Are you confident that your Mac running to its maximum efficiency? Is it still the powerhouse of modern computing it was when you first bought it, or has it gradually been cluttered with duplicates, spacehogging data and endless media? If your Mac’s internal drive is groaning under the weight of endless files, it’s likely to run slower as there’s less space to use as virtual memory. So it’s always wise to keep tabs on what you have on your machine, and declutter it regularly to make sure you’re not storing stuff you don’t need.
And are you using its timesaving and organisation features to the fullest? The Mac has all sorts of things to help you keep on top of your work, with some great tools for the Finder and awesome ways of keeping control of the Desktop. There are some excellent apps available for cleaning your Mac’s storage and organising files too.
Over the next 12 pages, we show you how to cut down on the clutter by identifying duplicates and large, forgotten files, and moving media such as TV shows, movies and music to external drives. We also show you how to get more from your Mac’s often overlooked features, such as Smart Folders, Mission Control and Stage Manager, and more, as well as third-party tools for keeping your Mac in shape.
It’s clean-up time
Decluttering your Mac is one of the easiest ways to speed things up – here’s how
Should your Mac be groaning under the strain of unused files, duplicated data and other detritus, a clear-out and spruce up can work wonders. Here, you’ll discover some of the most commons slowdowns and how to fix them, find out what you can do about duplicates and unused apps, and speed up everything from login items to Spotlight searches.
When you’re hunting for duplicate files, it’s a good idea to limit searches to your Mac’s Applications and Users folders. You shouldn’t delete anything – even duplicates – from the System or Library folders unless you really know what you’re doing.
First of all, let’s look at how you can identify large and redundant files with DaisyDisk (£9.99, ). This powerful and popular app can quickly scan your Mac to find large files, categorising them according to type, while purging ‘hidden space’ (that is, the difference between the total used disk space and
