Download and open a file

To download means to copy a file from the internet onto your Mac. You will download the Claude app, Apple's tools and more. Every download lands in the same place: the Downloads folder.

Where downloads go

• In the Dock, near the right end next to the Trash, is a stack or folder named Downloads. Click it to see recent downloads.
• In any Finder window, Downloads is in the sidebar.
• In Safari, a button with a circle and a down arrow appears at the top-right while something downloads, and stays there afterwards. Click it to see the list. The magnifying glass next to a file shows it in Finder. (Chrome shows a similar down-arrow button at the top-right.)

Practice: save a picture

A picture is the safest thing to download. It cannot run or change anything.

1. In Safari, go to support.apple.com/102646. It is Apple's page about screenshots, and it has pictures on it.
2. Control-click any picture on the page. A menu appears.
3. Click Save Image to "Downloads". (In Chrome: click Save Image As…, then click Save.)
4. Click Downloads in the Dock. The picture is there, a file whose name ends in .png or .jpg.
5. Double-click it. It opens in Preview, the Mac's picture viewer.
6. Quit Preview with Command + Q, then drag the picture to the Trash. The practice is over.

Kinds of files you will meet

• .png, .jpg and .pdf: pictures and documents. Double-click to view.
• .zip: a packed bundle. Double-click it. A folder or file with the same name appears next to it, unpacked. You can then delete the .zip.
• .dmg: how many Mac apps arrive. Double-click it. A small window opens, usually showing the app's icon and an arrow pointing at an Applications folder. Drag the icon onto that folder. Then close the window and click the eject symbol next to the .dmg name in the Finder sidebar.
• .pkg: an installer. Double-click it and click Continue through its pages. It may ask for your Mac password. This is the Mac's own installer asking, which is fine.

The first time you open a downloaded app

The Mac asks something like: "X is an app downloaded from the internet. Are you sure you want to open it?" Click Open if you got it from the official page this guide pointed you to. If instead it says Apple could not verify the app, stop. The guide will say so on the rare step where going past that message is right.