Mac: Here’s a silly shortcut that will come in handy some day. In some apps, ⌘-. does the same thing as the escape key. So if that key is broken, or your stupid Touch Bar is hiding your stupid virtual escape key, or your hands can’t reach the corner of your keyboard, or you just like the ergonomics better, then go for it.

The Lifehacker staff sifts through a ton of apps on a regular basis, but a few have stuck with us over the years. Some apps are simply nice to have, while others have become essential in our daily lives. From dealing with irate dragons to counting our mindfulness minutes, each app on this list has a special place in our hearts (and our homescreens). Best of all, they're completely free to download!

Mac: When you’re jamming to some background music while browsing the web, getting work done, or chatting with friends, a song might pop up on one of your playlists that you absolutely love. The more this happens throughout the day, the more distracted and disjointed your work is going to feel — and you’ll never be able to focus on studying, making money, or your MMO raid if you’re constantly jumping back to iTunes or Spotify to see what’s playing.

Most audio receivers worth their salt come with a tiny microphone that you can use to automatically calibrate your speakers to your room’s specific setup. Easy.

Every week at Lifehacker, we highlight the best new apps and browser extensions that can do something awesome for your devices (or life). If you took an Internet-free sabbatical or went on vacation for a week, you probably missed some gems.

Windows, Mac: You probably have a few websites that you use all the time — perhaps a special CMS you need for work, a time-tracking site you use to track and bill hours for clients, or a web game you just can’t get enough of. If you’re tired of pulling up your browser each time you need to access it, you have an alternative: Transform it into an app.

Mac: Even though you probably shouldn’t install a public beta of an operating system on your primary device — your laptop, in this case — go ahead. Give macOS Mojave a try. There are plenty of fun features you can play with, including the operating system’s new dark mode (close to the top of my list).

Some Sonos speakers are finally getting support for Apple's latest wireless streaming technology, AirPlay 2. Whether you're want to blast your favourite Netflix movies or rock out around your house, this update lets you connect your speakers to your iOS devices. Here's how to get started.

I don't know about you, but I'm still on the fence about Apple's Touch Bar. The most use I get out of it is accidentally tapping the virtual "back" button in my browser when trying to press a number key. That and I mainly use the Touch Bar to adjust my MacBook's brightness and volume. (Perhaps I need to configure more useful keys.)

In a perfect world, we’d all have a feature-packed, free PDF editor that can do everything you might need whenever you’re given an important document to fiddle with.

macOS Mojave is in public beta now and it has a lot of cool features that might not totally change the way you use your Mac, but will speed up parts of your workflow, help keep your files organised and make you smile with customisable touches.

It's a pretty specific issue, but an annoying one. If you're playing around with the latest public beta for Apple's macOS Mojave — as of when we wrote this article — and you're a big fan of Chrome, you might have wondered where your checkboxes and (some) website buttons have gone.

If you own a phone or a computer (and we're assuming you do) there are bugs and annoyances that you just have to learn to live with. On the flip side, there are also problems that hint at something much more serious going on with your device-issues you shouldn't learn to live with, but should address at the earliest opportunity.

If you want to have a Mac that's as free from garbage and stray files as you can get, I recommend giving CleanApp a try. The app runs a background process that keeps track of everything an app dumps on your system when you're installing it. When it's time to remove said app, this ensures that CleanApp takes everything off your system that shouldn't be there.

macOS: We love Bartender, the $21 app that lets you hide menu bar items of your choice. But there's a simpler, cheaper app that does the same thing. Vanilla hides your menu bar items for just $7. And you can try it for free.

Windows: Even if you're the world's biggest Microsoft fan, you have to admit that Apple's "Quick Look" feature for macOS is pretty convenient.

If you're such a purist that you haven't even touched a Mac in the last decade or so, here's a brief introduction: You click on a file. You press the space bar. A preview of the item pops up - such as a photograph, the contents of a PDF, and so on.

It's a great way to take, well, a quick peek at something without wasting time loading an actual app.

About four months ago, the left Shift button on my MacBook randomly stopped working. I use my computer for work and couldn't really afford to be without it, so now I've developed some right pinkie muscles I didn't know I ever had, and trained myself to use the Shift button on the right side of my keyboard instead.

Windows/Mac: I casually mentioned the existence of Emojicopy the other day in one of our secret Lifehacker chat rooms, and I was surprised to find that nobody else had ever heard of this site. Which then got me thinking: How do most people hunt down emoji to drop into messages, blog posts and other important documents?

Mac: GarageBand, Apple's free virtual music studio, recently updated its Mac version to include free lessons from your favourite singers, songwriters and rocking-outers. With these Artist Lessons, as Apple calls them, you'll be able to learn a new instrument from some of the best around — including piano legend Ben Folds, actual legend John Legend and other popular bands (like Death Cab for Cutie).