Mac computers are known to have high performance and known to be secured. However, they can also be vulnerable to corruption and they may slow down after some time. Defragmenting your Mac is an important task that you need to do to keep the performance of your computer optimized. This will help boost its speed, as well as free up space on your drives. Here are some of the best tools that you can use to defragment Mac.
Product Version 9.0.0.0. Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro is the advanced version of Disk Defrag Free with extended functionality, including file placement and scheduling options. Jun 16, 2013 Step by Step to fix your Mac. So to begin with some facts: 1: Only hard drives require defragging. 2: You don't need to regularly defrag a Mac's hard drive, OS X writes small files in one batch, eliminating a lot of the need to defrag a Mac regularly. 3: Hard drives are fastest at the beginning of the drive. And slowest at the. Sep 15, 2020 Can You/Should You Defrag a Mac? The filesystems used by Macs and PCs are very different. HFS+ and APFS used by macOS will prevent the defragmentation if the file size is less than 20 MB or if there are more than 8 fragments. MacOS will also perform automatic defragmentation when needed and this eliminates the need for a manual defragger. You can try Stellar Drive Defrag (update: this app is no longer available we thus removed the link) – a professional Mac defrag app that makes it easy to organize fragmented data and improve data access speed and overall performance, by searching for scattered fragments of data on a Mac hard drive (note again, HDDs only). One cool feature. The only real exception you need to defrag a Mac is when your hard drive has less than 10 percent free space. At that point, the Mac operating system is unable to perform its automatic defragmentation routines, and you should consider either removing files or expanding your disk storage size.
10. Norton Utilities
This software contains various tools that you would need for optimizing your Mac computer. Though Mac computers are generally more stable than Windows, they can also get corrupted and can get infected by malicious software. Norton Utilities offers various features that will keep your Mac running smoothly. It allows defragmenting and optimizing of Mac disks for maximum performance. Aside from this, it also has the UnErase tool, which you can use for restoring accidentally deleted files. The Disk Doctor tool that comes with the utility checks for any error or problem on your computer and repairs them.
9. Drive Genius
For $99.00, you can get this powerful software that can defrag your computer to optimize its performance. It is easy to use as it has a user-friendly interface. You may wait for the defragmentation to finish, though it could take time or you may choose the option to get a notification via e-mail so you would know that the process is done. Aside from this, it also offers other features. This includes deleting duplicate or unused files, repartition, sector edit and checking of drive on the background.
8. SpeedTools Utilities
SpeedTools offers a fast and safe way of defragmenting your Mac. With this, your computer will be faster, you will have more usable space and there is a better chance of recovering files in case of corruption. Starting from $29.95, you can get this feature and more. It also offers monitoring, detection and repair of bad sector, bootable disk backup, and searching for large files that take up too much space. It allows multitasking, which lets you monitor, repair, test or defrag various volumes at once. This is more convenient as it saves time. It also has a scheduling feature that lets you choose the date when you would like a specific process to be done on your computer. This tool will notify you immediately if it detects any signs of problems on your disk. This is helpful in preventing the problem from getting worse.
7. Carbon Copy Cloner
Carbon Copy Cloner is a backup tool, which can easily create a backup copy of your drive. Though it does not have a specific tool for defragging, it defrags on the backup process. This is an alternative that you can try if you don’t want to wait for a long time for the defragging to finish. Backup the internal hard disk with an internal drive using Carbon Copy Cloner. Use Disk Utility to erase the content of the internal drive. Clone the external drive to the internal drive using this program.
6. SuperDuper
Like Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper is also a backup tool, which defrags the drive when creating a backup. It does not have a specific feature for defragging. However, if you want a fast way to defrag you computer, you may use this to backup your internal hard drive to an external drive, erase the content of the internal disk and copy the content of the external drive into it.
5. MacKeeper
You can get this excellent system utility software for only $38.95. Though it is known for its feature to clean drives by removing unused or duplicate files, it also offers other useful features that will help improve your computer’s performance. This includes defragmenting of drives to save space and make the computer faster, restore files, undelete files, backup files, as well as enable remote tracking if your computer is lost or stolen.
