Type to search

Mac OS X Zone

How to Clean Your Mac Manually?

Share

Have you been using a MacBook for a long time and happened to notice that it is not performing the way it used to when you first bought it?

If that is the case, you should not be that surprised since virtually every computer in the world reaches this stage sooner or later.

Sure, that does not mean that you immediately need to look for a replacement. A simple upgrade into SSD or adding more RAM will make the world of difference. But the problem lies somewhere else, and you can take care of it on your own, without having to rely on downloading new apps and all that.

Log Files

After long usage, log files tend to accumulate and make everything much slower. You ought to do a cleaning at least once every year. It is not that difficult, and if you want to find out all about how to clear log files on macOS, you can read more on the MacPaw website.

Cache

If you are running a website, you ought to be familiar with caches and how important it is to clear that every now and then. Well, the same principle applies to a MacBook.

Mac stores a lot of information and it can get out of hand if not taken care of, especially if you are running your computer all the time. These files take quite a lot of space and, as you have probably guessed, slow down the overall performance.

Uninstall Unnecessary Apps

It is a given that everything you install will take space. But the questions of whether you are truly in need of that remains. It would be wise to constantly check your current app list and think if you can get trim down some of the fat.

Also, keep in mind that just because you send an app to the trash bin, it does not mean that the app is gone forever. You need to remove it from the trash bin.

Old Mail Attachments

If you do most of your communications via emails, you ought to check out your mail downloads folder. Whenever you open an attachment, there is a chance that you double-click it by mistake and download it to your computer. This really slows down the overall performance, especially on older models.

The solution is pretty simple. Visit that folder and delete all the attachment files. There might not be that many, to begin with, but it will still make a difference, even more so if you do this type of cleaning annually.

Trash Bin

Like already mentioned, even if you press that delete button and send the files to the trash bin, it still so happens that they are on your computer and are taking up space.

To do that, click and hold on the icon of the Trash application. There should be a popup that appears almost immediately. When it does, select the “Empty Trash” option and that takes care of that.

Old and Large Files

There might be some old and large files on your computer that you did not even know existed in the first place. If you do a thorough search on the hard drive you will definitely find such files, and you will ask yourself what are those.

Of course, locating some of that on your own might be a bit of a challenge so you can always try using a specific app for finding these types of files.

Old iOs Backups

You will have to update your MacBook sooner or later. That is just the way things are. However, there is that problem of backups that tend to grow quite a lot over time and ask gigabytes of space for something that is more or less useless.

You should consider removing that from your computer and freeing up some much-needed space. The backups are stored on the computer itself, but you will need to turn on the iTunes, go to “Preferences”, click the “Devices” tab and choose whatever you want to delete from the backup folder.

Language Files

If you are using only English or any other single language, there is hardly any need to have every single language file on the computer. If you count how many languages there are and how much space each of the pack takes, the number adds up.

Sort Out Your Desktop

Some individuals have this terrible habit of putting everything on their desktop. It slows down the whole thing and creates plenty of other problems. You should strive to fix everything not just for appearance sake. And do not forget that you can make use of external storage apps like Dropbox or other Drives or Clouds.

So there you have it. This should be more than enough to get you some more free space for your Macbook and increase the working speed as well as the overall performance. And do not let this be just a one-time thing. Make these tips your habits, and you will not have any problems regarding drive space on your computer.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.