How to clean up your MacBook Air

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac

EtreCheck

The best thing to do is to avoid installing malware to begin with, assuming that's what happened. To learn how to do that please read How to install adware and Effective defenses against malware and other threats.

Never install any product that claims to "clean up", "speed up", "optimize", "boost" or "accelerate" your Mac; to "wash" it, "tune" it, or to make it "shiny". Those claims are absurd.

• Such products are very aggressively marketed. They are all scams.

Don't use Google to find some magical cure-all to what's ailing your Mac. That is the first step in a well-worn path to misery. Provide more information so that others can understand what's wrong. Please read Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question.

Hello John,

You really need to update that "How to install adware" User Tip. You state "I have no idea how it came to be associated with the specific adware discussed in this document, nor is there any reason to believe its developer has agreed to that relationship." But the developer says, "MPlayerX will start to utilize the installer to fulfil monetization. I knew it may bring many negative comments, but honestly it is the best way to keep the developer motivated. For anyone who cares about this, please check the installer and make sure only install MPX, then it should be no difference with the old way." The Mac App Store version is old and is little more than a clever way to have Apple advertise the adware:

Furthermore, MPlayerX, and many other installers, use advanced tracking technology to determine whether you are a savvy user or a newbie. Only people who appear vulnerable get the adware delivery. So you can't even reliably download something like MPlayerX to test it yourself. I have recommended that people install MPlayerX directly from the developer and they were infected with all kinds of scam ware and adware, literally minutes after I downloaded and tested the installer. And the person I was helping in that situation was a very advanced user.

This site is filled with misinformation telling people they can outsmart these professional con artists and handle malware and adware on their own. Some people can, but most people cannot. That does not mean they are stupid or that they deserve what they get. It means they aren't UNIX experts, and there is nothing wrong with that. They are simply scam victims who need help. They come to Apple Support Communities looking for help, and just get scammed again.

Hopefully you will get a notification for this. I didn't want to post it as a comment on your User Tip because I don't think those ever go away.

How to maintain a Mac

Make two or more backups of all your files

One backup is not enough to be safe. A copy of a backup doesn't count as another backup; all backups must be made directly from the original data.

Keep at least one backup off site at all times in case of disaster. Backing up to a cloud-data service is one way to meet this need, but don't rely exclusively on such backups.

In fact, don’t rely on any single backup method, such as Time Machine.

If you get an indication that a backup has failed, don't ignore it.

Keep your software up to date

In the App Store or Software Update preference pane (depending on the OS version), 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.

Keeping up to date is especially important for complex software that modifies the operating system, such as device drivers. Don't install such modifications unless they're absolutely necessary. Remove them when they are no longer needed. Before installing any Apple update, you must check that all system modifications that you use are compatible. Incompatibility with third-party software is by far the most common cause of difficulties with system updates.

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,” "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, such stuff is useless or worse than useless. Above all, avoid any software that purports to change the look and feel of the user interface.

It's not much of an exaggeration to say that the whole "utility" software industry for the Mac is a fraud on consumers. The most extreme examples are the "CleanMyMac," "TuneUpMyMac," and “MacKeeper” scams, but there are many others.

As a rule, you should avoid software that changes the way other software works. Plugins for Photoshop and similar programs are an obvious exception to this rule. The Mac App Store has extensions for the Photos app, and perhaps others, that should be safe. Safari extensions, and perhaps the equivalent for other web browsers, are a partial exception. Most are safe, and they're easy to get rid of if they don't work. Some may cause the browser to crash or otherwise malfunction. Some are malicious. Use with caution, and install only well-known extensions from relatively trustworthy sources, such as the Safari Extensions Gallery.

Only install software that is useful to you, not (as you imagine) to the computer. For example, a word processor is useful for writing. A video editor is useful for making movies. A game is useful for fun. But a "cache cleaner" isn't useful for anything. You didn't buy a computer so you could clean caches.

Never install any third-party software unless you know how to uninstall it. Otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve. Do not rely on "utilities" such as "AppCleaner" and the like that purport to remove software.

