Cleaning up a mac..

[chaosrealm93]

Hey guys, new guy here.

Q: Is there a solution, software/fast effective way, to remove "preference" or residual files a program may leave behind after being "uninstalled" (dragged and deleted)?

Q2: Also, are there any additional maintenance tips for macs in addition to verify disk permissions and keeping a clean desktop?

 

[GGJstudios]

Hey guys, new guy here.

Q: Is there a solution, software/fast effective way, to remove "preference" or residual files a program may leave behind after being "uninstalled" (dragged and deleted)?

The most effective method for complete app removal is manual deletion:

Best way to FULLY DELETE a program​

Q2: Also, are there any additional maintenance tips for macs in addition to verify disk permissions and keeping a clean desktop?

You don't need "cleaner" or "maintenance" apps to keep your Mac running well, and some of these apps can do more harm than good. Most only remove files/folders or unused languages or architectures, which does nothing more than free up some drive space, with the risk of deleting something important in the process. These apps will not make your Mac run faster or more efficiently, since having stuff stored on a drive does not impact performance, unless you're running out of drive space. In fact, deleting some caches can hurt performance, rather than help it, since more system resources are used and performance suffers while each cache is being rebuilt. Many of these tasks should only be done selectively to troubleshoot specific problems, not en masse as routine maintenance. OS X does a good job of taking care of itself, without the need for 3rd party software. Among other things, it has its own maintenance scripts that run silently in the background on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, without user intervention.

Five Mac maintenance myths​

Some people repair, or recommend repairing permissions for situations where it isn't appropriate. Repairing permissions only addresses very specific issues. It is not a "cure all" or a general performance enhancer, and doesn't need to be done on a regular basis. It also doesn't address permissions problems with your files or 3rd party apps.

About Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions feature​

Disk Utility repairs the permissions for files installed by the Mac OS X Installer, Software Update, or an Apple software installer. It doesn’t repair permissions for your documents, your home folder, and third-party applications. You can verify or repair permissions only on a disk with Mac OS X installed.

Does Disk Utility check permissions on all files? Files that aren't installed as part of an Apple-originated installer package are not listed in a receipt and therefore are not checked. For example, if you install an application using a non-Apple installer application, or by copying it from a disk image, network volume, or other disk instead of installing it via Installer, a receipt file isn't created. This is expected. Some applications are designed to be installed in one of those ways. Also, certain files whose permissions can be changed during normal usage without affecting their function are intentionally not checked.

Troubleshooting permissions issues in Mac OS X​

If repairing permissions results in error messages, some of these messages can be ignored and should be no cause for concern.

Mac OS X: Disk Utility's Repair Disk Permissions messages that you can safely ignore​

This may be useful:

Helpful Information for Any Mac User​

 

[chaosrealm93]

I see.. Well I've used appzapper in the past to uninstall apps. Do you know if that program leaves behind residual files? Do i have to go in the directory and manually match up the files to my current programs and delete the ones that are from already-deleted programs?

 

[GGJstudios]

I see.. Well I've used appzapper in the past to uninstall apps. Do you know if that program leaves behind residual files? Do i have to go in the directory and manually match up the files to my current programs and delete the ones that are from already-deleted programs?

If you elect to use apps like AppZapper, be aware that in most cases, app removal software doesn't do a thorough job of finding and removing files/folders related to deleted apps. For more information, read this and this. If you just want to delete the app, drag the .app file to the trash. No other software needed. If you want to completely remove all associated files/folders, no removal apps will do the job.