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Just like your garage or desk, macOS can easily become cluttered over time. Files, apps and other digital waste can build up, often without you realizing it, making your daily computing tasks take longer and longer.
A quick cleanup on your Mac can make a big difference, making it easy to find files or apps again without feeling like a major undertaking. Here are some cleaning tips that really work.
Cleaning up the desktop
Many of us tend to dump all kinds of files and shortcuts on the desktop, without really thinking about it. Not only does this darken your background, it also slows down macOS and makes it harder to find what you need.
There are some built-in options in Finder that can help. Click on an empty area of the desktop and then open it Display menu: You can use the Clean up option to capture everything on your desktop in a grid, for a neater look. You can also use the Clean up menu to choose how they are sorted (for example, by name or date).
Also on the Display menu, you have a Use stacks option. This takes desktop organization to the next level, by stacking files of the same type (such as images or documents) on top of each other. Just click on the stack to see the individual items again. Click with stacks enabled Display Than Group stacks up to change the way they are sorted.
Here’s another idea that requires a little more manual work if you’re using the desktop as temporary storage: Create a “Temporary” folder on your desktop and use that in place of the actual desktop, and only for files you don’t need long term . You can then periodically delete everything in that folder without having to worry about it.
Cleaning up the interface
There are several ways you can clean up the look of macOS, especially when it comes to two specific areas: the menu bar at the top of the screen and the dock at the bottom. Perhaps the best place to start is to allow fewer apps to appear in the menu bar, but that will require delving into each individual app’s settings.
You do have a number of third party options that you can go to, such as Bartender. The software will cost you $20, but you can try it out for free first: you can make all kinds of adjustments to the menu bar, and you can completely change its appearance if you want. You can also place your choice of menu bar icons in a submenu, giving you a menu bar that looks much cleaner.
When it comes to cleaning up the dock, you have a few more built-in macOS settings: open the Apple menu and then choose System settings and choose Desktop and dock to see them. From here you can hide the dock when not in use, hide suggested and recent app shortcuts, and enable or disable app launch animations. You can also make the dock larger or smaller.
If there are any shortcuts in the dock that you don’t think you’ll use, right-click on them and choose Options And Remove from Dock. In just a few minutes you can have a dock that is much less cluttered, easy to get around, and not even visible when you’re not using it.
Delete temporary files
Temporary files can quickly accumulate on your macOS system, and it’s not always obvious. Eventually you get to a point where the operating system crawls along and you receive messages about storage issues. When this happens, macOS has tools to help.
Open the Apple menu and then choose System settings, GeneralAnd Storage. At the very top of the dialog box, you should see how storage space is being used on your Mac, giving you a quick overview of the worst offenders when it comes to taking up space.
Below this storage value you should see some suggestions from macOS on how to free up space. These vary depending on how your system is set up, but you may see links to delete Apple TV content you’ve already watched, or to empty the Trash folder, or to move certain items to iCloud. Click on one of the suggestions you like and follow the instructions.
Sometimes you can find relevant settings within individual apps. For example, in the case of Apple Photos, open it Photos menu and choose Institutions: Under the iCloud tab, you can have the app reduce the quality of photos and videos stored locally on your Mac, while keeping the full-resolution versions in the cloud.
Delete unused apps
One of the best ways to free up space on your Mac computer (while also decluttering screens like Launchpad and the Applications folder) is to delete apps that you don’t use regularly. Keep in mind that you can reinstall them at any time, so this is a sensible cleaning technique that requires little maintenance.
If you have the Apple menu and then choose System settings, GeneralAnd Storageyou can click on the small ‘i’ info button next to Applications to see the programs that take up the most space. To actually remove them, you’ll need to launch Finder and delete it Applications link on the left (or choose Applications of the To go menu).
The software removal process varies from app to app. Sometimes on the Applications screen you will see a folder containing an official uninstaller. For other apps, you can drag the program shortcut to the trash can icon on the dock and delete it that way. If you are unsure, look online for instructions regarding a specific app you are trying to remove from the system.
Even if you don’t delete apps, you can at least ensure that they don’t start up at the same time as the operating system (unless you want them to) and take up valuable CPU time and RAM space. If you have the Apple menu and then choose System settings, GeneralAnd Login items and extensionsyou can choose which programs can start with macOS and run in the background.