Apple Intelligence now features Image Playground, Genmoji, Writing Tools enhancements, seamless support for ChatGPT, and visual intelligence.

Apple Intelligence has also begun language expansion with localized English support for Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K. Learn more >

You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

How to improve speed performance, clear cache, free up space, detect threats, etc.

I have been reading past and present forms about how to go about "cleaning up my mac" and the biggest question is whether or not to use third party applications/software?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.1

Posted on Dec 29, 2021 8:12 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 29, 2021 8:59 PM

Antivirus applications tend to corrupt iOS and MacOS instead of fix. A member of the "senior staff" of the user-helpers wrote EtreCheck (https://etrecheck.com) that finds many issues regarding speed, memory usage, space usage, potential virus-like issues, etc. Also Malwarebytes for Mac (https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038479294-Download-and-install-Malwarebytes-for-Mac) which is not invasive like Norton.


But mostly items like:


  1. Do not browse to questionable sites
  2. Do not let "friends" install their favorite "hack"
  3. Keep the MacOS up-to-date to get latest security patches
  4. "Keep it between the lines" common sense
1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 29, 2021 8:59 PM in response to Rp_2692

Antivirus applications tend to corrupt iOS and MacOS instead of fix. A member of the "senior staff" of the user-helpers wrote EtreCheck (https://etrecheck.com) that finds many issues regarding speed, memory usage, space usage, potential virus-like issues, etc. Also Malwarebytes for Mac (https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360038479294-Download-and-install-Malwarebytes-for-Mac) which is not invasive like Norton.


But mostly items like:


  1. Do not browse to questionable sites
  2. Do not let "friends" install their favorite "hack"
  3. Keep the MacOS up-to-date to get latest security patches
  4. "Keep it between the lines" common sense

How to improve speed performance, clear cache, free up space, detect threats, etc.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.