Form good habits for a cleaner Mac

1 Don’t dump on desktop

It’s tempting to drop everything on to the desktop and tidy it… eventually. But you never do. Keep the desktop clear; use it to house a single current project, or as a temporary place to sort files.

2‘ Downloads Zero’

You’ve probably heard of Inbox Zero – the idea of dealing with every email by the end of each day. Try and do the same with downloads. File anything you want to keep, and then get rid of the files, folders and installers you no longer need.

3 Minimise new app installs

There are loads of great apps for the Mac, but you don’t need all of them. Figure out those that help you be most efficient and/or you most enjoy, and scrap everything else. There’s no point in cluttering your Mac with apps you’re never going to use.

4 Avoid duplication

Many documents have their proper place – they don’t need two. For example, say you download music from Bandcamp and drop it into iTunes; assuming you If you allow iTunes to organise your media, you can delete the originals from your downloads. allow iTunes to organise your media (copy it to its library folder), you no longer need the originals in Downloads.

5 Sensibly name items

Cruft sometimes appears over time because you don’t know what – or where – documents are. Figure out useful naming and filing conventions and stick to them. You’ll be more likely to find and use things you’ve previously saved.

6 Consider gamification

If you find it tricky to get good habits going, gamify them. Momentum Habit Tracker (Free, Mac App Store) gives you three free ‘habits’ you can track, one of which can be a daily attempt to keep your Mac free from cruft.