How to Maintain a Clean Desktop on Mac – Guide
To keep a place clean, it is best not to make a mess in the first place. Right? The same goes for a Mac desktop. Ideally, you shouldn’t keep anything on it as much as possible. Still, sometimes you can place some files that you are currently working with. Or the few that you use frequently for a certain period of time. In that case, they must be well organized for your convenience and visual enjoyment. Learn how to organize files on your Mac desktop with the following tips.
Why is it important
The obvious answer is that you will have trouble finding things in a cluttered work area. Of course, you can use Spotlight or Alfred, but this approach is not always effective. With lots of icons on the desktop, your Mac can be slow. In rare circumstances, you can lose your stuff. Worst of all, you can’t see your amazing wallpaper with a cluttered desktop.
HiddenMe: a temporary solution
If you have not yet reached the zero desktop, HiddenMe is a free application that hides the desktop icons. They are still in the work area; you just can’t see them. This app is great for giving presentations. One click and they all disappear!
Declutter: A Delightful Desktop
Declutter uses rules to create individual folders on your desktop. Then it moves things to what they call “Smart Folders”. The first step is to create your folder. Declutter goes beyond the standard Finder folders and creates fun icons at the top of the folders for you. Then, you create the name filters for the folder. You can also customize the name of the file extension. For example, if you put Screen, Shot in the File name field and png in the file extension, this will move your screenshots to the correct folder. The program’s interface is peculiar because it does not allow you to put spaces in the file name. I would like to put the screenshot instead of the screen, but it didn’t support spaces. If you want some time to organize your desktop, you can turn off automatic mode in Declutter. Then you can make it run the program’s rules, the menu bar icon or a shortcut key.
Hazel: powerful cleaning and automation on your Mac
Hazel uses Apple’s search functions to automate the movement of files on your Mac. To clean the desktop, Hazel can do the same things that Declutter does. The interface is like Spotlight. You can say that anything on the desktop that matches a file name or extension goes to a specific folder. This folder can be on your desktop or anywhere on your Mac. Hazel gives some initial suggestions, such as moving files with a few days to a special folder. I use Hazel to manage my downloads folder much better. I can tell you to move my .dmg installers to the correct folder. Hazel also allows me to create rules based on where the file was downloaded from. I have most of my bank statements out of paper. Hazel automatically puts them in the correct folder after downloading. The interface and rules-based functions take a little getting used to. If a clean work area is your primary concern, Declutter is better. If you want more control not only over the desktop, but also over file automation on your Mac, Hazel is the best choice. Hazel has a 14-day free trial and is not available on the Mac App Store.
Final note
I hope you like the guide How to Maintain a Clean Desktop on Mac. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends.
