Download Stellar Drive Defrag 3.0 for Mac from our software library for free. This Mac application was originally produced by Stellar Information Systems Ltd. The size of the latest installation package available for download is 17.5 MB. Commonly, this application's installer has the following filename: stellardrivedefrag.dmg.zip.
How to defrag a Mac for free. As we’ve explained, you probably don’t need to defrag your Mac, and if you decide you do, you could try one of the tools mentioned above - although we’d suggest. Answer (1 of 4): Defragmenting is basically pointless on OS X. The OS automatically avoids fragmenting files on write.
If you have ever used a computer, you would have heard about the defragmenting device. It consists of a set of instructions to improve your device’s performance. Microsoft Windows has this particular option for their customers to defrag their Mac device.
But if you are a Mac user, you will not find any such utility on your device to improve the performance. Maybe this is because the Mac is designed differently in comparison to the other devices, and it can defrag the files as well. But the ability of this feature is somehow limited. So, if you want to do better than that, you would help with some external tools. Therefore, if you are interested in how to defrag Mac, a detailed step by step guide is given below.
Other Possible Methods to Defragment a Mac:Here is a Basic Concept of Defrag
It is a process in which scattered files are put into order on your hard disk. This process will remove gaps between your recorded files by putting them back to a whole file. It is the usual function of the defragging to force everything back in order & removes any blanks that have been created during the use. So, after putting everything back in order, this will make it easier for the computer to find any file you are looking for.
Besides, click to find out how to fix disk write errors on Steam and how to Remove Dropbox from Mac.
Why Do We Need Defragment on Mac?
Basically, you need to know how to defrag Mac device to boost its performance. This will be done by putting the files back into the order on your device.
Defraggler For Mac
If you have an OS X lower than 10.2, then it would not be compulsory to begin the defragmentation procedure. Similarly, if you are using a lower version of Mac OS, it has built-in utilities to clean up the fragments. Then, in many cases, you wouldn’t have to use this tool as a built-in feature of your device will do it. But having said that, you will need manual defragmentation for better performance. If you are installing applications, uninstalling them, and upgrading your phone, then you would need to know how to defrag Mac.
PS: here, you will learn more about how to How to Get Text Messages on Mac on Mac and how to use an external hard drive, as well as how to fix Copy and Paste Not Working on Mac.
How Often is It Required to Defrag Mac?
First, check your hard drive if it is 90% full, and then there will be problems with your Mac’s automatic defragmentation program. Mostly, this issue is faced by multimedia creators, because it is part of their job to make large files via Photoshop or Adobe.
So, in case your Mac is full of large files, then the only way is either delete these large files or defrag Mac hard drive. And the defragmentation is very effective for improving that performance of your Mac, as it will make the response time better. So, you should know how to defrag Mac.
The solution to Defrag a Mac:
As Mac has not provided with any utility or built-in command to defrag it, there is only one way to do it by using a trusted 3rd party defragmentation tool. It is a very time-consuming process to defragment. Then during this process, you cannot use Mac in any way; otherwise, the data will be destroyed. You are strongly advised to backup all your data before you defragging the Mac. You just have to follow the instructions carefully and make sure first that it is compatible with the Mac device (Mac OS 10.2 is not compatible with most of the modern defragmentation tools).
Other Possible Methods to Defragment a Mac:
To achieve more free space for your device and organize files on the hard drive are the only purpose of defragmenting the Mac. It is very clear from our above discussion; it is difficult to defrag Mac. We should give it a try if there is a simple way to do it.
1. Utilization of an Easy & Powerful Software:
After deep research for such software on the market that tells you how to defrag Mac, the most popular and highly suggested is iMyFone Umate Mac Cleaner. This is specially designed for Mac management. If you wish to get more space for your Mac, it offers six main features
- i. Clean up your junk files
- ii. Delete your large files
- iii. Delete your duplicate files
- iv. Erase your private data
- v. Speed up your Mac
- vi. Manage apps & extensions
It can be used in the latest Mac OS 10.15 Catalina. Let’s find out why is it the best alternate option and what features do affect the performance directly.
Besides, if you are bothered with the macOS Big Sur slow or The macOS Installation Couldn’t be Completed issues, this tool can help you too.
i. Clean up your junk feature:
Free Defrag Software For Mac
- It offers Deep Clean and Quick Clean modes to find and remove junk files on the Mac.
- That Quick Clean mode only intensifies the burden of the computer operation rather than improving its performance.
- It deletes the files like app junk, system junk, iTunes junk, files on the trash bin, downloaded files, outdated iOS backups, or unused disk images.
ii. Delete your large files:
- This will find all those files bigger than 50MB by scanning Mac and its hard drive and then delete them.
- All possible files in this would be images, audios, videos, archives, documents, or other.
- This can also delete the files that are hidden on Mac.
iii. Delete your duplicate files:
- It will give you the option to choose a file directory on the Mac to get and remove duplicates easily.
- All possible files would be videos, images, audios, archives, document, or other.
- It will also provide support to preview your files on the Finder.
