It’s no surprise that you own a Mac. They’re known as one of the most reliable computers on the market. However, that doesn’t mean they come without flaws and won’t suffer performance issues.
If you’re looking for Mac tips and tricks to improve your Mac experience, this post will help. Follow the seven Mac OS tips below to get a better experience with your Mac.
- Backup Your Data
You likely purchased a Mac computer because you heard they were reliable. That’s correct, but that doesn’t mean you won’t suffer from hardware failure in the future.
When this happens, you run the risk of losing all your computer files. You’ll suffer file loss if your computer hard drive fails. You can either pay a professional to potentially recover your files or take the loss and move on.
Luckily, this won’t happen if you correctly back up your system. Apple provides a cloud account to store your important photos and documents. Copy your essential data there, and you won’t need to worry as much about losing everything.
- Run Malware Scans
Apple products weren’t always as popular as they are today. Hackers primarily targeted Windows machines since it was the operating system for everyday use. Today, that’s not the case.
Macs are more popular than they have ever been, which means hackers are more likely to target Apple computers. As Macs continue rising in popularity, expect more malware to be created targeting these systems.
If you want to protect yourself, you’ll need an anti-malware software package. This software will scan any file copied to your system for problems. If a file looks like it can cause problems, it will go into quarantine until you delete it.
Of course, new malware is released all the time, and your malware definitions might get out of date at times. That’s why your malware program will regularly scan your computer to find any malware that made its way onto your system.
- Limit Your Startup Programs
If you’re like many people, you’re going to install many applications on your Mac over time. Unfortunately, this does come at a cost. If too many of your downloaded apps decide to start automatically when you boot your system, it will end up causing performance issues.
You need to clean up your startup program list to keep your boot speeds reasonable and your computer running fast. Only allow your most essential programs to start up when your computer boots.
Things like email, commonly used applications, and file folders are excellent choices for this. Anything you don’t use regularly can stay closed until you need to run them in the future.
- Monitor Your Hardware Health
Mac computers are known for their quality. While this is true when you first buy your hardware, that won’t last forever. Mac hardware will still fail over time, just like any other computer.
The problem comes when this happens unexpectedly. You don’t want to rely on your computer for work and get caught off guard with a hardware failure. There’s no telling what will be wrong, so you’ll need to get your device repaired or find another way to get things done.
That’s where the SMART tool comes into play. The SMART utility comes on all Mac devices and keeps watch over the health of your hardware. Regularly check it for problems, so you’re aware of any issues you need to take care of.
- Restart Your Computer
If you’re like many Mac owners, you don’t shut down your computer after you finish using it. You shut the laptop lid and walk away. While this is convenient and faster than booting your computer, it does cause problems if you don’t reboot for too long.
When you don’t properly close your applications and computer, your open applications will continue using your computer’s memory. Some apps like web browsers will keep eating up memory until your Mac has nothing left to give.
Your computer will suffer severe performance issues when this happens. One of the best tips to speed up Mac is to reboot it occasionally, so your memory is clear from unwanted programs.
- Reset Your NVRAM and PRAM
Are you experiencing issues with normal Mac functions not working correctly? These problems can be anything from your volume not working correctly to the wrong date and time displayed on your system clock. If so, you might have an issue with your RAM.
Your NVRAM and PRAM are what control much of this behavior. When your RAM is corrupted, it leads to unexpected system behavior and can make interacting with your Mac a hassle. Luckily, it isn’t tricky to reset your RAM.
Reboot your Mac and hold the option, command, p, and r keys together when booting. Don’t release those keys until you hear a beep. Once you hear the beep, your RAM is reset.
If you want more information on Mac RAM issues, visit https://setapp.com/how-to/reset-pram-nvram-and-smc-on-mac.
- Perform a Cleaning
Your software isn’t the only thing you need to maintain with your Mac. Your computer itself needs to be kept up if you want your Mac to perform correctly.
Dust causes problems with computer equipment. If there is dust inside the machine or blocking the fan exhaust, it can cause hot air to stay trapped inside the machine. Your computer will overheat when this happens.
You need to clean out the dust from time to time to stop this from happening. Desktop Macs aren’t challenging to take apart and clean. However, smaller laptop Mac devices will restrict you to keeping the exhaust and ports clean.
There Are More Mac Tips and Tricks Out There
Sure, you can use your Mac as is and not do anything to optimize your experience. However, there are plenty of Mac tips and tricks out there that will provide you a better experience. Find more Mac tips today to help you get the most from your Mac computer.
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