Clear out, clean up and detox

Get your marigolds on for a deep delve into your Mac

For those using a metered backup service, the more data you back up the more you might have to pay – but even if you’re just backing up to an external drive it makes sense to get rid of any unwanted files, apps and media from your Mac. And, happily, doing that makes your Mac leaner and meaner and your stuff so much easier to find.

If you do a lot of work with music, video or images you’ll find you can clear up huge amounts of storage by getting rid of redundant files. It’s worth getting into a routine to minimise how much redundant data or media you leave behind. For example, when we complete a Logic Pro project, we use Select Unused in the Bin to locate and then erase the files we didn’t end up using.

Make sure you already have a backup before following the steps on the opposite page. That way if you accidentally remove something you didn’t mean to, you can get it back again. And if you’re using a system-level app such as OnyX, make sure you get the correct version for the macOS on your Mac; there are different versions for different macOS generations.