Best Tips And Scripts For Macos

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What are maintenance scripts?

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Mac’s OS X has a built-in function to keep your system from getting bogged down with old files that are no longer needed.

Jan 29, 2020 25 Must-Know macOS Tips for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Mac Users. Wednesday January 29, 2020 1:18 PM PST by Juli Clover. Tips for Running Scripts for managing macOS devices. Sending custom commands to an entire fleet of Mac computers is a substantial task. If not done properly, the devices can be damaged. That’s why we recommend testing your scripts before sending them.

Every Mac has three versions of its maintenance scripts — daily, weekly, and monthly — that handle clearing out different unnecessary files as well as some additional system upkeep like reporting network statistics and rebuilding the so-called locate and whatis databases. Regular maintenance makes it easier to keep your Mac in top condition, rather than trying to resolve issues once they’ve already taken hold.

On older OS X versions Mac maintenance scripts used to be automatically scheduled to run at a certain time (03:15 for daily scripts, Saturday at 03:15 or 04:30 for weekly, and the first of the month at 05:30 for monthly). These are times when your Mac system expects to have a little down-time to get its housekeeping done.

Why run maintenance scripts? Can't Mac clean itself?

The arrival of macOS Sierra in 2016 introduced some self-cleaning features on the Mac. What was previously done by scheduled maintenance scripts is now performed by the macOS itself without you even knowing. This is what the macOS cleans automatically on your Mac:

  • Apple-related cache
  • Apple’s Temporary files
  • Twin downloads in Safari
  • Unused fonts, languages, and dictionaries

Nice progress, you say. Yes, but still that barely scratches the surface in terms of real system cleanup. What’s been left out is third-party cache, temporary browser files and all sorts of media. By the way, there are more than one Trash bin on your Mac (each app has its own trash folder) and they have too be cleaned as well. As a final clincher, here’s a fact: Places you viewed on Google Earth 4 months ago, are still there, deep down inside your Mac’s system folders.

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A healthy way to use maintenance scripts

As we’ve seen even newer Macs need regular “under-the-hood” optimization to run well. There are dedicated apps that willtake the job off your shoulders. You can see Maintenance Scripts in action with CleanMyMac X. Launch the app (it has a free version), run the maintenance scripts tool and see how it affects your computer performance. This should rotate certain system logs, rearrange libraries and lots of other technical tasks known only to developers.

Next, we'll explain how to run Maintenance scripts manually, but if you want the job done and forgotten, run CleanMyMac X.

  1. Download it here (free download).
  2. Launch CleanMyMac.
  3. Click Maintenance > Run Maintenance scripts.

Or you can try the manual way, which might be exhausting and time consuming.

The default time for maintenance scripts assumes that there will be minimal if any interference to the Macs user during this period, which makes sense: whether working late or starting early, half past five in the morning isn’t peak productivity time.

But the thing is, when we switch off for the night we turn the Mac off completely. After all, we don’t want to waste money powering a computer while we’re sleeping or risk being disturbed by notifications. But if your Mac is turned off at the time scheduled for maintenance scripts, it will fail to run them, and chances are it will fail again the next morning and the morning after.

If the maintenance scripts aren’t getting the chance to run, old files and junk caches begin to build up and affect your system performance.

How to check when maintenance scripts were last run

Maybe you’re not sure when your Mac was last able to run the full trio of maintenance scripts. Maybe it’s been a while since it ran any at all. If you’d like to check, you will need to enter the Terminal application.

1. Use either the Spotlight application to search for Terminal, or navigate to its location by selecting Applications from the sidebar of a Finder window, from there selecting Utilities and then double-clicking on Terminal.

2. In the Terminal command bar, enter

It’s important to enter the command exactly as above, including spaces.

3. Pressing Enter will bring up a list of when (date and a time) a maintenance script was run and what type of script it was (daily, weekly, or monthly). If the scripts are running automatically, you will see timestamps for their default times (03:15, 04:30, or 05:30).

If the logs are showing that your maintenance scripts haven’t been run for a while, it’s recommended that you run a manual script.

How to Run Maintenance Scripts through Terminal

We’ve already looked at how to use Terminal to check when a maintenance script was last performed by your OS, but you can also use it to manually run a maintenance script.

Note: you will need an administrator password to run maintenance scripts through Terminal.

1. Open Terminal either through the Spotlight search or by navigating to the Utilities folder in Applications.

2. In the Terminal command bar, enter

3. Enter the above text. Press Return, and you will be asked to enter your administrator password. For security reasons, your password will not appear onscreen.

