Is there a way of cleaning your registry on mac?

As moodlie said, there's no Registry cleaner because the Mac has no Registry. Windows dumps files willy nilly when you install a program and the Registry keeps track of them - with very rare exceptions a Mac program is delivered totally into the program 'package'. It sounds like you are very new to the Mac world. I highly recommend a book by David Pogue called The Missing Manual - there's one for every version of the Mac OS and each one has a special version for Windows switchers which is what I linked to.

For the most part Mac maintenance is very simple - use TimeMachine to back up your computer (and if you are a belt and suspenders kind of person use a program like CarbonCopyCloner to make an additioinal backup) and the Mac pretty much takes care of itself with regularly scheduled behind the scenes clean up. Once every month or two I safe boot my computer (restart and hold the shift key until the Apple logo appears) to run the disk check program. That's about it.

How to maintain a Mac

1. Make redundant backups, keeping at least one off site at all times. One backup is not enough. Don’t back up your backups; make them independent of each other. Don’t rely completely on any single backup method, such as Time Machine. If you get an indication that a backup has failed, don't ignore it.

2. Keep your software up to date. In the Software Update preference pane, you can configure automatic notifications of updates to OS X and other Mac App Store products. Some third-party applications from other sources have a similar feature, if you don’t mind letting them phone home. Otherwise you have to check yourself on a regular basis. This is especially important for complex software that modifies the operating system, such as device drivers. Before installing any Apple update, you must check that all such modifications that you use are compatible.

3. Don't install crapware, such as “themes,” "haxies," “add-ons,” “toolbars,” “enhancers," “optimizers,” “accelerators,” "boosters," “extenders,” “cleaners,” "doctors," "tune-ups," “defragmenters,” “firewalls,” "barriers," “guardians,” “defenders,” “protectors,” most “plugins,” commercial "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, this stuff is useless, or worse than useless.

The more actively promoted the product, the more likely it is to be garbage. The most extreme example is the “MacKeeper” scam.

As a rule, the only software you should install is that which directly enables you to do the things you use a computer for — such as creating, communicating, and playing — and does not modify the way other software works. Use your computer; don't fuss with it.

Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.

The free anti-malware application ClamXav is not crap, and although it’s not routinely needed, it may be useful in some environments, such as a mixed Mac-Windows enterprise network.

4. Beware of trojans. A trojan is malicious software (“malware”) that the user is duped into installing voluntarily. Such attacks were rare on the Mac platform until sometime in 2011, but are now increasingly common, and increasingly dangerous.

There is some built-in protection against downloading malware, but you can’t rely on it — the attackers are always at least one day ahead of the defense. You can’t rely on third-party protection either. What you can rely on is common-sense awareness — not paranoia, which only makes you more vulnerable.

Never install software from an untrustworthy or unknown source. If in doubt, do some research. Any website that prompts you to install a “codec” or “plugin” that comes from the same site, or an unknown site, is untrustworthy. Software with a corporate brand, such as Adobe Flash Player, must be acquired directly from the developer. No intermediary is acceptable, and don’t trust links unless you know how to parse them. Any file that is automatically downloaded from a web page without your having requested it should go straight into the Trash. A website that claims you have a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with your computer, is rogue.

In OS X 10.7.5 or later, downloaded applications and Installer packages that have not been digitally signed by a developer registered with Apple are blocked from loading by default. The block can be overridden, but think carefully before you do so.

Because of recurring security issues in Java, it’s best to disable it in your web browsers, if it’s installed. Few websites have Java content nowadays, so you won’t be missing much. This action is mandatory if you’re running any version of OS X older than 10.6.8 with the latest Java update. Note: Java has nothing to do with JavaScript, despite the similar names. Don't install Java unless you're sure you need it. Most people don't.

5. Don't fill up your boot volume. A common mistake is adding more and more large files to your home folder until you start to get warnings that you're out of space, which may be followed in short order by a boot failure. This is more prone to happen on the newer Macs that come with an internal SSD instead of the traditional hard drive. The drive can be very nearly full before you become aware of the problem. While it's not true that you should or must keep any particular percentage of space free, you should monitor your storage consumption and make sure you're not in immediate danger of using it up. According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of free space on the startup volume for normal operation.

If storage space is running low, use a tool such as the free application OmniDiskSweeperto explore your volume and find out what's taking up the most space. Move rarely-used large files to secondary storage.

