how can i clean my mac from junk files?

If your Mac is running slowly, you should address that slowness problem directly, rather than assuming (as pop-ups keep telling you) that the slowness is caused by junk files. In general, junk files (if you even have any) have nothing to do with slowness, they just take up space and do nothing at all to make your Mac slow.

Download and run this little "discovery" Utility, written by a senior contributor on the forums. It does not install ANY extensions or anything. "share" its report to the Clipboard, then paste the clipboard to a reply on the forums for readers to analyze and provide advice:

User Tip: Using Etrecheck

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What makes you believe they are junk files? I collect all these files in a "junk" folder and ignore them.

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Be careful when deleting files. A lot of people have trashed their system when deleting things.

Place things in trash. Reboot & run your applications. Empty trash.

Go after large files that you have created & know what they are. Do not delete small files that are in a folder you do not know what the folder is for. Anything that is less than a megabyte is a small file these days.

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Empty the trash. Space isn't reclaimed until you empty the trash in three places!

The trash can...

-- in the dock

-- for iPhoto

-- with Mail

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Run

OmniDiskSweeper

"The simple, fast way to save disk space"

OmniDiskSweeper is now free!

http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidisksweeper/download/

This will give you a list of files and folders sorted by size. Go after things you know that are big.

To see all files, you need to logon to each user on your system and run OmniDiskSweeper.

I would guess the "junk" lies inside your home folder. Unless it is in the "Library" folder (hidden for safety), just drag it to the trash and empty it. It would be safer though to ensure that the files and/or folders (along with their contents) you want to dispose of are actually useless.

I cannot give you any meaningful advice on how to get rid of "junk" files on your Mac. I can however pass along some information from the EXPERTS on this site. First, never download and install an app such as "CleanMyMac" or any apps that profess to clean your Mac of unwanted files. It will probably come down to some labourious work on your part. However, the apps I referred to above can and probably will slowdown your Mac, since they scan the Mac for such files, which can use valuable CPU time and utilities.

Second, and very important. DO NOT download and install any sort of AntiVirus software for your Mac. The Mac can take care of itself quite nicely and the so-called AntiVitus apps are basically a scam.

I'm sure you will receive further replies that agree with what I have written, and with any luck, perhaps a helpful answer to your first question.

Gary