4. Your Mac will then perform three maintenance scripts. There won’t be a status bar or percentage to show that the scripts are being run, but you’ll know they’re complete when the Terminal prompt returns.

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If you only want to perform one maintenance — perhaps you’ve missed your monthly script, or you have limited time – then you can edit the Terminal command to be simply sudo periodic monthly, which you should enter into the Terminal.

An alternative to manually running Maintenance Scripts on macOS

If typing code into Terminal seems a bit daunting, there is third-party software that can run a simple scan for you to clear out the junk, such as CleanMyMac. It offers a thorough system cleanup to keep your Mac running on only the files you need.

CleanMyMac X has a clear, easy to use interface to run maintenance scripts without going into Mac’s Terminal function. Simply select Maintenance from the left sidebar and from there you can select which maintenance tasks your system currently needs.

Or, if you just want to run a general scan, CleanMyMac’s Smart Scan quickly checks your Mac for files that are safe to remove, organizes them into categories (System Junk, Photo Junk, Mail Attachments, iTunes Junk, Trash Bins, and Large & Old Files) and tells you how much space you’ll save by deleting them. Scan your system and delete unused, forgotten files to free up data for system performance.

Download CleanMyMac X to handle your maintenance and keep your Mac running smoothly without the unnecessary bulk.

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The Macbook Pro is a very powerful laptop; one that can increase your productivity many times over. But it can also be a bit complicated, especially if you’re used to working in a Windows environment. In this article , we’ve put together 10 useful tips that will accelerate your familiarity with this sleek, state-of-the-art block of aluminum.

Note: We’re currently using a 2018 model running macOS High Sierra for this article, so there might be some features that aren’t accessible to you if you’re using an older MBP model or an older version of macOS.

1. Work Faster with Multi-Touch Gestures

The first thing you’ll want to be familiar with is that massive, smooth-to-the-touch trackpad. There’s a reason why the MacBook Pro trackpad is so large and why it feels so different from other laptop trackpads.

It can actually support multi-touch gestures, much like your smartphone or tablet. Yes, there are now several Windows 10 laptops that can do that as well, but MacBook Pros have supported multi-touch for many more years and the implementation is simply better.

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Let’s put multi-touch into action right now. Using the trackpad, hover your mouse pointer over any non-clickable object on this article (try whitespace). Now, bring your thumb and index finger close together (while touching the pad) and then expand just like you would to zoom in on an image on your smartphone.

Notice how everything expands like your zooming in (because you are). Bring everything back to original size by doing a pinching gesture.

You can also have almost the same effect by simultaneously double-tapping non-clickable space on the page using two fingers. That should zoom in on the page. Zoom out by double-tapping again using two fingers.

You can learn (as well as configure) more touchpad gestures by navigating to the Apple menu > System Preferences.

Then click on Trackpad.

You should then see Point & Click, Scroll & Zoom and More Gestures tabs across the top.

2. Let Siri Do Some Tasks For You

Even if you’re new to the Apple ecosystem, you’ve probably already heard about Siri, the virtual assistant that replies to questions and even performs some tasks for you. Siri debuted on the iPhone, but has now found its way to the iPad and other Apple devices, including the Mac.

You can access Siri by tapping its icon on the upper right-hand corner of your screen.

Download wine for mac catalina. Once launched, Siri can start responding to questions/requests, like:

  • Show my Downloads folder
  • Make the screen brighter
  • How fast is my Mac?
  • FaceTime Bob
  • What is the weather tomorrow?
  • And so on

Siri uses artificial intelligence (AI) that enables it to learn more as you keep on using it. Once you get the hang of it, it can really help you get more things done.

3. The Delete Key Isn’t Broken

On a Windows keyboard, when you want to use the Delete key to delete a character, you would normally place the cursor to the left of that character and press the Delete key. Strangely, if you did that on a MacBook Pro keyboard, the cursor will just move to the left.

Worse, if a character is situated to the left of the cursor, that character will be deleted — just like what you’d expect if you did that with a Windows Backspace key.

Sounds counterintuitive, right? Well, if you’re used to Windows then it certainly is. To achieve the same effect as a Windows Delete key, just press fn+ Delete. Once you get used to that, it won’t be so counterintuitive anymore.

4. Right Click = Single-Tap with 2 Fingers

Right-click functionality is one of the most useful features on Windows, enabling you to launch context menus that display the choices you need at a given time — or context. Unfortunately, that functionality isn’t available by default on your MacBook Pro. Nothing happens if you try to right-tap on the trackpad.

