The longer you use what -liba – your Mac turned on – the more cluttered that it can become. One of the solutions is to update to a new machine, but a more economical step is to take what you are already working better. To help your computer feel almost new or at least clean and less chaotic, we have collected this guide with methods and useful applications that helped us support a more civilized computer. I have used these tips since the first time published this leadership in 2021, and they helped to support and launch my 2018 MacBook Air (almost) as a completely new one.
How to clean the screen and body of your Mac
Despite the fact that there are many products specially made to help you cleaning your computer, I found that the easiest approach works best – and this is one Apple recommendsA field for starters you need water in a bottle with spray and a clean microfiber fabric. You can use ordinary or distilled water; The advantage of the latter is that it much less often leaves the remains on your Mac, especially on the display. You can buy distilled water in a grocery store or Do it yourself With some simple dishes. In any case, this is more accessible than the allocated decisions for cleaning. If you still do not have any kind of microfiber fabric, Amazon sells available 24 packages You can get about $ 11.
Another product that I found, which can facilitate the work, is Zhiottos rocket blowerI can’t say enough good words about this small tool. This will save you from buying expensive and wasteful cans of compressed air.
As for the process of cleaning your Mac, the most important advice to remember is to start with clean fabric (this is one of the reasons why we recommend buying them wholesale). Thus, you will save time and disappointment. Start with a computer shutdown and turn it off. If you bought a missile blower, use it now to remove dust. If not, take dry microfiber fabric and go through the computer. Take a special concern for the keys, especially if you have a senior MAC with a butterfly keyboard.
Then loosen one side of the cleaning fabric with water. Never spray the liquid directly to the computer. Thus, you will have more control, and you do not choose moisture in the internal indicators of your Mac. At first I always clean the display, since the last thing I want to do is to create more work for myself by transferring dirt from some other part of my computer on the screen.
The last step is to save and polish the computer with the dry side of the fabric. Be tender here, since you do not want to scratch the screen or any other part. That's all. Your Mac should look clean again.
How to organize a hard drive
One of the most difficult parts of cleaning the hard disk of your Mac is to know where to start. In the end, most of us have applications on our computers, which we do not even remember what we installed first. Good news is that MacOS is supplied with a tool that will help you with this exact problem.
Go to System settings > General > RepositoryHere you will find a tool here that divides your storage into wide categories, such as “Applications”, “Documents”, “Music”, “Photos” and so on. Twice click the element in the list, for example, applications to see the last time you used the application and how much space it takes. You can remove applications from the same window.
The application section is especially useful, since you can see the last time you used the program, and also if it is no longer supported by the operating system or if it is outdated due to the later release.
You do not need me to tell you to delete programs that you do not use, but you may not know that there is the best way to erase them than just drag them into a garbage bucket. Free program called AppCleaner It will help you track any files and folders that will be left if you just have to delete the application.
After removing any applications that you do not need, go to the document section. The name here is somewhat misleading, since you will find more than just text files and electric tables Excel. Documents, in this case, turn out to be a generally accepted term of the tool for various files, including those that occupy a large amount of space. You can also safely delete any DMG (DISC images using Extension .dmg), for which you installed the appropriate application. Other sections in the storage space are self -destructive. The only thing I mention is if you used iPhone for some time, there is a high probability that old backups of iOS are stored on your computer. You can also safely remove them too.
Tips and tricks to preserve a neat desktop and seeker
Let's start with the menu bar. Technically, this cannot be part of the desktop, but the neatly can be of great importance so that everything else looks less clutter. My recommendation here is to download an application called BartenderThe field at first glance, this is a simple program that allows you to hide the undesirable elements of the menu bar behind the icon. Nevertheless, the force of the bartender is that you get many settings. For example, you can install a trigger that will automatically put forward a background of the battery from hiding when your computer is not connected to the output of the power.
While we are on the subject of the menu bar, go for a second to go to the system Settings > General > Enters the system And look at all the applications that are launched when loading your system. You can speed up your system by providing this list only in the programs that you use often.
When it comes to the desktop, the best advice is more. Nothing will make your computer look like a clutter in a clutter more 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 once tried your best to find a specific file or folder on your computer, instead, try using the MAC capabilities on tags. Start by opening the Finder settings menu (Command + IN) and click Tags You can use the default tab provided by MacOS or make your own. Draise those that, in your opinion, you use most often in your favorite areas at the bottom of the preference window. It will make it so that they are easily accessible when you want to use them. To add a tag to a file or folder, click on it by holding the Ctrl key and select the one you want in the opening menu. You can also mark the file by working on it in the application. Keep in mind that you can apply several tags to one file or folder, and you can even apply them to applications.
What makes tags so useful in MacOS is that they can appear in the side panel of the Finder window and are easily accessible for searching either directly from Finder or using Siri. While you have a system for organizing your files, even simple, it will be easier for you to track them. As one example, I like to use the Engadget tag to any files related to my work. I will add an “important” tag, if something is critical, and I want to find it quickly.
One of the tools that can help overload the seeker's experience is AlfredThe field is an actually more powerful version of the Spotlight Apple function. Among other things, you can use Alfred to quickly find and start applications. There is a little curve of training, but as soon as you get it, Alfred will change how you use your Mac for the better.
How to organize your windows and tabs
If you used both MacOS and Windows 10, you will know that the Apple operating system does not come with the best windows control tools. You can click and hold the green full -screen button so that the window of the window is on the left or right side of the screen, but this is about this, and this function has always been less accurate than its analogue of Windows.
My proposal is to download the application that repeats the Windows 10 click function. You have several competing options that more or less offer the same functionality. My move is a program for 5 dollars called under the name MagnetField if you want a free alternative, check RectangleThe field is another option BettersnaptoolWhich offers more functionality than the magnet, but does not have such a clean interface. All three applications give you much more ways to configure your Windows than what you get through the built -in tool in MacOS. They are also supplied with the support of the labels, which means that you can quickly configure your windows and get to work.