TopTechpal

World of Tech
Menu
  • Home
  • Tech News
  • Tips And Tricks
  • Technical Tutorials
  • Premium content
  • Latest leaks
  • Paid gone free
  • Others
  • Apple Music Code Generator
  • Donate us
Tutorials

How to Find and Get Rid of Hidden Mac Clutter | 2021

Roshan April 8, 2021
How to Find and Get Rid of Hidden Mac Clutter

Clutter on Mac can slow down its speed and impact performance. You need at least 10% of disk space free at all times to use your Mac optimally. Otherwise, you will struggle to get work done on your computer. Now that you know that, you should consider cleaning schedules to make sure you find and remove clutter from Mac. Some of it is visible. For example, screenshots on the desktop.

However, a lot of MacBook clutter is hidden from plain sight.

Contents hide
1 1. Get rid of unused apps
2 2. Delete your cache
3 3. Manage iOS device backups
4 4. Restart your Mac
5 5. Delete all hidden files from Finder
6 In Summary

1. Get rid of unused apps

The Mac comes with many great apps pre-installed but do you really need to keep all of them? If you are someone that relies on Google’s suite of online apps – Slides, Sheets, and Docs, you do not have much use for Pages, Numbers, or Keynote. There are other apps that may not be relevant to you, like GarageBand and iMovie. So if you do not need them and do not plan on using them, you should uninstall these apps.

The easiest way to do this is to use Launchpad, the hold-down option. All the apps will start to wiggle. Then press x on the apps you want to uninstall. Remember, you should also remove the installation files from your Application folder. Sometimes those do not get deleted.

If you would like to know which apps you have not used in a very long time, open your Applications folder and view your apps as a list. View -> List. Right-click on the column header and select Date Last Opened. Sort by Date Last Opened to see which of these apps you can let go of. A general rule of thumb is if you have not used it in the last six months, you should delete it. You can always download it from the Mac App Store should you feel the need to do so.

2. Delete your cache

make mac fasterThe cache is a prime example of hidden files that take up a lot of space and yet are not seen in plain view. Apps, browsers, and processes use cache to store memory temporarily to retrieve it for you when you trigger an action. Repetitive tasks get stored here so that your load time overall is reduced. While the cache is a great thing in theory, if it is not emptied regularly, it can slowly start to take up a lot of disk space, and you need a fast solution to deal with the cache. Now you can do this in 3 ways:

  • Manually by clearing the cache on different apps.
  • Use Mac’s recommendations to optimize storage from the menu bar, which will help you delete temporary files.
  • You can use a third-party app to delete your cache.

3. Manage iOS device backups

The beauty of the Apple ecosystem is that all your Apple devices are connected. But it also means that you might have backups of older iOS devices that you don’t use or own anymore. Here’s how you can manage your backups

  • Connect your iOS device to your Mac.
  • Go to the Backups section of the General screen.
  • Click Manage Backups.
  • You will see a list of backups.
  • If you see a device you do not recognize, delete it.

4. Restart your Mac

reset your macIf you have been running your Mac for weeks on end, you will notice some performance issues, and usually, turning it off and on again works. Here is why that helps the performance – macOS writes virtual memory files to disk. When you are using an app, or a process is running in the background, it is helpful for the Mac to use the files from the virtual memory.

But if you don’t shut your system down once in a while, these memory files continue to take up the disk space even when you are done with the task. So, a simple restart can help you reclaim your disk space.

5. Delete all hidden files from Finder

This is a slightly advanced tip, so exercise caution. Open Finder and press Command + Shift + period. This will show you all the hidden files on your system. To hide them, you press the same combination of keys.

If you do this in the root directory, you will see a bunch of files that you probably do not know how they got there in the first place – old app installation, old driver updates, or backups. There might even be some data related to malware. A corrupted file is a hindrance to the MacBook’s performance and your security.

Once you see them and verify that you do not need them, you can go ahead and start deleting these files. However, this is best left to experts and not recommended for everyone.

In Summary

Once you have deleted all the files you do not need, make sure you empty the trash. Unless you remove them from the Trash/Bin, your Mac’s performance will continue to suffer. You can also set up automatic deletion on Trash/Bin to ensure you do not keep hogging the disk space.

Tweet Pin It submit
Prev Article
Next Article

Related Articles

How to get free Rdp is answered by our latest …

How to get free Rdp lifetime | 100% working 2022 | TopTechpal

How to install mac on windows
Want to install mac in windows?  Want to create your …

How to Install Mac in windows (Hackintosh) | Create dual bootable Mac USB-100% working

the audio is not running problem fixed
The audio service is not running - Solved Windows is …

Fix The Audio Service is not running Windows 10 | [ Problem Solved ] | 2022

Unlock android
unlock android phone lock more easily! Remove Android pattern or …

Unlock Android Phone Lock Without Loosing Data | 100% working

About The Author

Roshan

Roshan kc is a cybersecurity journalist with a passion for covering latest happenings in cyber security and tech world. In addition to being the founder of this website, Roshan is also into gaming, reading and investigative journalism and additional to them he is also interested in movies, anime and web series.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Ads

Related Posts

  • How to use free mind mapping software …
    November 3, 2022 0
  • How to fix mac performance issues
    How to fix Mac Performance Issues [Solved …
    March 22, 2021 0
  • remo video repair tool
    How to repair corrupted videos with video …
    October 30, 2022 0
  • Free cloud storage
    Free cloud storage unlimited
    January 9, 2020 0
  • Solve Bluetooth Earbuds Problem On Any Android …
    February 5, 2020 0

TopTechpal

World of Tech

About US

TopTechpal is the best website to get information about technology, hacks and hacking news, gadget and Technical solutions. We provide authentic information about latest gadgets and post leaks. We provide authentic information and occasionally some free stuff to our viewers.

Contact us: admin@toptechpal.com

Check

  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Advertisement
  • Contact Us
Copyright © 2023 TopTechpal
Website by @ Top Techpal

Ad Blocker Detected

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Refresh
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of All the cookies.Read More
Cookie settingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT