APPLE CERTIFICATION COMPREHENSIVE EXAM 2026/2027
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔What are the five ways you can eject a volume or disk from the Finder? - ✔✔Drag
the disk icon to the Trash in the Dock.
In the Finder sidebar, click the small Eject button next to the volume you want to eject.
Select the volume you want to eject and then choose File > Eject.
Select the volume you want to eject and then use the Command-E keyboard shortcut.
Select the volume you want to eject and Control-click to reveal a pop-up menu. Select
Eject.
✔✔Which two built-in macOS High Sierra apps can you use to gather information about
storage devices? - ✔✔Disk Utility and System Information can both be used to gather
information about storage devices.
✔✔What does the Disk Utility First Aid feature do? - ✔✔Use the Disk Utility First Aid
feature to verify and repair the partition scheme and directory structure of a volume.
These elements contain the information used to locate files and folders on the volume.
✔✔How does FileVault protect user data? - ✔✔FileVault uses full-disk encryption to
help prevent unauthorized access to the information on your startup disk.
✔✔How can you turn on FileVault if you didn't turn it on when you were prompted by
Setup Assistant? - ✔✔You can turn on FileVault at any time from Security & Privacy
preferences.
✔✔What are the two ways you can save the FileVault recovery key when you enable
FileVault in Security & Privacy preferences? - ✔✔You can use your Apple ID to unlock
the FileVault volume and reset your password.
Record the key that FileVault randomly generates.
✔✔How do you identify the ownership and permissions of a file or folder in the Finder? -
✔✔You can use the Finder Info window to identify an item's ownership and permissions.
✔✔How do ACLs differ from standard UNIX file system permissions? - ✔✔Access
control lists (ACLs) expand the standard UNIX permissions architecture to allow more
file and folder access control, similar to what's available on Windows-based NTFS and
UNIX file systems
,✔✔Why is the root (or beginning) level of a user's home folder visible to other users? -
✔✔The root level of a user's home folder is visible to other users so they can navigate
to the Public shared folder.
✔✔How does the default organization of the file system allow users to safely share local
files and folders? - ✔✔Every home folder contains a Public folder that other users can
read and a Drop Box folder that other users can write to. All other subfolders in a user's
home folder (except the optional Sites folder) have default permissions that don't allow
access by other users. The Shared folder is also set for all users to share items.
✔✔What's unique about the permissions of the /Users/Shared folder? - ✔✔The Shared
folder is set up to allow all users to read and write files, but only the user who owns an
item can delete it from the Shared folder. The "sticky bit" permissions setting prevents
other users from deleting items that they don't own.
✔✔Why does the Finder hide certain folders at the root of the system volume? - ✔✔The
Finder hides traditional UNIX resources from average users because they don't need
access to those items. If users do need access to UNIX items, they can use Terminal.
✔✔What two methods are used to hide items from the Finder? - ✔✔Adding a period to
the beginning of a filename.
Enabling the hidden file flag.
✔✔What does macOS High Sierra use bundles and packages for? - ✔✔Bundles and
packages are used to combine complex items into individual folders. Packages have the
additional advantage of appearing as a single item in the Finder. This allows software
developers to combine resources into a single item and prevents users from seeing and
potentially damaging those resources by deleting or moving files.
✔✔How does an alias differ from a symbolic link? - ✔✔Both aliases and symbolic links
act as a shortcut to an original item. However, an alias contains additional information
that allows the system to keep track of the original item if it's renamed or moved within
the same volume. In contrast, any change to an original item breaks a symbolic link.
✔✔Why would you use an archive file instead of a disk image? Why would you use a
disk image instead of an archive file? - ✔✔Archive files are much simpler to create in
the Finder and are compatible with third-party operating systems. Disk images are more
difficult to create and manage but offer greater flexibility, primarily because they can be
easily modified and converted. However, macOS High Sierra disk images aren't
compatible with third-party operating systems.
✔✔What type of file does the Finder create when you select the Archive option? -
✔✔The Archive option in the Finder creates compressed zip archive files.
, ✔✔What action on macOS High Sierra is set as the default for opening zip archive
files? - ✔✔By default on macOS High Sierra, double-clicking a zip archive causes the
system to expand the contents of the zip archive next to the same location as the
original zip archive.
✔✔What are the four default top-level folders visible in the Finder? - ✔✔Applications—
Apps that local users have access to.
Library—System resources that local users have access to.
System—System resources.
Users—Local user home folders.
✔✔What are six common system resources? What purpose does each resource serve?
- ✔✔Extensions—Attach themselves to the system kernel to provide hardware and
peripheral driver support.
Frameworks—Shared code libraries that provide additional software resources for apps
and system processes.
Fonts.
Preference files—App and system configuration information.
LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons—Used by launchd to provide services that
automatically start when needed at system startup or at user login.
Logs—Text files that contain error and progress entries from nearly any app or system
service.
✔✔What are the four system resource domains? What purpose does each domain
serve? - ✔✔User—Contains apps and system resources that are specific to each user
account.
Local—Contains apps and system resources that are available to users on a local Mac.
Network—Optional. Contains apps and system resources available to any Mac that has
an automated network share.
System—Contains apps and system resources that provide basic system functionality.
