control Center icon probably looks like two switches because it is a tool or menu that allows you to turn system features on and off as well as allowing you to adjust settings on your Mac. The two switches probably represent the ability to change settings.
Do I have to use Control Center to change my settings?
No, you definitely don’t have to use Control Center to change the settings that are available there. All the settings available in Control Center are also accessible through System Settings and most of them can also be found on the menu bar if they are configured to appear there.
Why Should I Use Control Center?
As stated above, you don’t have to use Control Center, but it really can make changing settings on your Mac much more convenient and allow you to be more efficient in changing settings when you need to do so. Once you start using it, you will see how easy it makes things and you will continue going back there to make changes once you are comfortable using the tool.
Conclusion
Control Center is located on the right side of your menu bar at the top of your Mac’s desktop. You can use it by clicking on it to bring down the Control Center dropdown and from there you can select the settings you wish to adjust.
I hope the information above has helped you to become more comfortable using Control Center. It is a very useful tool and can help you to be more efficient. As usual, let me know if you have any questions or comments. I would love to hear from you.
