Posts Tagged: clean

How to clean and organize your Mac

The longer you use anything — your Mac included — the more cluttered it gets. One solution is to simply upgrade to a new machine, but the more economical (and environmentally-friendly) move is to make what you have work better. To help your computer feel like new, or at least cleaner and less chaotic, we put together this guide with techniques and useful apps that have helped us maintain a more civilized computer. From a physical cleaning to a hard drive spruce-up and tab management ideas, here’s how to clean and organize your Mac.

How to clean your Mac’s screen and body

While there are a lot of products you can buy that are specially made to help you with cleaning your computer, I’ve found the simplest approach works best — and it’s the one Apple recommends. To start, all you’ll need is some water in a spray bottle and a clean microfiber cloth. You can use either regular or distilled water. The advantage of the latter is that it’s far less likely to leave any residue on your Mac, particularly on the display. You can buy distilled water at a grocery store or make it yourself with some simple cookware. Either way, it’s more affordable than dedicated cleaning solutions and more versatile. If you don’t already own any microfiber cloths, Amazon sells affordable 24-packs you can get for about $ 14.

Two other products I’ve found that can make the job easier are Whoosh screen cleaner and a Giottos Rocket Blower. I can’t say enough good things about the latter. It will save you from buying expensive and wasteful cans of compressed air.

As for the process of cleaning your Mac, the most important tip to remember is to start with a clean cloth (that’s part of the reason we recommend buying them in bulk). You’ll save yourself time and frustration this way. Begin by turning off your computer and unplugging it. If you went out and bought a Rocket Blower, use it now to remove any dust. If not, take a dry microfiber cloth and go over your computer. Take special care around the keys, particularly if you own a Mac with a butterfly keyboard.

Next, dampen one side of your cleaning cloth with either water or Whoosh. Never spray any liquid directly on your computer. You’ll have more control this way and you’ll avoid getting any moisture into your Mac’s internals. I always clean the display first since the last thing I want to do is create more work for myself by transferring dirt from some other part of my computer to the screen. The last step is to buff and polish your computer with the dry side of the cloth. Be gentle here as you don’t want to scratch the screen or any other part of That’s it. Your Mac should be looking clean again.

How to organize your hard drive

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

One of the hardest parts of cleaning your Mac’s hard drive is knowing where to start. After all, most of us have apps on our computers we don’t even remember installing in the first place. Thankfully, macOS comes with a tool to help you with that exact issue.

Navigate to System Settings > General > Storage. Here you’ll find a tool that separates your storage into broad categories like Applications, Documents, Music, Photos and so on. Double click on an item in the list, such as Applications, to see the last time you used a program, as well as how much space it’s taking up. You can delete the apps from the same window.

The section dedicated to applications is particularly helpful since you can see the last time you used a program, as well as if it’s no longer supported by the operating system or if it’s outdated thanks to a more recent release.

AppCleaner
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

You don’t need me to tell you to uninstall programs you don’t use, but what you might not know is that there’s a better way to erase them than simply dragging them to the trash can. A free program called AppCleaner will help you track down any files and folders that would get left behind if you were just to delete an application.

After deleting any apps you don’t need, move to the Documents section. The name is somewhat misleading here since you’ll find more than just text files and excel spreadsheets. Documents, in this case, turns out to be the tool’s catch-all term for a variety of files, including ones that take up a large amount of space. You can also safely delete any DMGs (disc image files with the extension .dmg) for which you’ve installed the related app. The other sections in the storage space are self-explanatory. The only other thing I’ll mention is if you’ve been using an iPhone for a while, there’s a good chance you’ll have old iOS backups stored on your computer. You can safely delete those too.

CleanMyMac X
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

By this point, your hard drive should be in pretty good shape. If you want to take some additional steps to clean it, there are dedicated apps that can help. I like one called CleanMyMac X. It goes for $ 40 per year, and will save you the time and trouble of doing everything I mentioned above (and then some) on your own. It also doubles as a malware removal tool.

