[10 Ways] How to Clean Up Your Mac to Make It Run Faster

Is your Mac running slower than before? Wondering how to make it as good as new? Look no further. In this blog, we'll walk you through the 10 best ways to clean up and optimize your Mac.

Let's get started.

How to Quickly Clean Up Your Mac

We know how tedious and time-consuming it can be to clean up your Mac manually. But thanks to third-party Mac cleaners like BuhoCleaner, now you can clean and optimize your Mac with just a few clicks.

BuhoCleaner is one of the best Mac cleaning and optimization software. It runs faster than other competitors. Some of its notable features are system junk file cleaning, unwanted app uninstallation, duplicate and large file removal, and startup program management. In addition, it supports more than 10 languages, including English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, etc.

Here's how to clean and speed up your Mac with BuhoCleaner:

1. Download and install BuhoCleaner on your Mac.
2. Launch it, select the Flash Clean option and click on the Scan button.
3. If you trust its Smart Selection, click the Remove button directly. If not, click the View Details button to select the files you want to delete manually.
4. Navigate to other features and clean up your Mac thoroughly.

How to Manually Clean Up Your Mac

If you're a seasoned Mac user, you can clean up your Mac manually. Here are 9 ways you can try.

Optimize Mac Storage

As time goes by, more and more files accumulate on your Mac, taking up a lot of storage space. But don't worry, Mac has built-in optimization tools that allow you to optimize your storage space automatically.

1. Click the Apple icon in the menu bar and select About this Mac.
2. Click on the Storage tab, and you can check the usage of your storage.
3. Click the Manage button above the storage bar to open the Storage Management window.
4. Follow the 4 optimization recommendations on the window to optimize your storage space.

Clean Cache Files

Caches are temporary files that speed things up on your Mac. They can accumulate and eat up your space if you don't clean them often. Common caches include system cache, application cache, and browser cache.

You can clear them one by one manually or let BuhoCleaner scan and delete them for you quickly. Either way will help you clear your cache and free up some storage space.

Also Read: How to Clear Cache Files on a Mac

Delete Unused Apps

Another tip for cleaning up your Mac is to delete the apps you don't use. They take up your space for nothing. Therefore, it is a good idea to remove them completely from your Mac.

There are two ways to uninstall unnecessary applications. One is to drag them to the Trash, and the other is to use an application uninstaller like BuhoCleaner. We prefer the latter because it completely deletes the application and its related files. The former only removes the application itself, and the related files of the application still reside on your hard drive. We also have an article about How to Remove Leftovers on Mac.

Here's how to delete apps you don't use with BuhoCleaner:

1. Download the free version of BuhoCleaner and install it on your Mac.
2. Launch it and click the App Uninstall tab.
3. Click the scan button, and it will find all the apps uninstalled on your Mac.
4. Find the apps you want to get rid of, select them and click the Remove button.

Clear Download Folder

You might be surprised how many useless files are in your Download folder. Clearing them can help you reclaim some storage space.

You can go to Finder and delete them manually. Or you can use a third-party finder tool, such as BuhoCleaner, to clean them up for you automatically. The former is time-consuming and suitable for experienced Mac users, while the latter is super easy and novice-friendly. We recommend you to use the latter. Click here to download it for free.

Remove Old iOS Backups

Deleting iOS backups is also a good way to clean up your Mac. There are 3 ways to clean them up.

1. For macOS versions before 10.15, you can go to iTunes > Preferences > Devices > Delete Backups.

2. For macOS 10.15 and later, use Finder to delete iOS backups.

   Open Finder, find your iPhone in the sidebar, click the Manage Backups button, and then delete the backups you no longer need.

   

3. You can also go to Finder to manually find all iPhone and iPad backups.

   On a Finder window, press Shift + Command + G keys to open the Go To Folder window. Enter the path: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/, click the Return key, and remove the backups you don't need to the Trash.

   

Disable Login Items

Login items are programs that automatically open when you log into your Mac. They're supposed to make your work on the Mac more efficient. But the windows they open can also be frustrating for you. Follow the steps below to stop unwanted applications from opening on startup.

1. Click the Apple menu > System Preferences > Users and Groups > Login Items.
2. Highlight the apps you do not want to launch when you log into your Mac.
3. Unlock the padlock and click the Minus button below the list.

Declutter Your Desktop

If you constantly put files, photos and screenshots on your desktop, chances are your Mac will look cluttered. And a cluttered desktop can not only bore you, but it can also make it harder to find your files.

The Mac has long thought of this problem. It has a handy tool built in that keeps your files neatly organized in groups. All you have to do is click anywhere on your desktop and choose Use Stacks.

Empty the Trash

The last and most important one is to empty your Trash. Why? Because we usually just move files to the Trash without cleaning them out of the Trash, and they still stay on your hard drive. Why not take a second to clean it up and then free up a lot of free disk space?

Update Your macOS

Updating your macOS can help you fix some problems with Mac and may make your Mac run faster.

If you downloaded the latest macOS version but didn't install it, it could take up a lot of your storage space. You'd better update your macOS now.

Related Article: Mac Won't Update? 8 Best Tips to Fix It

Conclusion

That's all for how to clean up and optimize your Mac in 10 ways. After trying these methods, your Mac will look neat and run faster than before.

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