- Jun 07, 2014 Mac hard drive test software - creating the definitive list. Thread starter ZVH; Start date Feb. To fix indexing problems on a hard drive that Disk Utility and diskutil cannot and in. However, others, such as defragmentation, finding duplicate files on a drive, surface scanning, performance testing, and drive cloning are not. I would view.
- Jun 16, 2013 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 very end. Data is first written on the top of the drive.
- Sep 05, 2018 Isn’t really supported, and there isn’t much software that does it. Can make your drive slower, by interfering with macOS’s native defragmentation. Anyway, if you want to, you can try iDefrag ($12.95 and only works on systems below 10.13 High Sierra) or Drive Genius 4 ($99).
May 25, 2010 Nashh, your answer to defragmentation depends on your computer usage. You can read this cnet article.It's an older article but it's worth reading. Basically if you are working with large files such as video (Mac doesn't defragment large files) or if you delete and write to the hard drive a lot with little disk space left you might see improvements by defragging the hard drive. IDefrag has been.
Jun 08, 2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
At some point, it is common that your system becomes slow. Whether you have the latest Mac system or an old one, experiencing performance issues are common. Most of the people know how to defrag Windows system but Mac File system isn’t designed like Windows. Thus, if you feel like you need to defrag Mac, then you still have some other options.
Here, we will discuss in detail how you defrag a Mac and why do you need it. Along with the process, we will also look for some alternatives to defragging.
Part 1. Overview of Defragmenting Mac
Defragment is the process where scattered files from the storage are organized. It erases the gaps from the files and stores them as a single whole part in the same location. In simple words, defragging Mac hard drive moves everything in order and fills the holes which exist while using the files. Ultimately, defragmentation saves time to search and read the files thereby improving the performance of your system.
Do You Need to Defrag Mac?
In general, Mac doesn’t need defragmentation. It is due to the fact that the Mac OS X version after 10.2 has a different file system than Windows. Apple uses the HFS+ format which has a special function of Hot File Adaptive Clustering. This function works merely to automatically prevent fragmentation in the drive in the first place. As a result, there is not much need to defrag MacBook manually.
Unless you pay 99 cents to get the Pro version, there is not a lot you can do. On the free version, there is an unlimited amount for countdowns, and can be set to any day, but except for the color you cannot do anything to design it how you like. It does not act much like an application, but more like a widget on the top of your desktop.
It is rare but maybe at some point, you might need it. Once in a few years, you might have to defrag Mac during the update, upgrade, installation, or reinstallation of some software.
When to Defrag MacBook Pro?
The one and only exception when you surely need to defrag MacBook Pro is when the storage space is left only 10%. Once that much storage space is occupied, the Mac OS won’t be able to perform automatic defragmentation. Thus, you will have to consider either removing extra and useless files or expanding the storage so that your Mac system performance won’t decline.
So, either you have to go through defragmentation or you remove some of the big files from your Mac.
Part 2. How to Defragment Mac?
This is a matter of concern as there is not a particular tool on the Mac system that can tell you how to defrag a MacBook. But you can rely on third party tools for that if you want to. Here, we are providing you top listed tools for defragmenting in case you need them.
Solution 1. MacKeeper:
This tool is specially designed so that the performance of your Mac system can be improved significantly. Even though it is popular for its cleaning features of removing unused and redundant files, it can also help to defrag Mac computer.
The performance improvement features make sure that the disk is fragmented to maximize the space. As a result, Mac works better. This tools also have other useful features like restore, undelete, backup, and remote tracking too in case your Mac gets stolen.
Solution 2. iDefrag:
For Mac OS defragment disk, you can rely on iDefrag to work efficiently. It is a useful tool to defrag and optimize your computer. You just have to reboot your computer and the software will provide you options to defrag the system. With this software, you will be able to defrag the whole drive easily. It can even perform selective defragmentation. Along with this, the software is simple, organized, and improved so you don’t have to struggle to learn how to operate it.
Solution 3. DiskTools Pro:
One of the best tools that can tell you how to defrag MacBook Pro is DiskTools Pro. The software has three main features, i.e. defrag, backup, and repair. This software makes the repair and maintenance of Mac system easy and fast. There is a bundle of tools for other tasks too which include creating a bootable disk, fixing bad sectors, test disk integrity, analyze drive capacity, and so much more.
There are lots of other tools too which can help you to defrag Mac as quickly as possible so you don’t have to compromise with your work.
