![](https://help.apple.com/assets/65A8106E7C69B635140E606E/65A81072C0272B1FFA02DE51/en_US/a33905283c1d56f94106106b7ac6d40d.png)
Get started with your Mac
![A Mac desktop with System Settings open, showing the Apple ID sign-in settings.](https://help.apple.com/assets/65A8106E7C69B635140E606E/65A81072C0272B1FFA02DE51/en_US/d8f1395c9d0e0a34554f36a78d5b629c.png)
Sign in with your Apple ID
An Apple ID is the personal account you use to access the App Store, Apple Music, FaceTime, iCloud, and other Apple services. Sign in everywhere with the same Apple ID, and everything stays up to date on all your devices.
![The Lock Screen with a photo of a desert mountain set as the desktop picture. The profile picture of the currently logged in user appears at the bottom of the screen.](https://help.apple.com/assets/65A8106E7C69B635140E606E/65A81072C0272B1FFA02DE51/en_US/7e533dd610c1baa3ac4933072bf5e3f5.png)
Make your desktop your own
Choose the look you want for your wallpaper—from a simple color background to a favorite photo. When you choose aerials, the wallpaper also becomes your screen saver.
![Control Center in the top-right corner of the Mac screen, showing controls for Wi-Fi, Focus, and Stage Manager, among others.](https://help.apple.com/assets/65A8106E7C69B635140E606E/65A81072C0272B1FFA02DE51/en_US/1ccbe4ebfe4a7eec51b7e2ca73d36b05.png)
Quickly change settings
Control Center gives you instant access to the controls you use the most, like Wi-Fi, sound volume, and display brightness. Just click the Control Center icon in the menu bar.
![Icons of apps included with macOS.](https://help.apple.com/assets/65A8106E7C69B635140E606E/65A81072C0272B1FFA02DE51/en_US/7b9e05122ddce1856d5a1bb4136c4ab4.png)
Find and open apps
Your Mac comes with dozens of popular apps already built in. To easily see and open these apps, click the Launchpad icon in the Dock.
![A Mac desktop with the Spotlight window open. The search results show details about a music artist and several of their albums.](https://help.apple.com/assets/65A8106E7C69B635140E606E/65A81072C0272B1FFA02DE51/en_US/f36dc4febf315719741d637c91bf122f.png)
Find anything with Spotlight
Search with Spotlight to quickly find apps, documents, images, and more on your Mac. From the search results, you can link to more info on the web. You can also use Spotlight to do quick conversions or calculations.
Want to learn more? If you just migrated from a PC to a Mac, see Switched from Windows to Mac?