Chapter 13
Maintaining OS X
To keep OS X running smoothly, maintain top performance, and reduce the risk of computer problems, you need to perform some routine maintenance chores. This chapter shows you how to empty the Trash, delete unnecessary files, uninstall applications, back up and restore your files, recondition your notebook battery, and more.
Force a Stuck Application to Close
Configure Time Machine Backups
Restore an Earlier Version of a File
Restore Files Using Time Machine
Recondition Your Mac Notebook Battery
Empty the Trash
You can free up disk space on your Mac by periodically emptying the Trash. When you delete a file or folder, OS X does not immediately remove the file from your Mac’s hard drive. Instead, OS X moves the file or folder to the Trash. This is useful if you accidentally delete an item, because it means you can open the Trash and restore the item. However, all those deleted files and folders take up disk space, so you need to empty the Trash periodically to regain that space. You should empty the Trash at least once a week.
Empty the Trash
Click the desktop.
Click Finder from the menu.
Click Empty Trash.
A You can also right-click the Trash icon (
) and then click Empty Trash.
Note: Another way to select the Empty Trash command is to press 
+
+
.
OS X asks you to confirm the deletion.
Click Empty Trash.
OS X empties the Trash ( changes to 
).
Organize Your Desktop
You can make your OS X desktop easier to scan and navigate by organizing the icons. The OS X desktop automatically displays icons for objects such as your external hard drives, inserted CDs and DVDs, disk images, and attached iPods. The desktop is also a handy place to store files, file aliases, copies of documents, and more. However, the more you use your desktop as a storage area, the more the desktop can become disarrayed, making it hard to find the icon you want. You can fix this by organizing the icons.
Organize Your Desktop
Click the desktop.
Click View.
Click Clean Up By.
Click Name.
You can also right-click the desktop, click Clean Up By, and then click Name, or press 
++
.
A Your Mac organizes the icons alphabetically and arranges them in columns from right to left.
Check Hard Drive Free Space
To ensure that your Mac’s hard drive does not become full, you should periodically check how much free space it has left. If you run out of room on your Mac’s hard drive, you will not be able to install more applications or create more documents, and your Mac’s performance will suffer. To ensure your free space does not become too low — say, less than about 20 or 25GB — you can check how much free space your hard drive has left.
You should check your Mac’s hard drive free space about once a month.
Check Hard Drive Free Space
Check Free Space Using Finder
Click Finder (
).
Click Desktop.
Note: You can also click any folder on your Mac’s hard drive.
In the status bar, read the available value, which tells you the amount of free space left on the hard drive.
If you do not see the status bar, press +
.
Display Free Space on the Desktop
Display your Mac’s HD (hard drive) icon on the desktop, as described in the first Tip.
Click the desktop.
Click View.
Click Show View Options.
Note: You can also run the Show View Options command by pressing +
.
The Desktop dialog appears.
Click Show item info (
changes to 
).
A Your Mac displays the amount of free hard drive space under the Macintosh HD icon.
Drag the Icon size 
until you can read all the icon text.
If you still cannot read all the text, click the Text size 
and then click a larger size.
Click Close (
).
TIPs
My Mac’s hard drive icon does not appear on the desktop. How do I display it?
If you do not see the Macintosh HD icon on your desktop, click the desktop, click Finder in the menu bar, and then click Preferences. Click the General tab, click Hard disks ( changes to ), and then click Close ().
What should I do if my Mac’s hard drive space is getting low?
First, empty the Trash, as described earlier in this chapter. Next, uninstall applications you no longer use, as described in the next section. If you have large documents you no longer need, either move them to an external hard drive or flash drive, or delete them and then empty the Trash.
Uninstall Unused Applications
If you have an application that you no longer use, you can free up some disk space and reduce clutter in the Applications folder by uninstalling that application. When you install an application, the program stores its files on your Mac’s hard drive, and although most programs are quite small, many require hundreds of megabytes of space. Uninstalling applications you do not need frees up the disk space they use and removes their icons or folders from the Applications folder. In most cases, you must be logged on to OS X with an administrator account to uninstall applications.
Uninstall Unused Applications
Click Finder ().
Click Applications.
Click and drag the application or its folder and drop it on the Trash icon ().
If your Mac prompts you for an administrator password, type the password, and then click OK.
