Use the Special menu

Volumes let you browse disks, open items, preview documents, and view information about files. You can choose what types of volumes (hard disks, external disks, removable media, connected servers, inactive disks) appear in the menu and, if you have multiple internal startup disks, decide whether hiding or showing APFS data volumes.

Volumes also allow you to eject disks, partitions, or servers and mount ejected disks.

Important: To browse external disks, removable media, and connected servers, make sure that Application Wizard can access them. On macOS 13 or later, open System Settings, click Privacy & Security in the sidebar, click “Files and Folders”, locate Application Wizard in the list, and make sure the Removable Volumes and Network Volumes switches are on. On macOS 12 or 11, open System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click Privacy, select “Files and Folders” in the list on the left, locate Application Wizard in the list on the right, and select the checkboxes next to Removable Volumes and Network Volumes.

Eject and mount disks

These submenus let you quickly access the items in your home folder and in the Documents, Desktop, or Downloads folder. By holding down the Option key while displaying the Home submenu, you can open or browse the Library folder in your home folder.

Important: To browse the Documents, Desktop, and Downloads folder, make sure that Application Wizard can access them. On macOS 13 or later, open System Settings, click Privacy & Security in the sidebar, click “Files and Folders”, locate Application Wizard in the list, and make sure the Documents Folder, Desktop Folder, and Downloads Folder switches are on. On macOS 12 or 11, open System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click Privacy, select “Files and Folders” in the list on the left, locate Application Wizard in the list on the right, and select the checkboxes next to Documents Folder, Desktop Folder, and Downloads Folder.

This submenu lets you access the items in the Library folder in your home folder. The Library folder contains files used by macOS and your applications, including your preferences, and is hidden.

This submenu lets you quickly access the folders you have recently opened or browsed using the Special menu and the folders you have recently opened using the Finder.

The Finder recent folders are listed alphabetically, while the Application Wizard recent folders are listed from the most recent one to the oldest one.

To change the number of the Application Wizard recent folders, use the Number of Application Wizard Folders/Number of Folders submenu at the bottom of the Recent Folders submenu.

To clear the Application Wizard recent folders, choose Clear Menu from the Number of Application Wizard Folders/Number of Folders submenu.

To hide the Finder recent folders, choose Hide Finder Folders from the Recent Folders submenu.

This submenu lets you open documents that you have used recently.

By default, recent documents are sorted alphabetically. To list them from the most recent one to the oldest one, choose Sort Chronologically from the submenu. To change the number of recent documents, use the Number of Documents submenu at the bottom of the Recent Documents submenu.

To clear the Recent Documents submenu, choose Clear Menu from the Number of Documents submenu. Clearing the Recent Documents submenu also deletes documents from the Recent Items submenu in the Apple menu.

This submenu lets you connect to servers that you have used recently.

By default, recent servers are sorted alphabetically. To list them from the most recent one to the oldest one, choose Sort Chronologically from the submenu. To change the number of recent documents, use the Number of Servers submenu at the bottom of the Recent Servers submenu.

To clear the Recent Servers submenu, choose Clear Menu from the Number of Servers submenu. Clearing the Recent Servers submenu also deletes servers from the Recent Items submenu in the Apple menu.

The Contacts submenu allows you to look up contact information, create email messages, view social network profiles, invite contacts to a chat, copy mailing labels, map addresses, and create vCards.

Important: To view contacts, make sure that Application Wizard can access them. On macOS 13 or later, open System Settings, click Privacy & Security in the sidebar, click Contacts, and make sure the Application Wizard switch is on. On macOS 12 or 11, open System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click Privacy, select Contacts, and select the checkbox next to Application Wizard.

Access your contacts

You can add frequently used folders, smart folders, and files to the Special menu, so that you can quickly access them.

This submenu lets you check system memory usage.

You can view physical memory allocation, swap used, and virtual memory statistics and open Activity Monitor to learn more about the processes running on your computer and their memory usage.

This submenu lets you view the time elapsed since you last restarted your computer.

These commands let you quit, launch, and quit and automatically relaunch the Finder.

To force the Finder to quit, hold down the Option key while displaying the Special menu.

This command lets you quit and automatically relaunch the Dock application.

To force the Dock to quit and relaunch it, hold down the Option key while displaying the Special menu.

This command lets you lock your screen while you are away from your computer, keeping your applications and documents open.

This command lets you put your computer to sleep.

These commands let you restart or shut down your computer, and log out of your account immediately, without displaying a confirmation message.

Note: Windows will be restored or not when you log back in depending on whether the “Reopen windows when logging back in” checkbox was selected or deselected when the confirmation message was last displayed. To show the confirmation message, hold down the Option key while choosing Restart, Shut Down, or Log Out.