The next part of your Mac that could probably do with a clean is the screen. Before you start, turn off your Mac and unplug it. Grab a microfibre cloth (like the one we mention above) to give the. How to Clean My Mac Type the following into the terminal window: Choose the My Computer icon from the Control Panel and then select Computer from the next screen. Once there, highlight the target drive from the left pane and then choose Empty Trash from the empty trash can to the right of the target drive.
Just like any day-to-day item, your Mac needs a good cleaning once in a while. Getting rid of all the unnecessary files will help your Mac return to its factory excellence and speed up to match your needs. However, you might find yourself clueless as to where to start your Mac clean up: what can be deleted and what should be left on drive? Don't worry. You might be a little bit lost right now but, as usual, we have some bulletproof tips and tools to help you clean your Mac and speed it up.
4 steps to Mac cleanup
The good news is that in four (or even less) steps you can get a cleaner Mac and boost your Mac's performance.
If your Mac is out of storage space or starts running slow, you're up for a cleaning game. And you don't have to do it alone. We've prepared the smartest memory-boosting hacks and practices to speed of your Mac safely. Time for an easy Mac cleanup!
Clean up your Mac's Desktop
This might seem like an obvious step to take, but you'd be surprised how many Mac users believe the Desktop is the perfect place to store files and docs, handy and always on tap. However, that's a rookie mistake. Fortunately, you can fix it. That's why you should clean your Mac starting from the Desktop before you go any deeper. Be honest, can you even see your desktop background clearly now or is it obscured because of the icon-riddled mess?
The fact is, that the Finder treats any folder or file on your desktop as a window. A couple of items on the desktop cause no problem, but if the clutter persists, your Finder will soon slow down and get on your nerves. So better sort it all out to separate folders and let us quickly take you to number two.
Free up your Mac's hard drive
When it comes to storage, there are items you know about (like your photos and videos) and many hidden entities (like cache files, logs, and app junk). These deep-seated junk files may start off small, but over time they will begin to weigh your Mac down.
Tip: According to one test conducted by MacWorld, nearly full hard drives perform 17.5% slower than the cleaner ones. That's why it's so important to refresh your hard drive every now and then. Your system will convert the newly-released free space into virtual memory to ensure your apps are running smoothly. Otherwise, if you're low on space, your Mac will slow down.
One folder you should regularly clean up for a faster Mac is the Downloads folder. This is where junk piles up little by little, resulting in a total mess. For a complete Mac clean up, make sure to also ditch any unnecessary widgets or apps. Wait, but you think you might need them one day? Truth is, if you haven't used them so far, you won't use them in the future. So gather all your courage and hit Delete.
If your Mac is still running slow, then it could be due to old hardware. A new SSD or more RAM is the easiest way to boost your hardware performance without having to spend too much.
How do I know what to delete?
What's really annoying is that some massive folders on your Mac remain invisible. Each app or website visit leaves behind its own archive of data, which keeps growing over time. To hack this, you can use CleanMyMac X app by MacPaw. It uncovers large redundant files you can delete. And this application is notarized by Apple.
You can delete:
broken downloads
remains of old apps
outdated cache
It found 5.81 GB on our computer, but it may detect even more on your Mac.
Download Free VersionTake control of startup and login items
When your Mac boots up, the macOS will launch various startup items. Some you do need, but nearly half of them can be safely switched off. Otherwise, they'll sit in the background using up your system resources and slowing your Mac down.
To remove startup and login items manually, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups and click on your username. Next up, click on 'Login Items' and select all the apps you don't need running at startup. Then click the '-' button below and you're done. By disabling the startup programs, you'll have a speedier Mac next time you boot up.
Repair disk permissions
Disk permissions act like doorkeepers preventing third-party apps from meddling with your system. But disk permissions can get broken, which limits your Mac ability to find the right files.
If you're on El Capitan or older OS X versions, you can repair disk permissions using the following command in the Terminal window:
sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --verify --standard-pkgs /
To remove startup and login items manually, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups and click on your username. Next up, click on 'Login Items' and select all the apps you don't need running at startup. Then click the '-' button below and you're done. By disabling the startup programs, you'll have a speedier Mac next time you boot up.
Repair disk permissions
Disk permissions act like doorkeepers preventing third-party apps from meddling with your system. But disk permissions can get broken, which limits your Mac ability to find the right files.