✔✔What purpose does the ~/Library/Containers folder serve? What items are in this
folder? - ✔✔The ~/Library/Containers folder contains resources for sandboxed apps.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔What are the five ways you can eject a volume or disk from the Finder? - ✔✔Drag
the disk icon to the Trash in the Dock.
In the Finder sidebar, click the small Eject button next to the volume you want to eject.
Select the volume you want to eject and then choose File > Eject.
Select the volume you want to eject and then use the Command-E keyboard shortcut.
Select the volume you want to eject and Control-click to reveal a pop-up menu. Select
Eject.
✔✔Which two built-in macOS High Sierra apps can you use to gather information about
storage devices? - ✔✔Disk Utility and System Information can both be used to gather
information about storage devices.
✔✔What does the Disk Utility First Aid feature do? - ✔✔Use the Disk Utility First Aid
feature to verify and repair the partition scheme and directory structure of a volume.
These elements contain the information used to locate files and folders on the volume.
✔✔How does FileVault protect user data? - ✔✔FileVault uses full-disk encryption to
help prevent unauthorized access to the information on your startup disk.
✔✔How can you turn on FileVault if you didn't turn it on when you were prompted by
Setup Assistant? - ✔✔You can turn on FileVault at any time from Security & Privacy
preferences.
✔✔What are the two ways you can save the FileVault recovery key when you enable
FileVault in Security & Privacy preferences? - ✔✔You can use your Apple ID to unlock
the FileVault volume and reset your password.
Record the key that FileVault randomly generates.
✔✔How do you identify the ownership and permissions of a file or folder in the Finder? -
✔✔You can use the Finder Info window to identify an item's ownership and permissions.
✔✔How do ACLs differ from standard UNIX file system permissions? - ✔✔Access
control lists (ACLs) expand the standard UNIX permissions architecture to allow more
file and folder access control, similar to what's available on Windows-based NTFS and
UNIX file systems
,✔✔Why is the root (or beginning) level of a user's home folder visible to other users? -
✔✔The root level of a user's home folder is visible to other users so they can navigate
to the Public shared folder.
✔✔How does the default organization of the file system allow users to safely share local
files and folders? - ✔✔Every home folder contains a Public folder that other users can
read and a Drop Box folder that other users can write to. All other subfolders in a user's
home folder (except the optional Sites folder) have default permissions that don't allow
access by other users. The Shared folder is also set for all users to share items.
✔✔What's unique about the permissions of the /Users/Shared folder? - ✔✔The Shared
folder is set up to allow all users to read and write files, but only the user who owns an
item can delete it from the Shared folder. The "sticky bit" permissions setting prevents
other users from deleting items that they don't own.
✔✔Why does the Finder hide certain folders at the root of the system volume? - ✔✔The
Finder hides traditional UNIX resources from average users because they don't need
access to those items. If users do need access to UNIX items, they can use Terminal.
✔✔What two methods are used to hide items from the Finder? - ✔✔Adding a period to
the beginning of a filename.
Enabling the hidden file flag.
✔✔What does macOS High Sierra use bundles and packages for? - ✔✔Bundles and
packages are used to combine complex items into individual folders. Packages have the
additional advantage of appearing as a single item in the Finder. This allows software
developers to combine resources into a single item and prevents users from seeing and
potentially damaging those resources by deleting or moving files.
✔✔How does an alias differ from a symbolic link? - ✔✔Both aliases and symbolic links
act as a shortcut to an original item. However, an alias contains additional information
that allows the system to keep track of the original item if it's renamed or moved within
the same volume. In contrast, any change to an original item breaks a symbolic link.
✔✔Why would you use an archive file instead of a disk image? Why would you use a
disk image instead of an archive file? - ✔✔Archive files are much simpler to create in
the Finder and are compatible with third-party operating systems. Disk images are more
difficult to create and manage but offer greater flexibility, primarily because they can be
easily modified and converted. However, macOS High Sierra disk images aren't
compatible with third-party operating systems.
✔✔What type of file does the Finder create when you select the Archive option? -
✔✔The Archive option in the Finder creates compressed zip archive files.
, ✔✔What action on macOS High Sierra is set as the default for opening zip archive
files? - ✔✔By default on macOS High Sierra, double-clicking a zip archive causes the
system to expand the contents of the zip archive next to the same location as the
original zip archive.
✔✔What are the four default top-level folders visible in the Finder? - ✔✔Applications—
Apps that local users have access to.
Library—System resources that local users have access to.
System—System resources.
Users—Local user home folders.
✔✔What are six common system resources? What purpose does each resource serve?
- ✔✔Extensions—Attach themselves to the system kernel to provide hardware and
peripheral driver support.
Frameworks—Shared code libraries that provide additional software resources for apps
and system processes.
Fonts.
Preference files—App and system configuration information.
LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons—Used by launchd to provide services that
automatically start when needed at system startup or at user login.
Logs—Text files that contain error and progress entries from nearly any app or system
service.
✔✔What are the four system resource domains? What purpose does each domain
serve? - ✔✔User—Contains apps and system resources that are specific to each user
account.
Local—Contains apps and system resources that are available to users on a local Mac.
Network—Optional. Contains apps and system resources available to any Mac that has
an automated network share.
System—Contains apps and system resources that provide basic system functionality.
✔✔What purpose does the ~/Library/Containers folder serve? What items are in this
folder? - ✔✔The ~/Library/Containers folder contains resources for sandboxed apps.
