Stupid Simple Mac Tips #45 – Shining a Spotlight on Quick Math
During your day, you might find yourself having to do a quick calculation or convert currency –which can sometimes slow even the best mathematicians down.
Enter Spotlight, one of the most versatile tools on your Mac.
How Does Spotlight Become a Calculator?
Open Spotlight by clicking the magnifying glass icon at the top right of the menu bar. Or, if you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts,tap Command + Spacebar on your keyboard.
Enter your calculation into the search bar:maybe it is 32+4-32*(26+1)
Spotlight will evaluate the expression super quick with the correct order of operations, giving an answer of -828 in less than a second. And if it can do that in a split second, just imagine 89*3.
Easy peasy.
You can do any mathematical expressions with the / (division), + (add), –(subtract), and * (multiply) keys on your keyboard.
Bonus tip: Converting currency
Follow the same steps, but in this case, type the numbers with their adhering currency symbols.
For instance, type $100 or £100. The conversion rates in different currencies–with data drawn from Yahoo–will instantaneously populate in the search results.
That is a simple tip—but it is far from stupid.
