Designed as smart and high-end machines, Mac computers and laptops can work smoothly for years after first taken out of a box. However, just as all other devices, with time they may face slowdowns, bugs, and glitches. Every user can keep their Mac working fast safe and steady for a long while, and this task is not as hard as it may seem. If you experience constant slowdowns and wonder “why my Mac keeps freezing,” our article is here to help you. Perform these 9 maintenance operations weekly to have your Mac working just as on its first day for the years to come.
Remember to keep your data backed up
No device can be totally secured against crashes, glitches or data loss. So is Mac. Having your data backed up every so often, say once a week, can save you the stress of important files being lost without the chance to revive them. You have several options to backup data on Mac:
- Using Time Machine regularly is the easiest way to have your Mac’s hard drive backed up. With its help, you can restore any piece of data instantly once needed.
- External hard drive is another option to keep the most important files on your Mac safe. All you need is to drag and drop folders or files to an external disk from their initial storage place.
- A cloud-based storage service is one more smart way to protect your data from loss or damage.
In case you did lose some data, use one of the most effective data recovery apps to help you gain it back.
Update Mac’s software regularly, but not too soon
Just as any other developers, Apple makes sure to keep its software regularly updated. The users are informed about the latest updates of an OS X or apps ready to be installed through the alerts and notifications. Updates are essential as they will help you to avoid slowdowns and glitches in the work of your Mac.
However, not all update releases go smoothly – some may come with various unforeseen usability issues or bugs. A wise thing to do is to wait for a few days and maybe read reviews and keep an eye on other users’ feedback to a major update before you get it installed. Thus, you’ll avoid the update causing more problems than it actually resolves. Good news is that Apple as well as other software developers, tries their best to fix any possible issues within days, so you won’t have to wait for the final version of an update too long.
Get rid of the old files
Deleting old files that you no longer use is an essential thing to do, especially if you own a Mac with the smaller amount of space on the hard drive. Cleaning out old media files (photos, music or videos), Word documents, mail attachments and old apps is what may potentially free up gigabytes of the disk space. Remember that you need at least 10% of the hard drive space kept free for your Mac’s smooth performance.
Looking through your media files and documents once a week to decide what’s worth to be kept, and what you can get rid of easily is a healthy habit.
Delete the duplicates
Much like keeping your Mac free of items you no longer need, deleting duplicated files is another way to free up quite a bit of the disk’s space. Sorting out the duplicates manually can be not that easy and time-consuming. Use effective cleaning software regularly to save yourself the hustle of dealing with the duplicates on your Mac.
Install software to fight against malware and viruses
Like every Apple user, you probably have heard that Macs are not vulnerable to any malware or viruses. In reality, this statement is nothing more than a myth. With the growing popularity, Mac devices are being targeted by various types of malicious software every day more. Downloading a powerful antivirus app – to scan your Mac regularly and block any possible threats – will save you from becoming a victim of malware.
Keep Mac’s desktop clean
If you are one of the users who love keeping tons of files and folders on your device’s desktop, you may want to revise your habits. No matter how handy it seems, saving stuff on the desktop may lead to constant slowdowns and make your Mac sluggish. To display each of the icons on its desktop, Mac has to contribute its RAM. Thus, the more clutter there’s on the desktop, the fewer resources are left for all other tasks. Keep your desktop neat and clean by sending apps into the Applications folder, and sort out all other stuff into proper folders.
Cut down on the number of utilities running in the background
Just as the icons on the desktop slowing down the Mac, services tasks and utilities running in the background of Mac eat up its RAM and lead to freezes and slowdowns. Close such processes as Bluetooth, Printers, torrents, cloud-based services, etc. to speed up your device.
Turn off Mac’s visual effects
Proceeding with the topic of RAM being overused, visual effects and animations is another reason for your Mac’s slowdowns. Go to System Preferences – Dock and uncheck all the boxes that refer to visual effects.
Shut down the apps which you aren’t using
The Dock is an easy and cool way to check on the apps opened at the moment. However, you should remember that using the red X button is not enough to completely shut down an application. Having too many apps (e.g., your browser, Word, iTunes, etc.) running at a time might lead to slowdowns, CPU and RAM being overused and your device heating itself. To completely shut down any apps, open the Apple menu (in the top left corner of Mac’s screen) and click ‘Force Quit.’
We hope that our tips once followed regularly will help you to keep your Mac working smooth and fast.