Easily Clean Up Your Mac Hard Drive

The weather is changing and continuously becoming warmer in the necks of woods. So, it is the time to thinking about spring-cleaning. While you are busy in emptying your closets, decluttering etc. why not do the same for Mac OS X? Below are some of the helpful tips and tricks through which you can clean up and speed up Mac easily. 

1. Clean Mac:

Turn-off your system and unplug everything and finally take it out from where you have set it up initially. Give some space to your system, whether it is Mac Pro or iMac (This is because there are some dusts and grime collect around it after a period of time). 

Apple has officially announced to cleaning up the gear. And, while every second system is different from other, it is a good idea to take a fiber cloth to remove dust and smudges from outside surface or oil which may be lingering on your system screen. 

Apple recommends the users to use a damp, lint-free cloth to clean up the system. But a small fiber cloth can also do the task efficiently for you.

2. Tame the system cable clutter:

Before your setting up your Mac system, go further and spend some time to tame the cable clutter, which is kept under the deck over a period of time without any use. 

It is always beneficial if you already know how to wrap up the clutter cable, so you can save a lot of useful desk space.

3. Update your Mac:

Before you set up your system again, it is a good practice to update all the necessary security updates, latest patches and system software update through Software update. 

If you are running an old version of Mac, then try to update it to the latest version, i.e. Mac OS X 10.10.

4. Uninstall all the unnecessary apps:

Once you update your system to the latest version, it is time to remove all the unnecessary apps that are not being used for a longer period of time. In most of the cases, uninstalling app is very simple, just drag and drop that particular app to the trash folder. 

We recommend you to use a professional uninstaller software like Stellar Speedup Mac which is completely free and helps you uninstalling the apps within minutes. 

It has a very good user-interface and some advanced options. If you are using one of those apps in order to remove unwanted software, also make sure you remove all their associated files as well.

5. Reclaim your system hard-drive space:

If you have follow and perform the above-mentioned steps, there are higher chances that your Mac will get cleaned from outside, and it is up to date with latest security updates. Also, you have got rid of all the useless applications installed on your system. 

Now, it is time to finish the outside cleaning part, and focus more on the inside part of the system in order to take back all the memory space, which is currently wasted by old images, videos, or any other files which you didn't know present on your system.

Stellar SpeedUp Mac is one of the professional and widely used software which will scan the complete hard drives and tell you which application is eating up how much memory and CPU resources. It also shows you all the necessary steps that you need to take in order to reclaim the hard drive space.

6. Do some system maintenance tasks and optimize it:

Up to here, you have cleaned up the mess from your Mac. Now, it is time to give your Mac a little bit TLC. Move to the Disk Utility and click on the “Verify Disk”. In most of the cases, it doesn't take too much time and if you see any error in the drive, click on the “Repair Disk”. 

It is beneficial for a Mac user to verify their disk every month in order to make sure you are missing any issue with your hard drive.

7. Take a backup of your Refreshed Mac:

After performing all the steps, your Mac will run smoothly and faster, than it was in past. Now, it is time to take a backup of the refreshed Mac. You can take the backup either using a software or by manually.

That’s all from our side. Usually, Mac doesn't take too much in the maintenance, but they can take some cleanup operations after a regular period of time. 

How to clean Macintosh HD and Boot Camp Windows?

Your Intel Mac is capable of running both OS X and Windows OS on the same hard drive. Once you configure Windows through Boot Camp assistance, you would be able to enjoy both OS through single hardware.

Do keep this in mind that, you need to clean up the hard drive in order to maintain free spaces for both the OS. Cleaning up the drive will include systematic removal of junk and unwanted files from the OS directory.

Below are some helpful tips for both the OS:

Files	OS X	Windows (Boot Camp)
Temp files	Run Maintenance Script on Mac in order to clean Temp, Log files. Here is how to run the script through terminal.  Launch Terminal and type: - ls -al /var/log/*.out  Hit Return  It will yield following script:          -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 467984 8 May 10:40 /var/log/daily.out          -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 1258 8 May 10:43 /var/log/monthly.out           -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 198378 8 May 10:43 /var/log/weekly.out The Daily script cleanup Temp & Log files from the OS X.	Launch ‘Run’ from Start and enter ‘temp’ in the dialogue box. Hit Enter. Temporary folder launches and shows pool of temp files. Select all and move them to Recycle Bin.
Caches	To clean Caches out from the Macintosh HD, you need to navigate through below path: Macintosh HD<<System<<Library<<Caches Once you are in Cache folder, select the cache files and move them to trash.	The process to remove Caches from Windows is same as mentioned above.  Use Run<<Temp to delete all caches files from the Windows system.
Uninstallation	To remove any unwanted application from Mac OS X, just drag & drop the App to Trash. OS X sends all app files & its associates to trash folder. This helps cleaning up the Mac disk drive in big way.	Use Control Panel<<ADD Remove Programs to uninstall any unwanted software from the boot camp partition.
Download Folder	Each and every download initiated on Mac OS X gets saved in Download folder. Due to user’s negligence, this download folder becomes cluttered to an extent where it eats up to few Gigabytes of memory. This shouldn’t be allowed. Clean the Download folder in order to save disk spaces.	On Windows partition, all downloads get into Download folder. Just clean this folder periodically to get free spaces on the hard drive (partition).
Clean Trash	Ask yourself!! Are you cleaning the Trashed files? If not then, do it immediately. Go to the Dock and right-click on Trash icon. Select Empty Trash to clean the trash folder.	Use Shift + Delete to permanently delete any files. If your Recycle Bin folder is flooded with deleted data, then please Empty Your Recycle Bin now.
Duplicate files	You aren’t aware but there are plenty of duplicate data residing on the hard drive. Identify such data on the drive and trash them instantly. Later, don’t forget to empty the Trash.	Windows users can find such files and delete them permanently through Shift+Delete.
Free Cleaner tool	Mac users can download and install Stellar Speedup Mac software to clean Junk files, duplicates, language files, trash files from the Macintosh HD. It cleans startup drive as well as non-bootable drives.	CCleaner is obvious choice to clean junk files, caches, temp, duplicate data from Windows OS.

