On the other hand, an SSD uses “flashing” to write data which is an electronic process. Simply put, an HDD uses a physical disk, and therefore physically distributes data in blocks which is what leads to potential fragmentation. An SSD drive stores data very differently from an HDD. These days almost all new Mac machines are shipped with flash storage (i.e. These will help you keep your MacBook running more smoothly. In addition to the defragging tool, Drive Genius provides several other features that will help you clean up your Mac such as a duplicate file identifier and utilities such as secure file deletion. Depending on the state of your drive, the operation could take several hours to complete. Then you can select the “defragment” option from the Drive Genius menu and follow the on-screen instructions to select your disk and run the operation.ĭrive Genius provides a graphical representation of the defragging process, which is great because it allows you to see exactly what is happening to your drive. Since you need a third-party tool to defragment a MacBook Pro, we decided to highlight Drive Genius, a well-known Mac cleaning software with an efficient defragging feature.īefore running the defragmentation, you should make sure to create a backup of your files. So while the need to defrag a Mac is fairly rare, it is still a useful process and could potentially help improve your workflow. Additionally, macOS only defrags files smaller than 20 MB so depending on your line of work, your larger files could be creating problems. However, there are some limitations to the built-in features and specific scenarios where you would benefit from defragging your MacBook.įor example, defragging become more useful the fuller your hard drive is due to the distribution of space. Macs are known for being ahead of the curve when it comes to necessary functions like antivirus measures and file organization, so defragmentation is actually a process your Mac is already doing automatically.īesides using an advanced file storage system that is less prone to fragmenting, files that are prone to fragmentation are automatically defragged by Mac OS X 10.3 (very old macOS) and onwards. Follow the on-screen directions to install the defragmentation program that is most effective for your Mac.Use Time Machine, iCloud, or an external disk to backup your data.Use reliable third-party Mac defragmentation software.Here are the steps that you can follow if you wish to defrag your MacBook:

How to defrag a mac mini