Even the most powerful and mega-fast computers gradually become full of unnecessary and rarely used files. Computers developed by Tim Cook company are no exception. The building-up junk on the hard drive can consume precious free space. This will result in low stability and speed of OS operation. And when it happens, the question arises: can we quickly find and delete all unnecessary data that slows down our computer?
Fortunately, you can free up gigabytes of space and thus, boost your Apple friend performance. You even are strongly recommended to do this. The user has several options: to empty space on the hard disk manually or use special software. Before we describe how to clean a MacBook Pro hard drive, you should know what is stored there.
What can be found on MacBook Pro HD?
To find out what data stored on the HD is not difficult. For this:
- When working with any application, click the apple icon in the menu bar;
- In the menu appeared, select the option About;
- After the information window opens, click Learn more;
- In the window that appears, open the Storage tab;
- Here you will see the overall amount of HD memory, how much is consumed, and how much is still free.
Sections of used HD memory:
Photo: all images stored on the laptop are here. This also includes the iPhoto and Aperture libraries.
Video: in this section, you will find all the video files downloaded from the iTunes Store and the Internet.
Audio: all audio files and music are stored here, including the iTunes Media Library.
Programs: this section stores all applications from the Programs folder, as well as other files in the .app format.
Archives: here you will see data on the Time Machine backups. Most often this function is disabled, so the amount of memory consumed is equal to 0Kb.
Other: this section stores all files that did not fall into any of the previous categories.
How to clean an HD space on your MacBook Pro
As we have already said, one of the reasons for the low performance of your computer is an insufficient amount of free space on Mac HD. In what way to clean the MacBook Pro hard drive manually, we’ll explain below.
Remove e-mail attachments
When using the standard Mail application in OS X, the system saves all attached files to a folder on the HD. In just a few months the size of this folder can reach several gigabytes.
The simplest way is to find this folder using the Spotlight search. In the search bar, type Mail Downloads. If this method was ineffective, use Finder.
Enter in the field /Library/Containers/com.apple.mail/Data/Library/Mail.
Delete disk images
Many users forget that in the Downloads there are a large number of disk images with programs that were needed only for installation. Now, these files just consume such an essential disk space. To erase disk images:
- Go to Downloads via Finder;
- In the search bar, type Disc Image;
- A register of all .dmg and .iso files will appear. You can immediately remove them.
Clear unnecessary program files
Even after the application was uninstalled, the files linked to them remain in the OS. In order to easily and quickly remove them, use AppTrap. It is a free app running continuously in the background mode and is activated only when you delete an app.
Clean the cache
Surely, you have repeatedly heard the advice: if you any have problems with the browser, clear the cache memory. Fortunately or unfortunately, OS X saves a lot of cache files. You can view all the cache files in the /Library/Caches folder.
Third-party cleaning apps – real helpers in HD sweeping
Specially developed Mac cleaning apps are very popular and effective tools designed to keep your macOS in good shape. Their functionality is become cooler every year and with every new edition.
The utilities’ operation is based not only on cleaning up the OS from junk. With their help, the user can also free up HD space and boost MacBook performance in general. Usually, such apps run an automatic system scan right after being launched for the first time. As a rule, this first scan is the most effective one as it finds gigabytes of useless data that can be removed without any obstacles.
Also, in such apps, you commonly can find the section dedicated to optimizing RAM usage and processor load.
Probably the only sad thing about such software is that the best of them are usually paid. They may have a demo/trial version that comes free of charge, but its capabilities will be limited. So, here it’s up to you to decide whether you are ready to shell out some buck for the opportunity to keep your Mac healthy, clean, and fast.