Admit it, your Mac desktop could use a cleaning up too. With the tips in this article you create order in the chaos and you can see that beautiful wallpaper again.
Clean up Mac desktop – 6 quick tips
Cleaning up your Mac desktop is one thing, but of course it’s a lot nicer if you manage to keep your desktop tidy consistently. In any case, these tips make that goal a lot more achievable.
1. Use folders and organize the chaos
This sounds very logical, but it really works. Teach yourself to use folders so that not only can you make your desktop more quiet, but you can also find all your files more easily. For example, create a separate folder for all your school and work-related matters, put all your movies in a movie folder and put your vacation photos in a folder that contains at least the year. This way you can still find those photos years later. You can then place these folders in the Documents tab of the Finder so that they no longer even appear on your desktop.
2. Sort icons
If you’d like to have some icons (such as folders) on your desktop, you can sort them very easily. This allows your Mac to neatly place them under each other on its own, so that your desktop looks a lot clearer in one fell swoop. You can also apply this trick in the Finder, in case the files are also mixed up there.
- Right click on your desktop.
- Choose Clean or Clean
- Here you can choose the order in which you want to clean up the files.
- All icons are now automatically put away neatly.
3. Adjust the display options of your desktop
By changing the display options, you can, for example, choose to place icons closer together or further apart. This menu is also intended to adjust the size of the icons.
- Right click on the desktop to open the finder.
- At the bottom of the menu, choose ‘Show display options’
- In the menu that now appears on the screen you can, among other things, adjust and shrink the icons.
4. Put the programs where they belong (and clean up your dock)
Everyone does download programs from time to time, but if you don’t pay attention, they will end up on your desktop. A bit unnecessary, of course, because you can just place it in your dock. That saves space, and you still have your favorite programs at hand. You can also easily drag programs into the Programs folder. Then you will quickly find them again later.
5. Hide hard and external drives
Some Mac owners prefer not to have icons on their desktop at all. However, if you attach an external hard drive to your Mac, you will see it just appear on your desktop. Hiding it will leave your desktop blank, and you can open it in the Finder as usual.
- Open the Finder on your desktop.
- Choose preferences to open a menu.
- Go to General and choose whether you want to show hard drives, external drives, CDs or connected servers on your desktop.
6. Save media in downloads
Another logical (but no less useful) tip is to learn that from now on you save files from the internet in the Downloads folder. This allows you to quickly glance at the list in this folder at the end of the day, and delete everything nine times out of ten. That’s how spacious you can tidy up your Mac desktop, and your desktop stays a bit emptier during the day.
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