But don’t worry. The Mac-equivalent of the right-click is equally easy. Remember that two-finger double-tap we taught you earlier? Well, if you reduce that to a single-tap, you can get the same effect as a right-click. Try it out. Single-tap with two fingers while the cursor is hovering over this article. You should instantly see a context menu popping out as soon as you perform the gesture.

Also, be sure to check out my other article on more Mac equivalents to Windows programs.

5. Capturing Screenshots

Sometimes, you might want to capture screenshots to use in a document or presentation. To capture screenshots on your Mac, you can do any of the following:

  • To capture the entire screen, press command + shift + 3
  • To capture a portion of the screen, press command + shift + 4, and then, once a crosshair appears, tap and drag that crosshair over the area you want to capture. Once you’ve covered the area you want captured, release. Easy as pie.

Normally, your images will be stored on your desktop. However, if you have a screen-capturing tool like Snagit, the images will usually be pasted there. Check out my more detailed post on more keyboard shortcuts in OS X.

6. Plug in More Devices using Thunderbolt

So far, we’ve been focusing on stuff you see on the screen. Let’s move someplace else on your MacBook Pro’s unibody. Look at the side, particularly that peculiarly-shaped power jack. Apple didn’t shape that jack to simply look like the Thunderbolt port beside it. IT IS a Thunderbolt port. Both ports are exactly the same.

So, you can actually charge your laptop through either ports and you can plug in any compatible device (e.g. an external drive, an external monitor, an external microphone, etc) into either one.

Having a Thunderbolt port as a power jack can come in handy, especially if you’re using the smaller 13-inch MacBook Pro, which only comes with 2 Thunderbolt ports. For example, let’s say you want to record audio through an external mic AND still have an external monitor for viewing — say your script — while ALSO using the main screen to display an application.

To do this on a 13-inch MacBook Pro, you can temporarily detach your power cord, plug one of the devices in its stead and then plug the other device in the other port. MacBook Pros have extensive battery life, so you can accomplish a lot of work even with the MBP unplugged.

7. Bring on the Emojis!

If you’re a Millennial or a Gen Z or just about anyone who just loves to express through smileys, frownies and the like, you’ll be glad to know that your MacBook Pro’s got a hotkey for launching Apple’s extensive collection of emojis. Just press Control + Command + Space. That should bring this up:

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Most applications allow you to simply tap an emoji to use it. For others, you might have to drag the emoji into place.

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8. Search Fast with Spotlight

Normally, when we want to search for something on the Web, we launch our favorite web browser and then type our search into the search bar. Then if we want to search for a file (in Windows), we open Explorer or go to the Start menu and search there.

MacOS puts all search functionality into one place. You can do all searches in Spotlight. To launch Spotlight, just press Command + Space. That should launch the Spotlight search bar, where you can then enter whatever you want to search, be it a file on your file system or something on the Web.

If you can’t find the file you’re looking for but are 100% sure it’s in your system, you probably just need to re-index your drive. But that’s for another post, so stay tuned for that.

9. Work More Efficiently with Split Screens

Power users usually have 2 or more external monitors to work more efficiently. With 2 or more screens, you can easily:

  • Compare documents,
  • Use one screen as your main work space and another for displaying references,
  • Use one screen for editing and another for displaying outputs,
  • And so on.

But what if you don’t have any external monitor? Well, you can always split a screen into two. To achieve this, you first need to set the two apps you want to put alongside one another into Full Screen mode. Just tap on that green circle on the upper-left corner of each app.

Once the two apps are in full-screen mode, press the F3 button to enter Mission Control mode as shown below. As soon as you’re in Mission Control, position the two apps/desktops beside each other. If you don’t see any apps/desktops at the top row, hover your mouse pointer in that area.

Once the two apps are beside each other drag the app on the right to the left until it overlaps the one on the left. Release.

Once they’ve snapped together, tap on the desktop that encloses the two apps. You should then see your two apps in split-screen mode just like the one shown below.

10. Where Can I Find All My Apps?

Talking about apps, let’s end this article by showing you where you can find the apps in your MacBook Pro. The long way is to launch the Finder and go to Applications.

But if you want a faster way, just click on the grey icon with the rocket in the dock. That should bring up Launch Pad. Scroll sideways by swiping two fingers horizontally on your trackpad and tap an icon to select an app.

You can also assign a keyboard shortcut to LaunchPad by going to System Preferences – Keyboard – Shortcuts – LaunchPad & Dock. Another good option to access your apps quickly is to go to Finder and drag the entire Applications folder to your dock.

When you click on that icon now, it will load up all your apps directly from the dock.

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That’s it for this article. Hope you enjoyed it! We’ll be writing more in-depth guides on how to get more of your Mac soon.