A Your Mac uninstalls the application.
TIP
Is there another way to uninstall an application?
Yes, in some cases. A few Mac applications come with a separate program for uninstalling the application:
Follow steps 1 and 2.
Open the application’s folder, if it has one.
Double-click the Uninstaller icon and then follow the instructions on-screen.
Force a Stuck Application to Close
When you are working with an application, you may find that it becomes unresponsive and you cannot interact with the application or even quit the application normally. In that case, you can use an OS X feature called Force Quit to force a stuck or unresponsive application to close, which enables you to restart the application or restart your Mac.
Unfortunately, when you force an application to quit, you lose any unsaved changes in your open documents. Therefore, you should make sure the application really is stuck before forcing it to quit. See the second Tip for more information.
Force a Stuck Application to Close
Click 
.
Click Force Quit.
The Force Quit Applications window appears.
Click the application you want to shut down.
Click Force Quit.
Your Mac asks you to confirm that you want to force the application to quit.
Click Force Quit.
Your Mac shuts down the application.
Click Close () to close the Force Quit Applications window.
TIPs
Are there easier ways to run the Force Quit command?
Yes. From the keyboard, run the Force Quit command by pressing ++
. If the application has a Dock icon, press and hold 
+ and then click the application’s Dock icon. In the menu that appears, click Force Quit.
If an application is not responding, does that always mean the application is stuck?
Not necessarily. Some operations — such as recalculating a large spreadsheet or rendering a 3-D image — can take a few minutes, and during that time the application can appear stuck. If your Mac is low on memory, it can also cause an application to seem stuck. In this case, try shutting down some of other applications to free up some memory.
Configure Time Machine Backups
One of the most crucial OS X maintenance chores is to configure your system to make regular backups of your files. Macs are reliable machines, but they can crash and all hard drives eventually die, so at some point your data will be at risk. To avoid losing that data forever, you need to configure Time Machine to perform regular backups.
To use Time Machine, your Mac requires a second hard drive. This can be a second internal drive on a Mac Pro or Mac mini, but on most Macs the easiest course is to connect an external hard drive.
Configure Time Machine Backups
Configure Backups Automatically
Connect an external USB, Thunderbolt, or FireWire hard drive to your Mac.
OS X asks if you want to use the hard drive as your backup disk.
Click Use as Backup Disk.
Note: If OS X does not ask to use the hard drive, continue with the following steps.
Configure Backups Manually
Click System Preferences (
).
Click Time Machine.
The Time Machine preferences appear.
Click Select Backup Disk.
Time Machine displays a list of available backup devices.
Click the external hard drive.
Click Use Disk.
Time Machine enables backups and prepares to run the first backup automatically in 2 minutes.
Click Close ().
Restore an Earlier Version of a File
If you improperly edit or accidentally overwrite a file, some apps enable you to revert to an earlier version of the file. Why would you want to revert to an earlier version of a file? One reason is that you might improperly edit the file by deleting or changing important data. In some cases you may be able to restore that data by going back to a previous version of the file. Similarly, if you overwrite the file with a different file, you can fix the problem by restoring an earlier version of the file.
Restore an Earlier Version of a File
Open the file you want to restore.
Click File.
Click Revert To.
Note: If you do not see the Revert To command, it means the application does not support this feature.
A To restore the most recently saved version, click Last Saved.
B To restore the most recently opened version, click Last Opened.
Click Browse All Versions.
The restore interface appears.
C This window represents the current version of the file.
D Each of these windows represents an earlier version of the file.
E This area tells you when the displayed version of the file was saved.
F You can use this timeline to navigate the earlier versions.
Navigate to the date that contains the version of the file you want to restore.
Note: See the Tip to learn how to navigate the Time Machine backups.
Click Restore.
OS X reverts the file to the earlier version.
TIPS
How do I navigate the previous versions?
There are two methods you can use:
• Use the timeline on the right side of the window to click a specific version.
• Click the title bars of the version windows.
Can I restore a previous version without overwriting the current version of the file?
Yes, you can restore a copy of the file. This is useful if the current version has data you want to preserve, or if you want to compare the current version with the earlier version. Follow steps 1 to 5 to navigate to the version of the file that you want to restore. Press and hold the key, then click Restore a Copy.