Don't install bad, conflicting, or unnecessary fonts

Whenever you install new fonts, use the validation feature of the built-in Font Book application to make sure the fonts aren't defective and don't conflict with each other or with others that you already have. See the built-in help and this support article for instructions.

Deactivate or remove fonts that you don't really need to speed up application launching.

Avoid malware

"Malware" is malicious software that circulates on the Internet. This kind of attack on OS X was once so rare that it was hardly a concern, but it's now increasingly common and dangerous.

There is some built-in protection against 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 "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" products for 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 that doesn't come from the Mac App Store, such as Adobe Flash Player, must come directly from the developer's website. No intermediary is acceptable, and don’t trust links unless you know how to parse them. Any file that is automatically downloaded from the web, without your having requested it, should go straight into the Trash. A web page that tells you that your computer has a “virus,” or that anything else is wrong with it, is a scam.

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.

Don't fill up your disk or SSD

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 startup 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 use 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 OmniDiskSweeperto explore the volume and find out what's taking up the most space. Move seldom-used large files to secondary storage.

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. Permission repair is not even possible in OS X 10.11 ("El Capitan") or later.

To use a Mac effectively, you have to free yourself from the Windows mindset that every computer needs regular downtime for maintenance such as "defragging" and "registry cleaning." Those concepts do not apply to the Mac platform.

A well-designed computing device is not something you should have to think about much. It should be an almost transparent medium through which you communicate, work, and play. If you want a machine that needs a lot of attention just to keep going, use a PC, or collect antique cars.

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.

Linc Davis wrote:

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,” "virus scanners,” "disk tools," or "utilities." With very few exceptions, such stuff is useless or worse than useless. Above all, avoid any software that purports to change the look and feel of the user interface.

It's not much of an exaggeration to say that the whole "utility" software industry for the Mac is a fraud on consumers. The most extreme examples are the "CleanMyMac," "TuneUpMyMac," and “MacKeeper” scams, but there are many others.

Hello Linc,

Like John Galt's User Tip, your boilerplate needs some updates too. While I complete agree with most of those categories, calling the entire "utility" category bad is gross overkill. There are many useful and time-saving utilities. Even OS X El Capitan itself is considered a "utility" program in the Mac App Store.

Software that doesn't come from the Mac App Store, such as Adobe Flash Player, must come directly from the developer's website.

Adobe Flash has been a persistent security risk for years. Steve Jobs famously abandoned it years ago. The Chief Security Officer at Facebook has publicly called on Adobe to discontinue it (https://twitter.com/alexstamos/status/620306643360706561?lang=en). If someone must use Flash, they should also use ClickToFlash (http://hoyois.github.io/safariextensions/clicktoplugin/), which is definitely a "utility".

The Mac App Store is no longer a guaranteed safe recommendation. It is better, but not perfect. If you read my post to John Galt above, you will see that even relying on direct downloads from a developer's website is not even safe anymore. Users still need to verify that a download is safe. And, as I pointed out above, it may not even be possible for any particular user to verify that a download is safe. It may be safe for one person, but not someone else, depending on their web tracking signature. The safest method of verification is a consensus of recommendations or reviews. Any individual reviewer or poster on an internet discussion forum could be a shill for the developer, but it is very unlikely that everyone is.

Don't fill up your disk or SSD

According to Apple documentation, you need at least 9 GB of free space on the startup volume for normal operation.

This is the primary reason for my reply. Please stop citing that document. It is obsolete. That is why Apple added that big red note at the top of the document that reads:

This article has been archived and is no longer updated by Apple.

(Note: the boldface and red colour are Apple's emphasis, not mine). That document is just a poor copy-and-paste job from an old 10.8 Mountain Lion document. Your "9 GB" is take out of context. Here is the full sentence, "If you have just installed OS X v10.8, make sure your Mac has at least 1 GB of memory and 9 GB of available disk space." Even you tell people that 4 GB memory is a minimum for modern versions of OS X. A modern machine with 4 or 8 GB RAM could consume 9 GB of free disk space in nanoseconds. If you wanted to increase that minimum by a factor of four, like you have done with memory, then I would agree that 36 GB is the bare minimum free space necessary on the startup volume for normal operation.