Remember, your HFS partition and boot camp partition aren’t installed on separate drives. By installing both OS, the drive spaces itself gets divided into 2 partitions. Further, if both the partition keeps on accumulating junk files then performance of the Mac & Windows will surely decrease. But don’t panic since you know what to clean out from the drives in order to maintain sufficient free space.

Clean Mac disk drives with Speedup Mac software

Stellar Speedup Mac got a complete facelift from its previous v2.5. The new UI is crisp, friendly and software is more result oriented than before. This Speed up Mac utility helps organize your Macintosh HD. You can also organize files and folder of partitioned hard drive and external USB drives. 

Source: AskDaveTaylor.Com

Stellar Speedup Mac runs free scan to identify junk files and folders in order to clean up Mac. It’s best description is available below:

Free Download Now

• Caches cleaner – removes useless caches from OS X disk
• Duplicate file hunter – scans, locate and eliminate duplicate files from Macintosh HD. 
• Manages Leftover & Extensions – Clear leftovers of applications and smartly manages app extensions.
• Log file remover – Clear unwanted log reports from the disk drive.
• Language files – Keeps default language but removes unwanted language packs.
• Large files – Efficiently locates unused large files from the disk and prepare them for removal. 
• Uninstaller – Uninstaller removes useless apps, widgets, plugins from the HDD.
• Scheduler – Lineup cleaning of startup drive & other partitions on a convenient time.
• Filters – Applies user-defined filters to distill file search.
• Preview – Develop preview of each junk, unwanted, duplicate & large files for user’s evaluation.

Stellar Speedup Mac license trials:

1. Single License (Costs $35) – Allows a user to clean his/her Mac. 
2. Family License (Costs $50) – Allows cleaning & speeding of 3 Macs.
3. Tech License (Costs $99) – Allows cleaning & speeding of Multiple Macs.

OS X Support

OS X Support

• Yosemite
• Mavericks
• Mountain Lion
• Lion
• Snow Leopard
• Leopard

Submit your query: To make software inquiry, call at +1-877-778-6087. Or drop a mail at support[@]stellarinfo[.]com

How to Regain Hard Drive Space on Apple Mac?

Working with an organized Mac drive is completely time saving and yields better results. Everybody wants to clean up Mac drive from unwanted junks and duplicate data rather buying a brand new external drive. Most people have 128GB or 256GB flash drives to store the memorable events such as photographs, music, videos and games. They start using the drive upto the maximum level after keeping 30GB free space on hard drive. If the left free space on drive is less than a limit then OS X may start to slow down and will scramble for accessing the large files.

If you are in the spree of cleaning Mac drive then firstly, figure out the causes, eating up the disk space unnecessarily. Although Mac provides Activity Monitor to demonstrate the graphical representation of hard drive but freeing up the disk space manually by searching and removing the applications and support files is not as easy as it seems like copy-paste.

If you are thinking like others that 'where's the space gone on my Mac' then here are the few tips to clean up Mac and free up hard drive storage spaces.

• Free up Hard Drive Space by Emptying Trash

The first and the best way is to clear the Trash area by right clicking on the Trash icon from the dock. Click on the Empty Trash option from the pop-up window to remove the files, existing over there.

Trash icon in dock

• Free up Hard Drive Space by emptying iPhoto Trash

Although iPhoto has its own trash to keep the deleted photos. Open iPhoto and click on Trash from the left sidebar. Empty Trash option will be highlighted in the top right side and to allow the removal of photos from iPhoto Trash. Click OK.

iPhoto Trash

• Free up Hard Drive Space by emptying iTunes Files

iTunes application manages a lot of music files independently. Try to remove old iOS iTunes update files and reclaim lost gigabytes Mac HDD space. Generally, people select the apps, which needs to be deleted and press Delete key from the keyboard. Don't forget to empty the trash by clicking 'Move to Trash' button prompted after clicking and pressing CTRL button together.

message prompted after deleting iTunes

• Secure Empty Trash

If you want to delete a locked file then it will deny from moving to Trash folder. At this stage, you can use Secure Empty Trash option by right clicking on Trash icon and holding Command key. If you delete any item from here then it will be removed without taking care of its use by Mac OS X. you can choose this option by Finder menu tab.

secure empty trash

• Delete Large Applications & Files

Hard drive space can be regained by deleting large files that are not in use. The best place from where you can start your search is from Movies folder. Simply drag any unwanted item into the Trash. Once you moved these items to the trash. Don't forget to empty the Trash. You can sort the items by Size to view the apps taking so much drive space. Though it is time consuming activity but very worthy to obtain the unnecessary occupied disk space.

• Clean up Downloads Section

We download tones of applications and music files from App store and we hardly use twice or thrice in a quarter. Remove the bunch of stuff downloaded from the online stores, no longer needed. Moreover, if you are a frequent file exchanger via Email then In the Finder, choose Go -> Go To Folder, and then paste or type ~/Library/Mail Downloads—select everything in the folder that appears, and then move the lot to the Trash.

By and large, after following all the above tips, removal of unused video versions, unused iOS backups and update files and Syncing with Dropbox also make a huge difference in getting the hard drive space. Give it a try and feel the difference.