Restore Files Using Time Machine
If you have configured OS X to make regular Time Machine backups, you can use those backups to restore a lost file. If you accidentally delete a file, you can quickly restore it by opening the Trash folder. However, that does not help you if you have emptied the Trash folder. Similarly, if the program or OS X crashes, a file may become corrupted.
Because Time Machine makes hourly, daily, and weekly backups, it stores older copies of your data. You can use these backups to restore any file that you accidentally delete or that has become corrupted.
Restore Files Using Time Machine
Click Finder ().
Open the folder you want to restore, or the folder that contains the file you want to restore.
A To restore your entire hard drive, choose Macintosh HD in the sidebar.
Note: Restore your entire hard drive only if your original hard drive crashed and you have had it repaired or replaced.
Click Spotlight (
).
Type time machine.
Click Time Machine.
The Time Machine interface appears.
B Each window represents a backed-up version of the folder.
C This area tells you when the displayed version of the folder was backed up.
D You can use this timeline to navigate the backed-up versions.
Navigate to the date that contains the backed-up version of the folder or file.
Note: See the Tip to learn how to navigate the Time Machine backups.
If you are restoring a file, click the file.
Click Restore.
If another version of the folder or file already exists, Time Machine asks if you want to keep it or replace it.
Click Replace.
Time Machine restores the folder or file.
TIP
How do I navigate the backups in the Time Machine interface?
Here are the most useful techniques:
• Click the top arrow to jump to the earliest version; click the bottom arrow to return to the most recent version.
• Press and hold the key and click the arrows to navigate through the backups one version at a time.
• Use the timeline to click a specific version.
• Click the version windows.
Recondition Your Mac Notebook Battery
To get the most performance out of your Mac notebook’s battery, you need to recondition the battery by cycling it. Cycling a battery means letting it completely discharge and then fully recharging it again. Most Mac notebook batteries slowly lose their charging capacity over time. For example, if you can use your Mac notebook on batteries for 4 hours today, you will later be able to run the computer for 3 hours only on a full charge. You cannot stop this process, but you can delay it significantly by cycling the battery once a month or so.
Recondition Your Mac Notebook Battery
Display the Battery Status Percentage
Click the Battery status icon (
).
Click Show Percentage.
Your Mac shows the percentage of available battery power remaining.
Cycle the Battery
Disconnect your Mac notebook’s power cord.
A The Battery Status icon changes from to 
.
Operate your Mac notebook normally by running applications, working with documents, and so on.
As you work, keep your eye on the Battery Status percentage.
When the Battery Status reaches 4%, your Mac warns you that it is now running on reserve power.
Click OK.
Reattach the power cord.
Your Mac restarts and the Battery Status icon changes from to 
.
Leave your Mac plugged in at least until the Battery Status shows 100%.
TIP
I do not see the battery status in my menu bar. How do I display it?
Click System Preferences () in the Dock to open System Preferences, and then click the Energy Saver icon. In the Energy Saver window, click Battery and then click the Show battery status in the menu bar check box ( changes to ).
Restart Your Mac
If a hardware device is having a problem with some system files, it often helps to restart your Mac. By rebooting the computer, you reload the entire system, which is often enough to solve many computer problems.
For a problem device that does not have its own power switch, restarting your Mac might not resolve the problem because the device remains powered up the whole time. You can power cycle — shut down and then restart — such devices as a group by power cycling your Mac.
Restart Your Mac
Restart Your Mac
Click the Apple icon ().
Click Restart.
Your Mac asks you to confirm.
Click Restart.
Note: To bypass the confirmation dialog, press and hold when you click the Restart command.
Power Cycle Your Mac
Click .
Click Shut Down.
Your Mac asks you to confirm.
Note: To bypass the confirmation dialog, hold down when you click Shut Down.
Click Shut Down.
Wait for 30 seconds to give all devices time to spin down.
Turn your Mac back on.
TIP
What other basic troubleshooting techniques can I use?
• Make sure that each device is turned on, that cable connections are secure, and that insertable devices (such as USB devices) are properly inserted.
• If a device is battery powered, replace the batteries.
• If a device has an on/off switch, power cycle the device by turning it off, waiting a few seconds for it to stop spinning, and then turning it back on again.
• Close all running programs.
• Log out of your Mac — click ; click Log Out User, where User is your Mac username; and then click Log Out — and then log back in again.
