Did you know that your Mac has built-in tools for better productivity and performance? Apple Macs are popular for their smooth user experience and high quality hardware. In this guide, we’ll be looking at the various tips and tricks for every Mac user to take on.
1. How to clean up storage space
Perhaps you’re looking for more space to fit more files on your Mac, or you’ve got an alert that says “Startup disk full” or “You disk is almost full”. Either way, clearing your hard drive of unused files not only gives you more room to work with, it could also improve the performance of software and apps.
To do this, we’ll have to check out how much storage you have on your Mac’s hard disk. Go to About this Mac from the Apple menu, then click on “Storage”. There you’ll see a brief overview of how much storage you have, and what kind of files take up the most space. To look at how you can optimise your Mac’s storage, click “Manage”.
From the Recommendations tab, you should be able to find four options to manage and optimise your storage. These include, Store in iCloud, Optimize Storage, Empty Trash Automatically, and Reduce Clutter. All four of these methods could help with cleaning up some files and documents that hog up your hard disk.
Along with getting rid of files on your hard drive, you could also look into uninstalling apps that you don’t use anymore. Under the Applications window, go through the apps that you don’t need anymore and uninstall them. These apps take up space, and will rarely be of use anyway. Another thing is, because applications are installed on your OS, uninstalling them could make things easier for your Mac.
2. How to use Time Machine to back up your data
For personal data backups, most people are used to just dragging and dropping to their USB drives or external hard drives. Apple’s Time Machine is a more convenient and quick solution to creating regular backups to an external storage space. All you need is an external storage device, something like a USB or Thunderbolt drive should work. You could also use dedicated devices like AirPort Time Capsules.
To set up a Time Machine, connect the external storage and then you can choose whether you want to encrypt the backups. After you’ve selected a backup disk, Time Machine will begin to make regular backups automatically from time to time. You should be able to continue using your Mac as usual while these backups are underway. If you want to start a backup manually, you can click “Back Up Now” from the Time Machine menu. From this menu. You can also check on the status of a backup or skip an automatic backup.
3. How to check your Mac’s battery health
Unlike Windows devices, Apple Macs provide information on its battery health. This gives the user a better idea of when they should be replacing their MacBook laptop’s battery.
Laptop batteries are consumable parts that have an approximate lifespan of 2-4 years. Battery failures can also go awry pretty quickly, as the lithium-ion parts are quite volatile when malfunctioning. They can catch on fire, or explode. So with that said, it’s a good idea to catch these problems before they get dangerous.
To check your MacBook’s battery health, click on the battery icon on the menu bar. The status should read either: Normal, Service battery, Replace soon, or Replace now. You can also find a more detailed report from your MacBook’s System Report, under the Power tab. Information about the battery’s power capacity and charging cycles.
4. How to reinstall macOS
Sometimes you Mac might need a little refresher, or you want to reset it back to factory settings before selling it. You can do this by reinstalling macOS. Be sure to back up your data before doing this though, as reinstalling macOS will wipe out everything on the Mac.
To reinstall macOS, restart your Mac and hold Command + R at startup. You’ll reach macOS Utilities. Select “reinstall macOS”, then choose a language. The process will begin and your Mac will download and install the right version of macOS for you.
5. How to screenshot individual elements
The traditional way of screenshotting screen images on an Apple Mac is by holding these three keys: command, shift, 3. What if you want to screenshot individual elements without having to go through image editing and cropping what you need?
There is a way to do this, so you can screenshot elements like the menu bar, dock, or any open windows. Hold down command + shift + 4, then press and release the spacebar. Then you can click on the thing that you want.
6. How to use Apple Diagnostics
Apple Diagnostics is a handy tool that can help you find possible faults with your hardware. It’s helpful to run this maybe every few months, even if your Mac seems to be running normally. This way you might be able to catch problems earlier, before it starts to create bigger problems for you. Apple Diagnostics can test hardware like the hard drive, RAM, or battery.
Simply restart your Mac and press the D key when it turns on. Apple Diagnostics should run immediately after. If it finds any issues, it will report them along with an error reference code and support solutions.
Help with Apple Mac repair solutions
If you require any help with your Mac, you’d generally make an appointment at the Apple genius bar. But there are certain situations where you might not be able to get help. Your warranty might be expired, or that the problem is out of their reach.
That would bring you to a repair shop like us. At Safemode Computer Service, we are dedicated to providing the best Mac repair service in Sydney. Our experienced repair technicians can help you with any Mac issue, from logic board repairs to iMac screen replacements. Call us today to make an appointment at our Enmore store.
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