Tips and tricks for keeping a neat Desktop and Finder

Bartender
Igor Bonifacic

Let’s start with the menu bar. It may not technically be part of the desktop, but a tidy one can go a long way toward making everything else look less cluttered. My recommendation here is to download a $ 16 app called Bartender. At first glance, it’s a simple program allowing you to hide unwanted menu bar items behind a three dots icon. However, the strength of Bartender is that you get a lot of customization options. For example, you can set a trigger that will automatically move the battery status icon out from hiding when your computer isn’t connected to a power outlet.

While we’re on the subject of the menu bar, take a second to navigate to System Settings > General > Login Items and look at all the apps that launch when you boot up your system. You can speed up your system by paring down this list to only the programs you use frequently.

When it comes to the desktop itself, the best advice is less is more. Nothing will make your computer look like a cluttered mess more than a busy desktop. Folders and stacks can help, but, for most people, I suspect part of the problem is they use their desktop as a way to quickly and easily find files that are important to them.

If you’ve ever struggled to find a specific file or folder on your computer, try using your Mac’s tagging capabilities instead. Start by opening the Finder Settings menu (“command” + “,”) and click the “Tags” tab. You can use the default ones provided by macOS or make your own. Either way, drag the ones you think you’ll use most often to the favorites areas at the bottom of the preferences window. This will make it so that they’re easily accessible when you want to use them. To append a tag to a file or folder, click on it while holding the ctrl key and select the one you want from the dropdown menu. You can also tag a file while working on it within an app. Keep in mind you can apply multiple tags to a single file or folder. You can even apply them to applications.

macOS tagging
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

What makes tags so useful in macOS is that they can appear in the sidebar of the Finder and are easily searchable either directly through the Finder or using Siri. As long as you have a system for organizing your files, even a simple one, you’ll find it easier to keep track of them. As one example, I like to apply an Engadget tag to any files related to my work. I’ll add an “Important” tag if it’s something that’s critical and I want to find quickly.

One tool that can help supercharge your Finder experience is Alfred. It’s effectively a more powerful version of Apple’s Spotlight feature. Among other things, you can use Alfred to find and launch apps quickly. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but once you get a hang of it, Alfred will change how you use your Mac for the better.

How to organize your windows and tabs

Magnet
Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

If you’ve used both macOS and Windows 10, you’ll know that Apple’s operating system doesn’t come with the best window management tools. You can click and hold on the green full-screen button to tile a window to either the left or right side of your screen, but that’s about it and the feature has always felt less precise than its Windows counterpart.

My suggestion is to download an app that replicates Windows 10’s snapping feature. You have several competing options that more or less offer the same functionality. My go-to is an $ 5 program called Magnet. If you want a free alternative, check out Rectangle. Another option is BetterSnapTool, which offers more functionality than Magnet but doesn’t have as clean of an interface. All three apps give you far more ways to configure your windows than what you get through the built-in tool in macOS. They also come with shortcut support, which means you can quickly set up your windows and get to work.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-clean-your-mac-macbook-cleaning-supplies-digital-organization-153007592.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

How to reset your iPhone, restart it, and wipe it clean

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How to clean your AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPod Max

White earbuds aren’t exactly the easiest to keep clean all the time. Here, we outline the best way to clean your AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max safely.
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[Black Friday Deal] Save $80 on the Litter-Robot 3 Connect Clean bundle and never scoop again

Let’s rip the band-aid off right here and say that waking up in the morning and walking past the whiffy litter box that had only been cleaned the night before is not the best life you dreamed of when you were a kid. If you own a cat that spends even a modicum of time […]

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Trending on YouTube: Sustainable Fashion, Living and Clean Beauty

In celebration of Earth Day, we’re spotlighting some of the many creators who help the planet shine a little brighter every day. Here are six who are leading the trends around sustainable fashion, living and clean beauty today.

Sustainable Fashion

Many people are beginning to take a closer look at what they’re wearing these days – not just to make sure that their look is on trend but to examine its potential impact on the environment. Sustainable fashion haul videos have increased by over 1,300% this year! As shoppers are looking to fill their closets in different ways, they’re turning to YouTubers to help figure out how.

