If you are serious about keeping your Mac clean and performing at the highest level, then it makes sense to perform some maintenance work here and there. Now the question is, how often should you do a Mac cleanup, and what should it entail? Here you have a list with everything that you need to know.
Why do you want to do a regular Mac cleanup?
Using a tool like Clean My Mac makes a lot of sense, because it helps you remove a lot of data stored behind the scenes. It removes temporary system files, browser caches and app caches, downloaded installers, duplicates, old screenshots, large videos, unused apps, log files, old backups and so on. Removing these will help you keep enough storage space, streamline your Mac’s performance, and it just leads to a better overall experience, which is something to take into consideration.
How often should you clean your Mac?
That’s the thing, the timeline will vary based on the situation at hand. A weekly cleanup is good because you can empty the trash, delete unwanted downloads, remove duplicates, organize files on the desktop, close unused browser tabs and so on. That’s simple enough and it will help deliver good results.
Once a month, you want to check the storage usage, remove large files, uninstall apps you are not using, review browser extensions, clear downloads, organize documents and folders, and maybe do some Mac OS updates.
When we reach the half a year point, here you want to delete old installers and duplicates, remove outdated project files, review the cloud storage, clear the browser cache, check the startup applications and review external backups.
Once you reach the annual cleanup point, it’s a good idea to do a complete system review. This one is helpful because you can go into a more comprehensive cleanup. For example, you review the installed apps and remove software that was not used, you archive old projects, review backups, clean external drives, update passwords, review the privacy settings, clean accessories and peripherals, and so on.
Clearly, there’s no single answer here. You do want to perform some tasks every couple of months, others can be done weekly and so on. But one thing is certain, you have to do some maintenance, if you want your device to run smoothly. There’s no way around that.
Signs that your Mac might need a cleanup right now
How do you know if your Mac is in dire need of a cleanup? Thankfully, there are methods you can use to streamline the process, and it can work much better than expected.
- If you are running out of storage, it actually makes sense to do a cleanup. You can eliminate a lot of unwanted stuff, and it works incredibly well. But in general, if you see low storage warnings, the system is not operating quickly, then try to do a cleanup to have at least 10-20% of the storage space free.
- You may also want to do this if the Downloads folder is overflowing and it has zip files, PDF files, old installers and so on.
- Same thing is valid when your desktop is filled with files. You do need to start a cleanup process, because it will work well and it will give you a pretty good value.
- If you haven’t restarted your Mac in weeks, it might be the time to do it, so go ahead and try that.
- And of course, if you have apps that you are not using, then this is a no-brainer and it will help you quite a lot.
Are there things that you shouldn’t delete? Yes, the system folders, hidden Mac OS files, any files required by installed apps or Library files you don’t know. It’s just a great idea to assess what exactly you should remove and what should not be removed, just to be on the safe side. In the end, approaching this in a wise manner is crucial, and it will help make things better.
Now a lot of people think that Mac OS will just do maintenance automatically and you don’t have to worry about it. To some extent, the operating system will do quite a bit of work. But the reality is that it conveys a great value, and it certainly delivers an outstanding experience. That being said, you will have many situations in which case you need third party tools. Usually, that’s the best and most effective way of dealing with any issues and performing maintenance.
Closing thoughts
We believe it’s a great idea to do some Mac cleanup every month, and some stuff you can do every week. If you want your Mac to have great performance, don’t expect it to randomly run better on its own. You need to figure out ways to make it run better, and that alone can help immensely. Always ensure that you do some Mac maintenance, because it will affect your overall experience!