4. iDefrag 2
While the first release of iDefrag offers an effective way of defragging and optimizing your computer, the upgrade is better as it does not need a bootable disk to perform the defragmentation. This is more convenient as you can just launch the software and select the Go option. The computer will reboot and give you the options for the defrag process. You don’t have to worry about losing your bootable disk as it is no longer needed. While most programs only offer defragmenting of the whole drive, iDefrag 2 lets you choose the files you wish to defrag. This makes the process faster, especially if you do not want to defrag your whole disk. The user interface was also improved and became simpler and more organized.
3. DiskWarrior 4
This is one of the best utilities for defragging your Mac. It cleans corrupted files that may be taking up space on your computer. It also repairs errors that are detected by Disk Utility. Another feature of this program is that it restores missing or accidentally deleted files. This is a powerful software for finding these files. In fact, it is known for successfully finding files that cannot be found by other programs. If you want a software that provides optimization, as well as keep your files secured, this is a good tool to use.
2. Stellar Drive Defrag
Stellar Drive Defrag is one of the top choices when it comes to defrag programs. It effectively defrags the computer making access to files faster. It offers various options for defragging including full defragmentation for defragging the whole drive, as well as the option to defrag specific files or all fragmented volumes on the computer. It allows creation of bootable disk that you can use for defragging your Mac. You can also opt to receive a notification via e-mail once the process is done. Another helpful feature of this program is the graphical view of the drive’s temperature. This will notify you when the temperature is going over the normal level, so you can do something about it.
1. DiskTools Pro
DiskTools Pro is available for $79.99. This is the ultimate system optimization tool for you. Defrag, backup or repair files on the time most convenient for you by scheduling the tasks. Aside from its defrag feature, it offers more useful tools including creating bootable Mac backups, CPU monitoring, volume repair, analyzing drive capacity and find and repair bad sectors on your computer.
Optimized Storage in macOS Sierra and later* can save space by storing your content in iCloud and making it available on demand. When storage space is needed, files, photos, movies, email attachments, and other files that you seldom use are stored in iCloud automatically. Each file stays right where you last saved it, and downloads when you open it. Files that you’ve used recently remain on your Mac, along with optimized versions of your photos.
* If you haven't yet upgraded to macOS Sierra or later, learn about other ways to free up storage space.
Find out how much storage is available on your Mac
Choose Apple menu > About This Mac, then click Storage. Each segment of the bar is an estimate of the storage space used by a category of files. Move your pointer over each segment for more detail.
Click the Manage button to open the Storage Management window, pictured below. This button is available only in macOS Sierra or later.
Manage storage on your Mac
![Defrag For Mac Defrag For Mac](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126492979/790164181.jpg)
The Storage Management window offers recommendations for optimizing your storage. If some recommendations are already turned on, you will see fewer recommendations.
Store in iCloud
Click the Store in iCloud button, then choose from these options:
- Desktop and Documents. Store all files from these two locations in iCloud Drive. When storage space is needed, only the files you recently opened are kept on your Mac, so that you can easily work offline. Files stored only in iCloud show a download icon , which you can double-click to download the original file. Learn more about this feature.
- Photos. Store all original, full-resolution photos and videos in iCloud Photos. When storage space is needed, only space-saving (optimized) versions of photos are kept on your Mac. To download the original photo or video, just open it.
- Messages. Store all messages and attachments in iCloud. When storage space is needed, only the messages and attachments you recently opened are kept on your Mac. Learn more about Messages in iCloud.
Storing files in iCloud uses the storage space in your iCloud storage plan. If you reach or exceed your iCloud storage limit, you can either buy more iCloud storage or make more iCloud storage available. iCloud storage starts at 50GB for $0.99 (USD) a month, and you can purchase additional storage directly from your Apple device. Learn more about prices in your region.
Optimize Storage
Click the Optimize button, then choose from these options.
