Over time, your Mac probably accumulates a lot of cruft. There are applications you no longer use, duplicate and outdated data, a desk full of icons when you only use four … you know what I mean. With so many people working from home recently, the problem has only gotten worse.
Now, this is as good time as anyone to clean up your Mac, release storage space and probably CPU cycles and RAM in the process. Here are a few tips to do quickly work with your Mac “Spring Cleaning.”
Optimize storage
On versions of MacOs ahead of Ventura, the Storage Management app was the best place to handle all that cruft on your SSD. Open it either using Spotlight (command room) or by clicking on the Apple logo at the top left of the menu bar, select About this Macclicking on Storage The tab, so Manage.
The built -in inventory management app is the best place to start when you cleanse your Mac.
In the Recommendations tab you will see a number of useful options, such as store in iCloud and empty Recycle Bin automatically. Optimize storage solution gets rid of things like old TV shows you’ve already seen, and old E -Mail -attached files when you’re low in storage.
In MacOS Ventura or later, this storage management app is gone, but you will find the Optimize Storage setting in system settings. Open System SettingsSelect Generalso Storage. The Optimize storage setting here only affects movies and TV shows from the TV app, but you can click the Info button (I) button next to the different categories (applications, developer, documents, etc.) to manage them.
Foundry
For more advice to delete data from your Mac, read the following:
Look at your applications and documents
If you have an older macOS version and you use the Storage Management app, click the Applications tab in the left column. You can see all your installed applications here and sort them by size, easily delete apps you haven’t used in ages.
Then click Documents in the left tab. There are several sections here that large files and non -supported apps worth reviewing. Large library files (for apps like Lightroom or Final Cut Pro) are likely to appear here and you might not want to mess with them. But you may have old big files and documents or apps that no longer work on your version of MacOS that you can safely remove.
In MacOS Ventura or later, go to System Settings > General > Storage and click on the Info button (I) next to applications, documents and other categories. You can sort by size and type and control these things here. You may be surprised at how much things you forgot you had on your Mac!
Get your desk under control
If your Mac desk is filled with icons, you should probably clean things up a bit. Right-click (two-finger taps on a pointing field) any open space and select Clean up to get things arranged nicely, or Clean up by To sort them too. Consider Use stacks Feature for automatic stack-up files of the same type in a single icon. Just click on that icon to open the stack. This can really clean up your desk!
These two commands will do fast work with a messy Mac -Desktop.
Use a Mac Cleaner tool
Power users who really want to clean their Mac’s storage may have to check a third -party app like Cleanmymac, Maccleaner or Daisydic (free attempts available to everyone). These apps provide a simple and clear way to see everything on your Mac or any other attached storage device or drive. They can help you clear what you don’t need.
IDG
It may seem unnecessary to pay money for an app that just helps you delete things from your Mac’s storage, but there is a lot of value in discalyzers. It can really be eye -opening to see exactly what is filling your Mac’s SSD. See our Roundup of the best Mac Cleaner apps (our current best choice is Cleanmymac).
If your Mac needs a clean on outside Because it is grubby reading these tutorials: How to clean a Mac: Keep your iMac or MacBook free of bacteria and dirt and how to clean a Mac keyboard, display and more.