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

Wait, isn't OmniDiskSweeper a utility? 🙂

In case you're confused, my comment above is not in need of updating or correction.

Update: No, I'm mistaken. The comment does need to be updated. Current Apple documentation says that you need at least 8 GB of available space, not 9 GB as I wrote earlier.

OS X El Capitan: If you see a gray screen at startup

Linc Davis wrote:

I'm mistaken.

Well, I guess I will have to take what I can get then. 🙂

But seriously, you can't go through life parroting official documents without stopping to consider what they really mean and what is best for people's experience when using their Macs. Apple is clearly referring to the ability to download, extract, and run the installer. That is why another support document gives precise requirements of 8.8 GB and OS X 10.6.8 or later already installed. (OS X El Capitan - Technical Specifications)

The amount of disk space people need to run OS X depends on their usage, not some arbitrary value sufficient only to run the installer. One of the most common complaints we get is slow machines. Apple explicitly lists low disk space as a potential cause of a slow machine (OS X El Capitan: If your Mac runs slowly). That is an official Apple support document. Are you going to accept that as gospel? Or do you demand more evidence? How about this Apple technical support document explaining what happens when get disk space gets below the "mythological" thresholds of 20% and 10%? (OS X El Capitan: About local snapshots)

I know how difficult it is for you to update your copy-and-paste boilerplate as new facts come to light. But as long as you are making edits, how about making an edit that is guaranteed to be safer and guaranteed to result in a better experience across the widest range of machines, especially the older machines that people typically complain about here on ASC. Just refer to Apple's official, published free space thresholds of 10% and 20% and everyone benefits.

Thanks for your comments etresoft. I sincerely appreciate them, and for having brought your concerns to my attention.

I chose the words in that Conclusion with great care, and I would caution that no one make any attempt into reading something that isn't there. What it means is exactly, precisely what I wrote, and nothing more. There is no reason to repeat it here, but I'll explain the reasons for it:

• I have no way to determine what the example program developer's motivations are, nor do I care. I have no idea why anyone would even want "MPlayerX", and again I don't care. There is an overwhelming amount of garbage software available for the Mac. In fact, it's probably not an exaggeration to say that most software is garbage, yet there appear to be a great many Mac users actively seeking – practically begging – to infest their Macs with it. I offer no explanation for that, but judging from the number of complaints on this site it certainly seems to be a popular pastime. So is watching TV. I don't understand that either, but I certainly do not deny its popularity.
• One can assume MPLayerX's developer wants to make money, and the "monetization" aspect you alluded to supports that, but the exact method by which its developer derives that benefit is not disclosed. The relationship may be with any number of the adware creators or distributors in the User Tip, or others, or none. Those relationships can change at any time. It has no bearing on the fact it's the end user providing that compensation, through clickthrough revenue, affiliate marketing, or however that benefit is derived.
• The reason for choosing MPlayerX is that I needed to cite an example, and it remains a popular one. It is not my intent to single it out as some prime example of junk. There are plenty of others.
• It's important for the reader to understand that any program available through an Internet download (e.g. not obtained through the MAS) can be effectively hijacked and bundled with garbage designed for no purpose other than to derive the benefits described above. I believe that has even happened with EtreCheck. Long time users of this site routinely post links to those dubious sources, and have done so even recently. For someone who ought to know better to post a link to some dubious download aggregator site when you host legitimate software on your website makes me suspect a beneficial relationship with those sites, in blatant violation of this site's Terms, but that is not a concern I am interested in pursuing. That's up to you.
• It's essential that the reader understands the implications of the "terms of use" and other agreements that accompany various garbage software. As odious as adware may be, I have yet to encounter an example that did not do exactly what it says it's going to do. The Mac remains a very open platform, and if people insist upon installing garbage on them, they should be free to do so with full knowledge of what they are getting themselves into. Adware creators provide that in their TOU, poorly written though they may be (which should be a clue in itself). However, Mac users come here with problems to be solved, so it is probably worthwhile explaining to them just how they got themselves into trouble.
• As you know the MPlayerX app can be obtained from the MAS. It can certainly contain advertising, and the developer might ignominiously exploit the MAS page to direct the user to an adware-infested "free" Internet version, but the point is that the MAS version cannot affect a user's Mac the same way an open Internet download will.
• You'll also note I wrote it's "freely available" which does not mean it's "free", because it isn't. It doesn't demand a bunch of incomprehensible "terms and conditions" either.