If you're on El Capitan or older OS X versions, you can repair disk permissions using the following command in the Terminal window:
sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --verify --standard-pkgs /
It will now check the validity of your disk permissions. If you get anything saying 'permissions differ', then you can fix it with this command:
sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs -- volume /
If you are a mere mortal, uneasy with using Terminal, a Mac cleaning utility like CleanMyMac X, can do a better, risk-free job. A single click in Maintenance > Repair Disk Permissions solves it without fuss. With your disk permissions fixed and verified you can enjoy a smoother overall Mac experience.
The free version of this tool is available for download here.
Once you've finished to clean up your Mac, make sure to reboot your machine for a fresh start.
Delete System Junk and browser cache
System Junk can account for significant amount of disk space. It's a broad term that describes temporary files created by your OS itself and all your apps. Since we mostly use our Macs to go online, the internet-related junk takes up the most space.
How to clean up your browser cache:
For Safari, click Develop in the top menu
Then, click Empty caches
For Chrome, click the 'hamburger' icon in the top right corner
Then click More tools > Clear browsing data
Find hidden files on your drive
You probably know that a lot of files are purposely made invisible on your Mac. Not necessarily with bad intentions. Such files could be crucial system components and thus protected from accidental deletion. Quite often, however, you'll encounter remains of old apps, invisible adware, and extensions.
There is a shortcut key combination to reveal the unseen files.
Go to your Documents, or any other directory
How to design 3d models for printing. Click Shift +Command + Period key
Do you see any grayed out files? Check what these files are and delete them if they look suspicious.
Remove old backups (and Time Machine backups)
There are several layers of backups built in your macOS. Local Time Machine snapshots, iOS, and iCloud backups, etc. If we're talking about a clean Mac, that's free from old baggage, you should look into removing them too.
Here is how to remove local Time Machine backups (a.k.a snapshots)
How do you login in minecraft pe. Click Launchpad and type in Time Machine
Your backups will be broken by locations, like Desktop. You can use arrows to the right to navigate between past states of that location.
Now, click on the gear icon in the menu above.
Select 'Delete All Backups' in the menu.
Delete the iCloud backups stored on your Mac
Open System Preferences > iCloud.
Click Manage.. at the bottom the pane.
Look through the list of iCloud backups in the sidebar.
iCloud photos will probably occupy the most space. If you're ready to say goodbye to them, click Delete.Build the map of your storage
Any computer is ultimately a tree of folders. What if you could draw the map of all folders you have on your Mac and see how large these folders are?
Apparently, there is an ultra simple way to do it. Some applications like Daisy Disk or CleanMyMac will build such 'folder tree' for you and it's really fascinating to look at.
For example, this is the Space Lens tool from CleanMyMac X:
Download Free VersionThe blue bubbles stand represent my folders big and small. You can dive into each folder exploring your drive in a completely new way, much more informative than using the Finder. You can find your long lost folders and locate your biggest space wasters.
To use this tool, download the app (see the button above)
Click the Space Lens tab in the sidebar
Clean your Mac the smart way, all the way
If you've been following the steps above (and read some extra tips), you are fully equipped to clean up your Mac. Because you don't need to be a bearded IT guy to do it. Let alone spend extra cash to improve your Mac's performance. Simply cleaning your system as steps above suggest or using a dedicated app like CleanMyMac will help you out. By the way. CleanMyMac is free to download, so give it a try. And see your Mac's capabilities now, when it it's not weighed down by junk.
Junk files, system cache, user cache, duplicates, trash bin, etc. can occupy massive amounts of storage space on the hard disk. Cleaning these files manually from Mac can be cumbersome and time-consuming.
So, here's a tip: Try Disk Clean Pro and get rid of junk files, system cache, old downloads, large & unused files, duplicates, and much more from your Mac. This quick, easy, simple, yet effective cleaning tool will declutter your Mac in no time, thus helping recover a huge amount of storage space.
Do you miss using that faster and optimized Mac? Well, with time, as Mac gets cluttered, the performance decreases. Hence, to get as much benefit as possible out of your Apple system, Mac's regular cleaning is required.
Without any further delay in this article, we will learn how to clean up iMac, enhancing its speed and response time.
Short on Time?
Here are the quickest and automatic ways to cleanup Mac
If you don't like spending time cleaning your Mac manually, use the best Mac cleanup tool Disk Clean Pro. This cleanup utility helps find and remove all clutter from your Mac. It knows how to find junk files on Mac. Disk Clean Pro finishes the tedious and time-consuming task of cleaning Mac in under 5-10 minutes (depending on the disk). It even helps clean duplicates that are hard to detect and gives you enough free storage space to save important data.
