Clean off the Crap, and make your Mac merry

As a huge Mac nerd, I tend to collect a lot of crap on my system. I’m constantly installing applications, downloading video, and moving things around. After about six months of non-stop clutter, I can’t take it anymore. I’ll go through and wipe as much crud off of my system as humanly possible. I just did a cleaning recently, so I’ll give you a few tips to make your Mac feel more organized.

Firstly, hard disk space is always at a premium. No matter how big your drive is, you’ll always end up filling it eventually. Sometimes I am at a complete loss for words when I see how much space I’m taking up. I’ve found the best way to find big files is by visualizing your hard drive. There is a great application called Disk Inventory X that will scan your entire hard drive, and then display a graphic that lays out all of your files. The disk hogs will become apparent immediately.

Secondly, desktops get messy very quickly. While you’re taking the time to cleanse your Mac, you might as well file away those documents you have flung about your desktop. Hey, if there is stuff that you don’t need, feel free to trash it. Truth be told, I take a perverse pleasure in trashing old projects.

Thirdly, clear off all of that crap on your dock. Little by little, a million apps will find their way onto my dock throughout the year. Do yourself a favor, and trim out all the icons you don’t use daily. It will make everything look much more tidy.

Lastly, go into the System Preferences. Go to the Accounts preference pane, and then click the Login Items tab. Skim through all of these applications that auto-launch when you login. If there are things you don’t use anymore, toss those suckers. You might just see better performance.

In sum, it is very important to take some time to tidy up your Mac every once in a while. It makes your experience substantially better. So, do you have any tips for cleansing your Mac? Comment on this post, or you can hit me up on Twitter.

Photo Credit: orphanjones

Grant is a writer from Delaware. In his spare time, Grant maintains a personal blog, hosts The Weekly Roar, hosts Quadcast, and writes for video games.