Even if the Mac platform is optimized very well, as you use your device, the performance will not be the best. And that’s why you have to wonder, what apps can you use to optimize your Mac effectively, and how can they help you? Here’s a list to consider, and one that you can use to eliminate a lot of potential issues that could arise.
Update your Mac OS and apps
The reason you want to do that is because Apple and developers release a lot of updates all the time. In this case, the best thing that you can do is to update your apps and Mac OS as often as you can. Check and see if you need to make any updates, as they could provide security improvements, new features and many great things.
Additionally, even a simple restart can help. If your device has not been shut down for a while, its performance might falter. In that case, it makes a lot of sense to do a simple restart. If you have any issues, most likely a quick restart will do the trick just fine.
Use the native cleaning tools
You can enter the System Settings/General/Storage, and here you can find recommendations. You will know what should be deleted and what stuff isn’t exactly necessary. All of it will help quite a bit, and it’s totally something to consider here. With that in mind, you can also delete various apps you are not using as well. The more you do that, the better it will be. Just make sure that you adapt everything accordingly and focus on cleaning your mac as often as you can.
Start using a Mac cleanup tool
Using apps to optimize Mac can be a great idea as well. Mac cleanup tools are very good because you can use them often, and they speed up your device in no time. Plus, they can also identify any signs of malware and anything of that nature. It’s why it can be a great idea to check these out, and the results can be nothing short of staggering.
Perform an upgrade
It also makes sense to physically upgrade your Mac as well. That means adding an SSD instead of a regular hard drive, that will speed things up quite a lot. You can also add more RAM. These might seem like rather simple improvements, but it does help quite a lot to make such changes. You will see that the device runs much smoother, and you can optimize your workflow a lot better.
Optimize the System Preferences
There are a few things you can do, including:
- Choose what apps open up with your Mac, these are login items and could add some strain to your overall device’s performance.
- Reduce transparency and motion, these effects can be challenging for older Macs in particular. Go to Accessibility/Display and here you can reduce transparency and motion.
- You can also disable Spotlight suggestions and even disable Siri as well, if you want. These things can add a bit of boost to your device.
- It also helps if you clear the cache files as well. A good rule of thumb is to go to Library/Caches and there you want to delete folders/files related to old applications.
Close any unused browser tabs
You want to do that because it will allow you to save some of the system’s resources. And while it doesn’t seem like a lot, it does provide great results and it will make it easier for your Mac to run smoother.
Find alternatives to the apps you’re currently using
The idea here is to find simpler, less resource-heavy apps than the ones you are currently using. In fact, using Safari instead of Chrome can be a better idea. You can also use Preview to see PDF files instead of Adobe Reader. If you start making such replacements, it’s easier to handle, and you will find results to be a whole lot better. You should also consider solving any startup problems that you might be dealing with.
Also, check the Activity Monitor. See what consumes a lot of processor and memory. These simple things matter, because you can start finding alternatives to those apps. Or you can just stop them when you don’t need those. Otherwise, they might stay in the background and eat a lot of your resources, which is not great.
Final Thoughts
These tips and ideas are great if you want to optimize your Mac quickly and without a problem. We all want to squeeze every tiny bit of performance from our Mac, but the truth is that sometimes it can be difficult to do so. Thankfully, these tips are very effective and they will make it easy to manage your Mac’s resources!
Priya Mervana
Verified Web Security Experts
Priya Mervana is working at SSLInsights.com as a web security expert with over 10 years of experience writing about encryption, SSL certificates, and online privacy. She aims to make complex security topics easily understandable for everyday internet users.