How to Clean Out Mac and Free Up Storage Using Disk Clean Pro
1. Download, install and launch Disk Clean Pro
2. Click Start System System Scan
3. Wait for the scan to finish.
4. Once done, click Clean Now to get rid of all unwanted data, including junk files, system cache, user cache, etc.
Now try using your Mac; you will indeed feel a difference in performance
Manual Ways to Clean up MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac
The foremost way to clean a Mac is to clean it from the inside. Indeed, this will be time-consuming, but it's worth it!
1. Update macOS and other installed Software
To optimize and cleanup Mac you first need to update your software. For this, install any security patches, application updates, and other released bug fixes. Also, we recommend accepting updates from Apple. This helps keep security vulnerabilities in check and receive new features. Nonetheless, software updates help streamline applications and make them more efficient.
To view and install available OS updates, click the Apple icon > About This Mac > Overview tab > hit Software Update.
2. Cleanup Desktop
This might sound too easy and an obvious step, but you will be surprised to see how messed up it is when you look at your desktop. Fortunately, it can be fixed. To fix this problem, you'll need to manually remove all unnecessary items from the desktop and sort things. This will help get a clear desktop and optimizer Finder, thereby boost the search time.
Note: Finder treats a folder or file on desktop as a window; due to this, it slows down. So, sorting the desktop is a good idea to optimize Finder.
3. Follow 15% Rule
Wondering why your Mac is slow? Hear this, the less the free hard disk space, the slower the performance. This means your hard drive becomes full; it slows down Mac and even freezes it. Due to this, you see frequent beach ball, experience Mac running slow, Mac overheating, Mac booting up slow, and other problems. Therefore, to enhance performance and keep it that way, try to keep at least 15% of free space on your system hard drive. The more free space, the better and faster the performance is.
4. Clean up Cache
When the browser slows down, to boost its speed, cleaning up the cache is recommended. Since cache files store information about the files & apps accessed, they reduce the time to get original information from the source. But over time, these files take unnecessary space and slow the Mac. Therefore, give your system a boost and clean up Mac from cache files. We recommend using Disk Clean Pro. However, if you want to do it yourself, you can check our comprehensive guide on How to Clear Cache on Mac.
This will help clean Cache and smooth things up.
5. Find and Remove Duplicates
Everyone knows Duplicates consume unnecessary space but finding and removing them from Mac isn't easy. In such a case using the best duplicate finder helps, as using it, can quickly detect and clean duplicates. The fastest way is to use the Duplicate Finder offered by Disk Clean Pro.
1. Download and launch Disk Clean Pro
2. Click Duplicate Finder from the left pane and run the scan
3. Once done, review all items by clicking the arrow and unhiding files.
4. To remove duplicates, select them and click Clean Now.
That's it; you will now have a duplicate free Mac.
Note: Duplicate Finder detects all types of duplicates; this means be it music, audio, video, documents, or archives, it will detect and show all.
6. Uninstall Unwanted Apps
Of course, applications installed on Mac take up space, and over time, when your Mac is full of different apps, it slows down. Therefore, it's necessary to clean up the iMac. To do so, head to the Applications folder, look for the apps you don't use, right-click > Move to Bin; this will remove all unwanted apps from Mac.
Remember, doing so will not uninstall the app entirely because app leftovers could still be found sitting on your Mac. If you want to do proper cleaning of your Mac, you need to uninstall apps completely. To learn how to do that, you can check our guide on uninstalling apps on Mac. In addition to this, you can also check the post on the best Mac Uninstaller software.
Decrease the number of login items as more the number; more is memory consumption.
To do so, follow the steps below:
- Open System Preferences
- Head to Users & Groups > select the user name from the left pane
- Click Login Items tab > check the box next to the startup item you want to disable > click the – sign.
This will remove unwanted login items from booting at startup.
7. Empty Trash
Even though several apps are deleted, but still, no space is recovered? It's because deleted apps reside in your Trash bin. To free up storage space and clean up Mac, MacBook Pro, iMac completely, you will have to empty the bin. Here's how to clean the Trash Bin on Mac, iMac.
1. Download and launch Disk Clean Pro
2. Click Misc Cleaning present in the left pane
3. Now click Trash Cleaner > Start Scan
4. Wait for the scan to finish
5. Once done, it will show all deleted items present in Bin, select, and delete them.
That's all. Disk Clean Pro has emptied the trash and helped clean up Mac.
8. Decrease Clutter
Apple knows overtime Mac gets cluttered; hence it has already provided a solution. Here's how to declutter Mac:
- Click the Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage.