- The good thing about it is that it will keep original files for you to avoid that you delete them by mistake.
iv. Speed up the Mac:
This option will really help your Mac to run faster. It will disable all login applications, remove apps that take too much space, and also deletes those launch agents. Some of its properties are here
- It will remove all startup items on your Mac automatically and deletes them with 1-click.
- Those programs that are taking most of the RAM & CPU space can be deactivated at one time. But there will also be the option to do it optionally.
- It deletes the launch agents.
Above mentioned are the abilities of iMyFone Umate Cleaner. It is quite handy for defragging your Mac & making it run fast. It is effortless to use. You should download it, scan it, and delete it.
2. Fixing up Disk Permissions:
Here is another method that will tell you how to defrag Mac, and it is to repair your disk permissions. It is actually troubleshooting way on Mac.
The method is very easy. Let’s have a look.
1: Turn on your Mac & go to ‘Disk Utilities.’
2: First, choose ‘Startup Disk’ and then ‘First Aid.’
3: Choose ‘Verify Disk Permissions‘ to check it.
4: Finally, choose ‘Repair Disk Permissions‘ to correct any irregular permission.
3. Update Mac OS Software:
If all methods are failed, and you don’t know how to defrag Mac, then your final option is to update your Mac OS software. The method is pretty simple.
1: Go to ‘Apple Menu‘ and choose ‘System Preferences.’
2: Then, choose ‘Software Update.’
Defrag Os X
If there are any updates, you will see them and then just download these updates & install them.
A Brief Conclusion on How to Defrag Mac
Now, if you are wondering how to defrag Mac? Yes, it is possible and straightforward. Mac is designed to defrag your hard drive, but sometimes it does not. In such cases, all you are required to do is to do it manually, also, we have also explained some other methods to fix your slow running Mac. If you want to do it fast and effectively, then the best option is using Umate Mac Cleaner.
A Few Realities About Defragging Mac
If your Mac is having some problems with speed and you are thinking about how to defrag Mac, then you have to consider some facts about it. The following are a few facts you should know.
For people who have a problem with your Mac and would like to try defragging Mac, please learn more about the facts below:
- Always remember one thing that is only the hard drives need defragging. If there is any Solid State Drive in your Mac, no need for it.
- You don’t have to defrag Mac daily. The OS X adds small files in one time, so don’t waste your efforts on defragmentation.
- And the Hard drives work very fast when they are at the start, but then this slows down as data written to the bottom. So, don’t use all that available space because it will create holes in the hard drive.
- After years of usage of Mac, your system will start slowing down due to the addition and deletion of the data. And that OS X upgrades also disorganize the data. Therefore, you will need to defrag your Mac.
- Mac OS collects a bunch of the small files and organizes them in the large space.
- Mac’s HFS + File system guarantees the space that is recently freed will not be utilized on that So, the system tries to find a larger free area that is present on your drive.
- Whenever you opening a file, your Mac system verifies first whether those files are fragmented or not. And if they are fragmented, your Mac OS will defrag Mac files automatically.
Different Possible Methods to Defrag Mac
There are other possible methods instead of using the tools mentioned earlier if you are facing performance problems with your Mac and don’t know how to defrag Mac. The following are some ways that will make sure your Mac performance.
Method 1: Please Install Latest Updated of the MacOS:
If you install the latest updates of your macOS, this will offer stability, better security, and speed to your Mac. This is not only going to update the installed tools, but you wouldn’t need any defragging software to improve its performance. So, you don’t have to worry about how to defrag Mac.
1. Go to the ‘Open System Preferences‘ and click on the update option to check for any updates.
2. And if you found the update is visible, then choose the option of Update Now to install it.
After updating the software, be sure that the apps are also updated.
Method 2: Remove Large and Useless Files:
If you remove the large and unnecessary files, the performance of the Mac system will be improved. This is another method to avoid defragging the Mac drive. The following are the steps to delete those extra files.
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1. Go to the drive and open the ‘Search Window.’
2. hoose the “+” icon and select the file size you would like to search.
3. After getting the results from the search, you can choose the files that you want to delete. You can delete the required files by moving them to Trash Icon after right-clicking the file. And don’t forget to empty your trash too.
Method 3: Now, Boot Mac in Safe Mode:
The final method to get rid of performance issues and steer clear of defragmentation on Mac is to boot your system in Safe Mode. In this way, there is no need to install any application, and also, it will also remove your cache files.
1. The first step is to restart the Mac, then press & hold the shift key immediately until your Apple Log becomes visible.
2. Once you see that login window, release the shift key. You will have to log in twice, and then unlock the startup disk, after that, please log in to the folder.
Safe mode will then remove the directory or cache issue when to start up again. To go back to normal mode, you will be requested to restart your Mac without pressing any key.
“Now, whenever someone asks you how to defrag Mac, you can answer that with all the necessary details and methods. After reading the above article, you have all the information to improve the performance issue on your Mac. If by any chance, the data is deleted, then Recoverit Data Recovery will be able to help you get back those deleted files. You can share this step-by-step guide with your family and friends so that they can improve their Mac performance easily.”
