Tips & Tricks: OS X Daily: Hide System Preference Panels in Mac OS X

Monday 21 November 2011

OS X Daily: Hide System Preference Panels in Mac OS X

Hide System Preference Panels in Mac OS X

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 11:47 PM PST

Hide System Preferences Mac OS X

You can hide unwanted System Preferences from appearing in the control panel without actually removing them. This is a helpful distinction for setting up other user accounts or just for hiding System Prefs you never access and no longer need:

Open “System Preferences” from the  Apple menu and pull down the “View” menu, selecting “Customize”
Uncheck each preference panel you want hidden, then click “Done”

For Mac OS X Lion and iCloud users, this is a simple way to ditch the now unnecessary MobileMe preferences from cluttering the options.

Hiding unused System Preferences

For setting up a limited user account, hiding many of the panels and then sorting the remaining panes alphabetically can make the entire System Preferences app easier to use.

Block Caller ID on iPhone to Always Make “Blocked” Calls

Posted: 20 Nov 2011 01:41 PM PST

Always Make Blocked Calls from iPhone

The iPhone can be set to always hide the dialing phones number from the recipients caller ID’s. This works by initiating every phone call with the prefix *67 to force the number to appear as “Blocked” on the receiving caller ID. This is helpful for making anonymous phone calls, or if you just want to be sent to someones voicemail.

Launch “Settings” and tap on “Phone”
Tap on “Show My Caller ID”
Slide to “OFF”

You can also manually prefix a number with *67 when dialing to make a one-off call that is blocked from caller ID. Generally speaking nobody likes receiving “Blocked” calls, so if you want your phone calls to be answered it’s a good idea to leave the iPhone’s Caller ID enabled.