As the year comes to a close, Mac users should take these steps to ensure their device's security, performance and organization.
Here are the year-end steps you should take to ensure your Mac is ready for 2024.
After ensuring your Mac's files are properly backed up, confirm the Mac itself is operating properly.
Using an Apple silicon Mac, run Apple Diagnostics by pressing and holding the Mac's power button until you see the Options icon display on screen, then release the power button and press and hold both the Command and D keys.
Figure A. Throughout the year, it's easy to get distracted and put off installing a Mac's system updates.
These performance enhancements, software fixes and security patches help your Apple desktop or laptop run more reliably and securely, so ensure you check the Mac's Software Update status at year end and then monthly after that.
To check for and install Mac updates, click the Apple icon from the Mac's menu bar, select System Settings, then click General.
Click the Software Update option, which will display more information regarding the Mac's installed system version and provide an opportunity to download any available updates.
Over time, various software programs and packages often get installed on your Mac; for instance, you might download a program to test its features or load an application and use it once.
Year end is an opportune time to review the applications installed on your Mac and remove those you no longer need.
Uninstall unnecessary apps either by deleting them from the Mac's Applications folder or by using a third-party uninstaller app such as Pocket Bits' App Uninstaller that better deletes programs by also cleaning various associated leftover detritus, too.
Just as it's important to download and install system updates on your Mac, you should perform the same step for your software programs.
Year end is also a great time to review the programs and services that automatically load whenever you start your Mac.
In the last step, I recommended checking to ensure your Mac's antivirus scans haven't reported issues, incidents or errors.
As part of your year-end maintenance routine, be sure your Mac's antimalware application is actually set to occasionally run a full system scan, too.
Over time, these files can consume surprising disk space and slow your Mac's performance.
Figure C. Figure D. Just as unnecessary applications and junk files naturally accumulate on a Mac, so do unnecessary files you purposefully create and download. Some such files, whether high-resolution images, videos or similar, can consume large amounts of space.
Figure E. GrandPerspective is a third-party utility that helps quickly identify large files stored on a Mac to assist managing and archiving data.
The end of the year is a smart time to tidy up the folder structures on your Mac and ensure files stored in incorrect directories - including your Desktop and Downloads folder but also the root directories of your Documents and iCloud directories - are moved to more appropriate permanent locations.
While the previous steps all focused on addressing issues with the Mac's contents, don't underestimate the importance of physically cleaning your Mac.
This Cyber News was published on www.techrepublic.com. Publication date: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 16:43:05 +0000