5 Most Effective Tips for Mac Cleanup in 2022

When we purchase a new device, such as a Macbook, we expect it to work correctly and amaze us with its performance. And usually, at first, that is the way it all is – the device is running correctly, and we are happy to enjoy a new product of technology. So, here we present Tips for Mac Cleanup.

 But the smarter and more developed a device is, the more maintenance work it will require long-term vice. If you want your device, for example, a Mac to keep its speed and performance levels after years of use, you need to take occasional care of your computer too.

Top 5 Most Effective Tips for Mac Cleanup in 2022

 If you skip the occasional maintenance work and not clean up your Mac regularly, eventually, it will become slower and slower. And this does not necessarily mean you need to purchase a new Mac already. Therefore here, in this article, we want to share the most useful tips for Mac cleanup that will keep your computer running fast.

Tip 1: Clean the Scratch Disk

If you have not heard what a scratch disk is, let us explain it to you in a few sentences. Each time when you use software like Photoshop that requires cache memory – in other words, virtual memory – if there is no virtual memory, software like this can not perform. 

 So the scratch disk is the space in your hard-drive, which is used by Photoshop when you have no RAM left. This way, it creates large temporary files that take up space on your Mac, and when they scratch disk is full, it makes your computer perform slower than usual.

Tips for Mac Cleanup
Clean the Scratch Disk

 One of the fastest ways to solve this issue is by clearing your Photoshop cache. Thankfully, the software itself has a built-in solution for this case. So open an image, click Edit, hover over Purge option, choose All to delete all of your caches. Then, click OK if you are sure you will not need previous versions of your projects.

Tip 2: Delete Big Files

 If you have macOS Sierra or any newer version of macOS, then you are in luck. Since macOS Sierra, Macs have a function called Optimize Storage. And it can give you some precious suggestions for cleaning up your Mac and speeding it up.

 This function helps you detect large files that you most likely will not ever need. For example, all sorts of software installers, iTunes TV shows, movies that you have already seen, and similar files that are used only once but might take up quite a lot of space.

 Optimize Storage suggests a few ways to get rid of big files that are clogging up your Mac: Store in iCloud, Optimize Storage, Empty Trash Automatically, and Reduce Clutter. And if you still have a lot of files, you can store them in an external hard drive – you won’t even need an internet connection to access your files.

Tip 3: Empty Your Downloads Folder

The name of the folder speaks for itself – all the files that you download from the internet end up in there. But you have to agree that most of those files are one-time use files – like installation files, PDFs, flyers, and similar files that you only open or use once.

Therefore, you could have quite a bit of a situation going on in your Downloads folder. Make sure you empty it occasionally. Also, do not forget to empty the trash after you are finished. Otherwise, it will only be as if you relocated the files, not delete them.

Tip 4: Clean up Your Desktop

There are so many people who choose to save most of their files on the computer’s Desktop. And the reason is simple – it is very convenient and easy to access. But later on, when the files start to accumulate on the Desktop, it becomes difficult to find what you are searching for. So, here are some Tips for Mac Cleanup.

Tips for Mac Cleanup
Clean up Your Desktop

And it could also cause more significant problems, for example, if you use your Mac for work and you are a graphic designer, there is a high possibility that you might send the wrong file to your customer, which may lead to embarrassing yourself or even losing the customer.

More to it, your Mac uses its resources to display each item on your Desktop. This means that the more thumbnails you have, the slower your Mac will perform. Ideally, it would be best to clean your Desktop each time you finish working with your computer.

Tip 5: Delete the Mail Attachments

When you receive an email that has attached files – photos, videos, documents, basically anything, after you open it, your Mail app saves a copy of those attachments on your Mac. These files can be located in a hidden Mail Downloads folder.

If you were to clean this folder, do not be afraid to lose the attachment – they will still be in your email. The copies are stored to load bigger files faster. 

Tips for Mac Cleanup
Delete the Mail Attachments

To find this folder, go through Finder, click Go, then click Go to Folder and paste in this text: ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail Downloads. Here, you can choose whichever attachment you want to delete.

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