How to Clean Up a Hard Drive on Mac OSX

Mac OS X is the tenth generation of operating systems developed by Apple. Although Mac OS X is generally considered to be faster, smoother and simpler than Windows, it still requires the occasional maintenance to keep it running at top performance. Files and applications will take up space on your hard drive, which will eventually cause your computer to run slower. Basically, the more space you use up on your hard drive, the slower it will run. Once a Mac OS X hard drive is near capacity, it needs to be cleaned up.

Things You'll Need

• External hard drive, flash drive or CD/DVD (optional)
• Disk cleanup software (optional)

Instructions

1. Back up your files to an external hard drive, flash drive or CD/DVD. Before you begin deleting files on your hard drive, it's a good idea to make a back-up copy in case you accidentally delete something you need.

2. Uninstall applications you no longer use. To uninstall an application from your Mac OS X, click "Finder," go to your "Applications" folder, then drag and drop unwanted applications into the "Trash" bin.

3. Drag and drop other files and documents you no longer need into the Trash.

4. Empty the Trash. Right-click on the Trash icon in the Dock, and select "Empty Trash." This permanently delete file in the Trash.

5. Run a disk cleanup program. Monolingual and Cocktail (see Resources) are both applications that will scan your Mac OS X hard drive for any folders that aren't being used and erase them.

References

• Apple: Mac OS X
• Mac Rumors: Uninstalling Applications in Mac OS X
• Dummies: How to Delete Files and Folders on a Mac

Resources

• Sourceforge: Monolingual
• Maintain: Cocktail