Tune-up a MacOS Device

This article is...

	Show some love to your Mac by giving it a tune-up OR visit the help desk and we’re happy to help you out!
	Intended for Employees, Students and Parents
	Categorized under Things Google Can Tell You
	Maintained by Rob Shin
	in need of review.

General Maintenance Tips

• Perform Time Machine backups to prevent data loss
• Upgrade the operating system to the latest version
• Keep your software up-to-date in the App Store and elsewhere
• Reboot the machine regularly (once per week is good)
• Delete stale wireless preferred networks in Network Preferences. NOTE: If you use iCloud Keychain, any wireless networks you have connected to, on any Apple device also connected to iCloud Keychain, will appear in the list of preferred networks.
• Zap the PRAM (also called NVRAM)
  • Reboot, then hold command-option-P-R until you hear the chime twice
• Boot into Safe Mode by holding Shift during the startup chime
  • This will clear the Mac's cache files; just log in (twice if you have FileVault turned on), and then restart once more
• Install anti-virus software (we use Sophos at RCS)
• Review the Trash and empty it
• Review contents of Downloads folder and delete files that you don't need
• NOTE: You're also welcome to open a ticket and we can assist you with a performance tune-up!

Browser Fixes

• Chrome Task Manager - like the Activity Monitor, but for Chrome (if you use Chrome)
• Check browser extensions / add-ons: Running a lot of them can slow down your browsing
• Clear your browser (especially Chrome): history, cache, passwords - these things can dramatically speed up Chrome
• Restart your browser: Especially after clearing things above
• Reset your browser: This is a last-case fix, so come discuss with the Tech Dept before doing this