Part 3. Some Facts About Defragging Mac
If you are experiencing performance issues with your Mac and you are considering defragging Mac, then you should know a few facts about it. Here, we are giving you proper knowledge and facts to begin:
Mac Os Disk Defrag
- Keep in mind that only hard drives require defragging. If your Mac has a Solid State Drive, then there is no need of defragging Mac.
- There is no need to defrag Mac regularly. The OS X already writes the small files in one batch so that you don’t have to put in efforts for defragmentation.
- Hard drives work fast at the beginning of the drive and slow down as the data is written to the bottom. Data don’t take up the available space and it creates several hols which causes a delay in booting or loading of programs.
- Over the years of using Mac, the system slows down with addition and reduction in data. And the OS X upgrades and normal operation makes the data less optimized. Therefore, the defragging Mac becomes important.
- The Mac OS gathers a group of small files dynamically and then combines them in a large space. The automatic process of writing files defragments the files in a proper manner.
- Mac’s HFS+ File system make sure that the recently freed file space is not used on the disk. Therefore, the system looks for the larger free area which is present on the drive. Thus, there is no room left to defrag apple Mac just so your files fit into the available space.
- Even when you open a file, the Mac system checks the storage to verify if the files are fragmented or not. In case it is, the OS automatically defrag Mac files.
Part 4. Alternative Way to Defrag Mac
If yourMac has performance issues, then instead of using defrag tools for Mac you can try out the alternative ways. Here are some methods that would optimize Mac and make sure that is works efficiently.
Method 1. Install Latest Updates of Your MacOS:
The latest update will provide stability, better performance, and security to your Mac. It will not only update the installed software but optimize the system to work in an improved way without a Mac defragging software.
- Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu and tap on the Software Update option to check for updates.
- If the update is available, click on the Update Now option to install it. You can take a look at the specifics of the updates.
Once the software is fully updated, make sure that the applications are updated too.
Apr 28, 2016 Rather than use a Mac-formatted drive, you should get the important files off of it and use exFAT-formatted drives for moving data between Macs and PCs. To format the drive in Windows, right-click it in the File Explorer window and select “Format.” Choose the. When you plug a drive that's been formatted for Mac into a Windows PC, you may find that it isn't readable. This is because Mac uses the HFS+ format natively, whereas Windows uses ExFAT or NTFS. One simple way to make the drive readable on both platforms is to format it to ExFAT, which both operating systems can understand. This will erase all contents on the disk, however, so. Dec 30, 2018 The app works with APFS drives and HFS+ drives. Unlike some of the options we’ll discuss later, MacDrive lets you read and write data to your Mac-formatted drive directly from Windows. The app is focussed around the freshly redesigned Disk Management Window. It acts as a hub for all the Mac drives connected to Windows. Windows app to format a mac-formatted drive. Jul 10, 2017 First, note the number of the disk in the disk management window. For example, in the screenshot below, the Mac-formatted drive is Disk 2. Next, open a Command Prompt window as administrator. To do this on Windows 8 or Windows 7, press the Windows. Dec 30, 2019 For a Windows computer to be able to read a hard drive, it needs to have a file system format that is compatible with Windows. File systems compatible with Windows include FAT32 and NTFS. A hard drive formatted for use in a Mac has either an HFS or HFS+ file system. For this reason, a Mac-formatted hard drive is not directly compatible, nor readable by a Windows computer.
Method 2. Clean Unnecessary and Big Files:
By deleting the files which are big and useless, you can improve the performance of your system. This way you don’t have to worry about defragging Mac drive. Follow the steps below to delete extra files.
- Open the drive that you want to search and open the search window.
- Click on the “+” icon at the bottom of the Save button and customize the file size that you want to search. You can tell Mac to look for files using the “Greater Than” column to find the files which occupy the maximum space.
- Once the results are listed on the screen, you can select the files which you don’t need. Right click on the file to move it to trash or click on the Trash icon in the Dock. And make sure that you empty the trash too
Method 3. Boot Mac in Safe Mode:
Another way to eliminate the performance issue and avoiding defragmentation on Mac is booting the system in Safe Mode. This way, no additional application will run automatically and it will erase the cache files too.
- Restart your Mac and immediately press and hold the Shift key until the Apple logo appears on the screen.
- You can release the Shift key when you see the login window. You might have to log in two times, once to unlock the startup disk and second to log in to the Finder.
Safe mode will erase the cache or directory issue as you start up and you’ll have enough space left on your Mac. To exit the safe mode, you only have to restart Mac without pressing any additional key.
