speedUpYourMac - version 1.0

Lessons and scripts to clean up and speed up your Mac OS. Nothing new to see here, but useful.

Usage:

speedUpMyMac -1234567adlvh

-1 speed up terminal : move ASL and plist files to DeskDrawer trash (dated)
-2 declutter mac Desktop : move Mac Desktop contents to DeskDrawer (dated)
-3 declutter mac Downloads : move Mac downloads to DeskDrawer (dated)
-4 declutter mac trash : move Mac trash contents to DeskDrawer trash (dated)
-5 declutter Caches :  move Mac Caches contents to DeskDrawer trash (dated)
-6 Free up RAM
-7 Reindex Spotlight
-a All / Auto : Run all previous steps.
-d Get disk space used by current directory.
-l Loop over sub-directories in current directory, and get disk space used by each.
-v View DeskDrawer in Finder

Quick install :

git clone https://github.com/JohnUrban/speedUpYourMac.git
cd speedUpYourMac
export PATH=${PWD}:${PATH}

It should not be necessary to change permissions, but if needed:

chmod u+x speedUpMyMac
chmod u+x bin/*

Quick Start :

For the impatient and brave:

speedUpMyMac -a

General Notes:

• Use speedUpMyMac -a to do all steps (except emptying trash) in one step.
• All wrap-over scripts that move files to trash, move it to ~/Documents/DeskDrawer/speedUpMyMac/trash, not ~/.trash
• Use speedUpMyMac -0 to finalize those operations.
• DeskTop clean-up moves all DeskTop items to ~/Documents/DeskDrawer/Desktop/date
• Downloads clean-up moves all Downloads items to ~/Documents/DeskDrawer/Downloads/date
• Mac Trash clean-up moves all Mac Trash items to ~/Documents/DeskDrawer/trash/mactrash/date

What can be done by speedUpYourMac ?

• Speed up Terminal by cleaning out files that slow it down
• Empty Mac Trash (moves it to same trash dir as all else in this program)
• Move contents in Downloads to dated folder in DeskDrawer to be optionally cleaned out, deleted later
• Reduce desktop clutter
• Empty Library caches (also removes lots of browsing data)
  • Some people recommend this.
  • Others say it will actually slow the computer down, although that may be temporary.
  • It is safe, so you can try it, but you can also opt out.
• Free up RAM
• Reindex spotlight
• Identify directories with large files

Scripts

• speedUpMyMac
  • wraps over all other scripts
  • other scripts can be used directly or accessed by speedUpMyMac scriptname
  • Use speedUpMyMac auto to do all steps (including emptying trash) in one step.
• speedUpMyTerminal
• freeUpMyRAM
• cleanUpMyCaches
• declutterMyDesktop
• rebuildSpotlightIndex
• diskUsageThisDirAndAllSubDir
• diskUsageThisDirAndAllSubDirLoop
• declutterMacDownloads
• declutterMacTrash
• emptyMyTrash
• viewDeskDrawer

Helper scripts

• dirIsCluttered
• dirIsEmpty
• moveToDeskDrawer

Possible future helpers:

• Help remove Apps entirely by finding associated files (not just the App in the Applications folder)
• Help compress files (gzip) and directory structures into zips, or gzipped tarballs

What can be done to speed up your Mac more generally ?

These scripts only do a subset of things you can do to improve your aging Mac's performance. See the following link for more help:

• https://macpaw.com/how-to/speed-up-mac

Overall, to speed up your Mac, you can:

