How to clean and organize your Mac

If you own a Mac, chances are you spent a lot of money buying it. If for no other reason, you need to take care of your computer. Not only will it work better throughout its life, but you can also sell it for more money if you ever want to participate in it. In this tutorial we will share some tips on how to take care of your Mac. It’s impossible to address the topic of computer maintenance from all angles, so consider this guide as an introduction to some organizational features and programs you may not have been aware of.

How to clean your Mac and Mac

Although there are many products you can buy that are specially made to clean your computer, I have found that the simplest approach works best – and this is the one that Apple recommends. To begin with, you only need to use water in a spray bottle and a clean microfiber cloth. You can use plain or distilled water. The advantage of the latter is that it is much less likely to leave any residue on your Mac, especially on the screen. You can buy distilled water at a grocery store or make it yourself with simple cooking utensils. Either way, it’s cheaper than dedicated cleaning solutions and more versatile. If you do not already own any microfiber cloths, Amazon sells affordable 24 packs that you can get for around $ 15.

Two other products I have found that can make the job easier are Whoosh screen cleaner and a Giottos Rocket Blower. I can not say enough good things about the latter. It will save you money by buying expensive and wasteful cans of compressed air. Finally, if you want to disinfect your computer, Apple recently said that it is safe to use isopropyl alcohol and Clorox wipes.

When it comes to the cleaning process of your Mac, the most important thing to remember is to start with a clean cloth (this is why we recommend buying it in bulk). This way you will save time and frustration. Start by turning off your computer and unplugging it. If you went out and bought a Rocket Blower, use it now to remove dust. If not, take a dry microfiber cloth and go over your computer. Pay special attention to the keys, especially if you own a Mac with a butterfly keyboard.

At this point, you can wipe your computer with a disinfectant cloth. Otherwise, moisten one side of your cleaning cloth with water or Whoosh. Never spray liquid directly on your computer. You have more control this way and you will avoid getting moisture inside your Mac. I always clean the screen first, because the last thing I want to do is create more work for myself by transferring dirt from another part of my computer to the screen. The last step is to polish and polish your computer with the dry side of the cloth. That’s it. Your Mac should look clean again.

How to organize your hard drive

One of the hardest parts of cleaning your Mac’s hard drive is knowing where to start. After all, most of us have apps on our computers that we don’t even remember in the first place. Fortunately, macOS has a tool that can help you with the exact problem.

Navigate to the “Storage” section in the “About This Mac” menu and click on the “Control …” option. Here you will find a tool that sorts your files into broad categories and gives recommendations on how to free up space on your hard drive. You can use it in combination with the handy “Show in finder” button at the bottom of the interface to quickly navigate on your hard drive. You do not have to manually search for files.

The Applications section is especially useful, since the last time you use an application, you can see if it is no longer supported by the operating system, or if it is outdated due to a more recent release.

You do not have to tell me that you should remove programs that you do not use, but what you may not know is that there is a better way to delete them than simply dragging them to the Trash. A free program called AppCleaner will help you locate files and folders that are left behind if you just delete an application.

After removing any programs that you do not need, go to the Documents section. The name is misleading here because you can find more than just text files and spreadsheets. Documents in this case seem to be the tool that is the most important term for a variety of files, including files that take up a lot of space and DMGs that you may have forgotten to put down. The other sections on the sidebar are obvious. The only other thing I will mention is that if you have been using an iPhone for a while, chances are you have stored old iOS backups on your computer. You can also safely remove it.

At this point, your hard drive should be pretty good. If you want to take additional steps to clean it up, there are dedicated programs that can help you. I like one called CleanMyMac X. At $ 51 a year, it’s on the expensive side, but it will save you the time and effort of doing everything I mentioned above (and then some) alone. It also serves as a malware removal tool.

Tips and Tricks to Maintain a Neat Desktop and Finder

Let’s start with the menu bar. It may not be technically part of the desktop, but being neat can help a lot to make everything else look less cluttered. My recommendation here is to download a $ 15 app called Bartender. At first glance, this is a simple application that allows you to hide unwanted menu bar items behind a three-dot icon. However, the strength of Bartender is that you get a lot of customization options. For example, you can set a trigger that automatically removes the battery status icon from hiding when your computer is not plugged in.

While we’re on the menu bar, take a moment to open your Mac’s system preferences menu and go to the “Users and Groups” section. Now click on the “Login Items” tab at the top of the interface and see all the programs that start when your system boots. You can speed up your system by turning off this list to only the programs you use the most.

As for the desk itself, the best advice is less. Nothing will make your computer look more like a clutter than a busy desktop. Folders and stacks can help, but for most people I suspect that part of the problem is that they use their desktop as a way to quickly and easily find files that are important to them.

If you’ve ever struggled to find a specific file or folder on your computer, try using your Mac’s labeling features instead. Start by opening the Finder preferences menu (“Command” + “,”) and click on the “Tags” tab. You can use the standard pieces provided by macOS, or make your own. Either way, drag the ones you think of most to the favorite areas at the bottom of the preferences window. It makes it so easy that it is easily accessible if you want to use it. To add a label to a file or folder, click on it while holding down the ctrl key and select the one in the drop-down menu. You can also tag a file in an app while working on it. Remember that you can apply multiple labels to a single file or folder. You can even apply it to applications.

What makes labels so useful in macOS is that they can appear in the Finder’s sidebar and are easily searched directly by the Finder or by Siri. As long as you have a system for organizing your files, even a simple one, you will be able to keep track of them more easily. As an example, I would like to apply an Engadget tag to files related to my work. I will add an ‘Important’ tag if it’s critical and I want to find it quickly.

How to arrange your windows and tabs

There is one last app I would like to suggest to close this article. If you’ve used both macOS and Windows 10, you’ll know that Apple’s operating system does not have the best windows drivers. You can click and hold on the full screen icon to tile a window on the left or right side of your screen, but that’s about it and the feature has always felt less accurate than its Windows counterpart.

My suggestion is to download an app that repeats the snap feature of Windows 10. You have several competitive options that offer more or less the same functionality. My go-to is a $ 5 program called Magnet. If you want a free alternative, check out Rectangle. Another option is BetterSnapTool, which offers more functionality than Magnet but is not as clean of an interface. All three programs offer you many more ways to set up your windows than you get through the built-in tool in macOS. They also have shortcut support, which means you can set up your windows quickly and get to work.