The longer you use something – contain your Mac – the more it will be more overcrowded. One solution is to upgrade to a new machine, but the more economic step is to take what you already work better. In order to help your computer feel almost new or at least cleaner and less chaotic, we put together this guide with techniques and useful apps that have helped us to keep a more civilized computer. I have been using these tips since I published this guide for the first time in 2021, and they helped (almost) to look and run my MacBook 2018 (almost) as brand new.
How to clean your Mac’s screen and body
While there are many products that help you clean your computer, I found that the simplest approach works best – and it is the one that is the one Apple recommends. At the beginning you need some water in a spray bottle and a clean microfiber cloth. You can either use normal or distilled water. The advantage of the latter is that it is far less likely to leave residues on your Mac, especially on the display. You can buy distilled water in a grocery store or Do it yourself With simple cookware. In any case, it is more affordable than committed cleaning solutions. If you don’t have any microfiber cloths yet, Amazon sells affordable 24 packs You can get about 11 US dollars.
Another product that I found that can make work easier is a Giottos rocket blower. I can’t say good things about this little tool enough. It saves them before buying more expensive and lavish doses with compressed air.
As for the process of cleaning your Mac, the most important tip is to start with a clean cloth (this is one reason why we can buy it in large quantities). In this way you will save yourself time and frustration. First switch off your computer and pull it off. If you have bought a rocket blower, remove 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 have an older Mac with a butterfly stature.
Next, moisten one side of your cleaning cloth with water. Never spray a liquid directly onto your computer. In this way you have more control and avoid bringing moisture to the internal of your Mac. I always clean the display first, because I want to create the last thing I want to do 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. Be gentle here because you don’t want to scratch the screen or another part of. That’s it. Your Mac should look clean again.
How to organize your hard drive
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
One of the hardest parts of cleaning the hard drive of your Mac is to know where to start. After all, most of us have apps on our computers, which we don’t even remember that were installed at all. The good news is that MacOS helps with a tool with this exact problem.
Navigate System settings > Generally > storage. Here you will find a tool that divides your memory in broad categories such as “Applications”, “Documents”, “Music”, “Photos”, etc. Double -click an element in the list, e.g. B. Applications to see the last time you used an app and how much storage space you take. You can delete the apps from the same window.
The application phase is particularly helpful because the last time you can see that you have used a program, and if it is no longer supported by the operating system or is out of date thanks to recent publication.
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
You don’t need to tell you that you uninstall programs that you don’t use, but you may not know that there is a better way to delete them than just pull them into the trash. A free program called Apple They help you to track files and folders that remain behind if you only extinguish one application.
After deleting apps that you do not need, switch to the Documents section. The name is a bit misleading here, as you can find more than just text files and Excel tables. In this case, documents from the tool that are a large amount of space for a variety of files, including those who take up a large amount of space. You can also safely delete all DMGS (CD image files with the .DMG extension) for which you have installed the associated app. The other sections in the storage space are self -explanatory. The only other thing I will mention is, if you used an iPhone for a while, there is a good chance that you have saved old iOS backups on your computer. You can also delete them safely.
Tips and tricks to maintain a decent desktop and finder
Igor Bonifacic
Let’s start with the menu bar. Technically speaking, it may not be part of the desktop, but a decent, you can make a big contribution to make everything else look less overloaded. My recommendation here is to download an app with the title barman. At first glance, it is a simple program with which you can hide unwanted menu bar elements behind a three-dots symbol. However, the bartender’s strength is that they receive many adjustment options. For example, you can set a trigger that automatically shifts the battery status symbol from hiding if your computer is not connected to a power supply.
While we deal with the menu bar, take a second to navigate to the system Settings > Generally > Registration elements Take a look at all the apps that start when your system starts. You can accelerate your system by only estimating this list in the frequently used programs.
When it comes to the desktop itself, the best advice is less. Nothing makes your computer look like a overcrowded chaos than a lively desktop. Folders and stacks can help, but for most people I suspect that part of the problem is that you use your desktop to find files quickly and easily that are important to you.
If you ever had difficulty finding a certain file or a certain folder on your computer, use your Mac’s marking functions instead. First open the menu Finder Settings (command + Present) and click on the The day Tab. You can use the standard provided by MacOS or manufacture your own. Pull those from whom you believe that you are most often used in the favorite areas at the end of the window of the settings. This makes it so that you are easily accessible if you want to use you. To attach a day to a file or folder, click on it while holding the Ctrl button and choose the desired that you want in the drop -down menu. You can also mark a file while working on it in an app. Note that you can apply several tags to a single file or a single folder and you can even apply to applications.
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
What makes it so useful in MacOS are that they can appear in the sidebar of the finder window and can be easily searched directly with finders or Siri. As long as you have a system for organizing your files, even an easy one, you will find it easier to follow it. As an example, I would like to apply a Engadget day to all files that are related to my work. I will add an “important” day if it is something that is critical and I want to find it quickly.
A tool with which your finder experience can charge is Alfred. It is effectively a more powerful version of Apple’s Spotlight function. Among other things, you can use Alfred to quickly find and start apps. There is a small learning curve, but as soon as you have a turn out, Alfred will change the way you use your Mac for better.
How to organize your windows and tabs
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget
If you have used both MacOS and Windows 10, you know that Apple’s operating system does not have with the best window management tools. You can click the green full image button to tile a window to the left or right on the screen, but that is also there and the function has felt less and less precisely than the Windows counter.
My suggestion is to download an app that repeats Windows 10’s schnapps function. They have several competing options that more or less offer the same functionality. My starting point is a 5 dollar program called called magnet. If you want a free alternative, take a look rectangle. Another option is BetterWhich offers more functions than magnet, but does not have so cleanly at an interface. All three apps offer you far more options to configure your windows than what you get through the integrated tool in MacOS. They are also delivered with abbreviation support, which means that you can quickly set up your windows and get to work.
This article was originally on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/how-to-clean-mac-mac-mac-cleaning-Supplies-digital-Organization-153007592.html?src=rSS
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