Clean/Speed my iMac

[cmichel]

Hi,

I have a 2020 iMac, 5k, 27inches, 202Ghz Intel Core i5 and I would like to know what is the best way to clean/speed and upkeep my iMac.

I try as much as possible to stay away from the "clean my mac" app.

I have already cleaned the Caches and Cookies folders in my library,

Thank you,

 

[throAU]

Hi,

I have a 2020 iMac, 5k, 27inches, 202Ghz Intel Core i5 and I would like to know what is the best way to clean/speed and upkeep my iMac.

I try as much as possible to stay away from the "clean my mac" app.

I have already cleaned the Caches and Cookies folders in my library,

Thank you,

You shouldn't need to do anything really.

Keep free space, if you fill the storage completely it will make the machine work harder to find free space, but other than that... try not to install too much crap that runs in the background.

I've never used any clean my Mac stuff in 15+ years. These aren't windows machines.

Is there anything in particular you think needs to be gone? Otherwise most of the "cleaning" and cache clearing stuff is just snake oil.

 

[cmichel]

You shouldn't need to do anything really.

Keep free space, if you fill the storage completely it will make the machine work harder to find free space, but other than that... try not to install too much crap that runs in the background.

I've never used any clean my Mac stuff in 15+ years. These aren't windows machines.

Is there anything in particular you think needs to be gone? Otherwise most of the "cleaning" and cache clearing stuff is just snake oil.

Hi, Thank you very much for your answer.

I have free space since I use iCloud, more convenient when at work. I rarely install apps/background crap on my iMac. About Cache clearing, it was a recommendation from an Apple adviser a few years ago, that's why I tend to do it from time to time,

 

[Fishrrman]

Does this have an SSD inside?

If so, could you run a drive speed test utility (such as the free BlackMagic Speed Test) and post the results here?

Also, how much RAM is installed?

 

[cmichel]

Does this have an SSD inside?

If so, could you run a drive speed test utility (such as the free BlackMagic Speed Test) and post the results here?

Also, how much RAM is installed?

Hi,

Yes, there's an SSD 1To with 32 Go RAM

 

[cmichel]

Does this have an SSD inside?

If so, could you run a drive speed test utility (such as the free BlackMagic Speed Test) and post the results here?

Also, how much RAM is installed?

Here you go

 

[casperes1996]

Polishing cloth is good for cleaning. If it has nano texture refer to the manual for cleaning that. Keep the vent and room clean to minimize dust going into the machine. If you really want to go all in, disassemble it, clean the insides of dust and repaste the chips.

That’s the best way of keeping it clean and fast

 

[AL2TEACH]

best way to clean/speed and upkeep my iMac.

I use Onyx, EtreCheck and sometimes eh CleanMyMac X lol.

Titanium Software | Operating System Utilities for Mac - OnyX

OnyX is a multifunction utility that you can use to verify the startup disk and the structure of its system files; run cleaning and computer maintenance tasks; configure some hidden parameters of many Apple applications; and more.

titanium-software.fr

EtreCheck

etrecheck.com

Both do different things and I've been using these for many years

 

[Fishrrman]

Re reply 6 above:

Read speeds of 2335MBps ... and you're worried?

About... what...?

Just use it. It's fine.

 

[throAU]

About Cache clearing, it was a recommendation from an Apple adviser a few years ago, that's why I tend to do it from time to time,

I've never cleared caches in 15 years. If there's nothing screwy with the machine.... don't mess with it

 

[cmichel]

Re reply 6 above:

Read speeds of 2335MBps ... and you're worried?

About... what...?

Just use it. It's fine.

Thank you

 

[cmichel]

I've never cleared caches in 15 years. If there's nothing screwy with the machine.... don't mess with it

I’ll do that ! Thanks

 

[JustAnExpat]

Your machine is fine, and should last about 5 to 7 more years, or thereabouts. Keep on using it.

 

[cmichel]

Your machine is fine, and should last about 5 to 7 more years, or thereabouts. Keep on using it.

Thanks, well I work everyday with it and a few things intrigued me.

In particular, there are these lyric & history windows that slide open staggering in iTunes/music app. Seems strange.

There is also that Finder window that is frozen at start up.

 

[smirking]

I've never cleared caches in 15 years. If there's nothing screwy with the machine.... don't mess with it

Caches haven't been a problem for me, but I have discovered huge log file dumps or auto-generated backup archives I didn't know about before. Every so often, I use Omni Disk Sweeper to help me drill down through my filesystem one level at a time to find stuff that's been building up.

I found around 300GB worth of mail log files one time. No wonder Mail was running a bit slow all the time. I turned on connection logging to troubleshoot a mail server error one time and forgot to turn it off. A year later, that set of log files had ballooned to almost 300GB.

Note to OP, manual purges like this aren't for the faint of heart, but if you know what you're doing or you're desperate enough, give it a go. Otherwise, the only file system maintenance I'd ever recommend is the easy stuff you can do by going into System Preferences > General > Storage.