Bored stiff with nothing around you except your Mac? You're in luck because there are plenty of things you can do on your Mac to stave off boredom. With apps like Automator and Grapher, you can spend quality time on your Mac entertaining and educating yourself simultaneously.

Below, we'll look at 10 things you can do on your Mac when you're bored. From decorating it to toying with the natively installed apps, we've covered it all. So, let's get started.

1. Clean Up and Reorganize

If you'd like to have fun and, at the same time, be productive, then deleting unnecessary data (files or apps) and organizing your Mac is a good idea.

Start by deleting unnecessary files and apps. To do this, go to Apple menu > About This Mac, head to the Storage tab, and click Manage. Then, remove the apps and files you don't need or use from the Applications, Documents, and Music sections on the left. Here, you can empty the Trash and automate future cleanup—this would save you the trouble of doing it manually from time to time.

Once cleaned, sort the remaining useful data into different folders. Do this across your desktop (create folders to categorize the files), Finder (tweaking folder tags and view options), and browser (deleting web history and managing bookmarks).

2. Decorate Your Mac

If internal cleanup and organization doesn't sound as fun, try decorating your Mac physically. You can add stickers, apply fancy skins, and put on snap-on cases. You can even try painting your MacBook, as the YouTuber Timmy Ham did.

By the way, decoration doesn't only extend to the chassis. You can also personalize your Mac's desktop to suit your personality and liking.

3. Explore the World With Google Earth and Maps

What's more enjoyable to a human than discovering the world? If you can't do it physically at the moment, try software. For example, Google Maps and Apple Maps can help you find new routes to go to work, look for fun places around your city, and even explore different countries in 3D and street view.

Another fun thing to do is to find out the true size of different countries. Since the Earth is round, flat maps are misleading (they stretch and squeeze different parts of the globe). But, by using websites like True Size, you can compare the actual size of countries with each other.

4. Talk to Siri

talking to Siri on Mac

Though Siri is not comparable to ChatGPT and cannot answer questions creatively, by asking questions like "Are you married?" and "Can you rap?" you can try to start a conversation.

In fact, there are a lot of funny things to ask Siri and test its limitations. Try to ask Siri random questions, too—sometimes, the answers are witty and funny.

5. Learn a New Skill

You can use your Mac to learn new skills, like editing photos and videos or trying your hand at graphic design. Investing spare time to improve yourself is the best way to spend it. If you get good enough at one thing, you can try freelancing to sell your skills online as a side hustle.

And if you don't have an internet connection, toy with native apps like Keynote to learn how to create stunning presentations. It's a skill almost all business owners require, so your freelance journey could be lucrative.

6. Record and Edit Videos

Recording a tutorial (even if you don't upload it) is fun. You can record and edit videos of stuff you know about, all using native apps like QuickTime and iMovie. Start by writing a script using the Pages app. Then, use the Photo Booth webcam recording or QuickTime screen recording to get the footage. And once the video is ready, use iMovie to edit it, add captions, and export it as a final product.

If you like the end result, you can even consider uploading it to YouTube. Creating a YouTube channel just because you were bored sounds like a good story.

7. Check Out the iWork Suite

If you've only been using Microsoft Office, you can try out Apple's iWork suite to eliminate boredom. To compete with Microsoft's Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Apple offers Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

Apple iWork suite home page

Though these apps are still improving, they can help with almost everything you might use the Office suite for. And since these are free to use (and updates are free as well), you may just want to cancel your Microsoft 365 subscription (if you have one).

8. Look Up Random Words in the Dictionary

One of the best (and my personal favorite) pastimes on a Mac is looking up different terms in the Dictionary app. It works even when you're offline and has an incredible amount of information saved up. And just like Wikipedia, you can hop from one search to another via linked terms.

Using macOS dictionary

So, if you want to read up about something, simply look it up and then start clicking on different terms you want to read more about.

9. Set Up Automations With Automator

Another app preinstalled on your Mac is Automator, which lets you automate repetitive tasks or actions you take on multiple files. If properly added to your workflow, it can help you save a lot of time and effort. A few examples of what Automator can help you do is:

  • Batch convert and resize images
  • Batch rename files and folders
  • Open a specific set of web pages
  • Merge multiple PDF files

10. Mess Around in Grapher

Grapher is ranked down here only because it requires some math know-how. Otherwise, it's hands down one of the most fun things you can do on your Mac without an internet connection.

To launch this app, press Cmd + Space for Spotlight Search, type in Grapher, and hit the Return key. Now, choose 2D or 3D graphs from the dialog and play around using different equations.

macOS Grapher app 3D graph

Software engineer Michael Gottlieb has listed some of the coolest equations you can try on his website, MZRG.

There's Always More to a Mac

Though not the most fun thing to do, cleaning up your Mac should always be a priority. It keeps your Mac's performance up to scratch and makes it feel nice and tidy. However, doing some creative DIY Mac decoration is never a bad idea. But if you don't want that, you can still enjoy Apple's Siri, Maps, and Grapher apps.

But this isn't all that you can do when you're bored. You can always watch YouTube videos, listen to podcasts, or start a new blog—or find things that don't necessarily involve your Mac.