Mac, MacBook and iMacs are great devices and allow you to create, surf the web, and generally have a great computing experience. Macs of all types sadly accumulate unneeded data that slows down the machine in a variety of ways.
The good news is that by carrying out a little maintenance you can make your Mac run faster and maintain the experience value.
Here are some tips to make your Mac run that little bit better. For more information on Mac maintenance, you can follow this link for useful resources.
Start With the Desktop
Most people store files on their desktop. This makes sense given that the files are easy to find. Sadly, Finder treats any desktop file as a window and tries to open them slowing down your Mac. Simply storing the files in a different place and deleting them from your desktop will free up resources and help to keep your Mac in good order.
Prevent Unneeded Apps from Opening at Startup
When you switch on your Mac several apps may open automatically. Some of these are useful some are not. The ones that are not useful should be switched off from launching at startup. To do this go to:
- System Preferences and then Users & Groups
- Click on your username
- Click Login Items
- Select the apps you don’t need to start when you switch on your Mac
- Click the ‘-‘ button to switch them off.
Find and Delete Unneeded Hidden Files
Some of the files on your Mac are hidden by design. They are critical system apps that should never be looked at let alone modified or deleted. There are other hidden files that can be and should be deleted to keep your Mac running smoothly.
Hidden files can take the form of invisible adware and extensions, together with old apps that serve no purpose.
To reveal hidden files, go to
- Documents or any directory
- Click Shift+Command+Period
- Any greyed out files should be investigated and if unneeded or they look suspicious delete them
Remove Out of Date Backups
Backups on a Mac take three forms:
- iCloud backups
- iOS backups
- Time Machine snapshots
To remove local Time Machine backups click Launchpad and type ‘Time Machine’
In the window that launches you’ll see file locations on the left. This will say things like Pictures, Desktop etc.
- Select one and click the gear icon
- Select Delete All Backups in the menu
Deleting iCloud backups
Go to:
- System Preferences and select iCloud
- Click Manage
- Navigate using the left-hand pane and delete anything you don’t need or want from the space in the right.
Purge Your System Junk
System junk accumulates quickly over time and can slow down your system. The junk is actually temporary files that are created when you use your Mac. Although useful it isn’t useful forever and you should regularly delete it.
One of the biggest stores of this junk is your browser. Deleting this data is different for each browser but broadly you simply navigate to browsing data and empty the cache. On Safari you can find this command under the Develop menu.
You may want to check out the Apple support site for more information.