- Here you will be able to see used and free space.
- Click Manage and follow the recommendations.
This will help clean up Mac and reclaim storage space. In addition to this, we suggest reading our article on how to clean purgeable data on Mac.
9. Delete old and unused files
More the free space, the faster is your Mac. If you are a video editor, photographer, or do some designing work, you need more space than usual. The manual way to clear storage space is to look for large files one by one and delete them. However, if you want to do this work without wasting time and accuracy, use Disk Clean Pro for this job.
How to Clean Up Mac with Disk Clean Pro
1. Download and install Disk Clean Pro
2. Open the program
3. Click Old & Unused Files > click the Scan button
4. Wait for the scan to finish > review the results and click Clean Now.
That's it. Your Mac will now be free from old and unused files.
10. Delete old iTunes Backup
Keeping data backup is very good, but when this backup gets outdated, it overloads your Mac unnecessarily. That's why removing old iTunes backups that you no longer need is recommended. This will help free up gigabytes of space and clean up Mac, iMac, and MacBook.
The easiest way to delete old backups is to use Disk Clean Pro. Using this one-click optimization tool in simple 2-3 clicks, you can do a thorough cleaning of Mac. To use it, follow the steps below:
1. Download and install Disk Clean Pro.
2. Open the application
3. Click Misc Cleaning from the left pane > iTunes Device Backup > Start Scan
4. Select the old backup you no longer need and click Clean Now; confirm the action, and you are all done.
That's all old backups that you decided you no longer need are gone forever from Mac.
11. Clean Unwanted Language Files
Mac applications can be used in almost every language; therefore, they come with different language files. Cool, isn't it? But do you use all languages? When was the last time you used an application in Bengali or Hindi? Since you don't speak all languages, having these language files is a waste of storage space. Therefore, to clean up Mac and declutter it, removing unused files is recommended. To delete these files, head to Finder > Applications > select the app for which you want to remove unwanted language file > Show Package Content.
Open Resources folder > look for folders ending with.Iproj. Look for the language file you wish to remove, select it > right-click > Move to Bin. This way, you can get rid of language files. However, if you are looking for an easy way to remove a language file, read our post on removing unused language files.
12. Delete old Disk Images
To clean up unwanted or old disk images that take unnecessary space, follow the steps below:
- Open Finder and type disk image in the search bar
- Select the files with .dmg extension > Right click > Move to Bin
- After this, empty trash.
- This will clean all DMG files from Mac.
13. Clean old downloads folder
If you don't clean the Download folder from time to time, it can take a toll on your Mac. Hence, it's necessary to clean up old downloads. The best way to do that is to use the Old Downloads module offered by Disk Clean Pro. To use it, follow the steps below:
1. Install and launch Disk Clean Pro
2. Click Old Downloads > Start Scan
3. Once the scan is finished, you can review detected items and see the space they occupy.
4. Select and click Clean Now.
That's it; you have done an excellent cleaning job for your Mac and have recovered storage space.
How To Clean Up My Imac Startup Disk
14. Get rid of resource-hungry apps.
Some programs use more processor and memory resources than required.
To find which are those apps follow the steps below:
- Click Finder menu > Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor > Memory tab
- Here you will see resource hogging apps.
- Select and click the X button at the top left
- Now click the CPU tab, select the ones that take up memory, and quit.
15. Clear Mail Downloads
If you use the Mail application in macOS, there are chances that email attachments are taking up tons of space on the hard drive. So, it's time to get rid of mail downloads and free up space on Mac. To do so, follow the steps below:
1. Install and launch Disk Clean Pro
2. Click Misc Cleaning > Mail Downloads > Start Scan
3. Wait for the scan to finish and clean all the old downloads.
That's it. This helps clean Mac, iMac, Macbook and free up space on the hard disk.
Note: Cleaning downloaded mail attachments does not remove them from the mail. Whenever you need them can re-download them from the mail.
How To Clean Up My Imac
This is all using these simple steps you can easily clean up and optimize Mac. Alongside you can also recover storage space and can organize data. We hope you find the article informative and useful. If you are the DIY types can use the manual methods. However, if you like to save time and don't want to get into the complexities of cleaning Mac, use Disk Clean Pro.
This best Mac optimizer can be downloaded from AppStore and used on all macOS. Not only this, it is the #1 rated disk cleaning tool and comes for $10.99, which is nothing for the features it offers. So, give it a try today and share your thoughts about the article and Disk Clean Pro in the comments section.
Apple Clean Up Mac Computer
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