This site is filled with misinformation telling people they can outsmart these professional con artists and handle malware and adware on their own. Some people can, but most people cannot. That does not mean they are stupid or that they deserve what they get. It means they aren't UNIX experts, and there is nothing wrong with that. They are simply scam victims who need help. They come to Apple Support Communities looking for help, and just get scammed again.

I understand that, and it is a primary reason for having written that User Tip: unsophisticated Mac users will be exploited, scammed mercilessly and repeatedly, until they educate themselves and learn how not to be scammed.

I'll sum that up in the following phrase: Stupid ought to hurt.

Pain is a remarkably effective motivator, but I most certainly do not want Mac users to get hurt — even if it's the result of their own ignorance. I hope that document helps them avoid pain, in whatever small way it can. It is my hope they'll become just a little bit smarter, and a little less dependent on me, you, or anyone else.

Hello again John,

I am in complete agreement.

But I do think it is worth elaborating on MPlayerX. We all tend to harp on the handful of bad actors, even to the point of lumping all "utilities" into the rotten bucket. But it really is just a handful of apps and web sites that cause the vast majority of the problems. I would prefer that we single out just those bad actors or, even better, make a point to recommend and promote the honest people. There are actually way more of them around. They just don't have the funding to blanket the internet with ads for their products like the bad guys do.

MPlayerX is a Mac version of the open-source MPlayer. Its claim to fame is that it will play any video known. Especially on the PC side, there is practically a unique codec for every no-name PC camera in the world. People buy these cheap cameras and want to see the videos on their Mac. But QuickTime Player won't play them. Neither will VLC. MPlayer to the rescue. To be honest, much of MPlayer's prowess comes from a blatant disregard of patent and copyright law. That incident I mentioned above was someone who had purchased a security camera that had a built-in web interface. But he couldn't see the videos on his Mac.

The actual MPlayer project (http://www.mplayerhq.hu/) is a true old-school open-source project. The only official distribution is in source code form. In theory, anyone could download MPlayer and make their own MPlayerX, but it isn't quite as easy as that. For one thing, it is based on ffmpeg, which is a real pain to build, even on Linux. The last time I built ffmpeg was in 2014 I think and I had to modify the source to build on a vanilla Linux box. Then you have to write a Mac interface. The MPlayer project links to a handful of officially supported binaries for each platform, and MPlayerX is not on that list. Instead, it links to MPlayer OSX Extended (http://mplayerosx.ch/). Personally, I don't like to recommend that site either because it has big "Download Now" ads that, again, just download adware. You have to carefully read through the text to find the actual download site. And if you don't know what GitHub is, or even if you do, you might not notice it.

Not only is the developer distributing adware in a bundled open-source project, he is even in blatant violation of the GNU open source license. But since only Mac users are getting hurt, the Free Software Foundation doesn't care. This also puts the developer in blatant violation of Apple's Mac App Store Developer terms of use too. But I guess Apple doesn't care about that either. On one hand I kind of want to start a KickStarter project to make my own legal, adware-free version of MPlayer. But then there is the problem that MPlayer itself isn't quite legal. So, if anyone absolutely must post a link to MPlayer, the only safe link to use is a deep link to the MPlayer OSX Extender zip file - https://github.com/sttz/MPlayer-OSX-Extended/releases/download/rev15/MPlayer-OSX -Extended_rev15.zip