My Mac is starting to run slow… Do I have to defrag A Mac OS X hard drive? Or do they do that automatically? I wonder if there is a program that I can run monthly or weekly without mac auto-defrag.
Sometimes, our Mac gets running slow for there is no enough storage space. At that time, some people may want to defrag their Mac, but some of you may question that is there a need to defrag Mac. Well, this article will tell you how to defrag a Mac, and we will also provide you the best Mac defrag alternative to speed up your Mac.
Defrag Mac
Part 1. Does Your Mac Need Defragmentation
“Does Your Mac Need Defragmentation?” This question may have troubled Mac users for some time. To answer this question, you should first get to know about what is defragmentation. Defragmentation is a process that reduces the degree of fragmentation. It will organize the files that scattered in the disk and collect them together. Defragmentation is important because it can speed up a slow computer and improve its performance.
To answer this question, here are some occasions concluded when your Mac doesn’t need a defragmentation.
- • Generally speaking, Mac doesn’t need defragmentation if it adopts HFS+ file system. The HFS+ file system will increase the number of allocation blocks on the disk and decrease the minimum size of the file, which can upscale the storage space on the Mac hard disk.
- • Besides, with the Hot File Adaptive Clustering technology of the Mac OS X system, Mac doesn’t need to defrag and will defrag automatically if necessary.
- • For Mac OS X 10.2 or later, there is also no need to defrag a Mac. Another situation is that if you own a new Mac with SSD (Solid State Drive), there is no need to defrag your Mac. Because it can auto-defrag your Mac.
But if your hard drive is almost like 95% full (less than 10% storage), there may be some problems occurring in Mac’s auto-defrag. Or you are using an old Mac with traditional HDD (Hard Disk Drive).
At that time, your Mac will not defrag automatically. You should delete the large or old files on your hard drive or find a useful tool to defrag it.
You may doubt that if defrag will harm your HDD. The Mac OS X defrag will not harm your hard disk, but boot your Mac’s performance.
Part 2. How to Defrag Your Mac Hard Disk Drive
Different from the Windows system, the macOS doesn’t provide a built-in feature to defrag the Mac. So, if you really want to defrag a Mac, you can use a third-party program. But remember that you need to back up your Mac data first before defragging a Mac. In case something going wrong, you can restore necessary files with Time Machine, iCloud, Dropbox or Mac Data Recovery.
The most popular app for defragging is iDefrag. It will help you get the most out of your hard drives. There are five different defragmentation algorithms for different levels of defragmentation. In addition, iDefrag supports all versions of Mac operating system. Here are the steps on how to defrag your Mac with iDefrag.
Step 1After iDefrag has been downloaded, run this app on your Mac.
Step 2Defrag will start examining the disk automatically. Wait for a few minutes, and click the first Drop Down menu.
Step 3There are many options for you to choose. You can choose Quick (on-line) to operate it.
But it is not a free app. If you want to experience the whole features, you need to purchase it. You can also use other defragmentation software like Drive Genius or TechTool Pro 5.
Part 3. Is There An Alternative to Defrag Your Mac
Well, if there is a plenty of large music or movie files that are taking up much of your Mac storage space. The answer is definitely yes. The simple way is to delete them manually. Another way is to defrag your Mac with the defragmentation software mentioned in part 2. But you need to backup your Mac data first.
Considering about its complexity, there is a fast and simple defragmentation alternative provided for you – Aiseesoft Mac Cleaner. It is a professional Mac management tool to remove junk files, clutter, duplicate files, large and old files, and monitor your Mac performance.
- Monitor your Mac performance, such as disk utilization, battery status, memory usage, and CPU usage.
- Safely delete Mac junk file, clean unnecessary files, and uninstall apps in one click.
- Preview junk files, unneeded files, old/large files, unnecessary apps before cleanup.
- Compatible with macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur and macOS Catalina, macOS 10.14, 10.13, 10.12 and 10.11.
- Support iMac, iMac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro.
You can follow the steps below to clean and speed up your Mac.
Step 1 Launch Mac Cleaner
Free download, install and launch Mac Cleaner on your Mac. You can click “Status” to view disk utilization, memory usage and CUP usage.
Step 2Scan Junk Files
Mac Cleaner allows you to clear system junk, iPhoto junk, email junk, similar photo, iTunes junk, trash, large & old files and duplicate files. Click the feature you want to use to clean junk files. Then click “Scan” to scan junk files.
Step 3Clean Junk Files
After the scanning is completed, click “View” button to check these junk files. Then select the file you want to clear and click “Clean” to clean the junk files on your Mac.
As you can see, just a few clicks, you can clean the junk files easily on your Mac. Moreover, you can also clean large/old files, unneeded apps or duplicate files that are taking up the Mac space, as to speed up Mac and improve its performance.
Conclusion
In case something important lost, you’d better back up some important files before defragging. With the defragmentation software we mentioned, we hope that you can defrag your Mac easily. If you just want to free up storage space on your Mac, Mac Cleaner is also a useful alternative tool for you. If you have any questions, just don’t hesitate to contact us.
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July 04, 2019 14:00 / Posted by Nicole Jones to Mac Cleanup
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