Best Tips for Macs: Cleaning up Junk Files

There are so many factors why Macs are valued by many professionals, creatives, and just daily users.

12:08 28 September 2020

Some value these expensive yet trustworthy computers for their longevity. Mac users say you save more if you invest in Mac - then you can be sure you won’t be needing a new one after three years.

 

And some people value Macs for their speed, performance, for their effectiveness, and, of course, the uniquely sleek design. But there is one more reason why Macs are appreciated by their owners - is their ability to clean themselves and low maintenance needs. But surely, like any other complex device, a Mac needs some maintenance work too. 

 

Quite some data that ends up on your Macbook is more or less redundant. And you have two options – to clean up manually or use the best cleaner software according to the 2020 rating. In this article, we are about to share the most effective tips for cleaning up junk files on your Mac. 

 

Tip #1: Uninstall the Apps You Do Not Use

 

A lot of us like to experiment with new apps and try them out - especially when we buy a new computer or a new phone. It is fun to try out the performance of your new toy, right? More to it, it is true that most apps are downloaded rather from curiosity than an actual need.

 

Everything is fine with your curiosity - as long as you remember to delete all those apps that you downloaded months ago and never used again. Or never even opened them. If you keep all the downloaded apps on your Mac, it will start to perform less efficiently.

 

This is because the less free storage space you have on your Mac, the slower it will perform. So it is recommended to review your apps from time to time and get rid of those that have no value or purpose to you.

 

Tip #2: Clean up Mac’s Cache Files

 

There is a lot of temporary file information stored in files that are called cache files. And there are three types of cache files on your Mac: system cache, browser cache, and user cache files. 

 

The main purpose of cache files is to provide quick access to all sorts of files, software, and often visited websites. So from the first impression, cache files are trying to upgrade your performance.

 

But the downside is that these files also take up quite a lot of space, so you should clean them once in a while. To do so, click on the Finder, click Go, and Go to Folder. Copy and paste this text: ~/Library/Caches, and here you will have access to all cache files - you can delete the ones that you want.

 

Tip #3: Empty the Trash Bin

 

Even if you remove all of the large files on your Mac, delete cache files, and uninstall the apps that you never use, most of those files might still be on your computer. And it would be a shame to have wasted all that time trying to improve your Mac’s speed.

 

And if you will forget to empty your Trash Bin occasionally - you will feel no difference in speed and performance after you clean your Mac because most of those files will still be sitting in the Trash Bin and using up your Mac’s storage.

 

It would be perfect if you could remind yourself to empty the Trash Bin each time you finish work. But to help you out with that, you can turn on the option that automatically deletes files from the Trash Bin after 30 days since a file was deleted from your Mac.

 

Tip #4: Delete Old Files

 

Especially the ones that are extremely large. To see how much of your disk space is taken up only by files, you can easily find this information. Just click on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your Mac’s screen. Then, click About This Mac. 

 

After that, you will see a horizontal line of tabs - click on Storage. Now, give it a minute for your Mac to calculate all of the data. After the calculation is done, you will be able to see what type of files are using up the biggest amount of space on your computer.

 

If you see that files have most of the storage taken up, you need to either go through your folders and delete what you do not need or consider upgrading iCloud storage to a better plan.