- Automatically remove watched movies and TV shows. When storage space is needed, movies or TV shows that you purchased from the iTunes Store and already watched are removed from your Mac. Click the download icon next to a movie or TV show to download it again.
- Download only recent attachments. Mail automatically downloads only the attachments that you recently received. You can manually download any attachments at any time by opening the email or attachment, or saving the attachment to your Mac.
- Don't automatically download attachments. Mail downloads an attachment only when you open the email or attachment, or save the attachment to your Mac.
Optimizing storage for movies, TV shows, and email attachments doesn't require iCloud storage space.
Empty Trash Automatically
Empty Trash Automatically permanently deletes files that have been in the Trash for more than 30 days.
Reduce Clutter
Reduce Clutter helps you to identify large files and files you might no longer need. Click the Review Files button, then choose any of the file categories in the sidebar, such as Applications, Documents, Music Creation, or Trash.
You can delete the files in some categories directly from this window. Other categories show the total storage space used by the files in each app. You can then open the app and decide whether to delete files from within it.
Learn how to redownload apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books.
Where to find the settings for each feature
The button for each recommendation in the Storage Management window affects one or more settings in other apps. You can also control those settings directly within each app.
- If you're using macOS Catalina, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Apple ID, then select iCloud in the sidebar: Store in iCloud turns on the Optimize Mac Storage setting on the right. Then click Options next to iCloud Drive: Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders setting. To turn off iCloud Drive entirely, deselect iCloud Drive.
In macOS Mojave or earlier, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click iCloud, then click Options next to iCloud Drive. Store in iCloud turns on the Desktop & Documents Folders and Optimize Mac Storage settings. - In Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then click iCloud. Store in iCloud selects iCloud Photos and Optimize Mac Storage.
- In Messages, choose Messages > Preferences, then click iMessage. Store in iCloud selects Enable Messages in iCloud.
- If you're using macOS Catalina, open the Apple TV app, choose TV > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Files. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.”
In macOS Mojave or earlier, open iTunes, choose iTunes > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Advanced. Optimize Storage selects “Automatically delete watched movies and TV shows.” - In Mail, choose Mail > Preferences from the menu bar, then click Accounts. In the Account Information section on the right, Optimize Storage sets the Download Attachments menu to either Recent or None.
Empty Trash Automatically: From the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click Advanced. Empty Trash Automatically selects “Remove items from the Trash after 30 days.”
Other ways that macOS helps automatically save space
With macOS Sierra or later, your Mac automatically takes these additional steps to save storage space:
Defrag For Macbook
- Detects duplicate downloads in Safari, keeping only the most recent version of the download
- Reminds you to delete used app installers
- Removes old fonts, languages, and dictionaries that aren't being used
- Clears caches, logs, and other unnecessary data when storage space is needed
![Defrag Defrag](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126492979/243046745.jpg)
How to free up storage space manually
Even without using the Optimized Storage features of Sierra or later, you can take other steps to make more storage space available:
How To Defrag A Macbook
- Music, movies, and other media can use a lot of storage space. Learn how to delete music, movies, and TV shows from your device.
- Delete other files that you no longer need by moving them to the Trash, then emptying the Trash. The Downloads folder is good place to look for files that you might no longer need.
- Move files to an external storage device.
- Compress files.
- Delete unneeded email: In the Mail app, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail. If you no longer need the email in your Trash mailbox, choose Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.
Idefrag For Mac
Learn more
- The Storage pane of About This Mac is the best way to determine the amount of storage space available on your Mac. Disk Utility and other apps might show storage categories such as Not Mounted, VM, Recovery, Other Volumes, Free, or Purgeable. Don't rely on these categories to understand how to free up storage space or how much storage space is available for your data.
- When you duplicate a file on an APFS-formatted volume, that file doesn't use additional storage space on the volume. Deleting a duplicate file frees up only the space required by any data you might have added to the duplicate. If you no longer need any copies of the file, you can recover all of the storage space by deleting both the duplicate and the original file.
- If you're using a pro app and Optimize Mac Storage, learn how to make sure that your projects are always on your Mac and able to access their files.