I've been using macOS Tahoe 26 for a month – here are the 5 features you should try first

macOS Tahoe 26 is now out for everyone

Features By David Nield published 16 September 2025

macOS Tahoe 26 is on the way (Image credit: Apple / Future)

Having been announced in June and beta tested for several months, macOS Tahoe 26 is now being pushed out to millions of Mac users worldwide – and so if you have one of the many Macs that are compatible with the update, you should now be seeing prompts to install it.

I've been testing out the developer betas since they were first launched in June, so I can write from first-hand experience about the many new features, both in terms of the operating system overall and the individual Apple apps running on top of it.

There's also a complete visual overhaul of the interface, making use of the same Liquid Glass theme being introduced on all of Apple's software platforms, including iOS 26.

Once you've accepted the prompt to install macOS Tahoe 26 on your own machine, here's what to try first.

1. Spotlight has been given a huge upgrade

Spotlight has always been a useful way of launching apps and searching through the files on a Mac, but with macOS Tahoe 26, it gets what is probably the biggest upgrade in its history. There are now four sections to jump between via icons or keyboard shortcuts, covering apps, files, shortcuts, and the macOS clipboard.

Those first two options work in a similar way to how they have done previously, though there are more comprehensive browsing options (you're able to see apps sorted by category or name, for example). It's also really helpful to have access to the clipboard history, so you can quickly bring back something you copied recently – it means I've been using Spotlight much more regularly.

The really significant upgrade comes with shortcuts, though. Not only can you launch any existing shortcut, you're able to create new ones from right inside Spotlight, and even assign keyboard combinations to them: send messages, start timers, open playlists, and more. On top of that, there's added Apple Intelligence, so you can make calls to various AI features from within Spotlight too.

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