TMO Quick Tip - iCal: Scroll By Days in Week View

by , 7:30 AM EDT, May 30th, 2008

One of the pleasant little surprises tucked away in Apple's recent Mac OS X 10.5.3 update is a new iCal feature I've been wishing for since the scheduling app was released: The ability to scroll a day at a time in iCal's Week View. Changing the setting is quick and easy, and vastly improves the usability of iCal's Week View.

To change from scrolling by weeks to scrolling by days, do this:

• Launch iCal.
• Select iCal > Preferences.
• Click the General tab.
• Choose Days from the Scroll in week view by pop-up menu.

Scroll through weeks a day at a time in iCal.

Now you can scroll through your iCal calendars in single day increments instead of week increments in the Week View. That means if you want to look at your schedule from Thursday through Wednesday instead of Sunday through Saturday, you can.

It also means that you can easily view multi-day events that span from the end of one week to the beginning of the next week. Previously, you were limited to viewing only part of multi-week schedules.

iCal's scroll by day option for Week View is a great addition and one that I'm already using regularly. It's also a feature that should have been available when Apple first introduced iCal, and one that's been available in the antiquated Palm Desktop application pretty much forever.

Jeff Gamet is TMO's Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

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