Part 5. More Tips to Speed Up Mac:
As you clean up the Mac, the need for Mac OS defrag will decrease and the system will start running smoothly. It is likely that your system will work fine now. But here are some additional tips that will speed up Mac:
- Update Software regularly as most of the issues happen due to the use of outdated software. The system update will also fix bugs and other reasons that are declining Mac performance.
- Prevent Programs from Launching Automatically when you turn on Mac. There are lots of apps which run in the background. So, you need to filter the list to free up resources to make sure that no extra space is occupied by them.
- Offload old data which is stored on online servers or external drives to make up space for new files.
- Clear Regularly: Apart from the system, you have to clean the Trash too. Even though the files are deleted from Mac, space is occupied by the trash. So, you’ll have to empty the trash more frequently.
- Upgrade RAM: This solution won’t help you to prevent fragmentation but it will improve the system performance.
Conclusion
So, now when anyone asks you can you defrag a Mac, you know that you can say yes. With every detail you have now, you can easily resolve performance issues with your Mac. And if somehow during cleanup or defragging Mac with third-party tools, the data gets deleted, then Recoverit Data Recovery can help you to retrieve the deleted files. Share the guide with your friends and family to let them know that there are easy ways of keeping up the Mac system.
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What is disk defragmentation?
Disk defragmentation is the process of consolidating the fragmented data on your computer hard drive. This process arranges your entire data present on the hard drive in a continuous manner.
Disk fragmentation occurs over time as you save, delete or update the files. Whenever you save a file, due to fragmentation your file will be divided into small logical pieces and saved on different locations of your hard disk. Any additional changes or updates made are saved in the similar fashion. As time goes by, both file and hard drive itself might become over fragmented, and your system becomes slow. This happens because it has to look at many different locations to fetch all the fragments and rearrange them to open a single file. Hence, fragmented hard drive reduces the performance of the computer. Due to these, defragmenting your hard drive becomes very important. In such instances, you can make use of the Remo Drive Defrag tool that can efficiently defrag hard drive and increase your PC performance.
Remo Drive Defrag features
Remo Drive Defrag tool is an excellent tool using which you can effectively defrag your hard drive. This tool can also be used to perform defragmentation on your hard drives, external hard drives, partitions and even on selected files. This in turn assists you in improving the overall performance of your Windows system as it helps the hard drive to access the files faster.
Important features of Remo Drive Defrag
Remo Drive Defrag improves the booting speed of your system. It increases the performance of your drive up to 100% and thus, you will be able to open and load the programs, web browser and office application etc. faster. Defragmentation also play a vital role in increasing the age of your hard drive as it reduces the work load for it. Moreover, with this utility there are chances of recovering any of your deleted files.
Remo Drive Defrag tool provides a complete examination of the hard drive before and after the defragmentation process. That is before defragmenting it, you can examine the exact level of fragmentation and after the completion of the defrag process, you can view the generated analysis report, which will give you a complete idea about the decreased fragmentation level.
This application offers two different options to defrag your hard drive. You can choose one from the two options based on the need. The “Quick defragmentation mode” option provides flexibility to defrag only selected file types that are often used and “Deep defragmentation mode” can be used for a drive that has not been defragmented for long time. This software supports defragmentation on Microsoft Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP etc.
Defragment Drive C
Steps to defrag your hard drive
- Download and install the Remo Drive Defrag software on your system
- Launch the software
- From the given list select the drive on which you want to perform defragmentation and hit on “Analyze” option. Once the analysis is complete hit on “Next” to view the fragmented file report
- Click on the “Next” option again for defragmentation options.
- Now, you can choose one option from the two modes that are “Quick Defragmentation” or “ Deep defragmentation” mode
- When you select “Quick Defragmentation” mode you will get two defrag types. Choose “Defrag Full Drive” to defrag all file types present on that partition / drive or choose “Defrag only selected file types” option to defrag only the selected file types. After selecting the desired option click on “Next”
- Once you have selected the mode of defragmentation the software starts the defragging process. After completion click “Next” to start the analysis of the hard drive after the defragmentation process
- Hit on “Finish” to complete the defragmentation process
Helpful Precautions
Mac Hard Drive Defragmentation Software Free
- It is recommended not to use your system or access any file when the defrag is running as there are chances of losing your vital files
- Security processes like anti virus and firewall should be closed since these applications could create or even delete files that hinders the effectiveness of defragmentation