Justine Leconte is a French fashion designer who’s become a leading voice in the growing trend of sustainable fashion. Her channel gives viewers tips on how to shop for sustainable fashion and how to build a sustainable wardrobe on a budget. Justine has over 500,000 subscribers, 40% of whom subscribed just last year.

Since 2018, we’ve seen a 13x view increase on sustainable haul videos, and creators are uploading these types of videos 190% more every year. In a vintage twist, UCLA film student Ashley has found an audience of more than one million subscribers with a thrifting-focused channel called Bestdressed.

Fun fact: She currently has the most-viewed “sustainable haul” video.

Sustainable Lifestyles

Sustainable culture isn’t just about looking good; it’s also about living thoughtfully in all facets of life. From minimalists to tiny homes, van living to the zero waste community, sustainable lifestyles are on the rise at YouTube. Views for videos that provide tips for living a more eco-friendly lifestyle doubled in 2018 compared to 2017.

One of the creators driving this trend is Canadian Candace Hutchings and her channel the Edgy Veg. Now with over 300K subscribers, she’s introduced to her audience a revolutionary new way to approach vegetarian and vegan cuisine, as well as shown the benefits of zero-waste living.

Fun fact: Her video with 20 tips on how to reduce waste is the most-watched video about sustainable living last year.

Meanwhile, Austin-based creator Shelby is a self-described eco-realist who uses her channel Shelbizleee to showcase “zero-waste swaps.” She gives helpful everyday tips on how to replace our most commonly used items with sustainable options to lead a less wasteful lifestyle.

And other channels on YouTube (#Vanlife and #TinyHome) go even bigger than daily zero-waste tips to a complete overhaul of how we think about our homes.

Over 400K subscribers follow the adventures of Jinti Fell as the Australian family travels across the world in a van. The channel exemplifies the tiny home/van life ethos, a movement dedicated to reducing one’s footprint economically and materially to the bare minimum one needs to live.

Clean Beauty

Beauty creators and viewers are also looking to cleaner and healthier alternatives for their go-to beauty products. There’s a lot to unpack given there’s no global standard: the EU has banned 1,328 chemicals from cosmetics, but in the U.S., it’s only 11. Still, last October we saw a 7x increase in monthly views of videos with Clean Beauty in the title.

One creator in this space to watch is Allana Davison, a beauty and lifestyle vlogger with over half a million subscribers. She’s dedicated videos on how to do a full face using purely 100% clean beauty products.

Allana and all the other YouTubers forging ahead in sustainability have not only found a way to minimize their own environmental impact, but they’ve also inspired others to do the same. Mother and entrepreneur Krystn Keller was already a fan of clean beauty when grappling with how to help her son Elliot, who suffered from severe eczema over his entire body. His skin condition was debilitating to the point where he missed developmental milestones. Determined to find a solution, she began watching soap-making tutorials on YouTube (i.e. The Soap Queen) and learned how to make her own soap. After several months of trial and error, she found the perfect formula that not only helped her son, but also inspired her to create her own business, Keller Works. She now sells clean soap products in stores across her home state of Alabama and online.

Whether it’s a tiny swap or a big life change, we can look to YouTubers across the world to motivate us, teach us, and guide us on our way to a more sustainable life.

Posted by Earnest Pettie who recently watched Lil Dicky – Earth (Official Music Video)


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[TA Deals] Clean up your inbox with this discounted Mailbird Pro lifetime subscription

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Ask Engadget: What’s the best way to clean my touchscreen?

The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fac…
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[Sponsored] Clean Master: Five years strong and growing with version 6.0

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San Francisco train service plans to run solely on clean energy

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Nuclear battery could turn hazardous waste into lasting clean energy

Could nuclear waste be made great again by being used to generate electricity in a nuclear-powered battery? Researchers at the U.K.’s University of Bristol certainly think so — and they’ve created a battery to prove it.

The post Nuclear battery could turn hazardous waste into lasting clean energy appeared first on Digital Trends.

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These graphene-based nanobots suck up lead contamination to clean our oceans

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Keep those touchscreens squeaky clean with these simple methods

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The post Keep those touchscreens squeaky clean with these simple methods appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile | Digital Trends