How to clean up your Mac

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 cleanup: 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 fewer) 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 up 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 a 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 cleaner ones. In fact, it is recommended to keep at least 10% of Mac’s storage free to ensure that it runs well. 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 cleanup, make sure to also ditch any unnecessary widgets or apps. Wait, but do you think you might need them one day? The 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 by MacPaw. It uncovers large redundant files you can delete. And this application is notarized by Apple.

• Broken downloads

• Remains of old apps

• Outdated cache

It found 16.69 GB on our computer, but it may detect even more on your Mac. 

Download Free Version

Take 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 Settings > General. 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’s 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 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 cleaning up your Mac, make sure to reboot your machine for a fresh start.

Delete System Junk and browser cache

System Junk can account for a 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, internet-related junk takes up the most space.

How to clean up your browser cache:

• For Safari, go to Settings > Advanced > check Show Develop menu in menu bar.

• Now, click Develop in the top menu.

• Then, click Empty caches.

• For Chrome, click the ellipsis icon in the top right corner.

• Then click More tools > Clear browsing data.

• Check Cached images and files > Clear 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.

• 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 into 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)

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 ellipsis icon in the menu above.

Choose between “Delete Backup” and “Delete All Backups” in the menu.

Delete the iCloud backups stored on your Mac

Open System Settings >Apple ID > iCloud.

Click Manage... 

Look through the list of iCloud backups in the sidebar.

Choose what occupies the most space. If you’re ready to say goodbye to these files, click Delete.

Remove old files

When freeing up your hard drive, you most probably missed some old files. You may have thought that you would use them in the future. Maybe, you did not know what to delete.

Fortunately for you, there is an all-in-one app that may help out — CleanMyMac X and its specialized tool Large & Old Files. It assists in locating files that are no longer being opened and easily removing those you do not need. 

Here is the tool: 

Download Free Version

• To use this tool, download the app (see the button above).

• Click the Large & Old Files tab in the sidebar.

• Click Scan and check what the tool finds for you.

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 spending extra cash on improving your Mac’s performance. Simply cleaning your system as the 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’s not weighed down by junk.