The holiday season is when everything gets busy and things fall by the wayside. The last thing you want or need to deal with is data loss. Preventive measures are the best way to ensure your Mac remains in great condition throughout Christmas and the New Year, and I’m going to show you the apps to keep your computer flying and ready to start the New Year in great shape.
Nektony Disk Expert
Nektony is one of those tools that once you use it, you’ll wonder how you lived without it. Nektony Disk Drive scans drives on your Mac and shows you the files that live there. For example, if you want to find the files taking up space in your Downloads folder and sort them from largest to smallest, Nektony can do that. It also works with external drives so you can optimize the space on those too.
The information that Nektony finds is presented in an awesome sunburst diagram, and the interface is super easy to use with a drag and drop of the files you want to erase.
Check out our Nektony Disk Expert review. You can purchase Nektony from the app store for a cost of $4.99.
Backblaze
Backblaze online backup is one of the most robust tools for backing up your Mac. I always recommend having multiple backup options, such as an external disk and a cloud-based solution, and Backblaze provides the latter.
For just $5/month Backblaze will automatically back up your important files, family photos, music, and movies with no file size too big and at great speeds. Your files are encrypted meaning they’re secure and the file restoration process is straightforward.
Sound good? You can try Backblaze for free.
Desktop Tidy
If you’re like me and you like to keep your desktop clutter free, then Desktop Tidy is a must have app. After the Downloads folder, the next place I default dump all my files to is the desktop. However, I’m lazy and my desktop can end up annoying my OCD tendencies. Fortunately Desktop Tidy saves me the hassle of having to worry about the clutter by storing the files it’s cleaned up to a hidden Shadow Desktop which is accessible from the menu bar.
Some of my favorite features are the Automatic tidying which prevents the build up of clutter, the customizable views to located specific file types, and the date filter to hide files which haven’t been used in a while.
Desktop Tidy is available on the app store for $7.99.
Backup Scheduler: Time Editor
Backup Scheduler lets you take control of your Time Machine backups. I just found out about this nifty app and if you use Time Machine, it may solve a few of your gripes.
For instance, if the hourly updates from Time Machine are too much and you prefer daily backups, you can change that setting. You can also choose to backup when your Mac is idle so Time Machine doesn’t hog system resources or interrupt any work you might be doing.
Backup Scheduler: Time Editor is available on the app store for $6.99.
Mac Backup Guru
Mac Backup Guru is not for the novice Mac user. If creating bootable backups sounds intimidating, you might want to checkout another option, or get a friend to help!
It may sound intimidating, but what it actually does is incredibly useful. The app creates bootable backups and stores snapshots of your Mac so if the worse should happen then you’ll be able to backup from the most recent snapshot. You can create copies of specific files or choose a large amount of files. Another great feature is that the snapshots are functional because they behave just like other files on your Hard Drive.
You can download a fully functional trial here.
Get Backup 3
Get Backup 3 is a backup, archive, and folder sync app. It’s not too different from other backup apps but if you’re looking for an app that’s easy to use and offers great features, then you can’t go wrong with Get Backup 3.
Some of the neat features include incremental and compressed backups which will save you a ton of disk space, automatic backup, archive and cloning, an encryption option, and the ability to restore to any computer.
The app is available for $6.99 on the app store.
Disk Drill Pro
Disk Drill Pro comes packed with useful features and makes backup and recovery a breeze! There are two versions of Disk Drill (free and pro), and the free version enables you to scan and recover data from different storage devices.
The recovery process is performed by just one click, and you’ll get an interface of possible files that can be recovered. Included are other tools such as disk health, duplicate finder, cleanup, and others that make Disk Drill a great deal.
If you can connect your device to your Mac, there’s a good chance the app can scan it – this includes iPhones, cameras, disk cards, USB devices etc.
There’s a free and pro version of Disk Drill – find out which one’s best for you here.