• Shut down programs/Apps you're not using (e.g. don't infinitely keep Word open)
• Reduce desktop clutter
• Empty trash (rm -r ~/.trash/* )
• Empty Downloads (rm -r ~/Downloads/* ) -- move important stuff out of it first.
• Empty caches
• Use activity monitor (or Terminal) to find and kill memory-hungry and/or CPU-intensive processes
• Remove start-up programs in System Preferences --> Users & Groups --> Login Items
• Turn off viz fx @ System Preferences > Dock (uncheck "Animate opening applications", "Automatically hide", "Show the Dock")
• Delete browser add-ons / extensions you dont want, need, or use (E.g. Chrome Preferences --> Extensions)
  • Also: Clear all your browsing data (e.g. Chrome Preferences --> Clear browsing data ; check all from all time)
• Reindex spotlight: System Preferences > Spotlight --> Privacy --> "+" --> add your HD --> then remove it with "-"
  • Or terminal: sudo mdutil -E /
• Limit spotlight indexing: if you have an external hard drive that is always attached, Spotlight may be trying to index it all the time, which can be resource-heavy and slow.
  • This was completely unnecessary for me when the connected hard drive was just a CarbonCopyCloner clone back up of my Mac.
  • Just add that to list of things Spotlight shouldn't search.
  • System Preferences > Spotlight --> Privacy --> "+" --> add your HD --> then remove it with "-"
• Uninstall unused Apps (see below for more details)
• Clean up HD/SSD storage drive (Caches, logs, apps, widgets, hidden trash, large and old files)
  • Move large unused files (movies, music, etc) to an external storage drive
  • Compress rarely used large files and/or directories into gzipped tarballs.
• Update Mac OS software (or hardware if have money to do so)
• Try creating a new profile and using that to "start over" since it won't have tons of unfound clutter, caches, logs, etc.
• Free up RAM (sudo purge, memory clean app, or this script)
• Reset SMC (turn off, hold Shift+Control+Option+PowerButton for 10 sec, disconnect battery if possible, hold power button for 5 seconds, reconnect battery, turn on or reset PRAM as below )
• Reset PRAM (turn off, press power button and immediately hold cmd+opt+P+R, continue holding as computer starts, eventually release keys, may hear a chime)
• Replace hard drive with solid state drive

Uninstalling programs/Apps on Macs

• Kill all App-related processes in Activity Monitor
• Move App in to trash
  • Drag icon from Finder Applications folder to Trash
  • Or delete App.app in /Applications/
• Remove localized baggage from the program
  • Go through each folder in ~/Library to identify where the App left its feces, and clean it out
  • Examples:
  • ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/
  • ~/Library/Application\ Support/
  • ~/Library/Caches
  • ~/Library/Containers/
  • ~/Library/Cookies/
  • ~/Library/Group\ Conainters/
  • ~/Library/Launch\ Agents/
  • ~/Library/Logs/
  • ~/Library/Preferences
  • ~/Library/SyncedPreferences/
  • ~/Library/WebKit
• Remove global baggage left by the program
  • Examples (3rd party, non-apple/non-system apps can be deleted. Be careful though.)
  • /Library/Application\ Support/
  • /Library/Launch\ Agents/
  • /Library/Launch\ Daemons/
  • /Library/Logs/
  • /Library/Preferences/
  • /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/
  • /Library/Receipts/
  • /Library/ScriptingAdditions/
  • /Library/StartupItems/
• Perform cmd+spacebar Spotlight search for any leftover program files
• Hidden files and kernel extensions may still be a problem
  • In termal, make sure to do ls -a.
  • In finder, make sure to do cmd+shift+dot(.) to show hidden files (and to reverse it).
  • Kernel extensions are found in /System/Library/Extensions and end with the extension .kext
    • However, deleting them may be dangerous.
    • Research it first.
    • Clone your HD/SSD to another one using CCC.
    • Then delete.

Deeper Explanations of each script

Speed up Terminal

Online help from following links:

• http://osxdaily.com/2014/04/30/speed-up-terminal-app-mac-osx/
• https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1982140?tstart=0

Problems:

• Terminal may open up or get ready upon opening slowly.
• The same may happen with new Terminal tabs.
• Tab completion may be slow.
• Copy/pasting text in Terminal may cause freezing/slowing.

Solutions:

• Move .asl files located in /private/var/log/asl/ to trash
• Move Terminal plist file to trash
• Empty trash when you feel comfortable.

sudo mv /private/var/log/asl/*asl ~/.trash/

mv ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Terminal.plist ~/.trash/

OR use the wrap-over here:

speedUpMyTerminal