OS X Mavericks: The Missing Manual

Disks In, Disks Out

When you insert a disk, its icon may show up in any of three places (depending on your Finder preferences): on the right side of the desktop (Figure 12-1), in the Computer window, and in the Sidebar (Disk icons on the desktop). To see what’s on a disk you’ve inserted, double-click its icon.

Note

You can make the Mac work like Windows, if you choose. For example, to open a single window containing the icons of all currently inserted disks, choose Go→Computer (which produces the rough equivalent of the Computer window).

To complete the illusion that you’re running Windows, you can even tell OS X not to put disk icons on the desktop at all. Just choose Finder→Preferences, click General, and turn off the four top checkboxes—“Hard disks,” “External disks,” “CDs, DVDs, and iPods,” and “Connected servers.” They’ll no longer appear on the desktop—only in your Computer window. (You can stop them from appearing in the Sidebar, too, by clicking the Sidebar button in the Finder preferences and turning off the same checkboxes.)

To remove a disk from your Mac, use one of these methods:

• Hold down the key on your keyboard. It’s usually in the upper-right corner. Hold it down for a moment to make a CD or DVD pop out. (If you don’t have an key, hold down F12 instead.)

• Drag its icon onto ...