How to Inspect Element on Mac

How to Inspect Element on Mac

Inspect Element is a powerful tool that allows you to analyze and modify the HTML and CSS of a webpage. It is particularly useful for web developers and designers who want to understand how a website is structured or make real-time changes for testing purposes. In this tutorial, we will learn how to use Inspect Element on a Mac.

Step 1: Open Safari

If you are using a Mac, Safari is the default web browser. To open it, simply click on the Safari icon in your dock or go to your Applications folder and double-click on Safari.

Step 2: Navigate to the Webpage

Type the URL of the webpage you want to inspect in the address bar and hit Enter. Alternatively, you can search for the website using your preferred search engine and click on the search result.

Step 3: Open Inspect Element

To open Inspect Element, right-click anywhere on the webpage (or Control-click if you don’t have a right-click button) and select “Inspect Element” from the context menu. Alternatively, you can press Command + Option + I on your keyboard.

Note:

Make sure that you have Developer Tools enabled in your Safari settings. To do this, go to Safari > Preferences > Advanced and check the box next to “Show Develop menu in menu bar”.

Step 4: Explore Elements

The Inspect Element panel will appear at the bottom of your screen, showing various tabs such as Elements, Styles, Console, and more. Let’s start with the Elements tab.

The Elements Tab:

• HTML Structure: The Elements tab displays the HTML structure of the webpage. You can expand and collapse elements to see their child elements.
• Select Elements: Click on an element in the HTML structure to highlight it on the webpage.

  This is useful for identifying specific elements.

• Edit Elements: Double-click on an HTML element to edit its content directly in the Inspect Element panel. This is handy for making temporary changes or experimenting with different text or images.

The Styles Tab:

The Styles tab allows you to view and modify the CSS styles applied to each element. You can add, remove, or modify CSS properties to see how they affect the appearance of the webpage.

The Console Tab:

The Console tab is where you can execute JavaScript code and view any error messages or log statements generated by the webpage. This is particularly useful for debugging purposes.

Step 5: Make Changes

Once you have explored the Elements, Styles, and Console tabs, you can start making changes to the webpage. Remember that any changes you make are only temporary and will not affect the actual website.

Step 6: Exit Inspect Element

To exit Inspect Element, simply close the panel by clicking on the “X” button in the top-right corner or by pressing Command + Option + I again.

Note:

If you accidentally close Inspect Element without saving your changes, simply refresh the webpage to revert back to its original state.

Congratulations!

You have now learned how to use Inspect Element on a Mac using Safari. This powerful tool can greatly enhance your web development and design workflow by providing insights into the structure and styling of webpages. Happy inspecting!