6. Relax, don’t do it. Besides the above, no routine maintenance is necessary or beneficial for the vast majority of users; specifically not “cleaning caches,” “zapping the PRAM,” "resetting the SMC," “rebuilding the directory,” "defragmenting the drive," “running periodic scripts,” “dumping logs,” "deleting temp files," “scanning for viruses,” "purging memory," "checking for bad blocks," "testing the hardware," or “repairing permissions.” Such measures are either completely pointless or are useful only for solving problems, not for prevention.

The very height of futility is running an expensive third-party application called “Disk Warrior” when nothing is wrong, or even when something is wrong and you have backups, which you must have. Disk Warrior is a data-salvage tool, not a maintenance tool, and you will never need it if your backups are adequate. Don’t waste money on it or anything like it.

There isn't really a "registry" as such on a Mac. And I'm not sure a "Registry Cleaner" on a Windows PC sounds like a good idea anyway. At best, a waste of time, at worst, malware.

Are you a recent new Mac user, coming from a Windows world?

Outside of the mac os built in maintenance utilities, I would recommend Onyx if you are looking a program comparable to something like 'CCleaner' for windows-incidentally, CCleaner exists for MAC, but I would not recommend using it. Onyx is third party, but compatible with ML and highly reputable.

IMHO I strongly recommend against Onyx for someone that is just starting with OS X. It is so powerful that it is extremely easy for the new user to get over his head without even realizing it until it is too late.

Allan

Onyx is a great program in the hands of someone who knows what s/he is doing. But in the hands of a newb havoc is often the result and I've had the misfortune of telling many a Mac user that their sick computer was self inflicted...and then fix it for them.

I used to work the triage desk at an Apple reseller and 'I was cleaning up my Mac' or 'I was trying to make it faster' were two sentences that made me cringe. We give a DVD of shareware with the purchase of every new computer and I convinced the owner to remove a couple of utiities from it because they were too dangerous in new hands.

studentmac33, are you having some sort of trouble with your Mac?

The reason for asking is that the one thing you should never do is to run some magical "clean-up" program, because doing so is almost 100% certain to make things worse. An overwhelming majority of problems discussed on this site are the self-inflicted results of using such utilities.

There are few similarities between Windows PCs and Macs and their differences are only becoming greater.

If you suspect something's not right with your Mac, describe its symptoms in as much detail as you are able to, and someone will be able to provide helpful suggestions.

The very height of futility is running an expensive third-party application called “Disk Warrior” when nothing is wrong, or even when something is wrong and you have backups, which you must have. Disk Warrior is a data-salvage tool, not a maintenance tool, and you will never need it if your backups are adequate. Don’t waste money on it or anything like it.

I agree wholeheartedly with your recommendations up to, but not including your final one. You are most certainly entitled to your opinion, but I beg to differ with you on DiskWarrior. This may be splitting hairs over the definiton of data recovery. Data Rescue fits my understanding of a data salvage tool. DW and its compttitors, TechTool Pro and Drive Genius, are industrial strength volume maintenance and repair tools capable of repairing volume structure damage that Disk Utility will not even attempt. The need for such tools is not as great as it once was due to improved stability in more recent versions of OS X but these tools are capable of detecting and except in the case of physical drive failure correcting volume structure damage before it can get out of hand. A good backup is essential, but when you are backing up to a failing HD or the Time Machine Sparse Image Bundle volume structure has become corrupted your backups are usless. I do not use DW, TTP or DG every day but I do use a tool that automaticaly checks the S.M.A.R.T. status, the volume structure of all my drives and rusn a surface scan at frequent intervals. Perhaps overkill, but I have had too many drive failures over the years to take chances.

A good backup is essential, but when you are backing up to a failing HD or the Time Machine Sparse Image Bundle volume structure has become corrupted your backups are usless.

Not if you have redundant backups, which are essential as I wrote above. All backup devices will eventually fail. "Disk Warrior" is a complete waste of money for anyone who has adequate backups.

LOL - I posted and between my start and finish there you were with the same basic message😁

The suggestion of Onyx on this thread just scared the day lights out of me seeing as the OP still thought that OS X had Registry.

In this case I thought Onyx was the last thing he needed.

Allan

Great point, John.

I had sort of forgotten the orignal post in this thread having come in late.

I hope that he replies back in answer to your request for information about his possible problems.

Allan

No you don't.

I have never cleaned my registry on any Windows machine I have ever had in 18 years.

Never suffered slow downs.

The rules Linc Davis posted also go for windows.