If your Mac is feeling a bit sluggish lately it is time to do a bit of spring cleaning on it. It works long hours for you with little rest and without complaint. It probably has more jobs going on than it should and most of the time it is picking up after RAM, catching whatever falls out of your apps as you flick between documents. Even though this is exhausting, the main function of your Mac is to store your stuff. With all of this work, it deserves a cleaning to get rid of any of the junk which has been cluttering it up.
Cleaning up the dust and grime
Start with something simple – clean that dirty Mac up from the outside! To begin, turn it off and unplug everything, and then move it out from where it usually sits. Clean this whole area well, as there is most likely plenty of dirt and dust here. A microfiber cloth can be used on the surface of your Mac to wipe off any dust, oils, or smudges that can be found on the case or screen.
Apple also suggests using a damp, lint-free cloth for this, but the dry microfiber will also work, especially on the screen or display where you don’t want any harsh chemicals used. You can also use a bit of compressed air to get the dust out of all the crevices, cracks and exhaust vents.
Getting up to date
The first internal action you’ll need to do is making sure that your Mac is up to date with all of the latest security updates, patches and application updates that are available with Software Update. If you’ve been running an old version of Mac OS and you are considering upgrading, this is the perfect time to get the newest OS available. Even if you want to stick with an older version, you should still make sure that system is as up to date as possible.
Get rid of apps that you don’t use
Once your system is up to date, you can now look at your applications folder and start getting rid of any of the programs you simply do not use or need any longer. In a lot of cases, uninstalling a Mac app is easy as dragging it to the trash, but this can leave some files behind. Because of this, it is recommended that you use an actual uninstaller so that all of the files associated with a program are removed.
Taking back your hard disk space
Now it is time to get back any hard drive space which has likely been wasted by screenshots of video games, old VirtualBox images or other various files you didn’t even realize were hanging around your system. The Disk Inventory X is a tool that works great to scan your drives and let you know what is taking up all of your space in a view which is easy to understand, plus it is totally free to use. There are other programs which you can purchase to do this as well if you prefer, and you will be able to delete, compress and organize your drive automatically and quickly.
Optimizing your system with maintenance
Once your Mac is all cleaned out, it is a great idea to go into your Disk Utility and click on Verify Disk. If you find any errors, wait for it to finish and then hit Repair Disk. It is good to do this every few months to make sure that there aren’t any issues with your hard drive or OS.
If you have taken all of these steps to clean up you Mac but still think it needs some professional help, then please visit us today at our visit us today at our Hallandale Apple repair store so we can help you out and get your computer to working order again.
